How many Protestant denominations are there?

Hint: it’s much less than 42,000

Bottom line up front: there are somewhere between 200 (counting mainline protestant independently but lumping in general evangelical non-denominational as one) and 5000 (per a list compiled by Biblical Catholic) actual denominations for the protestant faith depending on how you calculate them worldwide. This is a complicated issue to put an exact number because it depends on how you tally them.

The reason many Catholics say that there are 42,000 protestant denominations is due to the World Christian Encyclopedia’s accounting methodology; this methodology counts same denomination as a different denomination by country. They counted 238 countries and as such they say there are 238 Roman Catholic denominations which is misleading since there is only one denomination. This has led to a lot of confusion on the subject. They state there are 6 major Christian denominations, 300 ecclesiastical traditions, 33,000 denominations in 238 countries.

(Note: the below uses “234” countries. Their study has changed over time so to get the latest numbers I linked their website below. I’m not as concerned with exactness in the numbers here but to point out how they calculate their huge number whether it be 33,000 or 45,000.)

Here is an excerpt from their website on how they calculate these numbers:

“The most detailed level of our taxonomy of global Christianity is Christian denominations, defined as an organized Christian church, tradition, religious group, community of people, aggregate of worship centre, usually within a specific country, whose component congregations and members are called by the same name in different areas, regarding themselves as an autonomous Christian church distinct from other churches and traditions. Denominations are defined and measured at the country level, creating a large number of separate denominations within Christian families and Christian traditions. For example, the presence of the Catholic Church in the world’s 234 countries results in 234 Catholic “denominations”, though these can be further subdivided by rite (e.g., Byzantine or Latin). The typical way for Christians to count themselves is at the local congregational level and then aggregate these totals at the city, province, state, regional and finally, national levels.

Individual congregations are not counted as “denominations.” We do make note of the fact that many independent congregations are not a part of any denomination. If those churches were to form an independent network with a name, we would consider them a denomination. Using this method, we report 45,000 Christian denominations in the world in 2019.” ¹

Just how many protestant denominations are there? We know it’s more than one denomination and less than 45,000. It’s a number somewhere in between. We know of the major protestant denominations in the United States. These formal denominations are Southern Baptist, Baptist, Episcopalian (Anglican), Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Assemblies of God, and Pentecostal to name a few. These could be called “mainline” denominations meaning they are defined and have a known theology. Then, there are non-associated Evangelical or non-denominational churches which operate independently. They generally have a theology and it is similar to a Baptist or Lutheran theology and some have Calvinist (also called reformed) theology mixed into them. According to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), thirty-seven percent of Americans are protestant which is roughly one hundred and twenty four million Americans and about half of them are evangelical, non-denominational. So, that means approximately fifty to sixty million Americans are non-denominational Christian and the other fifty to sixty Americans are traditional protestants.

We can also agree that there are difference between many “old school” Protestants, like Presbyterians, Lutherans and Anglicans with the non-denominational in areas such as the need for baptism, Communion, liturgical practices, the clergy, hierarchy and sacraments to name a few but there is also a bleeding over of beliefs of one system into another. For instance, you can have a free will baptist or a reformed leaning baptist who does not believe in free will. And you can have leaders from different churches who influence pastors of individual churches but there is a lack of dogma which means there is a lack of definition within all these churches. I’m thinking of John MacArthur who is a Calvinist but he influences many Baptists for example, who may not even realize the difference between free will and Calvinist theology. One can never really know what they believe because it isn’t written down in a catechism or some other document which says “this is the precise belief system of the Evangelical church” but we can still know for the most part what is taught and held true. We can know this because it is pretty simple. If one’s authority is the bible then that is pretty much their catechism. Of course, we all know that this is a major cause of division and the reason there are so many interpretations and different denominations and a major flaw in their system. We can also recognize that there are some other denominations that have different beliefs altogether but call themselves Christian such as the Latter Day Saints and Jehovah Witnesses. I don’t mean to disparage either group but that is a fair statement to say that not all Christians see them as fellow Christian but to be fair many Christians don’t believe Catholics are Christian.

For sake of argument I believe the below to be the general American Evangelical or non-denominational belief system and if we can define it then each individual church or organization that holds to this we can say are not different denominations.

1. They believe in Jesus Christ, first and foremost, He is the start and finish of their faith.

2. They believe He is their Lord and savior and that by believing in Him they are saved by faith, and faith alone.

3. They believe that the bible is their authority. This means that one can read the bible and understand it and that no church dogma or proclamation can supersede what is in the bible. As such, they don’t believe there is a need for priests or hierarchy because everything we need to know is in the bible.

