List of Christian denominations

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the course of the development of Christianity , various Christian faith traditions have developed. The resulting different denominations are assigned to the following great traditions:

Eastern Churches

These churches are presented in more detail and more fully in the respective linked article.

Orthodox churches

The Orthodox Churches are also known as the Church of the Seven Councils . It is legally independent, but in full communion standing churches with a common, at the seven ecumenical councils between the first and the second Council of Nicaea defined theology and liturgy is essentially common but differentiated languages:

As a result of splits in the 20th century, other Orthodox churches have formed, but their independence and canonicality have not yet been recognized by the other Eastern Orthodox churches. These churches include:

From a split in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century, numerous Old Orthodox churches and communities emerged in a centuries-long process . These include:

Oriental Orthodox

The Monophysites are also referred to as the churches of the three councils or as pre- or non-Chalcedonian churches (since they recognize the council of Ephesus as the last council, but no longer the council of Chalcedon ). They all recognize each other and allow members of the sister churches to concelebrate and communion . They include them

Assyrian

The Assyrian Church of the East only recognizes the first two councils of Christianity, namely the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople , and is therefore also called the Church of the Two Councils . It is also often referred to as the Nestorian Church , but today rejects this name as a self-designation.

Catholic churches

Roman Catholic Church (also just called "Catholic Church")

The Roman Catholic Church consists of 24 ritual churches , each with its own traditions in liturgy, church order, theology and piety. The common feature is the primacy of jurisdiction , the recognition of the Bishop of Rome as a vicarius of Christ with special priority .

The largest and most important particular church is the Latin Church , i.e. the Roman Catholic Church in the narrower sense, which the Pope as Bishop of Rome also directly presides over. The Roman rite , which determines the liturgical performance, is formative for this particular Church . There are also other liturgical rites regionally or in individual orders .

The 23 Eastern Churches recognize the Pope's primacy of jurisdiction as Bishop of Rome and are in a community of faith, prayer and sacrament with one another and with the Latin Church. Because of their Eastern rites, they are close to the Orthodox and ancient Eastern churches in terms of their tradition and hierarchical constitution . In almost all Eastern Church traditions there are Catholic ritual churches, which, however, usually only form a minority compared to the Orthodox and ancient Oriental churches.

Old Catholic churches

Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht

Independent Old Catholic Churches

Former members of the Union of Utrecht

Other independent Old Catholic Churches

  • Independent Philippine Church ( Philippine Independent Church or "Aglipay Church" after its founder Gregorio Aglipay ), independent of the Roman Catholic Church since 1902, in full church fellowship with the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and with the Anglican Church Fellowship

Free Old Catholic Churches

  • The member churches (dioceses) of The Old Catholic Church, Province of the United States (TOCCUSA), which emerged on September 24, 2010 from the Conference of North American Old Catholic Bishops (CNOB):
    • Holy Cross Old Catholic Diocese of Minnesota (Bishop James Judd)
    • Old Catholic Diocese of Napa, until 2010 Old Catholic Church in California (Bishop Robert Fuentes)
    • Old Catholic Diocese of New England (Bishop Rosemary Ananis)
    • Old Catholic Diocese of Washington, DC (Bishop Robert Fuentes)
  • Churches that belonged to the CNOB before 2010 and see themselves predominantly in the succession of the American Catholic Church founded by Joseph René Vilatte :
    • American Apostolic Catholic Church in Michigan (Bishop Vince Lavieri), the continued existence of this church after Lavieri's conversion to the United Church of Christ is unclear
    • American Old Catholic Church in Colorado (Bishop Dan Gincig)
    • Apostolic Catholic Church in Florida (Bishop Chuck Leigh)
    • Ecumenical Catholic Communion in California (Bishop Peter Hickman)
    • Ecumenical Catholic Church in New York (Bishop Peter Brennan)
    • Old Catholic Church in Louisiana (Bishop Allen Jimenez)

Other free Old Catholic Churches that belong to the World Council of Churches through the International Council of Community Churches (ICCC) are:

  • American Catholic Church in California (Bishop Lou Bordisso)
  • Apostolic Catholic Church in Washington (Bishop David Strong)
  • Ecumenical Catholic Church in Connecticut (Bishop Lorraine Bouffard)
  • Emergent Catholic Church in Arizona (Bishop Ken Young)
  • Orthodox Catholic Church in California (Bishop Donald Jolly-Gabriel)
  • Orthodox Catholic Church in Massachusetts (Bishop Timothy Baymon)
  • Christ Catholic Church in Quebec, Canada (Bishop Serge Theriault)
  • Eglise Catholique Gallicane in France (Bishop Dominique Philippe)
  • Église Sainte Marie in France (Bishop Maurice Cantor )
  • Old Catholic Church in Great Britain (Bishop Robert McBride)
  • Open Episcopal Church in Great Britain (Bishop Jonathan Blake)
  • Biserica Catolica Independenta in Romania (Pastor Don Demidoff)

There is also the Old Catholic Church Fellowship of the Netherlands under the leadership of Bishop Carolus van Osch as well as the Orthodox Catholic community in Lauterbach / Germany and Bregana / Croatia, which is subordinate to him .

