These churches consider themselves Eastern Orthodox but are not in communion with the main bodies of Eastern Orthodoxy.
Although the use of the term "Protestant" to refer to Anglicans was once common, it is controversial today, with some rejecting the label and others accepting it. African diaspora religions are a number of related religions that developed in the Americas in various nations of the Caribbean, Latin America and the Southern United States. Unlike Baptists (also emerging from the Church of England), Methodists have retained liturgical worship and other historic Anglican practices including vestments and (in some Methodist denominations such as the United Methodist Church) the episcopacy. [76], The Catholic Apostolic churches were born out of the 1830s revival started in London by the teachings of Edward Irving, and out of the resultant Catholic Apostolic Church movement. Alternative to other early Protestants, Anabaptists were seen as an early offshoot of Protestantism, although the view has been challenged by some[who?] [25][26][27][28], Assyrian Christianity comprises those Eastern churches who kept the traditional Nestorian christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of the East after the original church reunited with the Catholic Church in Rome, forming the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1552. Some bodies included on this list do not consider themselves denominations. As such, specific numbers and a certain size may not define a group as a denomination. [48], Protestantism is a movement within Christianity which owes its name to the 1529 Protestation at Speyer, but originated in 1517 when Martin Luther began his dispute with the Roman Catholic Church. National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. New England Evangelical Baptist Fellowship, Regular Baptist Churches, General Association of, Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists, Union d'glises baptistes franaises au Canada, Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Serbia and Montenegro, United American Free Will Baptist Conference, United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces, Evangelical Church of the Dominican Republic, Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, International Missionary Society of Seventh-Day Adventist Church Reform Movement, Friends Committee on National Legislation, International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Christian Congregation in the United States, Church of God of the Original Mountain Assembly, Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Besanon, Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, Independent Assemblies of God, International, International Assemblies of God Fellowship, International Fellowship of Christian Assemblies, International Pentecostal Church of Christ, Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches, Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches, United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (Place of Jesus), Mulu Wongel (Full Gospel Believers) Church, Meserete Kristos (Christ Foundation) Church, Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church in Peru, Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, List of Independent Catholic denominations, American Catholic Church in the United States, Evangelical Catholic Church (Independent Catholic), Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation, Old Roman Catholic Church in North America, Old Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain, Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church), St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (St. Louis, Missouri), Traditionalist Mexican-American Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church organization Unrecognized churches, Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate, Church of God and Saints of Christ (Orthodox Christianity), The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus, Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship, International Council of Unitarians and Universalists, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, List of sects in the Latter Day Saint movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Restored Church of Jesus Christ (Eugene O. Walton), Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, Church of God International (United States), Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church, Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue, Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius. The Church of the East split from the Roman-recognized state church of Rome during the Sasanian Period. [55][56][57][58] The largest non-United Lutheran denomination was the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, a Eastern Protestant Christian group.[59]. The largest worldwide denomination of this movement, and the one publicly recognized as Mormonism, is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As of 2015[update], the Latin Church comprised 1.255 billion members. They include Jewish Christianity, Pauline Christianity and Gnostic Christianity. These organizations are not churches but work with churches or represent a coalition of churches.
These united or uniting churches are the result of a merger between distinct denominational churches (e.g., Lutherans and Calvinists). [11] The smallest of these groups may have only a few dozen adherents or an unspecified number of participants in independent churches as described below. [78] As a result of the two movements, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was established.
The Chaldean Syrian Church is headquartered in Thrissur, India. Major examples of uniting churches are the United Protestant Church of France (2013) and the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (2004). 
