Florida - Religions

Dominican and Franciscan friars, intent on converting the Indians, arrived with the Spanish conquistadors and settlers in the 1500s, and for some 200 years Florida's white population was overwhelmingly Catholic. Protestant colonists from Britain arrived in the late 1700s, and significant influx of Protestant settlers from the southern United States followed in the early 1800s. Sephardic Jews from the Carolinas also moved into Florida around this time, although the largest influx of Jews has occurred during the 20th century.

The Catholic Church was the largest religious organization in 2000 with 2,596,148 adherents in about 527 congregations. The next largest group was the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,292,097 adherents in 2,054 congregations. Judaism claimed 628,485 adherents. Other Protestant denominations follow with the United Methodist Church, 458,623 adherents; the Assemblies of God, 189,387; Presbyterian Church USA, 157,751; and Episcopalians, 152,526. About 58.9% of the population were not counted as members of any religious organization.