In a January report, the Pew Foundation concluded that African Americans are “markedly more religious” than the U.S. population as a whole.

Compared with other racial and ethnic groups, we are among the most likely to report a formal religious affiliation, with 87 percent of African-Americans describing themselves as belonging to one religious group or another.

Pew also found that:

• Nearly eight in 10 African-Americans (79 percent) say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 56 percent among all U.S. adults.

• More than half (53 percent) report attending religious services at least once a week.

• More than three in four (76 percent) say they pray at least daily.

• Nearly nine in 10 (88%) say they are absolutely certain that God exists.

“On each of these measures, African-Americans stand out as the most religiously committed racial or ethnic group in the nation,” the report concluded.

With numbers like that, I thought it would be fun to spotlight some of our Qcity congregations. In other words, what makes Church A different than Church B?

That’s the idea behind “A church You Should Know,” a weekly feature we begin today. It’s simple: We ask local pastors a set of questions and print their responses.

You can find our first installment (for the next few days, at least) among the rotating panels on the Qcitymetro.com homepage.

We think you'll enjoy the series. We also hope you will encourage your pastor to participate.

Full disclosure: Today’s entry, First Baptist Church-West, is my congregation. What’s the fun of being editor if you can’t take some liberties every now and then?