Numa Verse

Historical theologyHow did belief develop?

The churches and denominations

What is the churches and denominations?

Churches and denominations is the study of the types of churches that exist today: the families and communions into which the world's Christians are organized, the main bodies within each, how many people belong to them, where they live and how often they worship. It describes the churches as they stand and makes no claim about which is right.

  • 95Sources
  • 12Traditions
  • 16Dated entries
  • 12Minutes

Study v1.2, 13 October 2026

The churches and denominations

At a glance

Why it matters for reading Scripture

The churches and church families, and which readings each holds. It shows which tradition stands behind each view.

What the study found

About a dozen church families hold almost all of the world's 2.3 to 2.7 billion Christians, and Sub-Saharan Africa now holds the largest regional share, ahead of Europe.

Where traditions divide

Christians divide into Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal, Independent and Restorationist families, and the historic Western communions are divided internally over authority and sexuality.

How the traditions compare

  • Catholic Church

    Consists of the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic churches sui iuris in five liturgical traditions: Alexandrian, Antiochene or West Syriac, Armenian, Chaldean or East Syriac, and Byzantine.

    The Vatican counts the baptized, and reports just over 1.422 billion Catholics at the end of 2024, 17.8% of the world's population, with Africa holding 20.3% of them and Europe 20.1%, the first data year in which Africa is ahead. Eastern Catholics are about 1.3% of all Catholics.

    Sources1–4

  • Eastern Orthodox churches

    A family of churches, among them Constantinople, Moscow, Romania, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Georgia.

    Pew counts about 80% of nearly 260 million Orthodox as Eastern Orthodox in 2010, and 76% of all Orthodox lived in Central and Eastern Europe. The Russian Orthodox Church's figure of 164.1 million is a claim over its canonical territory, not a count of members. Over Ukraine, Constantinople, Greece, Alexandria and Cyprus hold that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is the canonical autocephalous church, while Moscow holds that it is schismatic and that communion with Constantinople is broken until the decision is reversed.

    Sources5–9

  • Oriental Orthodox churches

    The non-Chalcedonian churches, about one-fifth of all Orthodox on Pew's 2010 estimate, with self-governing churches in Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Armenia and Syria.

    The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reports 60,000,000 members to the World Council of Churches, while the 2007 census, the last held, counted 32,092,182 Orthodox. The Coptic Orthodox population is contested: the church reports 12,000,000 members to the World Council of Churches, while censuses compiled by Courbage and Fargues show Christians at 5.87% of Egypt in 1986.

    Sources510–13

  • Church of the East

    The Assyrian Church of the East reports about 400,000 members in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, North America, Australia and India.

    The Ancient Church of the East arose from a dispute in 1964 over the adoption of the Gregorian calendar and the hereditary patriarchate, and keeps the Julian calendar. No official membership census exists for either church.

    Sources14–15

  • Lutheran

    Originates in the sixteenth-century Reformation within the Western Church and holds justification by faith alone to be "the decisive issue and the hallmark of Lutheran teaching", with the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism as key texts.

    The Lutheran World Federation has 153 member churches in 99 countries representing "over 78 million" people, and confessional Lutherans form the International Lutheran Council. The largest Lutheran churches are now split between Africa and northern Europe.

    Sources16–19

  • Reformed and Presbyterian

    Comes from the French- and Swiss-led Reformation of Calvin, Zwingli and Bullinger, and holds Christ to be the only head of the church, with government by teaching and ruling elders in a hierarchy of courts.

    The World Communion of Reformed Churches, formed in June 2010 at Grand Rapids, has 230 member churches in 108 countries and about 80 million members on a World Council of Churches page. Decline is marked in two large national churches, the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) and the Presbyterian Church (USA).

    Sources20–23

  • Anglican

    Took a distinct identity in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English Reformation; its marks are the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral and the Book of Common Prayer, and its Instruments of Communion are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.

    The Communion has 42 member churches and no official count; its own best estimate is "about 85 million". The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) declared in October 2025 that "the final ties with Canterbury are now severed", but its new structures do not themselves establish a completed constitutional withdrawal by any province.

