List of the largest Protestant bodies

Countries by number of Protestants in 2010
Countries by percentage of Protestants in 2010

This article lists the largest Protestant communions, councils, fellowships, federations, alliances and other church organizations in the world and provides information regarding the membership thereof. Shown here are international transdenominational, international and national bodies with more than 100, 10 and 5 million members, respectively.

Transdenominational international bodies include people across all denominations that participate in a movement which goes way beyond their Protestant branch, like Evangelicalism, Charismatic movement, or Neo-charismatic movement. International bodies tend to bring together only one Protestant grouping which shares common founders, tenets and history. Although there are national denominations that have a far larger membership than required to be on this list, like the United Methodist Church, the Apostolic Church or Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), they operate worldwide and cannot be considered alongside other national bodies like, for example, the Church of Christ in Congo, which operates solely in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Some of these groupings cannot be considered churches in a theological understanding. For example, the Evangelical Church in Germany differs denominationally, encompassing Lutheran, Reformed and United subchurches.

The most numerous international bodies account for more than a half of worldwide Protestant population,[note 1] while the most numerous national bodies account for more than 200 of the world's 800 million Protestants.[note 2][1]

The World Evangelical Alliance is so far the only transdenominational organization that operates internationally and brings together as much as 600 million Evangelicals. Among the most sizeable international bodies are the Anglican Communion, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Methodist Council and the Lutheran World Federation – each with more than 70 million members. The Church of England, the Church of Christ in Congo, the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement constitute the most numerous national bodies with more than 20 million members each.

List of transdenominational bodies with size

Name Founded Headquarters Membership Leading people Movements Notes
World Evangelical Alliance worldea.org 1846 New York City, New York, United States 600,000,000[2] Efraim Tendero Evangelicals Claims to unite Evangelicals all over the world.

List of international bodies with size

Name Founded Headquarters Membership Leading people Movements Notes
Anglican Communion
anglicancommunion.org
unclear[note 3] London, England, United Kingdom 85,000,000[3] General Secretary
Josiah Idowu-Fearon
Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby
Anglicans Brings together Anglicans from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations.
World Methodist Council
worldmethodistcouncil.org
1881 Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, United States 80,500,000[4] General Secretary
Bishop Ivan M. Abrahams
Methodists Brings together Methodists from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations.
World Communion of Reformed Churches
www.wcrc.ch
2010 Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany 80,000,000[5] General Secretary
Chris Ferguson
Reformed Brings together Calvinists from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations.
Lutheran World Federation
www.lutheranworld.org
1947 Geneva, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland 74,000,000[6] General Secretary
Martin Junge
Lutherans Brings together Lutherans from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations.
World Assemblies of God Fellowship
worldagfellowship.org
1988 Springfield, Missouri, United States 68,000,000[7] General Superintendent & Chairman
George O. Wood
Pentecostals Brings together a substantial Pentecostal population, although not the majority, as it is scattered in various independent Pentecostal denominations.
Baptist World Alliance
bwanet.org
1905 Falls Church, Virginia, United States 37,000,000[8] General Secretary

Neville Callam

Baptists Brings together a substantial Baptist population, although not the majority, as it is scattered in various independent Baptist denominations.

List of national bodies with size

Name Founded Headquarters Membership Leading people Movements Notes
Church of England
churchofengland.org
1534[note 4] London, England, United Kingdom 26,000,000[9] Supreme Governor
Queen Elizabeth II
Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby
Anglicans The original denomination in England which broke off from the Roman Catholic Church following the controversy araising around the planned marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon. It is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, and the largest Anglican denomination.
Church of Christ in Congo
ecc.faithweb.com
1970 Kinshasa, Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo 25,500,000[10] President
Pierre Marini Bodho
Methodists
Pentecostals
Baptists
Mennonites
Reformed
Evangelicals
United Protestants[11]
Its creation was largely state-supported in order to organize all Protestants of the Democratic Republic of Congo in a single denomination. The second largest Protestant denomination in the world, and the largest United Protestant denomination.
Evangelical Church in Germany
ekd.de
1948 Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany 24,300,000[12] Praeses of the Synod
Irmgard Schwätzer
Chairman of the Council of the EKD
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
Prussian United
Lutheran
Reformed
Postwar, renewed church confederation founded to bring all German Protestants under one umbrella. Earlier, the German Evangelical Church Confederation fulfilled that role during the Weimar Republic. If not considered a federation of churches, it is the third largest Protestant denomination in the world, the second largest in Europe, and the second largest United Protestant denomination.
Three-Self Patriotic Movement
1951 Shanghai, China 23,000,000[13] Chairperson
Fu Xianwei
Secretary General
Xu Xiaohong
State-regulated theology
various Protestants
It is the only Protestant denomination approved by the Chinese government. Its theology is regulated and controlled by the state.
Assembleias de Deus
www.adbelem.com.br
1911 São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil 22,500,000[14] General Superintendent
José Wellington Bezerra da Costa
Pentecostals Fragmented into smaller units which together gather the vast majority of Brazilian Pentecostals. The largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.
Born Again Movement
1968 Henan, China 20,000,000[15] Evangelicals
Charismatics
Chinese house church
House church, not recognized by the Chinese government.
Church of Nigeria
www.anglican-nig.org
1979 Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria 18,000,000[16] Primate of all Nigeria, Archbishop of Abuja Province

