Figuring out Denominations
The Church of Jesus Christ is one church, but it lives in many different branches. Through history and across the world the church has broken into sections that do not always recognize one another. There are well over one thousand different Christian denominations. Some have official links with other denominations and some consider themselves the only true Church. There are several ways to organize and understand the branches of the Church.
Denominational Families
One way of understanding the large number of denominations is to break them into their families according to the theology or practices they share. Several denominations do not fit in a category with any other denomination. This list does not include all possible families. In alphabetical order here are the main denominational families with a few representative denominations that can be found in the United States and Canada.
Adventist Family |
Jehovah's Witnesses |
Anglican Family |
Anglican Church |
Baptist Family |
American Baptists |
Eastern Orthodox Family |
Greek Orthodox |
Free-Church Family |
Amish |
Holiness Family |
Christian and Missionary Alliance |
Lutheran Family |
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America |
Methodist Family |
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) |
Oriental Orthodox Family |
Coptic Orthodox Church |
Pentecostal Family |
Assemblies of God |
Reformed Family |
Christian Reformed Church |
Roman Catholic Family |
Latin Rite Churches |
Historical Divisions
Another way to organize the denominations is to organize them by the divisions that separated them. It should be noted that several divisions have come and been healed in the history of the church. We are only looking at those that are reflected in the denominational structure today in the United States.
| The Primitive Church | |||||||||
| Western | Eastern | ||||||||
| Lutheran | Reformed | Baptist | Anglican | Free Churches | Roman Catholic | National Churches | |||
| Anglican | Methodist | ||||||||
| Black | White | Black | White | ||||||
Forms of Government
Historically there are three different ways that churches have chosen to organize themselves. Listed below is the form and representative denominations that follow the forms. (Some follow the forms rather flexibly.)
Rule by BishopsDecisions are made by bishops and/or |
Anglican Churches |
Rule by EldersDecisions are made by representative lay |
Christian Reformed Church |
Rule by All the MembersDecisions are made by a vote of the members |
Baptist Churches |
