This is a list of the largest Protestant denominations. It aims to include sizable Protestant communions, federations, alliances, councils, fellowships, and other denominational organisations in the world and provides information regarding the membership thereof. The list is inevitably partial and generally based on claims by the denominations themselves. The numbers should therefore be considered approximate. Protestant bodies being considered in this article are divided into:
In 2010, the most numerous international bodies accounted for more than a half of worldwide Protestant population,[1] while the most numerous national bodies accounted for more than 200 of the world's 800 million Protestants.[2] [3]
Transdenominational organisations are very large and often characterized by overlapping membership as opposed to international and national bodies. Some of the national groupings cannot be considered churches in mainstream Protestant ecclesiology even when they constitute a single denomination. A good example is the Protestant Church in Germany, which differs denominationally and encompasses Lutheran, Reformed and United subchurches.
Transdenominational bodies include people across all denominations that participate in a movement which goes beyond their Protestant branch, like Evangelicalism, the Charismatic movement, or the Neo-charismatic movement. These are of international scope.
The World Evangelical Alliance is so far the only major transdenominational evangelical Protestant organization that operates internationally. It represents 600 million Christians. The Porvoo Communion brings Lutherans and Anglicans in Europe into a common communion.
| Name | Orientation | Foundation | Leadership | Headquarters | Region | Membership | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Evangelical Alliance | Evangelical | 1846 London, England[4] | Secretary-General Thomas Schirrmacher | New York City, United States | Worldwide | 600,000,000[5] | Aims to unite Evangelicals worldwide. | |
| Porvoo Communion | Anglican Lutheran | 1992 Porvoo Cathedral, Porvoo, Finland | Co-chairmen Bishop Peter Skov-Jakobsen, Archbishop Michael Jackson | None | Europe | 50,000,000[6] | Communion of Anglican and Lutheran denominations in Europe. | |
| Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe | Lutheran Reformed Methodist | 1973 Hölstein, Switzerland | Secretary-General Mario Fischer | Vienna, Austria | Europe | 50,000,000[7] | Communion of Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist and United denominations in Europe. |
International bodies tend to bring together only one Protestant branch which shares common founders, tenets and history. Among the most sizeable international bodies are the Anglican Communion, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Lutheran World Federation – each with more than 70 million members.
| Name | Orientation | Foundation | Leadership | Headquarters | Region | Membership | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglican Communion | Anglican | 1867 Lambeth Conference, London, England | Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby | London, United Kingdom | Worldwide | 85,000,000[8] | Brings together Anglicans from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations. | |
| World Communion of Reformed Churches | Reformed | 2010 | General Secretary Chris Ferguson | Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany | Worldwide | 80,000,000[9] | Brings together Calvinists from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations. | |
| World Methodist Council | Methodist | 1881 | General Secretary Bishop Ivan M. Abrahams | Waynesville, North Carolina, United States | Worldwide | 40,000,000[10] | Brings together Methodists from all over the world. | |
| Lutheran World Federation | Lutheran | 1947 | General Secretary Anne Burghardt | Geneva, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland | Worldwide | 75,000,000[11] | Brings together Lutherans from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations. | |
| World Assemblies of God Fellowship | Pentecostal | 1988 | General Superintendent and Chairman Doug E. Clay | Springfield, Missouri, United States | Worldwide | 69,189,381[12] [13] | Brings together a substantial Pentecostal population, although not the majority, as it is scattered in various independent Pentecostal denominations. | |
| Baptist World Alliance | Baptist | 1905 | General Secretary Elijah M. Brown | Falls Church, Virginia, United States | Worldwide | 48,000,000[14] | Brings together a substantial Baptist population, although not the majority, as it is scattered in various independent Baptist denominations. |
Although there are "mostly national" denominations like the United Methodist Church (mainly concentrated in the United States), or denominations with dispersed membership like the Apostolic Church and the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) (both with membership dispersed around the world) that have a far larger membership than required to be on this list, 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 and is not active beyond that country's borders.
The Church of England, the Church of Christ in Congo, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the Assembleias de Deus and the Protestant Church in Germany constitute the most numerous national bodies with more than 20 million members each.
