Kansas

Protestant missions played an important role in early Kansas history. Isaac McCoy, a Baptist minister, was instrumental in founding the Shawnee Baptist Mission in Johnson County in 1831. Later Baptist, Methodist, Quaker, Presbyterian, and Jesuit missions became popular stopover points for pioneers traveling along the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. Mennonites were drawn to the state by a law passed in 1874 allowing exemptions from military service on religious grounds. Religious freedom is specifically granted in the Kansas constitution, and a wide variety of religious groups is represented in the state.

The leading Protestant denominations in 2000 were the United Methodist Church, with 206,187 adherents; the Southern

Baptist Convention, 101,696 adherents; the American Baptist Church, 64,312; the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 62,712; and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 56,908. Roman Catholics constitute the largest single religious group in the state, with 405,844 adherents in 2000. The estimated Jewish population in 2000 was 14,500, which represents an increase of over 5,000 adherents since 1990. There were over 18,000 Mennonites throughout the state and about 3,470 Muslims. About 50.6% of the population (or over 1.3 million people) were not counted as members of any religious organization.