    Sources24–29

  • Methodist

    Began in John and Charles Wesley's eighteenth-century movement within the Church of England, holding that grace makes salvation possible for all and that "perfection in love" is possible in this life.

    The World Methodist Council has 80 member churches in 133 countries representing "over 80.5 million". Under the disaffiliation provision of 2019 to 2023, 7,631 United Methodist churches in the United States, about 25% of them, had left by 31 December 2023.

    Sources30–32

  • Baptist

    Traces its origin to John Smyth in the Netherlands in 1609 and Thomas Helwys's London church in 1612, and holds believer's baptism, congregational autonomy and no binding creed.

    The Baptist World Alliance has 283 member bodies in 138 countries and territories, 53 million baptized believers and 180,000 churches. Its largest single body, the Southern Baptist Convention, reported 12,331,954 members for 2025, a 19th consecutive annual decline, while average weekly attendance and baptisms rose.

    Sources33–36

  • Pentecostal and charismatic

    A movement counted across the traditions, not added to them: the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) counts 676,117,000 Pentecostals and Charismatics in 2026.

    It calls them Renewalists and divides them into three mutually exclusive types: denominational Pentecostals, Charismatics in historic churches, and Independent Charismatics. Self-reported figures vary in date and in what they count; the World Assemblies of God Fellowship reports 88,866,189 adherents in 147 countries.

    Sources37–40

  • Independent churches

    The CSGC's Independents, 426,370,000 in 2026, include African Initiated Churches, Chinese house churches, nondenominational churches and megachurch networks.

    The World Christian Database glossary defines Independents as churches or individual Christians "separated from, uninterested in and independent of historic denominationalist Christianity". Chinese Protestants are the most contested population, with estimates from about 18 million on surveys of self-identification to about 116 million on a model that includes house churches.

    Sources3741–43

  • Restorationist and nontrinitarian

    Bodies such as the Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, the New Apostolic Church and Iglesia ni Cristo, which the World Christian Database appears to count within its Independents.

    Their own figures count different things: the Latter-day Saints count everyone ever baptized until death or removal, while Jehovah's Witnesses count active preachers. The Latter-day Saints reported 17,887,212 members at 31 December 2025, and Jehovah's Witnesses 9,205,326 peak publishers in the 2025 service year.

    Sources4144–46

How the field developed

  1. Reformation
    16th century

    Lutheranism originates in the Reformation within the Western Church, and the Reformed family in the French- and Swiss-led Reformation of Calvin, Zwingli and Bullinger. Anglicanism takes a distinct identity in the English Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.162024

  2. Reformation
    1609 and 1612

    John Smyth's church in the Netherlands (1609) and Thomas Helwys's church in London (1612) begin the movement to which Baptists trace their origin.33

  3. Modern
    18th century

    John and Charles Wesley's movement within the Church of England gives rise to Methodism.30

  4. Modern
    1827 to 1831

    The Brethren movement begins in Ireland and England, with a first congregation at Plymouth in 1831 under J. N. Darby; after 1845 it splits into the Open Brethren and the Exclusive Brethren.47

  5. Modern
    1846

    The World Evangelical Alliance is founded in London. It now claims "more than 650 million evangelical Christians" through 164 national alliances.48

  6. Modern
    1872

    Jehovah's Witnesses are founded; the World Christian Database glossary calls them "an Independent tradition founded in 1872".41

  7. Modern
    24 September 1889

    The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht are founded. They are in full communion with the Anglican Communion and, since 10 February 2024, with the Mar Thoma Church.4950

  8. Modern
    1915

    Engenas Lekganyane begins the Zion Christian Church with 14 members. South Africa's 2001 census recorded 4,971,932 people as its members, 11.1% of the population.5152

  9. Modern
    1947

    The Church of South India is inaugurated after about 30 years of negotiation. It accepts the historic episcopate, with bishops performing all ordinations.53

  10. Modern
    1964 and 1968

    A dispute over the adoption of the Gregorian calendar and the hereditary patriarchate gives rise to the Ancient Church of the East, and a rival patriarch is elected in Baghdad in 1968.14