| Name | Orientation | Foundation | Leadership | Headquarters | Region | Membership | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church of England | Anglican | 1534[15] | Supreme Governor King Charles III; Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby | London, United Kingdom | England | 26,000,000[16] | The country's established church. | |
| Church of Christ in Congo | Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Mennonites, Reformed, Evangelicals, United Protestants[17] | 1970 | Bishop Pierre Marini Bodho | Kinshasa, Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 25,500,000[18] | Federation of most Congolese Protestants. Largest United Protestant denomination worldwide. | |
| Three-Self Patriotic Movement | State-regulated theology various Protestants | 1951 | Chairperson Fu Xianwei Secretary General Xu Xiaohong | Shanghai, China | China | 23,000,000[19] | It is the only Protestant denomination approved by the Chinese government. Its theology is regulated and controlled by the state. | |
| Assembléias de Deus | Pentecostal | 1911 | General Superintendent José Wellington Bezerra da Costa | São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil | Brazil | 22,500,000[20] | Fragmented into smaller units which together gather the vast majority of Brazilian Pentecostals. The largest Pentecostal denomination in the world. | |
| Protestant Church in Germany | Prussian, United, Lutheran, Reformed | 1948 | Praeses of the Synod Irmgard Schwaetzer Chairman of the Council of the EKD Heinrich Bedford-Strohm | Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany | Germany | 20,200,000[21] | Federation of most German protestants. | |
| Born Again Movement | Evangelicals, Charismatics, Chinese house church | 1968 | Henan, China | China | 20,000,000[22] | House church, not recognized by the Chinese government. | ||
| Church of Nigeria | Anglican | 1979 | Primate of all Nigeria, Archbishop of Abuja Province Nicholas Okoh | Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria | Nigeria | 18,000,000[23] | Local province of the Anglican Communion. | |
| Southern Baptist Convention | Baptist | 1845 | President Ed Litton | Nashville, Tennessee, United States | United States | 13,200,000[24] | The world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. | |
| Church of Uganda | Anglican | 1897 | Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala Stanley Ntagali | Namirembe Hill, Kampala District, Uganda | Uganda | 11,000,000[25] | Local province of the Anglican Communion. | |
| Fangcheng Fellowship | Evangelicals, Charismatics, Chinese house church | 1971 | China | 10,000,000[26] | House church, not recognised by the Chinese government. | |||
| Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus | Lutheran | 1959 | Bishop Dr. Wakseyoum Idossa | Addis Ababa, Chartered city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Ethiopia | 8,310,129[27] | The world's largest Lutheran denomination. | |
| China Gospel Fellowship | Evangelicals, Charismatics, Chinese house church | 1980s | China | 8,000,000[28] | House church, not recognized by the Chinese government. | |||
| National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. | Baptist | 1880 | President Dr. Jerry Young | Montgomery, Alabama, United States | United States | 7,500,000[29] | The second largest Baptist denomination in the world. It is considered a black church with its membership being largely African American. | |
| Baptist | 1915 | Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle, President (and chief executive officer) | Ibadan | Nigeria | 6,500,000[30] | The world's third largest Baptist denomination. | ||
| Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania | Lutheran | 1963 | Bishop Dr. Fredrick Onael Shoo | Arusha, Arusha Region, Tanzania | Tanzania | 6,500,000[31] | The world's second largest Lutheran denomination. | |
| Church of Sweden | Lutheran | 1593 | Archbishop of Uppsala Antje Jackelén | Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden | Sweden | 5,600,000[32] | The world's third largest Lutheran denomination, and the third largest Protestant one in Europe. | |
| Anglican Church of Kenya | Anglican | 1970 | Jackson Ole Sapit | Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya | Kenya | 5,000,000 | Local province of the Anglican Communion. |
These denominations operate worldwide and cannot be considered alongside other national bodies.
Many sizeable non-national bodies happen to be Pentecostal. The list also includes the largest Adventist church (the Seventh-day Adventist Church), the largest Methodist church (the United Methodist Church) and the largest African initiated church (the Zion Christian Church) and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, The Pentecostal Mission (TPM) or (New Testament Church/Universal Pentecostal Church/Ceylon Pentecostal Mission).
| Name | Orientation | Foundation | Leadership | Headquarters | Region | Membership | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assemblies of God | Pentecostal | 1914/1988 | George O. Wood | None | Worldwide | 69,189,381 | The world's largest Pentecostal denomination. | |
| Seventh-day Adventist Church | Adventist | 1863 | Ted N.C. Wilson[33] | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Worldwide | 21,912,161[34] | The world's largest Adventist denomination. Brings together the vast majority of the world's Adventists. | |
| The Apostolic Church | Pentecostal | 1911/1916 | Worldwide | 15,000,000 | Trinitarian Pentecostal denomination which emerged from the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. | |||
| Zion Christian Church | African initiated | Zion City Moria, Limpopo, South Africa | Southern Africa | 15,000,000 | The world's largest African initiated church with Anglican, Pentecostal and evangelical influences. | |||
| United Methodist Church | Methodist | 1968 | None | Worldwide | 12,000,000 | The world's largest Methodist denomination. | ||
| New Apostolic Church International | Irvingian | 1863 | Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider | Zürich, Switzerland | Worldwide | 9,240,000[35] | ||
| International Church of the Foursquare Gospel | Pentecostal | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Worldwide | 9,000,000 | ||||
| Church of God in Christ | Pentecostal | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | Worldwide | 6,500,000 | ||||
| Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) | Pentecostal | 1886 | Dr. Tim Hill | Cleveland, Tennessee, U.S. | Worldwide | 7,000,000[36] | ||
| United Pentecostal Church International | Oneness Pentecostal | 1945 | David K. Bernard | Weldon Spring, Missouri, U.S. | Worldwide | 5,750,000 | The world's largest denomination in Oneness Pentecostalism. | |
| Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide | Full Gospel | 1978 | Bro. Eddie Villanueva | Manila, Philippines | Worldwide | 1,000,000[37] |