What's the per capita yearly donation at the Churches of Christ? ($963.33.) What about Presbyterian Church in America? ($2,088.23.) Southern Baptist Convention? ($625.25.)

Where do you go for reliable information if you just found out your daughter's fiancé is a Christadelphian (Brothers of Christ, established 1844, 15,000 members)?

The two best perennial snapshots of American religion — two factual, cool-headed, fair-minded books — are out, published in Nashville, Tenn., by the United Methodists.  "The Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches 2006" (Abingdon Press, $50) and "The Handbook of Denominations in the United States" (Abingdon Press, $20) both go against fashions of religious partisanship and Internet factoid sloppiness.

Take the "Handbook of Denominations, 12th Edition." It's rare to see an official church publish a handbook that depicts the competition evenhandedly. It describes some 200 religious groups, with a map tracing how we got from Jesus to all the modern mutations of faith. The book was first produced in 1951 by Methodist editor Frank S. Mead, who was hoping to grasp the many branches of the splintered Christian family tree. It was good theology and good for business.

The title has a nostalgic ring. The word "denomination," referring to a national network of local congregations, smacked of optimism in 1951, a postwar heyday of interfaith friendship and church growth. Today it's all the rage among bloggers to proclaim the death of denominations, the triumph of "post-denominationalism." (The reality is: Denominations don't disappear, even "nondenominational" churches form associations or fellowships.)   The publisher stuck with the title. It's a franchise, a brand.

Building on Mead's work (he died in 1982), the "Handbook" expanded with the spiritual scene under successive editors, currently Craig D. Atwood, a scholar-pastor in North Carolina. It now encompasses Judaism, Islam and megachurches — those with 2,000 or more attending weekly.  "The book has to be charitable to multiple points of view," says Paul Franklyn, a publishing director at Abingdon.

Abingdon's history with the annual "Yearbook" goes back to 1916. The book updates membership numbers and Web sites of 220 denominations and lists seminaries, periodicals, financial profiles and a religious calendar. The National Council of Churches in New York sponsors the book.

Findings include:

-- The fastest-growing large churches are the Assemblies of God, the Mormons and Catholicism.

-- Women represent 36 percent of seminary enrollment, a record.

-- In a survey of 63 denominations, the annual per capita contribution was $757.90.

What Atwood says about the "Handbook" could apply to both books in an era of too much information but little understanding. "If this book helps readers to get to know their neighbors, join a worshipping community and better appreciate the intricate social fabric of America, then it has fulfilled its purpose," he says.