  11. Modern
    1970

    The Church of North India unites six bodies, among them Baptist, Brethren, Disciples, Anglican and Methodist churches, and the Church of Pakistan unites Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran and Scottish Presbyterian churches.5455

  12. Modern
    1982

    The first edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia counts 22,000 denominations. The same research line counts 45,000 in 2019 and 53,000 in 2026, counting each church body separately in each country.565737

  13. Modern
    2010

    The World Communion of Reformed Churches is formed in June at Grand Rapids.21

  14. Modern
    2018 to 2019

    On 11 October 2018 the synod of Constantinople revokes its 1686 act on the Kyiv Metropolis, and on 15 October the Russian Orthodox Church synod breaks full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Tomos of autocephaly for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is delivered on 6 January 2019.858

  15. Modern
    27 May 2022

    The council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church condemns the war and declares the church's "full independence and autonomy", its own description rather than a grant of autocephaly.59

  16. Modern
    2025 to 2026

    Sarah Mullally is named Archbishop of Canterbury on 3 October 2025, the first woman to hold the office. In March 2026 GAFCON adopts the Abuja Affirmation and restyles itself a "Global Anglican Communion", saying that it is not a breakaway.6061

How to study the churches and denominations

The questions it asks

  • How many Christians are there, and is a given figure a count of church rolls, of self-identification or of attendance?62
  • What does a count of "denominations" measure: theological diversity, or the same bodies counted country by country?57
  • Into which families and communions are the churches grouped, and where do churches that sit between families belong?
  • Where do the members of each family live, how old are they, and how often do they worship?
  • Is each family growing or declining, and is the change driven by births, by conversion or by people leaving?6364

Its method

Start

  1. Label every figure by kind: measured (census or survey self-identification), estimated (a compiler's model), self-reported (a church's own count) or projected, and give its data year.

  2. Know which way each global series builds: the CSGC from the churches upward, adding unaffiliated and secret believers to church rolls, and Pew from the population downward, on how people describe their own religious identity3765.

  3. Read a church's own figure by what it counts: the Latter-day Saints count everyone ever baptized until death or removal, Jehovah's Witnesses active preachers, the Vatican the baptized, and the Lutheran World Federation people represented by member churches44173.

  4. Work at the level of families and communions, since a denomination is counted once in each country where a body is present57.

  5. Count movements that cut across traditions, such as Pentecostals, Charismatics and Evangelicals, inside the tradition totals, never added to them37.

  6. Set a church's own count beside census and survey counts: state which measure is used, give its date, and show the other measure alongside.

  7. Keep projections apart from measured figures and label them as projections66.

  8. Where a figure or a canonical status is contested, record each side's position with its own sources, as with the Coptic population of Egypt and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine678.

What to read

Its primary witnesses

  • The Status of Global Christianity table of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell, published through the World Christian Database and the International Bulletin of Mission Research3768.
  • Pew Research Center's census and survey estimates, most recently published on 9 June 202563.
  • The Vatican's yearbooks, the Annuario Pontificio and the Statistical Yearbook, and the Agenzia Fides statistics dossiers369.
  • The member-church pages of the World Council of Churches and the CNEWA reference series on the Eastern churches104.
  • The self-reported counts of the world communions and of bodies such as the Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses17344546.
  • National censuses, among them the 2020 US Religion Census, which distinguishes members from adherents7071.
  • Survey series such as Pew, Gallup, PRRI, Afrobarometer, Latinobarómetro, the World Values Survey and the European surveys727374.
  • The Demographic and Health Surveys, which record religion as a standard background question and so are useful in Africa, where censuses omit religion75.