[14] It is headed by the Bishop of Romethe Pope, traditionally called the Patriarch of the Westwith headquarters in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, Italy. Divisions between one denomination and another are primarily defined by authority and doctrine. P'ent'ay, simply known as Ethiopian-Eritrean Evangelicalism are a group of indigenous Protestant Eastern Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Mennonite denominations in full communion with each other and believe that Ethiopian and Eritrean Evangelicalism are the reformation of the current Orthodox Tewahedo churches as well as the restoration of it to original Ethiopian Christianity. Other Christian or Christian-influenced syncretic traditions and movements include: Historical movements with strong syncretic influence from Christianity but no active modern membership include. Many of the splinter groups did not subscribe to trinitarian theologies. [4][5] The largest ecumenical organization in Christianity is the World Council of Churches.[6][3]. Two examples of impaired communion between the Orthodox churches include the MoscowConstantinople schisms of 1996 and 2018. For example, the Catholic Church considers itself the one true church and the Holy See as pre-denominational. The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East together had over 0.6 million members as of 2018[update]. [79][80] Churches are listed here when their disparate heritage marks them as inappropriately listed in the particular categories above. [15] All modern Christian denominations are said to have descended from the Jewish and Pauline Christianities, with Gnostic Christianity dying, or being hunted out of existence after the early Christian era and being largely forgotten until discoveries made in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries.
", "Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church 8 November 2000: Russian Orthodox Church (archive)", "CNEWA The Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church", "Statement by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the encroachment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the canonical territory of the Russian Church | The Russian Orthodox Church", "Russia Takes Further Step Toward Major Schism in Orthodox Church", "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church", Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "The Pontifical Yearbook 2017 and the "Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae" 2015", "The beautiful witness of the Eastern Catholic Churches", World Council of Churches: Evangelical churches, "Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact", "About The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC):: World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)", "Chinese Calvinism flourishes | Andrew Brown", "Whatever happened to the Anglican Via Media? [33][32] Other denominations, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and bodies in Old and True Orthodoxy, often label the Oriental Orthodox Churches as "Monophysite"; as the Oriental Orthodox do not adhere to the teachings of Eutyches, they themselves reject this label, preferring the term "Miaphysite". It is also called the Nestorian Church or the Church of Persia. Together, the Assyrian, Ancient, Chaldean Syrian and Chaldean Catholic Church comprised over 1.6 million in 2018. [8][9] To express further the complexity involved, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches were historically one and the same, as evidenced by the fact that they are the only two modern churches in existence to accept all of the first seven ecumenical councils, until differences arose, such as papal authority and dominance, the rise of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the continuance of emperors in the Eastern Roman Empire, and the final and permanent split that occurred during the Crusades with the siege of Constantinople. They have some minor distinct theological emphases and expressions (for instance, in the case of those that are of Greek/Byzantine tradition, concerning some non-doctrinal aspects of the Latin view of Purgatory and clerical celibacy). Some 60-80 million Christians are Methodists and members of the World Methodist Council. Other denominations are defined by either a belief in Joseph Smith as a prophet or acceptance of the Book of Mormon as scripture. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam. Early Christianity is often divided into three different branches that differ in theology and traditions, which all appeared in the 1st century AD/CE. [74] This idea is also called Christian Primitivism. [2][3] It also refers to efforts toward visible unity in the Christian Church, though the terms of visible unity vary for each denomination of Christianity; the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church each teach visible unity may only be achieved by converting to their denominational beliefs and structure, citing claims of being the one true church. The total membership of the churches accounted for approximately 18 million members as of 2019[update]. Well known Restorationist groups related in some way to Millerism include the Jehovah's Witnesses, World Mission Society Church of God, the Restored Church of God, and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that work outside and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism. Issues regarding the nature of Jesus, Trinitarianism, salvation, the authority of apostolic succession, eschatology, conciliarity, papal supremacy and papal primacy among others may separate one denomination from another. General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Inc. Most Latter Day Saint denominations are derived from the Church of Christ established by Joseph Smith in 1830. These are denominations, movements, and organizations deriving from mainstream Protestantism but are not classifiable under historic or current Protestant movements nor as parachurch organizations. Some churches split due to changes in the Book of Common Prayer and the ordination of women, forming Anglo-Catholic or Evangelical Anglican communities. Methodists were some of the first Christians to accept women's ordination since the Montanists. A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity, identified by traits such as a name, organization and doctrine.
