Catholic~33 AD
Roman Catholic
📍 Jerusalem, Roman Empire
The original apostolic church. Centred on the Eucharist, the papacy, and sacred tradition.
Learn moreFree Resource
Denomination Explorer
Christianity is not one tradition. It is a family shaped by centuries of faith, geography, and the many ways people have met God. Explore the full family here. All branches. No judgment.
Catholic~1724 (formal union with Rome)
Melkite Greek Catholic
📍 Syria, Lebanon, Palestine
Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine rite in full communion with Rome.
Learn moreCatholic~5th century (St Maron); continuous communion with Rome
Maronite
📍 Syria / Lebanon (Mount Lebanon)
Lebanon's ancient mountain church - never separated from Rome.
Learn moreOrthodox~1054 (Great Schism formalised)
Eastern Orthodox
📍 Byzantine Empire (Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria)
Ancient Christianity preserved in the East. Deep liturgy, icons, and theosis.
Learn moreOrthodox~42 AD
Coptic Orthodox
📍 Alexandria, Egypt
Egypt's ancient apostolic church, founded by the Apostle Mark.
Learn moreOrthodox~301 AD (state church)
Armenian Apostolic
📍 Armenia (modern Turkey/Armenia)
The world's oldest national church, founded by Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew.
Learn moreOrthodox~37 AD (Antioch); Jacobite identity ~543 AD
Syriac Orthodox (Jacobite)
📍 Antioch, Syria
Ancient Aramaic church tracing origins to Antioch and the Apostle Peter.
Learn moreOrthodox~1st–2nd century AD
Church of the East (Assyrian)
📍 Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Iran)
The ancient Eastern church of Mesopotamia - Christianity in the Persian Empire.
Learn moreOrthodox~330 AD (state church)
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
📍 Axum, Ethiopia
Africa's ancient apostolic church - 81-book canon, Ge'ez liturgy, and the Ark of the Covenant.
Learn moreOrthodox1666–1667 (Great Schism from Russian Orthodoxy)
Old Believers (Raskolniki)
📍 Russia
Preserving the pre-Nikonian Russian Orthodox rites against all reform.
Learn moreProtestant1517
Lutheran
📍 Wittenberg, Germany
Born from Martin Luther's reformation. Salvation by grace through faith alone.
Learn moreProtestant1536–1560
Reformed / Presbyterian
📍 Geneva, Switzerland; Scotland
Calvin's legacy: God's sovereignty, covenant theology, and Presbyterian governance.
Learn moreProtestant1738 (Wesley's conversion); formally 1784
Methodist
📍 England
John Wesley's movement of grace, holiness, and social action.
Learn moreProtestant1525
Mennonite
📍 Zurich, Switzerland
Radical Reformation heirs: peace, believers' baptism, and simple discipleship.
Learn moreProtestant1693
Amish
📍 Alsace (France/Germany border); now primarily Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, USA
Radical separation from the world: horse and buggy, plain dress, and Gelassenheit.
Learn moreProtestant1647–1652
Quaker (Religious Society of Friends)
📍 England (Midlands and North)
Silent waiting on God: no clergy, no creed, no sacraments.
Learn moreProtestant1832
Disciples of Christ
📍 American frontier (Kentucky and Virginia)
Unity, freedom, and weekly communion - the moderate Stone-Campbell tradition.
Learn moreProtestant~1173
Waldensian
📍 Lyon, France; Piedmont valleys, Italy
Medieval proto-Reformers who survived centuries of persecution in the Alpine valleys.
Learn moreProtestant~1415
Hussite / Czech Brethren
📍 Bohemia (Czech Republic)
Jan Hus's reform movement - the first to break with Rome before Luther.
Learn moreProtestant1457 (Unitas Fratrum); renewed 1722 (Herrnhut)
Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum)
📍 Bohemia (Czech Republic); renewed at Herrnhut, Saxony
The Renewed Brethren: mission, joy, and the Lamb of God.
Learn moreProtestant1843
Free Church of Scotland
📍 Scotland
The Disruption of 1843: when Scottish ministers chose conscience over Crown.
