Listeners of the lecture on religious pluralism in the USA will explore why there are so many churches, denominations, and independent communities in America. The religious map of the USA seems colorful even to those who are far from religious studies: hundreds of denominations, independent communities, megachurches, small prayer houses, and unique traditions in different states. The lecture offers to understand how this complex system began to take shape during the colonial period when the New World became a place for European religious dissidents seeking space for a different life and a different organization of faith. Daniil Ivanov, a religious studies scholar and graduate student at the philosophy faculty of Moscow State University, will explain how Puritans, Quakers, and Anglicans organized religious life far from familiar centers of church authority. In the colonies, there was not always leadership that could quickly appoint priests, approve rules, and control communities. Therefore, people had to rebuild institutions, negotiate order, distribute responsibility, and decide who has the right to speak on behalf of the church. The lecture will also discuss why the Anglican Church, formally linked to the state, existed in America for decades without bishops and what consequences this had for local religious practices. The lecture is suitable for those interested in the history of the USA, anthropology, and religious studies.