Index| Group | Where | Number of Adherents |
% of total pop. |
Number of congreg./ churches/ units |
Number of countries |
Year | Source | Quote/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soka Gakkai | Japan: Hokkaido | - | - | - | - | 1970 | Cavendish, Richard (ed.). Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural (vol. 11). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1970); pg. 1498. | "Soka Gakkai, in a way not dissimilar to the publishing organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, became the agency of evangelism... they achieved results, not least in winning many adherents in Hokkaido, the northern island in which the miners' union, Tanro, had previously held undisputed sway. Part of its appeal is the clear manifestation of power communicated by the movement and its methods of proselytizing... " |
| Soka Gakkai | Korea, South | - | - | - | - | 1965 | Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 415. | "After normalization of relations with Japan in the 1960s, some Japanese movements entered Korea, notably Tenri-kyo and Soka Gakkai. " |
| Soka Gakkai | United Kingdom | 4,522 | - | - | - | 1990 | Wilson, B. & Dobbelaere, K. A Time to Chang: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon (1998); pg. 39-39. | "The Soka Gakkai International UK (Nichiren Shoshu OUK, as it was then)... provided us with a computer listing of members. With their addresses, we were able to draw a random sample to whom we distributed a postal questionnaire... We took as the criterion of fully fledged membership whether the individual had received Gojukai--the ceremony in which a member receives... his or her copy of the Gohonzon. Whilst that test was generally appropriate, there were some older members who had come into the movement as dedicated practitioners before the custom... was instituted... these persons we readily counted as full members... We procured a listing with 3,673 names and addresses, since the information about the most recent recpients of the Gohonzon, some 849 people, was not yet available. "; Table I: "The sex distribution of members ": Listed as of 1 Nov. 1990: Total males: 1,733 (38.3%); total females: 2,585 (57.2%); Unidentified total: 204: (4.5%). |
| Soka Gakkai | United Kingdom | 5,000 | - | - | - | 1997 | Barrett, D. Sects, 'Cults', and Alternative Religions. London, UK: Blandford (1997); pg. 156. | "Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai were brought to the UK by a British businessman, Richard Causton, who had worked in Japan. The headquarters of the UK organisation are in a Tudor stately home in Berkshire, purshased with a 6 million pounds interest-free loan from the Japanese headquarters. There is as yet no British temple, but there are 4 - 5,000 British members. " |
| Soka Gakkai | United Kingdom: Britain | 2,500 | - | - | - | 1987 | Clarke, Peter B. The New Evangelists: Recruitment, Method and Aims of New Religious Movements, London: Ethnographics (1987); pg. 10 to 14. | Table with following columns: Movement; Total Membership; Full-Time Members; P/T Members; Sympathizers.; For this study Clarke "approached researchers & observers in the field of new religions [& org./church reps.] to obtain their opinions & any hard... data "; All members are in full-time column. |
| Soka Gakkai | United Kingdom: Britain | 6,800 | - | - | - | 1999 | Chryssides, George. Exploring New Religions. London, U.K.: Cassells (1999). [Original source of British figure: data directly from the organization: Jamie Cresswell of SGI UK.] | "I have selected the best available [statistics], providing a range where adjudication is impossible... Soka Gakkai: Britain: 6,800 'on paper', of whom 5,500 are estimated to be active. 5,150 gohonzons have been issued. (1999)... " |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 250,000 | - | - | - | 1950 | Melton, J. Gordon & Robert L. Moore. The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism. New York: The Pilgrim Press (1984 [3rd printing; 1st printing 1982]); pg. 143. | "Soka Gakkai is the popular name for Nichiren Shoshu, originally a lay movement that grew up among the Japanese followers of Nichiren Buddhism. Intensely nationalistic, it was suppressed by the Shinto government but revived after World War II. It went from less than a hundred thousand members to approximately a quarter million. " |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | - | - | - | - | 1982 | Melton, J. Gordon & Robert L. Moore. The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism. New York: The Pilgrim Press (1984 [3rd printing; 1st printing 1982]); pg. 144. | "After coming to America in the early 1960s, the Nichiren Shoshu experienced a rapid growth among non-Orientals in the laste sixties and spread into a national movement in the early seventies... now units can be found in most major U.S. cities. " |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 200,000 | - | - | - | 1985 | Wilson, B. & Dobbelaere, K. A Time to Chang: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon (1998); pg. 13. | "Daniel Metraux, The History and Theology of Soka Gakkai (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988), 115 reports... there may be over 200,000 believers in the U.S., [but] the actual hard-core membership must number half that. " |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 300,000 | - | - | - | 1989 | *LINK* Nance Profiles web site (orig. source: 9/26/89 issue of GLOBAL PRAYER DIGEST); (viewed Aug. 1998; now restricted.) | 10,000,000 Japanese and 300,000 Americans. Soka Gakkai has become the largest religious organization in Japan. |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 300,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 126. | "Most have stayed with the parent group, which is now known as Soka Gakkai International and has about 300,000 members in the U.S. " |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 150,000 | - | - | - | 1997 | Barrett, D. Sects, 'Cults', and Alternative Religions. London, UK: Blandford (1997); pg. 159. | "In the USA, which has 150,000 Soka Gakkai members, there is a campus [of Soka University] in California. " |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 330,000 | - | 60 units |