Nicholas Okoh

Anglicans Local province of the Anglican Communion.
Southern Baptist Convention
www.sbc.net
1845 Augusta, Georgia, United States 15,500,000[17] President

Dr. Ronnie Floyd

Baptists The world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States of America.
Church of Uganda
churchofuganda.org
1897 Namirembe Hill, Kampala District, Uganda 11,000,000[18] Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala

Stanley Ntagali

Anglicans Local province of the Anglican Communion.
Fangcheng Fellowship
1971 10,000,000[19] Evangelicals
Charismatics
Chinese house church
House church, not recognized by the Chinese government.
China Gospel Fellowship
8,000,000[20] Evangelicals
Charismatics
Chinese house church
House church, not recognized by the Chinese government.
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
www.eecmy.org
1959 Addis Ababa, Chartered city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 7,900,000[21] Bishop

Rev. Dr. Wakseyoum Idossa

Lutherans The world's largest Lutheran denomination.
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
www.nationalbaptist.com
1880 Montgomery, Alabama, United States 7,500,000[22] President
Rev. Dr. Jerry Young
Baptists The second largest Baptist denomination in the world. Its membership is largely African American.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
www.elct.org
1963 Arusha, Arusha Region, Tanzania 6,500,000[23] Bishop

Rev. Dr. Fredrick Onael Shoo

Lutherans The world's second largest Lutheran denomination.
Church of Sweden
svenskakyrkan.se
1593 Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden 6,300,000[24] Archbishop of Uppsala
Antje Jackelén
Lutherans The world's third largest Lutheran denomination, and the third largest Protestant body in Europe.
Anglican Church of Kenya
www.ackenya.org
1970 Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya 5,000,000[24]
The Most Rev.
Jackson Ole Sapit
Anglicans Local province of the Anglican Communion.

Footnotes

  1. In this comparison, the Pew Forum's figure of 800 million Protestants is used. Mentioned international bodies together account for some 420 million people.
  2. In this comparison, the Pew Forum's figure of 800 million Protestants is used. Mentioned national bodies account for a little more than 200 million Protestants.
  3. Origins traced to the first international Anglican organization, 1698.
  4. The English church can be traced back to 597. It separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.

See also

References

  1. "Pewforum: Christianity (2010)" (PDF). Pewforum.org. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  2. http://www.worldea.org/whoweare/introduction
  3. "- Anglican Communion". Anhglicancommunion.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. "Member Churches". Worldmethodistcouncil.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  5. "About The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)". World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  6. "About the LWF". Luthernworld.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  7. "Statistics of the Assemblies of God (USA)" (PDF). Agchurches.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  8. "Baptist World Alliance". Bwanet.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  9. "Church of England statistics 2011" (PDF). Churchofengland.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. "Eglise du Christ au Congo". Ecc.faithweb.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  11. Communautés membres de l'ECC Vous êtes ici: Accueil > Infos > Communautés membres Mar, le 13 Septembre 2016
  12. "Zensus 2011 : Bevölkerung und Haushalte". Ergebrnisse.zensus2011.de. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  13. "Regional Distribution of Christians". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  14. "Assembleia de Deus no Brasil é a maior do mundo". Fronteira Final. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  15. "China's Dynamic Church". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  16. "Nigerian Anglicans May Control the Future of the Church". Thinkafricapress.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  17. "SBC Baptisms and Churches Increased in 2011, Membership Declined". Lifeway.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  18. Archived November 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  19. God Is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is Changing the World. Books.google.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  20. "Authority of Scripture in China's Underground House Church". Biblereadingproject.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  21. "Brief History". EEcmy.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  22. "About Us – The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.". Nationalbaptist.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  23. "ELCT Press Release". Elct.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  24. 1 2 Svenska kyrkan i siffror Svenska kyrkan
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