Standard reference works

  • The World Christian Encyclopedia, third edition, by Johnson and Zurlo (Edinburgh University Press), most likely bearing a 2019 imprint and released in early 20207677.
  • The World Christian Database and the World Religion Database, the latter edited by Todd Johnson and Brian Grim at Boston University6278.
  • Operation World, seventh edition (InterVarsity Press, 15 October 2010)79.
  • Johnson and Zurlo's Introducing Spirit-Empowered Christianity39.
  • CNEWA's tabulation of the Eastern Catholic churches from the Annuario Pontificio 2017, by Ronald Roberson4.
  • The Swiss Metadatabase of Religious Affiliation in Europe, EUREL and the Correlates of War World Religion Project808182.
  • The Association of Religion Data Archives, which holds over 1,000 data collections and national profiles83.
  • Alexei Krindatch's 2020 US Religion Census of Orthodox Christian Churches84.
  • Peter Brierley's UK Church Statistics No 4 (2021)85.

Scholarship referenced in this study

The works below shaped the field and are cited in this study, from the earliest to the most recent. Hover over a book, or select it, to see its author and the sources behind it.

  • 2000Annual Statistical TableDavid BarrettAnnual Statistical Table (2000)David BarrettSources86
  • 2001World Christian Trends AD30-AD2200David BarrettWorld Christian Trends AD30-AD2200 (2001)David Barrett, with Todd M. JohnsonSources87
  • 2017Eastern Catholic Churches 2017 statisticsRonald RobersonEastern Catholic Churches 2017 statistics (2017)Ronald RobersonSources4
  • 2019 or 2020World Christian Encyclopedia, third editionTodd M. JohnsonWorld Christian Encyclopedia, third edition (2019 or 2020)Todd M. Johnson, with Gina A. ZurloSources5676–77
  • 20202020 U.S. Religion Census of Orthodox Christian ChurchesAlexei Krindatch2020 U.S. Religion Census of Orthodox Christian Churches (2020)Alexei KrindatchSources84
  • 2021UK Church Statistics No 4Peter BrierleyUK Church Statistics No 4 (2021)Peter BrierleySources85
  • 2025The Growth of Christianity in China May Have Come to an EndConrad HackettThe Growth of Christianity in China May Have Come to an End (2025)Conrad Hackett, with Yunping TongSources88
  • 2026World Christianity 2026: Anticipating the FutureGina A. ZurloWorld Christianity 2026: Anticipating the Future (2026)Gina A. Zurlo, with Todd M. JohnsonSources68

Listed because this study draws on their published work; no association with or endorsement of Numa Verse is implied. Suggest a correction.

Key terms

The words that carry the most weight in this field, each defined from the sources of this study. Turn a card over to read its definition.

In the World Christian Database, an organized church or group of congregations sharing a name, defined and measured at the country level, so that the Catholic Church's presence in 234 countries counts as 234 denominations57.

Church members whose names are on church rolls; in the World Christian Database's words, "all persons belonging to or connected with organised churches"89.

In the World Christian Database, "persons professing allegiance and commitment to Christ but who have no church affiliation"; the CSGC counts 141,756,000 in 20268937.

In the World Christian Database, "persons who are baptised members of two or more denominations at the same time"89.

In the World Christian Database, churches or Christians independent of historic denominationalist Christianity; its glossary describes the Latter-day Saints as "an Independent Christian movement"41.

The CSGC's collective name for Pentecostal and Charismatic members, in three mutually exclusive types: denominational Pentecostals, Charismatics in historic churches, and Independent Charismatics3839.

A cross-cutting category, not a family; the National Association of Evangelicals uses the Bebbington quadrilateral of conversionism, biblicism, activism and crucicentrism90.

The 23 churches sui iuris that, with the Latin Church, make up the Catholic Church, in the Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, Chaldean and Byzantine traditions12.

The non-Chalcedonian churches, with self-governing churches in Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Armenia and Syria5.

In the US Religion Census, members are full communicants, and adherents are all those affiliated, including children7071.

Where it sits

Builds on

The churches and denominations

Leads to

Questions people ask

Between about 2.3 billion and 2.7 billion, depending on who counts and how. Pew Research Center measures 2.3 billion self-identified Christians in 2020, 28.8% of humanity, while the CSGC estimates 2,673,989,000 in mid-2026, 32.2% of the world, on a wider definition built from church rolls plus unaffiliated and secret believers3763. The CSGC figures for 2026 are model estimates carried forward from denomination data finalized for 2020, not counts taken in 202691.