- | 1998 | *LINK* official web page | In less than 40 years the American organization has grown to a multi-ethnic membership of 330,000, with members in every state and with more than 60 community centers around the country. |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 330,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: "Soka Gakkai International in the United States "; web page: "About the Soka Gakkai International in the United States " (viewed 1 March 1999) | - |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 30,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: New Religious Movements (University of Virginia) (1998) | The Encyclopedia of American Religions reports that Nichiren Shoshu claims 300,000 members in the United States. More conservative sources estimate that there are no more than 30,000 in this country. |
| Soka Gakkai | USA | 300,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: New Religious Movements (University of Virginia) (1998) [Orig. source: Encyclopedia of American Religions] | The Encyclopedia of American Religions reports that Nichiren Shoshu claims 300,000 members in the United States. More conservative sources estimate that there are no more than 30,000 in this country. |
| Soka Gakkai | Western Hemisphere | 500,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | Palmer, Spencer J. & Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, Brigham Young University: Provo, Utah (1990); pg. 97. | "Nichiren Shoshu Sokka Gakkai (NSA.).. nearly 20 mil. believers in 120 dif. countries... Membership in No. And So. America has reportedly grown to nearly 500,000 since 1957. " Each national lay organization also belongs to Sokka Gakkai International |
| Soka Gakkai | Western Hemisphere | 500,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | Palmer, Spencer J. & Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, Brigham Young University: Provo, Utah (1990); pg. 97. | "Nichiren Shoshu Sokka Gakkai (NSA.).. nearly 20 mil. believers in 120 dif. countries... Membership in No. And So. America has reportedly grown to nearly 500,000 since 1957. " Each national lay organization also belongs to Sokka Gakkai International |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 15,000,000 | - | - | - | 1966 | Welty, Paul Thomas. The Asians: Their Heritage and Their Destiny (Revised Edition). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. (1966); pg. 246. | "One Buddhist sect, the Soka Gakkai, has recently become influential in politics and religion. Claiming around 15 million members in many parts of the world, it is militant, conservative, and nationalistic. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 9,000,000 | - | - | - | 1970 | Cavendish, Richard (ed.). Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural (vol. 11). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1970); pg. 1498. | "The most important sect in Japan is Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society)... claims over three million families among its adherents: from its politial successes this claim may not be exaggerated. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | - | - | - | - | 1975 | Barrett, D. Sects, 'Cults', and Alternative Religions. London, UK: Blandford (1997); pg. 156. | "Under [Toda's] successor as president of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda (b. 1928), the movement continued to spread around the world. American servicemen stationed in Japan--particularly those who had married local women--took it back to America with them. There are now several templesin America, where the movement is generally known as Nichiren Shoshu rather than Soka Gakkai. Soka Gakkai International (SGI) was founded in 1975, with Ikeda as president, and is affiliated to the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 41,200,152 | - | - | - | 1981 | Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally published as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 697. | "Sharing certain characteristics in common with Japan's postwar new religions, Soka Gakkai has experience phenomenal growth, especially in the 1950s, until today it has a membership of 16,480,060 family units. Soka Gakkai, however, does not consider itself to be a 'new religion' but rather a lay auxilary of Nichiren Sho-shu, the 'orthodox' faith expounded by the thirteenth century priest Nichiren. International branches of this group do not call themselves Soka Gakkai but Nichiren Sho-shu, as, for example, the NSA, Nichiren Sho-shu of America. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 20,000,000 | - | - | - | 1982 | Eerdman, William B., Eerdman's Handbook to the World's Religions. Lion Publishing (1982): Herts, England; pg. 238. | "Soka Gakka now has about 20 million members. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 17,000,000 | - | - | - | 1990 | Fisher, Mary Pat & Robert Luyster. Living Religions, I.B. Tauris & Co.: New York (1990); pg. 324. | "A new offshoot of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, Soka Gakkai, now claims over seventeen million members around the world. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 20,000,000 | - | - | 120 countries |
