Filter by denomination, country, or city
EI's advanced search includes five independent filters you can combine however you like. This guide explains what each one does and how to use them together effectively.
The five available filters
Access them from /advanced-search:
Denomination — A dropdown list with the denominations registered in the directory. Covers everything from Catholic and Baptist to Quaker and Latter-day Saints. If you can't find your church's exact denomination, choose the closest one or leave this filter empty.
Country — Select from the 14 countries covered: United States, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Ireland. When you choose a country, the state and city filters automatically update with the available options.
State or region — Appears after choosing a country. Shows the administrative divisions (states, provinces, regions) where churches are registered.
City — Activates once you have a state selected. Filters down to the level of a specific city.
Religion — For now the directory is exclusively Christian, but this filter allows distinction between the main traditions (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, other Christian currents).
Useful combinations
Some combinations that work well in practice:
- Denomination + City: ideal when you're moving to a new city and want to know what churches of your denomination are there.
- Country + State: good for a regional overview without restricting too much.
- Denomination only: if you want to see all churches of a denomination in the directory regardless of location.
Why you sometimes get 0 results
If you combine many very specific filters, the directory may return zero results. This doesn't mean the site has a problem — there simply aren't any churches registered with that exact combination. Try these steps:
- Remove the city filter and search by state only.
- If there are still no results, remove the state too and search by country and denomination only.
- If nothing comes up still, the church probably isn't in the directory yet.
In that case, you can add it: see /en/help/articulo/iglesias/agregar-iglesia.
Filters stay active between pages
Once you apply filters, they're kept as you navigate between result pages. If you want to start fresh, use the Clear filters button at the top of the form.