The CSGC counts 53,000 "denominations" in 2026, but it counts each church body separately in each country, so the Catholic Church alone counts as 2343757. The figure measures organizational fragmentation across national borders, not theological diversity, and the real number of church families is about a dozen3757.

Sub-Saharan Africa held 30.7% of the world's Christians in 2020, against 22.3% in Europe, and the Vatican now reports more Catholics in Africa than in Europe633. African Christians are young, with a median age of about 20 against 42 in Europe, and they worship more often than Christians anywhere else929394.

It differs by region. On Pew's analysis, growth in Africa comes mainly from births, and Christianity's falling share of the world comes mainly from people leaving, most of them into no religion6364. Comparing childhood with current religion, Pew finds that for every 100 people raised Christian, 17.1 have left and 5.5 have joined95. The fastest-growing forms are Pentecostal, independent and African-led.

Church counts exceed census self-identification wherever membership is inherited, permanent or tied to canonical territory, and fall below it wherever a body counts only its active core, as Jehovah's Witnesses do. Ronald Lawson's census study found Latter-day Saint self-identification outside the United States "less than a third of official statistics" and Jehovah's Witness self-identification "more than twice the official numbers"44.

Contribute to the churches and denominations

Register to contribute

  1. 1Rites (Western and Eastern traditions) (Catholic-Hierarchy.org)https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/rite (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2What you need to know about Eastern Catholic churches (Our Sunday Visitor)https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-eastern-catholic-churches/ (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3New data from Annuario Pontificio 2026 shows Catholics growing (Vatican News)https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2026-03/new-data-from-annuario-pontificio-2026-shows-catholics-growing.html (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Eastern Catholic Churches 2017 statistics (CNEWA)https://cnewa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2017-Statistics-Worldwide-pie-chart.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/ (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Orthodox Christianity's geographic center remains in Central and Eastern Europe (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianitys-geographic-center-remains-in-central-and-eastern-europe/markdown (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7The Orthodox Church of Russia (CNEWA)https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/orthodox-church/the-autocephalous-churches/the-orthodox-church-of-russia/ (opens in a new tab)
  8. 8The Church Strikes Back: Moscow Breaks With Constantinople, A. Zanemonets (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2018/10/the-church-strikes-back-moscow-breaks-with-constantinople (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9Patriarchate of Alexandria officially recognizes Ukraine autocephaly (Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons)https://archons.org/patriarchate-of-alexandria-officially-recognizes-ukraine-autocephaly (opens in a new tab)
  10. 10Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church (opens in a new tab)
  11. 11Response to information request on Ethiopia (4 October 2022) (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, via ecoi.net)https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2081245.html (opens in a new tab)
  12. 12Coptic Orthodox Church (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/coptic-orthodox-church (opens in a new tab)
  13. 13Discrepancies Between Coptic Statistics in the Egyptian Census and Estimates Provided by the Coptic Orthodox Church, Cornelis Hulsman (MIDEO, via Dialogue Across Borders)https://www.dialogueacrossborders.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/AWRpapers/paper52.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  14. 14The Assyrian Church of the East (CNEWA)https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/the-assyrian-church-of-the-east/ (opens in a new tab)
  15. 15The Chaldean Church (Œuvre d'Orient)https://www.oeuvre-orient.fr/en/?p=16063 (opens in a new tab)
  16. 16Lutheran churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/lutheran-churches (opens in a new tab)
  17. 17Who we are (Lutheran World Federation)https://lutheranworld.org/who-we-are (opens in a new tab)
  18. 18International Lutheran Council (World Council of Churches)https://oikoumene.org/organization/international-lutheran-council (opens in a new tab)