1990 | Palmer, Spencer J. & Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, Brigham Young University: Provo, Utah (1990); pg. 97. | "Nichiren Shoshu Sokka Gakkai (NSA.).. nearly 20 mil. believers in 120 dif. countries... Membership in No. And So. America has reportedly grown to nearly 500,000 since 1957. " Each national lay organization also belongs to Sokka Gakkai International |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 20,000,000 | - | - | 120 countries |
1990 | Palmer, Spencer J. & Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, Brigham Young University: Provo, Utah (1990); pg. 97. | "Nichiren Shoshu Sokka Gakkai (NSA.).. nearly 20 mil. believers in 120 dif. countries... Membership in No. And So. America has reportedly grown to nearly 500,000 since 1957. " Each national lay organization also belongs to Sokka Gakkai International |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 17,320,000 | - | - | 116 countries |
1992 | Wilson, B. & Dobbelaere, K. A Time to Chang: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon (1998); pg. 13. | "In 1992 Soka Gakkai International claimed 1,260,000 members in 115 nations in addition to 8,030,000 families in Japan: Nikkei Weekly, 30/1,530 (15 Aug. 1992). " [The world total figure of 17,320,000 was obtained by multiplying the Japan figure by two, and adding those outside Japan.] |
| Soka Gakkai | world | - | - | - | 150 countries |
1993 | Clarke, Peter B. (editor), The Religions of the World: Understanding the Living Faiths, Marshall Editions Limited: USA (1993); pg. 208. | "Soka Gakkai... has legal recognition in over 150 countries, including the United States where it is known as Nichiren Shoshu of America. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 20,000,000 | - | - | - | 1993 | O'Brien, J. & M. Palmer. The State of Religion Atlas. Simon & Schuster: New York (1993); pg. 35. | New Religious Movements map ( "committed adherents "): "Soka Gakkai Nicheren Shoshu 20m " Founded in 1935. |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 8,100,000 | - | - | - | 1995 | Chryssides, George. Exploring New Religions. London, U.K.: Cassells (1999). [Original source of 8 million worldwide figure: web site: New Religious Movements (University of Virginia)] | "I have selected the best available [statistics], providing a range where adjudication is impossible... Soka Gakkai:... World: estimates vary widely: 8,100,000 (1995); 12,000,000 (1996) " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 8,100,000 | - | - | - | 1995 | *LINK* web site: New Religious Movements (University of Virginia) (1998) | A recent Time magazine article (November 20, 1995) states that there are over 8.1 million members. This number likely included members of the Komeito political party |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 12,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Chryssides, George. Exploring New Religions. London, U.K.: Cassells (1999). [Original source of 12 million worldwide figure: Adherents.com] | "I have selected the best available [statistics], providing a range where adjudication is impossible... Soka Gakkai:... World: estimates vary widely: 8,100,000 (1995); 12,000,000 (1996) " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 12,000,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 126. | "Today it claims 8 to 10 million adherents in Japan and another 2 million worldwide " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | 12,000,000 | - | 1,300 units |
128 countries |
1998 | *LINK* Ireland, Rowan. Web site: La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia; web page: "New Religious Associations in Australia ", written January 1998. (Viewed 4 July 1999). | "The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a worldwide association of 76 constituent organisations with membership in 128 countries and territories... Worldwide, there are approximately 1300 centres (most are located in Japan) for an estimated number of 12 million members. " |
| Soka Gakkai | world | - | - | - | 128 countries |
1998 | *LINK* official web page | The Soka Gakkai was founded in Japan in 1930 and has developed into an international organization, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), with members in more than 128 countries. |
| Soka Gakkai | world | - | - | - | 128 countries |
1998 | *LINK* web site: "SGI International "; web page: "This is SGI - Introduction " (viewed 1 March 1999) | - |
| Soka Gakkai | world - except Japan | 1,260,000 | - | - | - | 1992 | Wilson, B. & Dobbelaere, K. A Time to Chang: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon (1998); pg. 13. | "In 1992 Soka Gakkai International claimed 1,260,000 members in 115 nations in addition to 8,030,000 families in Japan: Nikkei Weekly, 30/1,530 (15 Aug. 1992). " |