Learn moreAnglican1534
Anglican / Episcopal
📍 England
The via media - a comprehensive church bridging Catholic tradition and Protestant theology.
Learn moreEvangelical~1609
Baptist
📍 Amsterdam, Netherlands (English Separatists); spread to England and America
Scripture alone, believer's baptism by immersion, congregational governance.
Learn moreEvangelical1863
Seventh-day Adventist
📍 Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
Saturday Sabbath, healthy living, and the imminent return of Christ.
Learn moreEvangelical~1906 (formal separation)
Churches of Christ (a cappella)
📍 Southern USA (Tennessee, Texas)
Scripture only: no instruments in worship, no creed, believer's baptism for salvation.
Learn moreEvangelical~1927 (identified as distinct body)
Christian Churches (Independent)
📍 USA (Midwest)
Instrumental Stone-Campbell conservatives: direct New Testament Christianity.
Learn moreEvangelical~1860s
Stundists
📍 Ukraine (Odessa region), Russian Empire
Ukrainian Protestant movement born from German pietist Bible hours.
Learn moreEvangelical~1970s–present
Non-denominational Evangelical
📍 USA (primarily); now global
Bible-believing, Jesus-centred Christianity without traditional denominational labels.
Learn moreEvangelical1831
Plymouth Brethren
📍 Plymouth, England; Dublin, Ireland
No clergy, no creed: just the Lord's Table and Scripture exposition.
Learn moreEvangelical1908
Church of the Nazarene (Holiness)
📍 Pilot Point, Texas, USA
Entire sanctification: Wesley's second blessing in the American heartland.
Learn moreEvangelical1865
Salvation Army
📍 East London, England
An army for God: evangelism, soup kitchens, and no sacraments.
Learn morePentecostal1901–1906 (Azusa Street Revival); Assemblies of God 1914
Pentecostal (Assemblies of God)
📍 Topeka, Kansas; Los Angeles, USA
Spirit baptism, speaking in tongues, healing, and revival fire.
Learn moreOther1787
Swedenborgian (New Jerusalem Church)
📍 England (organised); Sweden (Swedenborg's origins)
Heaven opened: Swedenborg's visionary theology of correspondences.
Learn moreOther1838
Christadelphian
📍 England / USA
No immortal soul, no Trinity: Bible truth as first-century Christians understood it.
Learn moreOther1747 (England); 1774 (USA)
Shakers (United Society of Believers)
📍 Manchester, England; then New England, USA
Celibacy, communal life, and worship through ecstatic dance and craftsmanship.
Learn moreOther1785
Rappites (Harmonists)
📍 Württemberg, Germany; Pennsylvania and Indiana, USA
German perfectionist communalists who built Harmony, Pennsylvania.
Learn moreOther~1750s
Doukhobors
📍 Russia (Ukraine, Caucasus); emigrated to Canada 1899
Spirit-wrestlers: inner light, pacifism, and rejection of all external authority.
Learn moreOther~1765
Molokans
📍 Volga region and Caucasus, Russia; later California and Armenia
Russian milk-drinkers: Bible alone, no clergy, no fasting rules.
Learn moreProtestant1528
Hutterite
📍 Moravia (Czech Republic); now South Dakota, Alberta, Manitoba
Radical communalism: all things held in common on farming colonies across North America.
Learn moreProtestant1708
Church of the Brethren (Dunkers)
📍 Schwarzenau, Germany; emigrated to Pennsylvania 1719–1729
Triple-immersion baptism, love feasts, and Anabaptist-Pietist pacifism.
Learn moreEvangelical1827
Primitive Baptist
📍 Southern USA
Old-school Calvinist Baptists: no Sunday schools, no paid ministers, no instruments.
Learn moreProtestant1620 (Pilgrim roots); UCC formed 1957
Congregationalist (United Church of Christ)
📍 England; Plymouth Colony, New England, USA
Puritan covenant theology, Mayflower pilgrims, and locally governed churches.
Learn moreEvangelical1860
Free Methodist Church
📍 Pekin, New York, USA
Free pews, free slaves, free grace - the abolitionist breakaway from Methodism.
