List of Christian denominations#Presbyterianism

A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity, identified by traits such as a name, organization and doctrine. Individual bodies, however, may use alternative terms to describe themselves, such as church, convention, communion, assembly, house, union, network, or sometimes fellowship. Divisions between one denomination and another are primarily defined by authority and doctrine. 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. Groups of denominations, often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—can be known as "branches of Christianity" or "denominational families" (e.g. Eastern or Western Christianity and their sub-branches).{{Cite web|title=Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-herkimer-worldreligions/chapter/eastern-christianity-and-western-christianity/|access-date=2020-05-03|author-first1=Philip A. |author-last1=Pecorino|website=World Religions|publisher=Lumen Learning}} These "denominational families" are often imprecisely also called denominations.

Christian denominations since the 20th century have often involved themselves in ecumenism. Ecumenism refers to efforts among Christian bodies to develop better understandings and closer relationships.{{Cite web |title=Ecumenism |url=http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ecumenism.aspx |access-date=2020-05-03 |website=Anglican Communion |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The WCC as a Fellowship of Churches |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/about-us/self-understanding-vision/cuv/the-wcc-as-a-fellowship-of-churches |access-date=2020-05-03 |website=World Council of Churches |language=en}} It also refers to efforts toward visible unity in the Christian Church, though the terms of visible unity vary for each denomination of Christianity, as certain groups teach they are the one true church, or that they were divinely instituted for the propagation of a certain doctrine.{{cite book|last=McGoldrick|first=James Edward|title=Baptist Successionism: A Crucial Question in Baptist History|date=1 January 1994|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810836815|pages=1–2|quote=Although the two most popular textbooks used in America to teach Baptist history cite Holland and England early in the seventeenth century as the birthplace of the Baptist churches, many Baptists object vehemently and argue that their history can be traced across the centuries to New Testament times. Some Baptists deny categorically that they are Protestants and that the history of their churches is related to the success of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Those who reject the Protestant character and Reformation origins of the Baptists usually maintain a view of church history sometimes called "Baptist successionism" and claim that Baptists have represented the true church, which must be, and has been, present in every period of history. The popularity of the successionist view has been enhanced enormously by a booklet entitled The Trail of Blood, of which thousands of copies have been distributed since it was published in 1931.}} The largest ecumenical organization in Christianity is the World Council of Churches.{{Cite web|title=History of the World Council of Churches|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/World-Council-of-Churches|access-date=2020-04-15|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}

The following is not a complete list, but aims to provide a comprehensible overview of the diversity among denominations of Christianity, ecumenical organizations, and Christian ideologies not necessarily represented by specific denominations. Only those Christian denominations, ideologies and organizations with Wikipedia articles will be listed in order to ensure that all entries on this list are notable and verifiable. The denominations and ecumenical organizations listed are generally ordered from ancient to contemporary Christianity.

Terminology and qualification

{{See also|List of Christian denominations by number of members}}

{{pie chart|thumb = right

|caption = World Christianity by tradition in 2024 as per World Christian Database{{cite web |url=https://www.gordonconwell.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/01/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2024.pdf |title=Status of Global Christianity, 2024, in the Context of 1900–2050 |publisher=Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary |quote=Christian total 2,631,941,000, Catholic total 1,278,009,000 (48.6%), Wider Protestant total including Independents 1,047,295,000 (39.8%), Orthodox total including Eastern and Oriental 293,158,000 (11.1%) |access-date=23 May 2024}}

|label1 = Catholic

|value1 = 48.6

|label2 = Protestant

|value2 = 39.8

|label3 = Orthodox

|value3 = 11.1

|label4 = Other

|value4 = 0.5}}

File:The Church of the Holy Sepulchre-Jerusalem.JPG, a center for Christian unity in Jerusalem]]

Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups: the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Restorationism.{{cite book |last1=Riswold |first1=Caryn D. |title=Feminism and Christianity: Questions and Answers in the Third Wave |date=1 October 2009 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-62189-053-9 |language=English}}{{cite web |last1=Gao |first1=Ronnie Chuang-Rang |last2=Sawatsky |first2=Kevin |title=Motivations in Faith-Based Organizations|url=https://hc.edu/center-for-christianity-in-business/2023/02/07/motivations-in-faith-based-organizations/ |publisher=Houston Christian University |access-date=22 November 2023 |language=English |date=7 February 2023 |quote=For example, Christianity comprises six major groups: Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Restorationism.}} Within these six main traditions are various Christian denominations (for example, the Coptic Orthodox Church is an Oriental Orthodox denomination). Protestantism includes many groups which do not share any ecclesiastical governance and have widely diverging beliefs and practices.{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of World Religions |date=2008 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |isbn=978-1-59339-491-2 |language=en |quote=Amid all this diversity, however, it is possible to define Protestantism formally as non-Roman Western Christianity and to divide most of Protestantism into four major confessions or confessional families – Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, and Free Church.}} Major Protestant branches include Adventism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, Baptists, Lutheranism, Methodism, Moravianism, Quakerism, Pentecostalism, Plymouth Brethren, Reformed Christianity, and Waldensianism. Reformed Christianity itself includes the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Evangelical Anglican, Congregationalist, and Reformed Baptist traditions.{{cite book |title=The New Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaediav01ency |url-access=registration |date=1987 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |isbn=978-0-85229-443-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaediav01ency/page/244 244] |language=en}} Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish, Apostolic, Bruderhof, Hutterite, Mennonite, River Brethren, and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions.{{cite book |last1=Brewer |first1=Brian C. |title=T&T Clark Handbook of Anabaptism |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-68950-4 |page=564 |language=en}}

Within the Restorationist branch of Christianity, denominations include the Irvingians, Swedenborgians, Christadelphians, Latter Day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, La Luz del Mundo, and Iglesia ni Cristo.{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Paul W. |last2=Mittelstadt |first2=Martin William |title=What's So Liberal about the Liberal Arts?: Integrated Approaches to Christian Formation |date=27 April 2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-3145-9 |language=en |quote=The Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) spurred a renewed interest in primitive Christianity. What is known as the Restoration Movement of the nineteenth century gave birth to an array of groups: Mormons (The Latter Day Saint Movement), the Churches of Christ, Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Though these groups demonstrate a breathtaking diversity on the continuum of Christianity they share an intense restorationist impulse. Picasso and Stravinsky reflect a primitivism that came to the fore around the turn of the twentieth century that more broadly has been characterized as a "retreat from the industrialized world."}}{{cite book |last1=Bloesch |first1=Donald G. |title=The Holy Spirit: Works Gifts |date=2 December 2005 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-2755-8 |page=158 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Spinks |first1=Bryan D. |title=Reformation and Modern Rituals and Theologies of Baptism: From Luther to Contemporary Practices |date=2 March 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-90583-1 |language=en |quote=However, Swedenborg claimed to receive visions and revelations of heavenly things and a 'New Church', and the new church which was founded upon his writings was a Restorationist Church. The three nineteenth-century churches are all examples of Restorationist Churches, which believed they were refounding the Apostolic Church, and preparing for the Second Coming of Christ.}} Among those listed, some bodies included do not consider themselves denominations, though for the purpose of academic study of religion, they are categorized as a denomination, that is, "an organized body of Christians."{{cite book |last1=Ballantine |first1=Jeanne H. |last2=Roberts |first2=Keith A. |title=Our Social World: Introduction to Sociology |date=17 November 2008 |publisher=Pine Forge Press |isbn=978-1-4129-6818-8 |page=400 |language=en}} For example, the Catholic Church considers itself the one true church and the Holy See as pre-denominational.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html|title=Dominus Iesus|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=2017-09-14}} The Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, also considers themselves to be the original Christian church along with the Roman Catholic Church.{{Cite web |title=The Original Christian Church |url=https://oca.org/questions/history/the-original-christian-church |access-date=2018-09-05 |website=Orthodox Church in America |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=History of the Orthodox Church|url=https://www.goarch.org/-/history|access-date=2020-08-26|publisher=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|language=en-US|first1=Thomas|last1=Fitzgerald}} The Lutheran churches have viewed themselves as the "main trunk of the historical Christian Tree" founded by Christ and the Apostles, holding that during the Reformation, the Church of Rome fell away.{{cite book |author1=Junius Benjamin Remensnyder |title=The Lutheran Manual |date=1893 |publisher=Boschen & Wefer Company |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA12 |language=English}} Certain denominational traditions teach that they were divinely instituted to propagate a certain doctrine or spiritual experience, for example the raising up of Methodism by God to propagate entire sanctification (the "second blessing"),{{cite book|last1=Davies|first1=Rupert E.|last2=George|first2=A. Raymond|last3=Rupp|first3=Gordon|title=A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain, Volume Three|date=2017|publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers|language=en|isbn=978-1532630507|page=225}} or the launch of Pentecostalism to bestow a baptism with the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in tongues on humanity.{{cite book |last1=Yongnan |first1=Jeon Ahn |title=Interpretation of Tongues and Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12-14, with a Pentecostal Hermeneutics |date=21 May 2019 |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-39717-0 |page=9-10 |language=en}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2016/02/12/the-differences-between-the-catholic-and-orthodox-churches|title=The differences between the Catholic and Orthodox churches|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2018-09-05|language=en}} This also illustrates that denominations can arise not only from religious or theological issues, but political and generational divisions as well.