Other Catholic Churches and Communities

Independent Catholic churches that are neither in communion with the Roman Catholic Church nor with the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht:

Anglican churches

The Anglican churches occupy a middle position between the Catholic and Protestant churches. In a separate tradition they combine Catholic and Protestant elements of faith. The members of the Anglican Church Fellowship include:

The churches that separated from the Anglican churches include:

In addition, there are other churches of Anglican origin that are not in church fellowship with Canterbury, such as B. the Anglican Church in America , the Reformed Episcopal Church in Germany , the Reformed Episcopal Church etc. Unlike Methodists, who no longer call themselves Anglicans, the members of these churches continue to see themselves as Anglicans.

Protestant churches

Waldenses

The oldest Protestant church, founded in 1176 by Petrus Valdes as a Catholic lay community. The Waldensian were 1,184 on the Council of Verona from the Catholic Church ruled .

Hussites

Lutheran

A large number of Lutheran churches or churches of the Augsburg Confession (AB) are organized in the Lutheran World Federation , the International Lutheran Council or the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference . Some examples are:

Reformed

Presbyterian

baptist

The Mennonite World Conference is the international Mennonite association .

Baptists

Worldwide national and regional unions of Baptists are united in the Baptist World Federation (BWA) .

In addition to the examples given here, see the list of Baptist churches .

Pietists

Pietism is not a denomination in the narrower sense, but a supra-denominational reform movement, which, for example, came to fruition in both Lutheran and Reformed churches, but was also partly church-building itself.

Methodist and Wesleyan Churches

Evangelical Uniate

As a result of the amalgamation of mainly Lutheran and Reformed churches, the United Protestant churches have emerged since the beginning of the 19th century :

Restoration Movement

Evangelicals

Adventists

Brethren Movement

Pentecostal Movement

Other evangelical denominations

Apostolic Churches and Religious Communities

New Apostolic Church

Association of Apostolic Congregations

Catholic Apostolic Congregations

Old Apostolic Church

Hersteld Apostolic Zendingkerk

Other Apostolic Communities

Groups split off from the Russian Orthodox Church ( Old Believers )

Non-Trinitarians or Anti-Trinitarians

Bible Students Movement

Liberal Protestants

The liberal Protestant churches are united in the "International Federation for Free Christianity", which today belongs to the International Federation for Religious Freedom (IARF) .

Mormonism

Dissenter

Historical groups

See also

literature

  • Kurt Hutten : seers, brooders, enthusiasts . Quell, Stuttgart 1950; 12 A. 1982, ISBN 3-7918-2130-X
  • Karl-Wolfgang Tröger , Sigrid Tröger: Church Lexicon. Christian churches, free churches and communities at a glance . Union, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-372-00302-0 ; Beck, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-34230-2
  • Reinhard Hempelmann : Handbook of the evangelistic-missionary works, institutions and communities. Germany - Austria - Switzerland . Christian publishing house, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-7675-7763-1
  • Michael Klöckner, Udo Tworuschka : Handbook of Religions. Churches, religious communities and others in Germany . Loose-leaf edition. Olzog, Landsberg / Lech 1997ff, ISBN 3-7892-9900-6
  • Georg Schmid , Georg Otto Schmid: Churches, sects, religions . TVZ, Zurich 7. A. 2003, ISBN 3-290-17215-5
  • Reinhard Hempelmann: Panorama of the new religiosity. Search for meaning and promise of salvation at the beginning of the 21st century . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2nd supplement A. 2005, ISBN 3-579-02320-9
  • Handbook of Religious Communities. Published on behalf of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (VELKD) by Hans Krech and Matthias Kleiminger. 6., rework. and exp. Edition Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2006, ISBN 3-579-03585-1 .
  • Jürgen Tibusek: One belief, many churches. The Christian Religious Communities - Who They Are and What They Believe. Brunnen, Gießen, 2nd edition 1995, ISBN 3-7655-1008-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The British Orthodox Church , founded by Raymond Ferrete in 1866 , refers to the tradition of the Celtic Church , a Western Church , and was subordinate to the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church from 1994 to 2015, but differs from this in terms of worship.
  2. ↑ Note: founded by a Methodist pastor, but otherwise no longer affiliated with Methodism; Protestant-free church character and theology, sees itself as cross-denominational
  3. ↑ Website of the Community of Evangelical-Episcopal Churches