Learn moreEvangelical1968 (merger); roots in 1843
Wesleyan Church
📍 Indiana, USA
Holiness, social action, and entire sanctification in the Wesleyan tradition.
Learn moreEvangelical1881
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
📍 Anderson, Indiana, USA
No membership roll, no creed - just the restored New Testament Church.
Learn moreEvangelical1887
Christian Missionary Alliance (C&MA)
📍 New York City, USA
A.B. Simpson's Fourfold Gospel: Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer, Coming King.
Learn moreEvangelical~1770s
Brethren in Christ
📍 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA
Where Anabaptist, Pietist, and Holiness streams converge.
Learn moreProtestant1628
Reformed Church in America
📍 New Amsterdam (New York City), Dutch colony
America's oldest Protestant denomination - Dutch Calvinist since 1628.
Learn morePentecostal1897
Church of God in Christ (COGIC)
📍 Memphis, Tennessee, USA
The largest Black Pentecostal church: holiness, healing, and the Holy Ghost.
Learn moreOther1945
United Pentecostal Church International (Oneness)
📍 Hazelwood, Missouri, USA
Jesus Only: one God, baptism in Jesus's name, and the fullness of the Spirit.
Learn morePentecostal1974 (Kenn Gulliksen); expanded 1982 (John Wimber)
Vineyard Churches
📍 Southern California, USA
Third Wave charismatic: healing, words of knowledge, and the Kingdom breaking in.
Learn morePentecostal1923
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
📍 Los Angeles, California, USA
Aimee Semple McPherson's Foursquare Gospel: Saviour, Baptiser, Healer, Coming King.
Learn moreOther1863
New Apostolic Church
📍 Hamburg, Germany
The restored apostolic office: a living Chief Apostle as God's mouthpiece on earth.
Learn moreOrthodox~52 AD (apostolic tradition); reformed 1836
Mar Thoma Church (Thomas Christians)
📍 Kerala, India
St Thomas's ancient Indian church meets the Protestant Reformation.
Learn moreOther~1884–1910 (various founders)
African Zionist / Independent Churches (AICs)
📍 South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya, East Africa
The largest African Christian movement: Spirit, healing, prophecy, and indigenous worship.
Learn moreProtestant1811
Primitive Methodist
📍 Mow Cop, Staffordshire, England
Camp meetings, outdoor preaching, and the religion of the common worker.
Learn moreOther1848
Exclusive Brethren (Plymouth Brethren II / PBCC)
📍 England (J.N. Darby's breakaway from Plymouth)
Absolute separation: no fellowship, eating, or worship with those outside the circle.
Learn morePentecostal1886
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
📍 Cherokee County, North Carolina; Cleveland, Tennessee, USA
America's oldest Pentecostal denomination: holiness, tongues, and divine healing.
Learn more⛪
Pentecostal (Assemblies of God)
Pentecostal1901–1906 (Azusa Street Revival); Assemblies of God 1914
📍 Topeka, Kansas; Los Angeles, USA
🌍 ~650 million (Pentecostal and Charismatic broadly)
Origin
Modern Pentecostalism traces to Charles Parham's Bible school in Topeka (1901) and the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles (1906) led by William Seymour. Believers experienced 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The Assemblies of God formed in 1914. Pentecostalism is now the fastest-growing segment of global Christianity.
Core beliefs
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit as a second blessing, evidenced by speaking in tongues
- Divine healing through prayer as part of Christ's atonement
- Premillennial eschatology (rapture, tribulation, millennium)
- Full Gospel: Saved, Spirit-filled, Healed, and Coming King
- Spiritual gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing) operative today
Worship style
Exuberant, expressive worship with contemporary music, raised hands, dancing, and prayer for healing. Altar calls, tongues-speaking, and prophecy common. Strong revival culture.
Key scriptures
- Acts 2:4
- Acts 2:38–39
- Mark 16:17–18
- 1 Corinthians 12:7–11
Relationship to other denominations
Emerged from the Holiness Movement and Methodism. The Charismatic movement brought similar gifts into mainline Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches from the 1960s onward.