File:Church of St. George, Istanbul (August 2010).jpg in Istanbul]]

Other churches that are viewed by non-adherents as denominational are highly decentralized and do not have any formal denominational structure, authority, or record-keeping beyond the local congregation; several groups within the Restoration Movement and congregational churches fall into this category.

File:Basilica Sancti Petri blue hour.jpg in Vatican City]]

Some Christian bodies are large (e.g. Catholics, Orthodox, Pentecostals and nondenominationals, Anglicans or Baptists), while others are just a few small churches, and in most cases the relative size is not evident in this list except for the denominational group or movement as a whole (e.g. Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox Churches, or Lutheranism). The largest denomination is the Catholic Church with more than 1.4 billion members.{{Cite web|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2018/06/13/0440/00957.html|title=Presentazione dell'Annuario Pontificio 2018 e dell' "Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae" 2016|website=press.vatican.va|access-date=2018-09-04}}{{Cite web |title=Worldwide Catholic population hits 1.4 billion |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262883/worldwide-catholic-population-hits-14-billion |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}} The smallest of these groups may have only a few dozen adherents or an unspecified number of participants in independent churches as described below. As such, specific numbers and a certain size may not define a group as a denomination. However, as a general rule, the larger a group becomes, the more acceptance and legitimacy it gains.

Modern movements such as Christian fundamentalism, Radical Pietism, Evangelicalism, the Holiness movement and Charismatic Christianity sometimes cross denominational lines, or in some cases create new denominations out of two or more continuing groups (as is the case for many united and uniting churches, for example; e.g. the United Church of Christ).{{Cite web|title=What is the United Church of Christ?|url=https://www.ucc.org/about-us_what-is-the-united-church-of|website=United Church of Christ|language=en|access-date=2020-05-03}}{{Cite book|last1=Gunnemann|first1=Louis H.|url=http://archive.org/details/shapingofunitedc00loui|title=The shaping of the United Church of Christ : an essay in the history of American Christianity|last2=Rooks|first2=Charles Shelby|date=1999|publisher=Cleveland, Ohio : United Church Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=9780829813456 }} Such subtleties and complexities are not clearly depicted here.

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. 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.{{Cite web |title=Catholic Rites and Churches |url=https://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/catholic_rites_and_churches.htm |access-date=2018-09-05 |website=EWTN}} For the purpose of simplicity, this list is intended to reflect the self-understanding of each denomination. Explanations of different opinions concerning their status as Christian denominations can be found at their respective articles.

There is no official recognition in most parts of the world for religious bodies, and there is no official clearinghouse which could determine the status or respectability of religious bodies. Often there is considerable disagreement between various groups about whether others should be labeled with pejorative terms such as "cult", or about whether this or that group enjoys some measure of respectability. Such considerations often vary from place to place, or culture to culture, where one denomination may enjoy majority status in one region, but be widely regarded as a "dangerous cult" in another part of the world. Inclusion on this list does not indicate any judgment about the size, importance, or character of a group or its members.

Early Christian

Early Christianity is often divided into three different branches that differ in theology and traditions, which all appeared in the 1st century AD/CE. They include Jewish Christianity, Pauline Christianity and Gnostic Christianity.{{citation|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_brief2.htm|title=Fragmentation of the primitive Christian movement|work=Religious Tolerance|access-date=2017-09-14}} 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.{{Cite web|last1=Trafton|first1=Jennifer|last2=Colossanov|first2=Rebecca|title=Gnostics: Did You Know?|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-96/gnostics-did-you-know.html|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Christian History|date=30 June 2008 |language=en}} There are also other theories on the origin of Christianity.{{citation|url=http://www.earlychristianhistory.info/frac.html|title=Early Christian History|access-date=2017-09-14}}

The following Christian groups appeared between the beginning of the Christian religion and the First Council of Nicaea in 325.

=Gnosticism=

{{Columns-list|

}}

= Late ancient and Medieval Christian =

{{Main|History of late ancient Christianity|History of Christianity during the Middle Ages|State church of the Roman Empire}}

The following are groups of Christians appearing between the First Council of Nicaea, the East-West Schism and proto-Protestantism. Among these late ancient and Medieval Christian denominations, the most prominent and continuously operating have been the Church of the East and its successors in Assyrian Christianity; and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Both the Church of the East and Oriental Orthodox separated from the imperial Roman church during the 5th century.

Church of the East

The Church of the East split from the Roman-recognized state church of Rome during the Sasanian Period. It is also called the Nestorian Church or the Church of Persia.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jB8ir0ek8bgC|title=The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318-1913|last=Wilmshurst|first=David|date=2000|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=9789042908765|language=en}} Declaring itself separate from the state church in 424–427, liturgically, it adhered to the East Syriac Rite.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BmaQAAAACAAJ|title=Light from the East: A Symposium on the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches|last=Hill|first=Henry|date=1988|publisher=Anglican Book Centre|isbn=9780919891906|language=en}} Theologically, it adopted the dyophysite doctrine of Nestorianism, which emphasizes the separateness of the divine and human natures of Jesus, and addresses Mary as Christotokos instead of Theotokos; the Church of the East also largely practiced aniconism.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/realmofpresterjo00silv|url-access=registration|title=The realm of Prester John|last=Silverberg|first=Robert|date=1972|publisher=Doubleday|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0Fq7Rk7howC&pg=PA8|title=Learning Theology with the Church Fathers|last=Hall|first=Christopher A.|date=2002-08-16|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=9780830826865|language=en}} Adhered to by groups such as the Keraites and Naimans (see Christianity among the Mongols), the Church of the East had a prominent presence in Inner Asia between the 11th and 14th centuries, but by the 15th century was largely confined to the Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrian communities of northern Mesopotamia, in and around the rough triangle formed by Mosul and Lakes Van and Urmia—the same general region where the Church of the East had first emerged between the 1st and 3rd centuries.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X6DM4szwUpEC|title=Catholics and Sultans: The Church and the Ottoman Empire 1453-1923|last=Frazee|first=Charles A.|date=2006-06-22|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521027007|language=en}}