Explanations of different opinions concerning their status as Christian denominations can be found at their respective articles. Many such groups originated from schisms of these larger denominations, and they claim to have preserved the historical episcopate or apostolic succession, though such claims are frequently disputed or rejected outright by the historic churches of Rome, Constantinople, the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht, and the Church of England.[84][7]. [49] New denominations and organizations formed through further divisions within Protestant churches since the Reformation began.
Following the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, William Miller preached the end of the world and the second coming of Christ in 1843/44. [61][62][63], Anglicanism or Episcopalianism has referred to itself as the via media between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. It is not completely correct to call these groups Protestant due to the fact that some of them had nothing to do with the 1529 protestation at Speyer which coined the term Protestant. The Independent Catholic churches self-identify as either Western or Eastern Catholic although they are not affiliated with or recognized by the Catholic Church. True Orthodoxy, or Genuine Orthodoxy, is a movement of Eastern Orthodox churches that separated from the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church over issues of ecumenism and calendar reform since the 1920s.[85].
Independent Baptist Fellowship International, Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America, Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association, National Association of Free Will Baptists. the United Church of Christ). Anabaptists. Asian-initiated churches are those arising from Chinese and Japanese regions that were formed during repression in authoritarian eras as responses from government crackdowns of their old Christian denominations which were deemed illegal or unrecognized in their countries' state atheism or religion. There are from 60 to 80 million Christians identifying as Reformed or Calvinist according to statistics gathered in 2018. As an example, this list contains groups also known as "rites" which many, such as the Roman Catholic Church, would say are not denominations as they are in full papal communion, and thus part of the Catholic Church. Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure: Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, claims continuity (based upon apostolic succession) with the early Church as part of the state church of Rome. [37][38][39] Some of them have a disputed administrative status (i.e. Though it considers itself pre-denominational, being the original Church of Christ before 1054,[34][8] some scholars suggest the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches began after the EastWest Schism. Examples incorporating elements of Christianity include but are not limited to: The relation of New Thought to Christianity is not defined as exclusive; some of its adherents see themselves as solely practicing Christianity, while adherents of Religious Science say "yes and no" to the question of whether they consider themselves to be Christian in belief and practice, leaving it up to the individual to define oneself spiritually. There are numerous churches following the Anglican tradition that are not in full communion with the Anglican Communion. Anglicans or Episcopalians also self-identify as both Catholic and Reformed. As such, the Catholic Church does not consider itself a denomination, but rather considers itself pre-denominational, the original Church of Christ. [12][13] Such subtleties and complexities are not clearly depicted here. [1] These "denominational families" are often imprecisely also called denominations.
On the other hand, the surviving Waldensians ended up joining Reformed Protestantism, so it is not completely inaccurate to refer to their movement as Protestant. Some of these denominations consider themselves as part of True Orthodoxy or the Old Believers. Today with most Protestants, Lutherans are divided among mainline and evangelical theological lines. [68] There were approximately 2.1 million Anabaptists as of 2015. They uphold that in order for a person to be saved one has to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of sins; and to receive Christ one must be "born again" (dagem meweled). Quakers, or Friends, are members of various movements united by their belief in the ability of each human being to experientially access the light within, or "that of God in every person". Between denominations, theologians, and comparative religionists there are considerable disagreements about which groups can be properly called Christian or a Christian denomination as disagreements arise primarily from doctrinal differences between each other. [75], Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, low church, non-conformist, evangelical Christian movement whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s, originating from Anglicanism. Eastern Orthodox churches by and large remain in communion with one another, although this has broken at times throughout its history.
However, as a general rule, the larger a group becomes, the more acceptance and legitimacy it gains. Syncretic Orthodox churches blend with other denominations outside of Eastern Orthodoxy and are not in communion with the main body of Eastern nor Oriental Orthodoxies.
