The social ecology of residential patterns and membership in immigrant churches

In this paper, we utilize GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping data to locate eleven immigrant congregations and the residential addresses of t heir members in Houston, Texas. Combining this information with ethnographi c data allows us to understand how ecological variables impact organization al characteristics of religious institutions. Specifically, we combine GIS and ethnographic data on immigrant congregations in Houston, Texas, to anal yze characteristics that make them more parish or niche-like in structure. We demonstrate that the combination of GIS techniques and standard field me thods yields the greatest potential to provide a comprehensive understandin g of what congregations mean to their members.