List of Christian denominations
Some groups included do not consider themselves a denomination (e.g., the Catholic Church
considers itself the one true Church, and as pre-denominational).
Regarding the use of the word "church," the Catholic Church does not
consider any groups or denominations to be true "churches" unless they
have maintained apostolic succession and observe the seven sacraments (by this definition, the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East,
and a few other churches (PNCC, some Old Catholics, etc.) are, for the
most part, the only other Christian groupings considered by the Catholic
Church to be true "churches").[1]
Some groups are large (e.g. Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans or Baptists),
while others are just a few small churches, and in most cases the
relative size is not evident in this list. Also, modern movements such
as Fundamentalist Christianity, Pietism, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and the Holiness movement
sometimes cross denominational lines, or in some cases create new
denominations out of two or more continuing groups, (as is the case for
many United and uniting churches,
for example). Such subtleties and complexities are not clearly depicted
here. Additionally, some groups viewed by non-adherents as
denominational actively resist being called a "denomination" and do not
have any formal denominational structure, authority, or record-keeping
beyond the local congregation; several groups within Restoration Movement fall into this category.