| Soka Gakkai - active | United Kingdom: Britain | 5,500 | - | - | - | 1999 | Chryssides, George. Exploring New Religions. London, U.K.: Cassells (1999). [Original source of British figure: data directly from the organization: Jamie Cresswell of SGI UK.] | "I have selected the best available [statistics], providing a range where adjudication is impossible... Soka Gakkai: Britain: 6,800 'on paper', of whom 5,500 are estimated to be active. 5,150 gohonzons have been issued. (1999)... " |
| Soka Gakkai - active | USA | 100,000 | - | - | - | 1985 | Wilson, B. & Dobbelaere, K. A Time to Chang: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon (1998); pg. 13. | "Daniel Metraux, The History and Theology of Soka Gakkai (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988), 115 reports 'Inoue Nobutaka, a Japanese scholar who studied Nichiren Shoshu in America in the early and mid-1980s, concedes that while there may be over 200,000 believers in the U.S., the actual hard-core membership must number half that. See Inoue Nobutaka Umi o Watatta Shukyo (Tokyo, 1985), p. 156. " |
| Solar Temple | Europe | - | - | - | - | 1999 | *LINK* Rifkin, Ira. "Agency May Be Formed to Track Activities of 'Dangerous Sects' in Europe " in Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday, June 26, 1999 (viewed online 26 June 1999). | "In addition, the report noted the need to head off further 'serious disturbances of law and order' and 'carnage' associated in recent years with groups such as Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo cult and the Order of the Solar Temple in France and Switzerland. " |
| Solar Temple | Quebec | 30 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: "Religious Tolerance " (1998) | "International Chivalric Order Solar Tradition... The Solar Temple group continues to exist; it is believed to have over 30 surviving members in Quebec and from 140 to 500 worldwide. " |
| Solar Temple | Texas: Mount Carmel | - | - | - | - | 1993 | Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. "Religion " in The Future Now: Predicting the 21st Century. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1998); pg. 57. | "In 1993... David Koresh was immolated with eighty followers in Waco. Between 1994 and 1997 almost as many members of the chalet-chic 'Solar Temple...' perished in mass murders and suicides, ostensibly 'to escape a fate of destruction now awaiting the whole wicked world in a matter of months, if not weeks'. " |
| Solar Temple | world | 500 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* web site: "Religious Tolerance " (1998) | "International Chivalric Order Solar Tradition... The Solar Temple group continues to exist; it is believed to have over 30 surviving members in Quebec and from 140 to 500 worldwide. " |
| Soldiers of the Cross of Christ, Evangelical International Church | USA | 1,500 | - | 23 units |
- | 1984 | Melton, J. Gordon (ed.). The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); pg. 282. | "In 1984 the church reported 23 congregations, 75 ministers, 1,500 members in the U.S. " |
| Soldiers of the Cross of Christ, Evangelical International Church | world | 100,000 | - | - | 23 countries |
1984 | Melton, J. Gordon (ed.) The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); Chapter: Pentecostal Family; section: Spanish-Speaking Pentecostals; pg. 281-282. | "Soldiers of the Cross of Christ, Evangelical International Church... Miami, FL [H.Q.]... was founded as the Gideon Mission in the early 1920s in Havana, Cuba. Its founder, affectionately known among his followers as 'Daddy John,' was Wisconsin-born Ernest William Sellers... In the U.S., because of the similarity of the church's name with that of the Gideons International, the Gideon Mission used the name Gilgal Evangelistic International Church. At the annual convention held in New Jersey in 1974, the church adopted its present name. The church conducts work in 20 Latin American countries as well as in Spain and Germany. Much of the work is in the Spanish language. Membership: In 1984 the church reported 23 congregations... 1,500 members in the U.S., and 100,000 members worldwide. " |
| Somali | Ethiopia | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995); pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Somali | Kenya | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995); pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Somba | Benin | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995); pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Sommerfeld Mennonite Church | Bolivia | 252 | - | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "Carribean, Central & South America: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | BOLIVIA... Sommerfelder Mennonitengemeinde... Members (1994): 252 |
| Sommerfeld Mennonite Church | Canada | 4,410 | - | 13 units |
- | 1998 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "USA/Canada: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | CANADA... Sommerfeld Mennonite Church; Members: 4,410; Congregations: 13 |
| Sommerfeld Mennonite Church | Mexico | 1,078 | - | 3 units |
- | 1994 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "Carribean, Central & South America: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | MEXICO... Sommerfelder Mennonitengemeinden; Members (1994): 1,078; Congregations: 3 |
| Sommerfeld Mennonite Church | Paraguay | 1,029 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "Carribean, Central & South America: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | PARAGUAY... Sommerfeld Mennonitengemeinden (Colonia Sommerfeld); Members (1994): 924?Sommerfeld Mennonitengemeinden (Colonia Santa Clara); Members: 105 [Sum of both colonias] |