Its patriarchal lines divided in a tumultuous period from the 16th-19th century, finally consolidated into the Eastern Catholic Chaldean Church (in full communion with the Pope of Rome), and the Assyrian Church of the East.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-pEWAAAAMAAJ|title=L'Orient syrien|date=1966|language=fr}}{{Cite web|title=The Patriarchs of the Church of the East from the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries|url=http://www.bethmardutho.org/images/hugoye/volume2/hv2n2vandenberg.pdf|website=The Syriac Institute|access-date=5 September 2018|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923184030/http://www.bethmardutho.org/images/hugoye/volume2/hv2n2vandenberg.pdf|url-status=dead}} Other minor, modern related splinter groups include the Ancient Church of the East (split 1968 due to rejecting some changes made by Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai) and the Chaldean Syrian Church. In 1995 the Chaldean Syrian Church reunified with the Assyrian Church of the East as an archbishopric. The Chaldean Syrian Church is headquartered in Thrissur, India. Together, the Assyrian, Ancient, Chaldean Syrian and Chaldean Catholic Church comprised over 1,121,581 million from as of 2025.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYTRSAAACAAJ |title=The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization: A-E. |date=2009 |publisher=Blackwell Pub. Limited |pages=154-159 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781405166584 |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity |date=2017-08-28 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-631-23203-2 |editor-last=Parry |editor-first=Ken |pages=122-123 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781405166584 |editor-last2=Melling |editor-first2=David J. |editor-last3=Brady |editor-first3=Dimitri |editor-last4=Griffith |editor-first4=Sidney H. |editor-last5=Healey |editor-first5=John F.}}{{Cite book|title=The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity|last=Baumer|first=Christoph|date=28 April 2006|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=1-84511-115-X}}{{Cite web |date=2023-09-09 |title=Annuario Orientale Cattolico - 2023 by Vartan Waldir Boghossian EXARMAL |url=https://issuu.com/exarmal/docs/annuarioorientale_-_2023_pdf |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Issuu |language=en}}

= Assyrian (Syriac) Christian =

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. Assyrian Christianity forms part of the Syriac Christian tradition. The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East together had over 0.6 million members {{as of|2018|lc=y}}.Baumer, Christoph (2006). The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity (1st ed.). London, England, United Kingdom: I.B. Tauris. p. 272. {{ISBN|1-84511-115-X}}.

Oriental Orthodox

The Oriental Orthodox Churches are the Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite christology and theology, with a combined global membership of 62 million {{As of|2019||lc=y}}.{{cite book |last1=Lamport |first1=Mark A. |title=Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7157-9 |page=601 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6xVDwAAQBAJ&q=oriental+orthodox+50+million&pg=PA601 |language=en |quote=Today these churches are also referred to as the Oriental Orthodox Churches and are made up of 50 million Christians.}}{{cite journal |title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century |journal=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |date=8 November 2017 |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/ |quote=Oriental Orthodoxy has separate self-governing jurisdictions in Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Armenia and Syria, and it accounts for roughly 20% of the worldwide Orthodox population.}}{{Cite web |title=Orthodox churches (Oriental) |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/orthodox-churches-oriental |website=World Council of Churches |language=en}} These churches reject the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and those after it. They departed from the state church of the Roman Empire after the Chalcedonian Council.{{Cite book|title=The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History|publisher=Harvest House Publishers|year=2013|isbn=978-0-7369-4806-7|pages=108}} 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".

Historically, the Oriental Orthodox Churches considered themselves collectively to be the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church that Jesus founded. Some Christian denominations have recently considered the body of Oriental Orthodoxy to be a part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church—a view which is gaining increasing acceptance in the wake of ecumenical dialogues between groups such as Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman and Eastern Catholicism, and Protestant Christianity.{{Cite web |title=The Sacraments in the Life of the Church |url=http://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/dialoghi/sezione-orientale/chiese-ortodosse-orientali/commissione-mista-internazionale-per-il-dialogo-teologico-tra-la/documenti-di-dialogo/en.html |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=www.christianunity.va}}{{cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/wccfops2.194 |title=Growth in Agreement II. Reports and Agreed Statements of Ecumenical Conversations at World Level 1982–1998 |date=2000 |publisher=World Council of Churches |editor=Jeffrey Gros |location=Michigan |editor2=Harding Meyer |editor3=William G. Rusch}}

All canonical or mainstream Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the World Council of Churches, though only five form the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches.{{Cite web |title=Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches |url=http://www.scooch.org/member-churches/ |access-date=2024-02-23 |language=en}} Throughout Oriental Orthodoxy, non-mainstream or non-canonical churches have passed in and out of recognition with the mainstream churches (e.g., British Orthodox Church).{{Cite web |title=Joint announcement from the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom and the British Orthodox Church of the British Isles |url=https://britishorthodox.org/5330/joint-announcement-from-the-coptic-orthodox-church-in-the-united-kingdom-and-the-british-orthodox-church-of-the-british-isles/ |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=British Orthodox Church}}

= Canonical Oriental Orthodox =

= Independent Oriental Orthodox =

Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodoxy is one of the main Chalcedonian Christian branches, alongside Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.{{cite book |last=McAuliffe |first=Garrett |title=Culturally Alert Counseling: A Comprehensive Introduction |publisher=SAGE Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4129-1006-4 |page=532 |quote=About one-third of the world's population is considered Christian and can be divided into three main branches: (1) Roman Catholicism (the largest coherent group, representing over one billion baptized members); (2) Orthodox Christianity (including Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy); and (3) Protestantism (comprising many denominations and schools of thought, including Anglicanism, Reformed, Presbyterianism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism).}}{{cite book |last1=Mirola |first1=William |title=Religion Matters: What Sociology Teaches Us About Religion In Our World |last2=Monahan |first2=Susanne C. |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-317-34451-3 |location=London and New York City |quote=Orthodox Churches represent one of the three major branches of Christianity, along with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.}} Each Eastern Orthodox church considers itself part of the one true church, and pre-denominational. Though they consider themselves pre-denominational, being the original Church of Christ before 1054,{{Cite web |title=About the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |url=http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/about |access-date=2018-06-02 |website=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |language=en-US}} some scholars suggest the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches began after the East–West Schism.{{Cite web|title=Eastern and Orthodox by Tom Shoemaker|url=https://www.mesacc.edu/~thoqh49081/summer2014/270/modern.eastern-defining.html|access-date=2020-07-22|website=Mesa Community College}}{{dead link|date=February 2025}}{{Cite web|date=2020-04-06|title=Great Schism|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul16/great-schism/|access-date=2020-07-22|website=National Geographic Society|language=en}}{{dead link|date=February 2025}}

= Canonical Eastern Orthodox =

{{main|Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Church organization|Eastern Orthodox theology|Western Rite Orthodoxy}}

