Within the American West, significant diversity characterises the religious experience of its inhabitants. Historical – and contemporary – immigration from almost every part of the world has brought a wide range of religious traditions to this part of the USA. Via missions and settler colonialism, Christianity has been shaped in new ways through interactions with traditions indigenous to the Americas. Moreover, the American West has also been the site of religious innovation, with altogether new forms of Christianity taking hold and thriving. Amidst this medley of religious ideas and practices, some areas of the West have high percentages of people who do not affiliate with a particular religion. It is within the context of this diversity – including the robust population of religiously unaffiliated Americans – that we can situate the diverse and religiously innovative forms of Christianity that thrive in the American West. This essay focuses on the area of the USA that includes California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Because of its vast size and population, California receives more attention than any other state.

According to surveys on religious affiliation, the ‘nones’ – people who do not readily identify with any religious tradition – have been the fastest-growing group in the USA in the twenty-first century. This growth was particularly dramatic in the second decade of that century. Because a majority of Americans are descended from families that once identified with Christianity, an increase in the ‘nones’ directly correlates with declining numbers of people identifying as Christians. While this reality is essential for understanding any portion of the USA, it is particularly important in the American West. This is because religiously unaffiliated Americans are found in the densest concentrations there, and more specifically within the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Mark Silk has argued that these three states likely offer us insight into the future of religion in the USA. That said, the American Religious Landscape Survey, collected most recently in 2020, indicates that the rate of religious non-affiliation is gradually slowing and the exodus from Christian communities is likewise slowing, particularly from the mainline Protestant churches, which had been haemorrhaging members since the 1960s.