| Sommerfeld Mennonitengemeinden (Colonia Santa Clara) | Paraguay | 105 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "Carribean, Central & South America: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | PARAGUAY... Sommerfeld Mennonitengemeinden (Colonia Santa Clara); Members: 105 |
| Sommerfeld Mennonitengemeinden (Colonia Sommerfeld) | Paraguay | 924 | - | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "Carribean, Central & South America: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | PARAGUAY... Sommerfeld Mennonitengemeinden (Colonia Sommerfeld); Members (1994): 924 |
| Songe | Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995); pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Songha | Congo, Republic of the (Brazzaville) | 510,000 | 20.00% | - | - | 1997 | Dostert, Pierre Etienne. Africa 1997 (The World Today Series). Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications (1997); pg. 98. | Estimates of % of population in ethnic (NOT religious) backgrounds, & est. 1997 total pop.; Republic of Congo |
| Songhai | Africa | - | - | - | - | 1591 C.E. | Haskins, Jim & Joann Biondi. From Afar to Zulu: A Dictionary of African Cultures. New York: Walker Publishing Co. (1995); pg. 188. | "Africa's Lost Cultures... Songhai: At its peak, the empire of Songhai stretched from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in what is now Guinea eastward into parts of modern Niger and Nigeria. The ancient cities of Gao and Timbuktu served as the empire's main centers for commerce and culture. After gaining control of the Mali empire during the 1400s, the Songhai people began to conquer neighboring groups and build their own empire... The Songhai people were Muslims, but many also followed ancient African religious customs. They spoke both Songhai and Arabic... The population of the Songhai is unknown. In 1591, Moroccan troops, equipped with guns and cannons, marched into Songhai, captured Gao and Timbuktu... the Songhai were easily overpowered. Eventually the Songhai empire crumbled and was taken over by mower powerful empires such as the Hausa, Fulani, and Bambara. " |
| Songhai | Africa | 3,000,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | Gall, Timothy L. (ed). Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture & Daily Life: Vol. 1 - Africa. Cleveland, OH: Eastword Publications Development (1998); pg. 391-392. | "Songhay: Location: Eastern Mali, western Niger, northern Benin; Population: 3 million; Religion: Islam combined with indigenous beliefs "; Pg. 391: "Although almost all Songhay are practicing Muslims, Islamic practices have not excluded pre-Islam beliefs... For most Songhay, whose contact with the spirit world may well be frightening but is generally infrequent, the path of Islam is well followed. They pray five times a day, give to the poor, observe the one-month fast of Ramadan, and try to the best of their ability to make the exceedingly expensive pilgrimage to Mecca... These beliefs, however, do not preclude beliefs about the spirit world. " |
| Sons of Freedom | British Columbia | - | - | 3 units |
- | 1975 | Melton, J. Gordon (ed.). The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); pg. 329-330. | "Sons of Freedom (Doukhobors)... three centers in British Columbia... " |
| Sons of Freedom | Canada | - | - | 4 units |
1 country |
1975 | Melton, J. Gordon (ed.) The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); Chapter: European Free-Church Family; section: Other European Free Traditions; pg. 329-330. | "Sons of Freedom (Doukhobors)... Membership: There are three centers in British Columbia, one at Agassz, Gilpin, and Krestova, and several hundred adherents. " [This group has an entry separate from Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarean)] |
| Sons of Freedom | world | 2,500 | - | - | - | 1968 | Woodcock, George & Ivan Avakumovic. The Doukhobors, Oxford University Press: New York, NY (1968); pg. 18. | "The Ishmaels of the [Doukhobor] sect are the radical Sons of Freedom... in recent years they have numbered at most 2,500. " |
| Soshanguve Brethren in Christ Church | South Africa | 123 | - | 2 units |
- | 1998 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site. Directory 1998. Web page: "Africa: Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches " | SOUTH AFRICA... Soshanguve Brethren in Christ Church... Members: 123; Congregations: 2 |
| Soso | Africa - West | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995); pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Sotho | Lesotho | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995); pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Sotho | Lesotho | 1,900,000 | - | - | - | 1998 | Gall, Timothy L. (ed). Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture & Daily Life: Vol. 1 - Africa. Cleveland, OH: Eastword Publications Development (1998); pg. 395, 397. | "Sotho: Location: Lesotho, South Africa; Population: 5,561,000 in South Africa, 1.9 million in Lesotho; Religion: Traditional beliefs (worship of Modimo), Christianity "; Pg. 397: "Today, Christianity in one form or another is accepted by most Sotho-speaking people. " [This is a measure of tribal/ethnic affiliation, not necessarily how many practice traditional Sotho religion.] |
