Other1787
Swedenborgian (New Jerusalem Church)
📍 England (organised); Sweden (Swedenborg's origins)
Heaven opened: Swedenborg's visionary theology of correspondences.
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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.
Other1838
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.
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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 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 moreOther1863
New Apostolic Church
📍 Hamburg, Germany
The restored apostolic office: a living Chief Apostle as God's mouthpiece on earth.
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 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.
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Rappites (Harmonists)
Other1785
📍 Württemberg, Germany; Pennsylvania and Indiana, USA
🌍 Extinct (dissolved 1905)
Origin
Johann Georg Rapp (1757–1847) led a group of German Lutheran separatists called the Harmonists (or Rappites) to America in 1804 to flee religious persecution. They established communal societies at Harmony, Pennsylvania and New Harmony, Indiana, believing in celibacy, communal property, and the imminent Second Coming of Christ. After Rapp's death the community dwindled and formally dissolved in 1905.
Core beliefs
- Imminent Second Coming of Christ as motive for celibacy
- Communal ownership of all property
- Celibacy as preparation for Christ's return
- German Lutheran pietist theology
- Separation from the surrounding world
Worship style
Simple pietist German Lutheran worship: hymn-singing, Scripture reading, and prayer. Their communities were economically highly successful and known for industry, craftsmanship, and orderly life.
Key scriptures
- Matthew 19:12
- Acts 2:44–45
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
- Revelation 21:2
Relationship to other denominations
Influenced Robert Owen's secular utopian experiment at New Harmony, Indiana. Contemporary with Shakers and other 19th-century American communal experiments.