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. The Eastern Orthodox Church had about 230 million members {{As of|2019||lc=y}}, making it the second largest single denomination behind the Catholic Church.{{cite journal |title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century |journal=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |date=8 November 2017 |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/ |quote=Eastern Orthodoxy is split into 15 jurisdictions heavily centered in Central and Eastern Europe, accounting for the remaining 80% of Orthodox Christians.}}{{cite web |title=Status of Global Christianity, 2019, in the Context of 1900–2050 |url=https://www.gordonconwell.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2019/04/StatusofGlobalChristianity20191.pdf?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=61e708fc505ebdcc541080f01bc86d606e92aab2-1589420002-0-AcMl8cpc4FNVu7RCnuoWK3nxcwmlEm4V9QfWAfjPOcIB0VDb1wg85VqK1f0nUkewjZ3U_Q_-gARebR6LcHNaheVB67vhpLNhFSyv2p8XWiZROAxCIEvkWTl5KNZ5FyWaGEKLfvjyXuSYiPijFbe4xFEnpy6Nv9bw_ZysxxnKcy5rDRIZIit0aL2z-7yGUztA7J_QVRHmGLq5rPzbocH5xTDLnVYe-5WoKUBT7hqtyKvsdRcBhvYwqLzGICuk8nDyTjbStVGsF1Z6AGmRI2AQhUgPTCx9rKXTVA2Fk10tILqpglmbx6lSOrtU3evtoL-qsRp3DkY1vVx10o7S1-8zPlnKOf14ywcpYT9WLzDA5oGMi7TyuyN8SpiL9ZQZ8EdlZimdsFz4Lmlq5iLw_lPt4owbLKsshH4ukMmfKLcDarnv |publisher=Center for the Study of Global Christianity}}{{Cite news|url=http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm|title=Eastern Orthodox Church Denomination|author-first1=Mary|author-last1=Fairchild|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2018-09-04|archive-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605234938/http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm|url-status=dead}} Some of them have a disputed administrative status (i.e. their autonomy or autocephaly is not recognized universally). Eastern Orthodox churches by and large remain in communion with one another, although this has broken at times throughout its history. Two examples of impaired communion between the Orthodox churches include the Moscow–Constantinople schisms of 1996 and 2018.{{Cite web|title=Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church 8 November 2000 : Russian Orthodox Church (archive)|url=https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/se011081/|website=mospat.ru|access-date=2020-05-03|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143211/https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/se011081/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=CNEWA – The Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church|url=https://cnewa.org/redirect-magazine.php?ID=33&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=2|website=cnewa.org|access-date=2020-05-03}}{{Cite web|title=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|url=https://mospat.ru/en/2018/10/15/news165263/|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-03}}{{Cite news|last=MacFarquhar|first=Neil|date=2018-10-15|title=Russia Takes Further Step Toward Major Schism in Orthodox Church|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/world/europe/russia-orthodox-church.html|access-date=2020-05-03|issn=0362-4331}} There are also independent churches subscribing to the Eastern Orthodox traditions.

= Independent Eastern Orthodox =

{{Main|Eastern Orthodox Church organization#Unrecognized churches}}

These Eastern Orthodox churches are not in communion with the mainstream or canonical Eastern Orthodox Church. Some of these denominations consider themselves as part of True Orthodoxy or the Old Believers. True Orthodoxy, or Genuine Orthodoxy, separated from the mainstream church over issues of ecumenism and calendar reform since the 1920s;{{cite web|url=http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Drustvo/Ko-su-ziloti-pravoslavni-fundamentalisti.lt.html |title=Ko su ziloti, pravoslavni fundamentalisti |trans-title=Who are Zealots, Orthodox Fundamentalists |publisher=Politika |date=1 May 2010 |access-date=5 August 2014 |author=Beoković, Jelena}} and the Russian Old Believers refused to accept the liturgical and ritual changes made by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. Several Old Believer denominations have reunified with the Russian Orthodox Church and subsequent wider Eastern Orthodox communion.

== True Orthodoxy ==

==Other Orthodox movements==

Catholic

{{main|Catholic Church|Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites}}

{{further|List of heresies in the Catholic Church|List of Catholic rites and churches}}

The Catholic Church, or Roman Catholic Church, is composed of 24 autonomous sui iuris particular churches: the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. It considers itself the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church that Christ founded,{{cite web| url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html| title=Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church| publisher=Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith}} and which Saint Peter initiated along with the missionary work of Saint Paul and others. As such, the Catholic Church does not consider itself a denomination, but rather considers itself pre-denominational, the original Church of Christ.{{Cite web |title=On Christian Unity and Ecumenism |url=https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/encyclicals/on-christian-unity-and-ecumenism |access-date=2020-02-17 |website=Orthodox Church in America}}{{Cite web |title=Ecumenical |url=http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical-and-interreligious/ecumenical/index.cfm |access-date=2020-02-17 |website=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops}} Continuity is claimed based upon apostolic succession with the early Church.{{Cite book|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Vatican City: Catholic Church|year=2002|pages=77,861}} The Catholic population exceeds 1.4 billion {{As of|2025||lc=y}}, making up the majority of Western Christianity. Stemming from the one Roman Catholic institution, there exists several Independent Catholic churches which have expanded the Catholic denominational family, becoming Old and Old Roman Catholicism, and Liberal Catholics.

=Latin (Roman) Catholic=

The Latin Church is the largest and most widely known of the 24 sui iuris churches that together make up the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope—with headquarters in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, Italy. {{As of|2015}}, the Latin Church comprised 1.255 billion members.{{Cite web|url=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/04/06/170406e.html|title=The Pontifical Yearbook 2017 and the "Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae" 2015|website=press.vatican.va|access-date=2018-06-02}}

=Eastern (Oriental) Catholic=

All of the following are particular churches of the Catholic Church. They are all in communion with the Pope as Bishop of Rome and acknowledge his claim of universal jurisdiction and authority. 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).Anthony Dragani, [http://www.east2west.org/doctrine.htm#Purgatory From East to West] The Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church (which are united in the worldwide Catholic Church) share the same doctrine and sacraments, and thus the same faith. The total membership of the churches accounted for approximately 18 million members {{As of|2019|lc=y}}.{{Cite web|date=2019-03-07|title=The beautiful witness of the Eastern Catholic Churches|url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-beautiful-witness-of-the-eastern-catholic-churches/|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Catholic Herald|language=en-GB}}

;Alexandrian Rite

;Armenian Rite

Armenian Catholic Church

;Byzantine Rite

;East Syriac Rite

;West Syriac Rite

= Independent Catholic =

{{Further information|Independent sacramental movement|List of Independent Catholic denominations}}

Independent Catholics consists of those denominations embodying catholicity, and have initially separated from the Latin Church in 1724 through the consecrations of bishops for the present-day Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht without papal approval.{{Cite web |title=Dominique Marie Varlet |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG243536 |access-date=2020-09-06 |website=British Museum}}{{Cite book |last=Varlet |first=Dominique-Marie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpwfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP13 |title=Domestic Correspondence of Dominique-Marie Varlet: Bishop of Babylon 1678–1742 |date=1986-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-07671-6 |language=fr}} Largely distinguished by their rejection of papal infallibility and supremacy, most Independent Catholic churches are unrecognized by the Vatican, although their sacraments have been recognized as valid but illicit.{{Cite web |title=The Validity of Old Catholic Church Sacraments |url=https://www.catholic.com/qa/the-validity-of-old-catholic-church-sacraments |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=Catholic Answers}}

=Catholic movements=

Protestant

{{main|Protestantism|Reformation|List of the largest Protestant denominations}}

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. This period of time, known as the Reformation, began a series of events resulting over the next 500 years in several newly denominated churches (listed below). 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."Protestant, I.2.a" Oxford English Dictionary New denominations and organizations formed through further divisions within Protestant churches since the Reformation began. A denomination labeled "Protestant" subscribes to the fundamental Protestant principles—though not always—that is scripture alone, justification by faith alone, and the universal priesthood of believers.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lmsusa.org/sola.pdf|title=The "Solas" of the Reformation|website=Lmsusa.org}}

The majority of contemporary Protestants are members of Adventism, Anglicanism, the Baptist churches, Calvinism (Reformed Protestantism), Lutheranism, Methodism and Pentecostalism.{{Cite web|title=Christianity|url=https://www.history.com/topics/religion/history-of-christianity|access-date=2020-08-26|website=HISTORY|language=en}} Nondenominational, Evangelical, charismatic, neo-charismatic, independent, Convergence, and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity.[http://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/evangelical-churches World Council of Churches: Evangelical churches]: "Evangelical churches have grown exponentially in the second half of the 20th century and continue to show great vitality, especially in the global South. This resurgence may in part be explained by the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism and the emergence of the charismatic movement, which are closely associated with evangelicalism. However, there can be no doubt that the evangelical tradition "per se" has become one of the major components of world Christianity. Evangelicals also constitute sizable minorities in the traditional Protestant and Anglican churches. In regions like Africa and Latin America, the boundaries between "evangelical" and "mainline" are rapidly changing and giving way to new ecclesial realities."