  19. 19International Lutheran Council admits 17 church bodies, October 2018 (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Reporter)https://reporter.lcms.org/?p=70508 (opens in a new tab)
  20. 20Reformed churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/reformed-churches (opens in a new tab)
  21. 21World Communion of Reformed Churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/reformed-churches/wcrc (opens in a new tab)
  22. 22Report on Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) membership 2025 (NoCut News)https://en.nocutnews.co.kr/news/6565992 (opens in a new tab)
  23. 23PC(USA) still home to more than 1 million members (Presbyterian Church U.S.A.)https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/6/29/pcusa-still-home-more-1-million-members (opens in a new tab)
  24. 24Anglican churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/anglican-churches (opens in a new tab)
  25. 25What is the Anglican Communion? (Anglican Communion)https://www.anglicancommunion.org/structures/what-is-the-anglican-communion.aspx (opens in a new tab)
  26. 26Member churches (Anglican Communion)https://www.anglicancommunion.org/structures/member-churches.aspx (opens in a new tab)
  27. 27Anglican Communion Q&A 2015 (Anglican Communion Office)https://anglicancommunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Anglican-Communion-QA-2015.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  28. 28Explaining Abuja: what is the Global Anglican Communion? (Anglican Compass)https://anglicancompass.com/explaining-abuja-what-is-the-global-anglican-communion/ (opens in a new tab)
  29. 29Rejecting Canterbury decision, conservative bishops claim lead of Anglican Communion (MinistryWatch)https://ministrywatch.com/rejecting-canterbury-decision-conservative-bishops-claim-lead-of-anglican-communion/ (opens in a new tab)
  30. 30Methodist churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/methodist-churches (opens in a new tab)
  31. 31Member churches (World Methodist Council)https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/about/member-churches/ (opens in a new tab)
  32. 32Twenty-five percent of churches disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church (UM Insight)https://um-insight.net/in-the-church/umc-future/twenty-five-percent-of-churches-disaffiliated-from-the-unite/ (opens in a new tab)
  33. 33Baptist churches (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/baptist-churches (opens in a new tab)
  34. 34BWA welcomes 17 new members (Baptist World Alliance)https://baptistworld.org/news/bwa-welcomes-17-new-members/ (opens in a new tab)
  35. 35Southern Baptists see attendance, baptism gains amid membership declines (Baptist Press)https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/southern-baptists-see-attendance-baptism-gains-amid-membership-declines/print/ (opens in a new tab)
  36. 36Southern Baptists see attendance and baptism gains amid membership declines (Lifeway Research)https://news.lifeway.com/2026/05/05/southern-baptists-see-attendance-and-baptism-gains-amid-membership-declines/ (opens in a new tab)
  37. 37Status of Global Christianity, 2026, in the Context of 1900-2075 (Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, World Christian Database)https://worldchristiandatabase.org/static/downloads/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2026.2b54be19fc0c.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  38. 38World Christianity 2025: Regional Perspectives, Zurlo, Johnson and Crossing (International Bulletin of Mission Research, SAGE Publications)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23969393241283291 (opens in a new tab)
  39. 39Introducing Spirit-Empowered Christianity: Introduction (Oral Roberts University Library)https://library.oru.edu/introsecContent/introduction (opens in a new tab)
  40. 40Better Together: a growing global community on mission (Assemblies of God, AG News)https://chaplaincy.ag.org/articles/agnews/article%20repository/news/2025/10/better%20together%20a%20growing%20global%20community%20on%20mission (opens in a new tab)
  41. 41WCD Glossary, page 5 (World Christian Database, Brill)https://worldchristiandatabase.org/faq/data/wcd_glossary?page=5 (opens in a new tab)
  42. 42Christianity (Measuring Religion in China) (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/08/30/christianity/ (opens in a new tab)
  43. 43How many Christians in China? Preferred estimates, part 1 (ChinaSource)https://chsource.org/articles/how-many-christians-in-china-preferred-estimates-part-1/ (opens in a new tab)
