The Religious Economy of Texas: An Historical Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines the changing market shares of major Texas religious groups during this century. Market shares are computed by dividing membership by Texas population. Results show that certain religious groups (firms) have performed much better in terms of market share than others. The better performers are the more conservative Protestant denominations along with the Roman Catholic Church. Groups losing market share tendto be the more liberal Protestant denominations. This finding would appear to be consistent with Niebuhr’s church-sect theory which, among other things, predicts that religious groups (sects) characterized by a high degree of tension with society grow whereas groups (churches) characterized by alow degree of tension with society tend to decline.