This list gives only an overview, and certainly does not mention all of the Protestant denominations. The exact number of Protestant denominations, including the members of the denominations, is difficult to calculate and depends on definition. A group that fits the generally accepted definition of "Protestant" might not officially use the term. Therefore, it should be taken with caution. The most accepted figure among various authors and scholars includes around 900 million to a little over 1 billion Protestant Christians.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|title=Pewforum: Christianity (2010)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805020311/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|archive-date=5 August 2013|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |title=Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact |url=http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/1IBMR2015.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141543/http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/1IBMR2015.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2017 |website=Gordon Conwell}}

=Proto-Protestant=

Proto-Protestantism refers to movements similar to the Protestant Reformation, but before 1517, when Martin Luther (1483–1546) is reputed to have nailed the Ninety-Five-Theses to the church door. Major early Reformers were Peter Waldo (c. 1140–c. 1205), John Wycliffe (1320s–1384), and Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415). 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. In particular, the Utraquists were eventually accommodated as a separate Catholic rite by the papacy after a military attempt to end their movement failed. 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; the Waldensian Evangelical Church is a well known existing body in that tradition. The Hussites are presently represented in the Moravian Church, Unity of the Brethren and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

; Arnoldists

; Berengarians

; Devotio Moderna

Brethren of the Common Life

; Pataria

Waldensian Evangelical Church{{Div col end}}

=Lutheran=

Lutherans are a major branch of Protestantism, identifying with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer, and theologian. Lutheranism initially began as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church before the excommunication of its members. Lutherans are divided among High Church, Confessional, Pietist and Liberal churchmanships, though these can overlap, e.g. the Communion of Nordic Lutheran Dioceses is High Church and Confessional. The whole of Lutheranism had about 70-90 million members in 2018,{{Cite news |date=2013-05-19 |title=Member Churches |url=http://www.lutheranworld.org/content/member-churches |access-date=2018-09-05 |work=Lutheran World Federation |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.lutheran.org.nz/about-us/|title=About Us|website=Lutheran Church of New Zealand|language=en-NZ|access-date=2018-09-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-traditions/|title=Christian Traditions|date=2011-12-19|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-19}}{{Cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&q=%2260+million%22+lutherans+world&pg=PA1752|title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition [6 volumes]|last2=Baumann|first2=Martin|date=2010-09-21|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|language=en}} and its largest communion, the Lutheran World Federation, had a total of 78,431,111 members as of 2023, making it the sixth-largest communion.{{Cite web |title=The Lutheran World Federation – 2023 Membership Figures |url=https://lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/LWF%20Membership%20Statistics%202023%20-%20EN.pdf |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Lutheran World Federation}} The largest non-United Lutheran denomination was the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, an Eastern Protestant Christian group.{{Cite web|title=News and Events|url=http://eecmy.org/eecmy/en/news-events|access-date=2020-07-17|website=eecmy.org|archive-date=11 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211215408/http://eecmy.org/eecmy/en/news-events|url-status=dead}}

=Radical Pietist=

Those who separated from established Lutheran churches to form their own denominations are known as Radical Pietists (as opposed to Pietistic Lutherans, who remain in the Lutheran churches (such as the Church of the Lutheran Brethren) and combine its emphasis on Biblical doctrine with the importance of individual piety and living a holy Christian life.{{Cite web|title=Pietism and the Brethren|url=https://www.cob-net.org/pietism.htm|access-date=2020-07-17|website=www.cob-net.org}} Although the Radical Pietists broke with Lutheranism, its influence on Anglicanism, in particular John Wesley, led to the spawning of the Methodist movement.

=Reformed=

Calvinism, also known as the Reformed tradition or Reformed Protestantism is a movement which broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th century. Reformed Christianity is represented in the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, along with Reformed Anglican and Reformed Baptist denominations (the latter two are listed under the Anglican and Baptist sections of this article, respectively). Calvinism follows the theological traditions set down by John Calvin, John Knox and other Reformation-era theologians. Calvinists differ from Lutherans on the nature of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, theories of worship, and the use of God's law for believers, among other things. There are from 60 to 80 million Christians identifying as Reformed or Calvinist according to statistics gathered in 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://wcrc.ch/our-story/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027032357/http://wcrc.ch/our-story/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-10-27|title=About The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) :: World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)|date=2014-10-27|access-date=2018-09-04}}{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Andrew |title=Chinese Calvinism flourishes {{!}} Andrew Brown |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2009/may/27/china-calvin-christianity |website=The Guardian |date=27 May 2009}} Including only full members, the Reformed tradition's World Communion of Reformed Churches numbered 86,549,752 as of 2025.

==Continental Reformed churches==

==Presbyterianism==

==Congregationalism==

=Anglican=

Anglicanism or Episcopalianism has referred to itself as the via media between Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity,{{cite book|title=Anglican and Episcopal History|year=2003|publisher=Historical Society of the Episcopal Church|language=en|page=15|quote=Others had made similar observations, Patrick McGrath commenting that the Church of England was not a middle way between Roman Catholic and Protestant, but "between different forms of Protestantism," and William Monter describing the Church of England as "a unique style of Protestantism, a via media between the Reformed and Lutheran traditions." MacCulloch has described Cranmer as seeking a middle way between Zurich and Wittenberg but elsewhere remarks that the Church of England was "nearer Zurich and Geneva than Wittenberg.}} as well as between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.{{Cite web|title=Whatever happened to the Anglican Via Media?|url=https://anglicancompass.com/whatever-happened-to-the-anglican-via-media/|last=Bevins|first=Winfield|date=2018-01-30|website=Anglican Compass|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-03}}{{Cite web|title=Via Media|url=https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/via-media|date=2012-05-22|website=Episcopal Church|language=en|access-date=2020-05-03}} The majority of Anglicans consider themselves part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church within the Anglican Communion. Anglicans or Episcopalians also self-identify as both Catholic and Reformed. 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. Anglicans uniting in the Anglican Communion numbered over 85 million in 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/index.cfm|title=Member Churches|publisher=Anglican Communion Office|website=www.anglicancommunion.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-04}} Tabulating each Anglican Communion-member, it grew to more than 89,836,205 members as of 2025, remaining the third-largest Christian communion.

==Anglican Communion==

;United and Uniting churches

==Other Anglican churches and Continuing Anglican movement==

There are numerous churches following the Anglican tradition that are not in full communion with the Anglican Communion. Some churches split due to changes in the Book of Common Prayer and the ordination of women, forming Anglo-Catholic, Anglican Papal or Evangelical Anglican communities.{{Cite web|date=2015-01-31|title=Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen - Directory of Jurisdictions|url=http://www.anglicanchurches.net/jurisdictions.html|access-date=2020-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131140728/http://www.anglicanchurches.net/jurisdictions.html|archive-date=31 January 2015}} A select few of these churches are recognized by certain individual provinces of the Anglican Communion.

