the Branches
Chicago, Illinois
Confirmation Class Materials
The Branches of the Church
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 Seventh-Day Adventists |
Anglican Family |
Anglican Church Church of England The Episcopal Church |
Baptist Family |
American Baptists National Baptists Progressive Baptists Southern Baptists |
Eastern Orthodox Family |
Coptic Greek Orthodox Russian Orthodox Serbian Orthodox |
Free-Church Family |
Amish Brethren Mennonites Quakers |
Holiness Family |
Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of the Nazarene |
Lutheran Family |
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Norwegian Lutheran |
Methodist Family |
African Methodist Episcopal (AME)
(AME) Zion Church Free Methodists United Methodist Church |
Pentecostal Family |
Assemblies of God Church of God Church of God in Christ |
Reformed Family |
Christian Reformed Church Cumberland Presbyterian Orthodox Presbyterian Presbyterian Church in America Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Reformed Church in America United Church of Christ |
Roman Catholic Family |
Latin Rite Churches Eastern 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 councils of bishops. |
Anglican Churches Eastern Orthodox Churches Roman Catholic Churches Lutheran Churches Methodist Churches |
Rule by EldersDecisions are made by representative lay members of a congregation and lay and clergy representatives of churches within a region. |
Presbyterian Churches Reformed Churches |
Rule by All the MembersDecisions are made by a vote of the members of a congregation. |
Baptist Churches Congregational Churches Free Churches |
For Further Study
Presbyterian
101
Journal of
Ecumenical Studies "Ecclesiastical Identity and Ecumenical Decisions"
Hartford Institute for
Religion Research
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Chicago, Illinois 60645
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