  44. 44Reassessing the Size of Mormons, Adventists and Witnesses: Using Census Data to Test the Reliability of Membership Data, Ronald Lawson (author site, abstract of Review of Religious Research article)https://ronaldlawson.net/2020/05/07/reassessing-the-size-of-mormons-adventists-and-witnesses-using-census-data-to-test-the-reliability-of-membership-data-and-accounting-for-the-disparate-patterns-found/ (opens in a new tab)
  45. 452025 Statistical Report (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Newsroom)https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2025-statistical-report (opens in a new tab)
  46. 462025 Service Year Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide: Grand Totals (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, jw.org)https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/2025-Service-Year-Report-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses-Worldwide/2025-Grand-Totals/ (opens in a new tab)
  47. 47Plymouth Brethren (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/print/article/465357 (opens in a new tab)
  48. 48Who we are (World Evangelical Alliance)https://worldea.org/who-we-are/ (opens in a new tab)
  49. 49Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches (Union of Utrecht)https://www.utrechter-union.org/?p=1065 (opens in a new tab)
  50. 50Full communion with the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (Union of Utrecht)https://www.utrechter-union.org/en/2023/09/full-communion-with-the-mar-thoma-syrian-church/ (opens in a new tab)
  51. 51The story of the enigmatic man who founded southern Africa's largest church (The Conversation)https://theconversation.com/the-story-of-the-enigmatic-man-who-founded-southern-africas-largest-church-109599 (opens in a new tab)
  52. 52South Africa Yearbook 2010: Land and its people (Government Communication and Information System, South Africa)https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/resourcecentre/yearbook/2010/Land%20and%20its%20people.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  53. 53Church of South India (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-south-india (opens in a new tab)
  54. 54Church of North India (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-north-india (opens in a new tab)
  55. 55Church of Pakistan (World Council of Churches)https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/church-of-pakistan (opens in a new tab)
  56. 56Book Talk: World Christian Encyclopedia (Boston University Center for the Study of Religion and Culture)https://www.bu.edu/cura/?p=6287 (opens in a new tab)
  57. 57Quick Facts (Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/research/quick-facts/ (opens in a new tab)
  58. 58Two years on from autocephaly of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (AsiaNews)https://www.asianews.it/en/north-asia/russia/two-years-on-from-autocephaly-of-ukrainian-orthodox-church (opens in a new tab)
  59. 59UOC-MP declares full independence (LB.ua)https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/05/27/15543_uoc_mp_declares_full_independence.html (opens in a new tab)
  60. 60Sarah Mullally's appointment as archbishop lamented by GAFCON (The Christian Post)https://assets.christianpost.com/news/sarah-mullallys-appointment-as-archbishop-lamented-by-gafcon.html (opens in a new tab)
  61. 61GAFCON renames its group, elects leaders (MinistryWatch)https://ministrywatch.com/gafcon-renames-its-group-elects-leaders/ (opens in a new tab)
  62. 62World Christian Database Methodology (World Christian Database, Brill)https://worldchristiandatabase.org/static/downloads/wcd_methodology.9f1c5d932bbf.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  63. 63How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020 (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/how-the-global-religious-landscape-changed-from-2010-to-2020/ (opens in a new tab)
  64. 64Religious switching into and out of Christianity (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/03/26/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-christianity/ (opens in a new tab)
  65. 65Global religious change: methodology (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/global-religious-change-methodology/ (opens in a new tab)
  66. 66Religious Projections 2010-2050 (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/ (opens in a new tab)
  67. 67Copts (Minority Rights Group)https://minorityrights.org/communities/copts/ (opens in a new tab)
  68. 68International Bulletin of Mission Research, Vol. 50, No. 1, table of contents (SAGE Publications)https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/ibm/50/1 (opens in a new tab)
  69. 69Vatican: Catholic Church Statistics 2025 (Agenzia Fides)https://www.fides.org/en/news/76919-VATICAN_Catholic_Church_Statistics_2025 (opens in a new tab)