=Anabaptist=

The Anabaptists trace their origins to the Radical Reformation. Alternative to other early Protestants, Anabaptists were seen as an early offshoot of Protestantism, although the view has been challenged by some{{who|date=January 2022}} Anabaptists.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/winckelmannswerk01winc|title=Winckelmann's Werke|last=Winckelmann|first=Johann Joachim|date=1808|publisher=Walther|language=de}} There were approximately 2.1 million Anabaptists as of 2015. Anabaptists are categorized into Old Order Anabaptism (such as the Old Brethren German Baptist), Conservative Anabaptism (such as the Pilgrim Mennonite Conference, Beachy Amish and Dunkard Brethren Church), and mainline/assimilated Anabaptism.

;Schwarzenau Brethren

;Other Anabaptists

=Baptist=

{{see also|List of Baptist confessions|List of Baptist denominations|List of Reformed Baptist denominations}}

Baptists emerged in 1609 under the teachings of John Smyth, and along with Methodism, grew in size and influence after they sailed to the New World (the remaining Puritans who traveled to the New World were Congregationalists). Some Baptists fit strongly with the Reformed tradition theologically but not denominationally. Some Baptists also adopt presbyterian and episcopal forms of governance. In 2018, there were about 75-105 million Baptists.{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-protestant.aspx|title=Christian Traditions (Protestant)|date=2011-12-19|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=2018-09-04|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=http://community.christianemergencynetwork.org/emergency-directory/business/alliances/baptist-world-alliance|title=Baptist World Alliance|last=McHatton|first=Misti|website=community.christianemergencynetwork.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-09-04|archive-date=19 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819083138/http://community.christianemergencynetwork.org/emergency-directory/business/alliances/baptist-world-alliance|url-status=dead}} Of the Baptist demographic, 53 million are part of the Baptist World Alliance as of 2023, the seventh-largest Christian communion.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-18 |title=Members |url=https://baptistworld.org/members/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Baptist World Alliance |language=en-US}}

==Baptist movements==

=Methodist=

{{further|Holiness movement|Wesleyan theology|Conservative holiness movement}}

The Methodist movement emerged out the work of Anglican priest John Wesley, who taught a personal conversion to Christ (the New Birth) and holiness of heart.{{cite web |last1=Danker |first1=Ryan N. |title=A Wesleyan Account of Sanctifying Grace |url=https://seedbed.com/a-wesleyan-account-of-sanctifying-grace/ |publisher=Seedbed |access-date=1 July 2024 |date=15 February 2024}} Calling it "the grand depositum" of the Methodist faith, Wesley specifically taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification was the reason that God raised up the Methodists in the world. While some Methodists retained the episcopacy (such as the Free Methodist Church, Global Methodist Church and United Methodist Church), others, such as the Congregational Methodist Church have a congregational polity. Methodists were among the first Christians to accept women's ordination since the Montanists. Some 60-80 million Christians are Methodists, and 33,679,626 were members of the World Methodist Council as of 2024 (the eighth-largest communion).{{Cite news|url=http://worldmethodistcouncil.org/about/member-churches/|title=Member Churches|date=2012-08-20|work=World Methodist Council|access-date=2018-09-04|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/membership|title=Membership|website=www.methodist.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-09-04}} The holiness movement emerged within Methodism in the 19th-century.{{efn-ua|The vast majority of denominations aligned with the holiness movement are Methodist, with the largest ones belonging to the World Methodist Council, such as the Free Methodist Church, Global Methodist Church, Wesleyan Methodist Church, and the Church of the Nazarene, along with a significant holiness contingent in other Methodist denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The holiness movement did affect other non-Methodist denominations as well, including Anabaptists, Baptists, Quakers and Restorationists; the Brethren in Christ Church is an example of a River Brethren Anabaptist denomination aligned with the holiness movement, while the Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is an example of a Quaker denomination aligned with the holiness movement.{{cite book |last1=Angell |first1=Stephen W. |last2=Dandelion |first2=Pink |last3=Watt |first3=David Harrington |title=The Creation of Modern Quaker Diversity, 1830–1937 |date=28 April 2023 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-09576-9 |page=6 |language=en}} For those denominations, see the relevant section, such as those discussing Anabaptism and Quakerism.}} {{As of|2015}}, churches of the movement had an estimated 12 million adherents.{{Cite web |title=Holiness churches |url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/holiness-churches |access-date=2018-09-05 |website=World Council of Churches |language=en}} As Methodist denominations have historically preached two works of grace taught by John Wesley, (1) New Birth and (2) entire sanctification, and many denominations aligned with the holiness movement use Methodist in their name, it is difficult to draw a line between Holiness Methodist denominations and those not aligned with the holiness movement.{{cite web |title=Holiness Family |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/chapter-8-holiness-family |publisher=Infonautics |access-date=3 July 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Sanders |first1=Fred |title=Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love |date=31 August 2013 |publisher=Crossway |isbn=978-1-4335-2487-5 |page=209 |language=en |quote=Wesley's understanding of the normative Christian experience was that after conversion, believers would have a gradual expansion of their knowledge and understanding of their own sin and of God's holiness. With the regenerate nature working within them, the increasing awareness of spiritual reality would produce a mounting tension, with greater grief over sin an greater desire to be delivered from it. Then, at a time and in a manner that pleased him, God would answer the Christian's faithful prayer for a deliverance from indwelling sin. Wesley thought this change happened in a moment, just like regeneration itself, although Methodists reported different levels of awareness of it: "an instantaneous change has been wrought in some believers," but "in some...they did not perceive the instant when it was wrought." The pattern was event-process-event-process; conversion, gradual growth, entire sanctification, then more gradual growth. Concluding his 1764 review of the subject, Wesley wrote, "All our Preachers should make a point of preaching perfection to believers constantly, strongly, and explicitly; and all believers should mind this one thing, and continually agonize for it." An in letters through the 1770s, we hear Wesley urging that: "Never be ashamed of the old Methodist doctrine. Press all believers to go on to perfection. Insist everywhere on the second blessing as receivable now, by simple faith." There are several threads woven together in the Wesleyan teaching on Christian perfection. Everything Wesley has taught about the distinction between justification and sanctification, of regeneration as initial sanctification, and about the Christian life as being normed and formed by the law comes together here. To this are joined new threads such as the idea of a second definite work of grace subsequent to conversion, and the need to ask God for that second blessing. But the dominant theme in Wesley's teaching on Christian perfection is the renewed heart.}} For example, the Free Methodist Church and the Church of the Nazarene are widely regarded as being aligned with the holiness movement and are core members of the World Methodist Council, along with denominations with mixed churchmanship, such as the United Methodist Church.{{cite book |last1=Fahlbusch |first1=Erwin |last2=Bromiley |first2=Geoffrey William |title=The Encyclopedia of Christianity |date=1999 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2415-8 |page=513 |language=en |quote=Some denominations belonging to the World Methodist Council are international in character. These bodies are the United Methodist Church, Wesleyan Church, Free Methodist Church, Church of the Nazarene, and three historic black denominations—the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and Christian Methodist Episcopal Churches.}}

==Albright Brethren==

The Albright Brethren were organized under the leadership of Jacob Albright, who converted to Methodism and preached to German-speaking people. Although the majority of the Albright Brethren merged with the United Brethren, two extant bodies continue today:

=Evening Light=

Churches of the Evening Light Reformation in 1880 emerged under the direction of Daniel Sidney Warner, and while they emerged under the influence of the holiness movement, they adhere to a position of antidenominationalism.{{cite book |last1=Goff |first1=Philip |title=The Blackwell Companion to Religion in America |date=25 March 2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-2409-9 |page=574 |language=en}} Classified as Holiness Restorationists, the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) was the original work founded by Warner and its conservative holiness offshoot is the Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma).{{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |title=The Encyclopedia of American Religions |date=1987 |publisher=Gale Research Company |isbn=978-0-8103-2133-5 |page=287 |language=English |quote=In doctrine and practice the Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma) is almost identical with the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), but it is stricter in its practice of holiness and refusal to compromise with the world.}} While the Church of God (Restoration) is listed here, it is distinguished from the two aforementioned bodies by unique doctrines that have taken it in a direction of its own.{{cite book |title=Indianapolis Monthly |date=2005 |publisher=Emmis Communications |page=256-257 |language=en}}

=Keswickian=

The Higher Life movement emerged in the United Kingdom and emphasized the importance of sanctification, "the deeper and higher life".{{cite book |last1=Sanner |first1=A. Elwood |last2=Harper |first2=Albert Foster |title=Exploring Christian Education |date=1978 |publisher=Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City |isbn=978-0-8341-0494-5 |page=101 |language=en}} It became popularized through the Keswick Conventions; W.E. Boardman's Keswickian theology had an influence on A.B. Simpson, who established the Christian and Missionary Alliance.{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Stanley M. |last2=Maas |first2=Eduard M. van der |title=The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements: Revised and Expanded Edition |date=3 August 2010 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-87335-8 |language=English |quote=A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), influenced by A.J. Gordon and W.E. Boardman, adopted a Keswickian understanding of sanctification.}}

=Quaker=

Quakers, or Friends, originated under the work of George Fox, who taught personal conversion to Christ, along with the doctrine of Christian perfection.Dandelion, Pink, 'Who are the Quakers?', The Quakers: A Very Short Introduction, Very Short Introductions (Oxford, 2008; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Sept. 2013){{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Kathleen Anne |title=The York Retreat in the Light of the Quaker Way: Moral Treatment Theory: Humane Therapy Or Mind Control? |date=1992 |publisher=William Sessions |isbn=978-1-85072-089-8 |language=en|quote=On the other hand, Fox believed that perfectionism and freedom from sin were possible in this world.}} The Friends have historically held that Christians are guided by the inward light to "make the witness of God" known to everyone.{{cite book|last=Hodge|first=Charles|title=Systematic Theology|date=12 March 2015|publisher=Delmarva Publications, Inc.|language=en|page=137|quote=This spiritual illumination is peculiar to the true people of God; the inward light, in which the Quakers believe, is common to all men. The design and effect of the "inward light" are the communication of new truth, or of truth not objectively revealed, as well as the spiritual discernment of the truths of Scripture. The design and effect of spiritual illumination are the proper apprehension of truth already speculatively known. Secondly. By the inner light the orthodox Quakers understand the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit, concerning which they teach, – (1.) That it is given to all men. (2.) That it not only convinces of sin, and enables the soul to apprehend aright the truths of Scripture, but also communicates a knowledge of "the mysteries of salvation." ... The orthodox Friends teach concerning this inward light, as has been already shown, that it is subordinate to the Holy Scriptures, inasmuch as the Scriptures are the infallible rule of faith and practice, and everything contrary thereto is to be rejected as false and destructive.}}

==Shaker==

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing was founded by Jane Wardley, Ann Lee, and Lucy Wright in 1747. At present, one active Shaker community remains, the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village.{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Kevin |title=A few good Shakers wanted |url=https://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/3/last-shakers-hope-novice-can-revive-communal-society.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625182454/https://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/3/last-shakers-hope-novice-can-revive-communal-society.html |date=3 May 2015|archivedate=25 June 2016}}

=Plymouth Brethren=

{{main|Plymouth Brethren}}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.{{Cite web|url=http://brethrenonline.org/faqs/Brethren.htm|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160518150855/http://brethrenonline.org/faqs/Brethren.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 May 2016|title=Arquivo.pt|website=arquivo.pt|access-date=2020-04-19}}

Exclusive Brethren
Indian Brethren
Kerala Brethren Assembly
Open Brethren
Church Assembly Hall, one of the Chinese Independent Churches
Gospel Hall Brethren or Gospel Hall Assemblies
Needed Truth Brethren or The Churches of God

=Irvingist=

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.{{Cite web|title=Catholic Apostolic Church|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0810873.html#axzz0xIH0GuVx|access-date=2018-09-05|website=InfoPlease|language=en}}

=Pentecostal and Charismatic=

Pentecostalism and Charismatic Christianity began in the 1900s. The two movements emphasize direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. They represent some of the largest growing movements in Protestant Christianity.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2006/10/05/spirit-and-power/|title=Spirit and Power - A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals|date=2006-10-05|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-19}} Pentecostalism is divided between its original branch, Holiness Pentecostalism (which teaches three works of grace) and Finished Work Pentecostalism (which views sanctification only in a progressive manner). Oneness Pentecostalism, which rejects the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, split from Finished Work Pentecostalism and is covered in its own section in this article. The charismatic movement was established within historic denominational traditions due to influence from Pentecostalism, e.g. the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Roman Catholicism. According to the Pew Research Center, Pentecostals and Charismatics numbered some 280 million people in 2011.

==Holiness Pentecostalism==

==Finished Work Pentecostalism==

==Charismatics==

==Neo-charismatic movement==

=Convergence=

The Convergence Movement originated from "The Chicago Call" in 1977, urging evangelical Protestants to reconnect with the liturgical historic roots of the Christian Church.Hopkins, Joseph (April 21, 1978). "Schism in the Order". Christianity Today. Vol. 22 no. 14. p. 45. It emphasizes the convergence of sacramental, evangelical, and charismatic streams;{{Cite book|last1=Kurian|first1=George Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73xfDQAAQBAJ&q=The+Three+Streams%2C+One+River%3F+September+1984&pg=PA630|title=Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States|last2=Lamport|first2=Mark A.|date=2016-11-10|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-4432-0|language=en}} promoting biblical fidelity, creedal identity, and church unity.

=Uniting and united=

These united or uniting churches are the result of a merger between distinct denominational churches (e.g., Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians and the Continental Reformed churches). As ecumenism progresses, unions between various Protestants are becoming more and more common, resulting in a growing number of united and uniting churches. Major examples of uniting churches are the United Protestant Church of France (2013) and the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (2004).{{Cite web |title=United Protestant Church of France |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/united-protestant-church-of-france |access-date=2020-07-17 |website=World Council of Churches |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=January 1948 |title=Protestant Church in the Netherlands |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/protestant-church-in-the-netherlands |access-date=2020-07-17 |website=World Council of Churches |language=en}} Churches are listed here when their disparate heritage marks them as inappropriately listed in the particular categories above.

