Evangelical~1609
Baptist
📍 Amsterdam, Netherlands (English Separatists); spread to England and America
Scripture alone, believer's baptism by immersion, congregational governance.
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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.
Evangelical1863
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.
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Salvation Army
📍 East London, England
An army for God: evangelism, soup kitchens, and no sacraments.
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Primitive Baptist
📍 Southern USA
Old-school Calvinist Baptists: no Sunday schools, no paid ministers, no instruments.
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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.
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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.
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Primitive Baptists separated from mainstream Baptists in 1827 in reaction against missionary societies, Sunday schools, and other 'innovations' not explicitly commanded in the New Testament. Strongly Calvinist, they hold to the absolute sovereignty of God in election and salvation. They maintain strict practices: no paid ministers, no instruments in worship, a cappella singing by the method of 'lining out,' and footwashing as a church ordinance.
Core beliefs
- Strict five-point Calvinist soteriology: God sovereignly elects who will be saved
- No paid ministry: elders serve bivocationally without salary
- Rejection of Sunday schools and missionary societies as human innovations
- Footwashing as a church ordinance alongside baptism and Lord's Supper
- Predestination: the saved were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world
Worship style
Extremely austere: a cappella lining-out of hymns (elder sings a line, congregation repeats), lengthy extemporaneous preaching, and footwashing services. Long periods of Spirit-led spontaneity, no printed bulletins, no written sermons. Sometimes called 'Hardshell' or 'Old School' Baptists.
Key scriptures
- Romans 8:28–30
- Ephesians 1:4–5
- John 6:37
- Acts 13:48
Relationship to other denominations
The most theologically conservative and liturgically austere wing of the Baptist tradition. Distinct from Regular Baptists, Southern Baptists, and all missionary Baptist bodies by their strict anti-institutionalism.