Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions

Introductory essays provide an overview of American and Canadian religion. The religious family chapters contain 24 general essays that trace historically the rise of the 24 major religious families and traditions into which most U.S. and Canadian bodies can be classified. Directory listings of individual religious groups that fall into each of the 24 religions families immediately follow the narrative for that chapter. A directory listing typically contains the following categories of information: organization name and acronym, address, alternate address, description, membership, educational facilities, periodicals, remarks, and sources. Appendices provide information on organizations that have become defunct and a geographical arrangement of the organizations included in the directory listings.--Excerpted from p. xxiii-xxiv.