Autocephalous Churches who are officially part of the communion: United and uniting churches who hold membership in the Anglican Communion, Other Anglican churches and Continuing Anglican movement, Adventist movement (Seventh Day Sabbath/Saturday observing), American Israelism and Latter Day Saint movement, Fundamentalist Rocky Mountain Latter Day Saints, List of Christian denominations by number of members, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, History of Christianity during the Middle Ages, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Great Britain, Vicariate for Palestine and Jordan in the USA, American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Mexico, Antiochian Orthodox Mission in the Philippines, Estonian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Philippine Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia, Ruthenian Greek/Byzantine Catholic Church, List of the largest Protestant denominations, Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America, Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of Albania, Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany), Lutheran Church of Central Africa Malawi Conference, Lutheran Church of Central Africa Zambia Conference, Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, American Association of Lutheran Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Church - Synod of France and Belgium, Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia, Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madhya Pradesh, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan States, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway, Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam, International Conference of Reformed Churches, North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Christian Reformed Church in Sierra Leone, Christian Reformed Church in South Africa, Continued Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa - NG Church, Evangelical and Reformed Church in Honduras, Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany, National Union of Independent Reformed Evangelical Churches of France, Protestant Reformed Christian Church in Croatia, Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated), United Reformed Churches in North America, Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, List of Presbyterian denominations in North America, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Mexico, Conservative Presbyterian Church in Brazil, Costa Rican Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Australia), Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Malawi, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine, Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States), Free Presbyterian Church of North America, Fundamentalist Presbyterian Church in Brazil, National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Presbyterian Reformed Church (North America), Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly, Reformed Presbyterian Church Hanover Presbytery, Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States, Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia, Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, United Presbyterian Church of North America, Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, Westminster Presbyterian Church in the United States, Westminster Presbyterian Church of Australia, Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa, Congregational Christian Churches in Canada, Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola, Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Brazil, Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Bulgaria, United Church of Christ-Congregational in the Marshall Islands, United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Church in the Province of the West Indies, Church of the Province of South East Asia, Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church, Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi, Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo, Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations, Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in India, US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International, Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference, All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists, Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America, Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy, Baptist Missionary Association of America, Conservative Baptist Association of America, Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India, Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India, Evangelical Baptist Mission of South Haiti, Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America, General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. [18] Declaring itself separate from the state church in 424427, liturgically, it adhered to the East Syriac Rite. They departed from the state church of the Roman Empire after the Chalcedonian Council. ", "Evangelical Church Fellowship of Ethiopia", "Ko su ziloti, pravoslavni fundamentalisti", "15 Million Member Milestone Announced at LDS Church Conference", National Primitive Baptist Convention, USA, Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum, International Council of Community Churches, Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv, Architecture of cathedrals and great churches, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Christian_denominations&oldid=1098324218, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using sidebar with the child parameter, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2018, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2016, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2015, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from January 2022, All articles with links needing disambiguation, Articles with links needing disambiguation from March 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 July 2022, at 08:22. Some followers after the failed prediction became the Adventists or Campbellites, while other splinter groups eventually became Apocalyptic Restorationists. Therefore, it should be taken with caution. Some denominations were started by intentionally dividing themselves from the Roman Catholic Church, such as in the case of the English Reformation while others, such as with Luther's followers, were excommunicated after attempting reform. The following are independent and non-mainstream movements, denominations and organizations formed during various times in the history of Christianity by splitting from mainline Catholicism, Eastern or Oriental Orthodoxy, or Protestantism not classified in the previous lists. [50], The majority of contemporary Protestants are members of Adventism, Anglicanism, the Baptist churches, Calvinism (Reformed Protestantism), Lutheranism, Methodism and Pentecostalism.
Major early Reformers were Peter Waldo (c. 1140c. Pietism was an influential movement in Lutheranism that combined its emphasis on Biblical doctrine with the Reformed emphasis on individual piety and living a vigorous Christian life.