  70. 70U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations and Membership Study, home page (Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies)https://www.usreligioncensus.org/ (opens in a new tab)
  71. 71U.S. Religion Census: information on data sources (Association of Religion Data Archives, ARDA)https://thearda.com/us-religion/sources-for-religious-congregations-membership-data (opens in a new tab)
  72. 72Survey 2017: methodology (European Values Study)https://europeanvaluesstudy.eu/methodology-data-documentation/survey-2017/ (opens in a new tab)
  73. 73Round 11 data now available (European Social Survey)https://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/news/article/round-11-data-now-available (opens in a new tab)
  74. 74ISSP 2018 Religion IV (GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences)https://www.gesis.org/en/issp/data-and-documentation/religion/2018 (opens in a new tab)
  75. 75About Us (The DHS Program, ICF)https://dhsprogram.com/Who-We-Are/About-Us.cfm (opens in a new tab)
  76. 76Review of World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, Susangeline Patrick (Theological Librarianship, Atla)https://serials.atla.com/theolib/article/download/2941/3739/14094 (opens in a new tab)
  77. 77World Christian Encyclopedia (OCLC 1125067511) (WorldCat)https://search.worldcat.org/title/world-christian-encyclopedia/oclc/1125067511 (opens in a new tab)
  78. 78World Religion Database Methodology (World Religion Database, Brill)https://www.worldreligiondatabase.org/static/downloads/wrd_methodology.e10266f1a9be.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  79. 79Operation World (IVP Academic)https://academic.ivpress.com/operation-world (opens in a new tab)
  80. 80Swiss Metadatabase of Religious Affiliation in Europe (SMRE) (University of Lucerne)https://www.smre-data.ch/ (opens in a new tab)
  81. 81EUREL: sociological and legal data on religion in Europe and beyond (CNRS and Université de Strasbourg)https://www.eurel-info.cnrs.fr/ (opens in a new tab)
  82. 82World Religion Data (version 1.1) (Correlates of War Project)https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/world-religion-data/ (opens in a new tab)
  83. 83The Association of Religion Data Archives, home page (ARDA)https://www.thearda.com/ (opens in a new tab)
  84. 842020 U.S. Religion Census of Orthodox Christian Churches: General Report, Alexei Krindatch (OrthodoxReality.org)https://orthodoxreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2020CensusGeneralReport1.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  85. 85UK Church Statistics No 4: 2021, introduction, Peter Brierley (Brierley Consultancy)https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54228e0ce4b059910e19e44e/t/61025ff065fbe6552c6a9d76/1627545585712/Church+Stats+Intro.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  86. 86Martin E. Marty column citing the Annual Statistical Table (2 February 2000) (The Christian Century)https://www.christiancentury.org/node/16934 (opens in a new tab)
  87. 87Denominations (RE:ONLINE)https://www.reonline.org.uk/religion-worldview/christian-worldview-traditions/table-of-contents/diversity/denominations/ (opens in a new tab)
  88. 88The Growth of Christianity in China May Have Come to an End, C. Hackett and Y. Tong (Socius, SAGE Publications)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23780231241310469 (opens in a new tab)
  89. 89WCD Glossary, affiliated (World Christian Database, Brill)https://worldchristiandatabase.org/faq/data/wcd_glossary?search=affiliated&page=1 (opens in a new tab)
  90. 90What is an evangelical? (National Association of Evangelicals)https://www.nae.org/what-is-an-evangelical/ (opens in a new tab)
  91. 91Updates (World Christian Database, Brill)https://worldchristiandatabase.org/updates/ (opens in a new tab)
  92. 92Religion in sub-Saharan Africa (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/religion-in-sub-saharan-africa/markdown (opens in a new tab)
  93. 93Christians (The Future of World Religions) (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/christians/ (opens in a new tab)
  94. 94How religious commitment varies by country among people of all ages (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/06/13/how-religious-commitment-varies-by-country-among-people-of-all-ages/ (opens in a new tab)
  95. 95Factors Driving Religious Change, 2010-2020 (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/factors-driving-religious-change-2010-2020/ (opens in a new tab)

Page record

Reviewed and approved by Duane Herholdt, BA (Theology), Chief Executive Officer, Numa Verse

Study version: v1.2, 13 October 2026 (theology map v1.27)

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

How these pages are made

  • 9 November 2026: First draft from the approved assessment v1.2.