=Stone–Campbellite =

Nondenominational Christianity arose in the 18th century through the Stone–Campbell Movement, with followers organizing themselves simply as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ".{{efn-ua|The first nondenominational Christian churches which emerged through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement are tied to associations such as the Churches of Christ or the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).{{cite web |last1=Barnett |first1=Joe R. |title=Who are the Churches of Christ |url=https://www.southsidehopkinsville.com/who-are-the-churches-of-christ/ |publisher=Southside Church of Christ |access-date=7 December 2020 |language=en |date=2020 |quote=Not A Denomination: For this reason, we are not interested in man-made creeds, but simply in the New Testament pattern. We do not conceive of ourselves as being a denomination–nor as Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish—but simply as members of the church which Jesus established and for which he died. And that, incidentally, is why we wear his name. The term “church of Christ” is not used as a denominational designation, but rather as a descriptive term indicating that the church belongs to Christ.}}}}{{cite book |title=The Journal of American History |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=1400 |language=en |quote=Richard T. Hughes, professor of religion at Pepperdine University, argues that the Churches of Christ built a corporate identity around "restoration" of the primitive church and the corresponding belief that their congregations represented a nondenominational Christianity.}}{{cite book |last1=Hughes |first1=Richard Thomas |last2=Roberts |first2=R. L. |title=The Churches of Christ |date=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-23312-8 |page=63 |language=en|quote=Barton Stone was fully prepared to ally himself with Alexander Campbell in an effort to promote nondenominational Christianity, though it is evident that the two men came to this emphasis by very different routes.}}{{cite book |last1=Cherok |first1=Richard J. |title=Debating for God: Alexander Campbell's Challenge to Skepticism in Antebellum America |date=14 June 2011 |publisher=ACU Press |isbn=978-0-89112-838-0 |language=en |quote=Later proponents of Campbell's views would refer to themselves as the “Restoration Movement” because of the Campbellian insistence on restoring Christianity to its New Testament form. ... Added to this mix were the concepts of American egalitarianism, which gave rise to his advocacy of nondenominational individualism and local church autonomy, and Christian primitivism, which led to his promotion of such early church practices as believer's baptism by immersion and the weekly partaking of the Lord's Supper.}} The Stone–Campbell Movement was led by Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell.

= Adventism =

Adventism originated from the work of William Miller, who preached the end of the world and the second coming of Christ in 1843/44.{{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Robert J. |title=Adventism Confronts Modernity: An Account of the Advent Christian Controversy over the Bible's Inspiration |date=16 February 2017 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-9526-0 |page=7 |language=en}} After the Great Disappointment, this year was reinterpreted by Adventists as being the start of the investigative judgment.{{cite web |last1=MacPherson |first1=Anthony |title=Investigative Judgment |url=https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=7FOL |publisher=Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists |access-date=4 July 2024 |date=26 September 2022}}

Millerites

; Sunday observing

;Saturday observing

;Other Adventist

= Nondenominational and other Evangelicals =

{{Main|Nondenominational Christianity|Evangelicalism}} The term Evangelical appears with the Reformation and reblossoms in the 18th and 19th centuries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/evangelical-christianity-begin/|title=When Did Evangelical Christianity Begin?|last=Kidd|first=Thomas|website=The Gospel Coalition|date=20 March 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-30}} Evangelical Protestantism modernly understood is an inter-denominational Protestant movement which maintains the belief that the essence of the Gospel consists of the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ's atonement.{{Cite web|url=http://www.operationworld.org/glossary|title=Glossary {{!}} Operation World|website=www.operationworld.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-06}}

== International Evangelicalism ==

==African Evangelicalism==

=== P'ent'ay ===

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. 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" ({{transliteration|am|dagem meweled}}).{{Cite web|url=http://www.ecfethiopia.org/index.htm|title=Evangelical Church Fellowship of Ethiopia|website=www.ecfethiopia.org|access-date=2019-07-19}} Its members make up a significant portion of the 2 million Eastern Protestant tradition.

=Eastern Protestant=

These churches resulted from a post–1800s reformation of Eastern Christianity, in line with Protestant beliefs and practices.

=Defunct Protestant churches and movements=

These are protestant denominations, movements and organizations that existed historically, but no longer exist in modern times.

=Other Protestant churches and movements=

These are denominations, movements, and organizations deriving from mainstream Protestantism but are not classifiable under historic or current Protestant movements nor as parachurch organizations.

Miscellaneous

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.

= Christian Identitist =

=Esoteric Christianity=

==Neo-Gnostic==

=Judeo-Christian=

==Messianic Judaism==

=Nontrinitarian{{anchor|Nontrinitarian}}=

These groups or organizations diverge from historic trinitarian theology (usually based on the Council of Nicaea) with different interpretations of Nontrinitarianism.

== Bible Students and splinter groups ==

==Christian Science==

==Latter Day Saint movement==

{{see also|List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement|Mormonism and Christianity}}

Most Latter Day Saint denominations are derived from the Church of Christ established by Joseph Smith in 1830. The largest worldwide denomination of this movement, and the one publicly recognized as Mormonism, is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some sects, known as the "Prairie Saints", broke away because they did not recognize Brigham Young as the head of the church, and did not follow him West in the mid-1800s. Other sects broke away over the abandonment of practicing plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto. Other denominations are defined by either a belief in Joseph Smith as a prophet or acceptance of the Book of Mormon as scripture. The Latter Day Saints comprise over 17 million members collectively.

Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)

==Swedenborgianism==

==Unitarianism and Universalism==

American Unitarian Association (consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association and Unitarian Universalism)
Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship
International Council of Unitarians and Universalists
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
Unitarian Christian Association
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Unitarisk Kirkesamfund
Socinianism
Polish Brethren
Unitarian Christian Conference USA
Unitarian Christian Emerging Church
Universalist Church of America (consolidated with the American Unitarian Association to form the Unitarian Universalist Association and Unitarian Universalism)

== Oneness Pentecostalism ==

== Other Nontrinitarians==

=Chinese salvationist and other East Asian=

=Southcottist=

=Other=

Parachurch

Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that work outside and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism. These organizations are not churches but work with churches or represent a coalition of churches.

Ideologies

A Christian movement is a theological, political, or philosophical interpretation of Christianity that is not necessarily represented by a specific church, sect, or denomination.

= British Israelism =

Armstrongism (Worldwide Church of God)
British-Israel-World Federation
Church of God International (United States)
Intercontinental Church of God
Living Church of God
Philadelphia Church of God
Restored Church of God
United Church of God
United Seventh-Day Brethren

Syncretic

The relation of these movements to other Christian ideas can be remote. They are listed here because they include some elements of Christian practice or beliefs, within religious contexts which may be only loosely characterized as Christian.

=African diaspora religions=

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. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam. Examples incorporating elements of Christianity include but are not limited to:

Candomblé
Rastafari
Santería
Santo Daime
Umbanda
Voodoo
Brazilian Vodum
Tambor de Mina, a syncretic religion that developed in northern Brazil
Cuban Vodú
Dominican Vudú
Haitian Vodou
Hoodoo
Louisiana Voodoo

=New Thought=

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.

=Other syncretists=

Other Christian or Christian-influenced syncretic traditions and movements include:

Alleluia church
Aymara spirituality
Bedwardism
Bwiti (Some sects)
Burkhanism
Cao Đài
Chrislam
Christian ashram movement
Christopaganism
Christian Wicca
Cults of many folk saints such as Santa Muerte and Maximón
Dōkai
Figurism
Folk Christianity
Cunning folk tradition
Latter Day Saint cunning folk tradition
Folk Catholicism
Folk Orthodoxy
Ghost Dance
Holy Spirit Movement
Indian Shakers
Kakure Kirishitans
Legio Maria
Lisu Christianity
Longhouse Religion
Lumpa Church
Mama Tata
Modekngei
Native American Church
Pai Mārire and other syncretic Māori religions
Pilgrims of Arès
Pomio Kivung
Raramuri religion
Rizalista religious movements
Sinochristianity
Ubuntu
Xueta Christianity
Yaqui religion

Historical movements with strong syncretic influence from Christianity but no active modern membership include

References

=Notes=

=Citations=

List of Former Christian Denominations