4. As such, each person is a priest and there is no priesthood or need for a priesthood but one can take his or her prayers directly to Jesus.

5. They believe in a need for a personal relationship with Jesus.

6. They believe that once they are Christian they are saved and nothing can take away their salvation, or once saved always saved.

7. They don’t believe one needs baptism for regeneration but that to be born again is to believe in Jesus. Belief in Jesus Christ is to be born again. However, they do baptize as a matter of showing one’s faith publicly.

8. They believe you cannot work for salvation but that the Grace that comes from God through Jesus is a gift and can only be received. We can do nothing to earn salvation.

9. They believe that participating in communion is symbolic but does not contain the real presence of Jesus Christ.

10. The reject what they see as man made theology which would be things outside of the bible such as purgatory, praying to saints, indulgences, rosaries, statues and veneration to Mary.

11. They believe one can confess their sins directly to God and that confession to a priest and absolution from a priest is unnecessary.

12. They generally believe that there will be an end time and in that end time there will be a rapture which will precede the great tribulation.

The above belief system isn’t exhaustive but it’s pretty close to what evangelicals hold true and as a former evangelical, I would say it’s close enough and fair to their genuine belief. All of the above beliefs are very Lutheran. Luther taught many of the concepts above in direct opposition to a church which pushed indulgences as a means of salvation and other man made practices. It was a church that Luther believed made up whatever they needed to make up in order to maintain power and therefore he believed that by going right to the source, Jesus, right to the bible, right to God, the people would not need a corrupt and disgusting church. Now, I gotta say, that sounds pretty convincing, doesn’t it? But, it also opens the door for division since many do interpret the bible differently. Infant baptism is a great example of this. John MacArthur and R.C. Sprouls differed on whether a child could be baptized and yet they shared a common hatred of the Catholic church; is hatred too strong?

There are many small, independent churches around the nation located in strip malls or off the beaten path with no particular denomination but they are all closely related in the above theology if they call themselves “bible believing church” or “non-denominational” or “evangelical”. Is it fair to say that each of these churches is a different denomination? There is no non-denominational pope or bishop so in a sense they are different because each might have a slightly different take on a certain subject but I would make the point that the people who attend these churches go there with the notion that the pastor shares with them the gospel but does not impose upon them any conditions of discipleship other than what is in the bible and therefore if one were to move to Memphis from Nashville he could pick up at a local non-denominational, evangelical church and probably find a similar environment. Is it the same as having a catechism and a set of dogmas, a church hierarchy? No, but is it a different denomination altogether? I would say it is not. I have not done this but I would gather one could do an experiment and download services (or observe) in different areas of churches that call themselves non-denominational, evangelical and find pretty much the same message that Jesus Christ is our lord and savior and that we need Him in our life, we need a personal relationship with Him in order to obtain eternal salvation. Christ died for our sins and He is the only way to Heaven.

I attended evangelical services in different parts of the country and I didn’t find any real difference that would separate one from the other. The pastor wears jeans and walks around with bible in hand while talking for a very long time. He reads from Galatians or Romans and he puts together sermons centered on the need for Christ, the need for repentance, the need for this or for that. It is a simple approach to find a better way to live, a clean way to live, a way centered on Jesus Christ.

So, just how many Christian denominations are there? I don’t know the exact number but if we lump in general the bible believing churches into one denomination, count the established protestant churches such as the Lutherans and then the others you may have a hundred to two hundred different denominations. I counted them and it’s really not anywhere close to 42,000. However, one Catholic blogger list all the denominations he could find and there was about 5,000.² That number is very high but it certainly is much lower than 42,000 or 33,000 or 23,000.

I believe it would be fair to say there are over 1,000 protestant denominations if one were inclined to say there are 20, 30 or 40,000 is too much and a wee bit slanderous for this Catholic’s taste. Whatever the exact number we Catholics cannot say we have only one denomination. We have at least two. Latin rite and Orthodox. We also have other issues now such as the Latin Mass verses the Norvus Ordo Mass. We have bishops in certain countries doing very odd things and saying very odd things. We have the SSPX on one side and uber liberal jesuits on the other side. We are also in need of self examination and we should pray for our separated brethren.

The ultimate goal of this post is not to pin an exact number down but I hope Catholics stop using the number 33,000 or 42,000 because it seems that they way that number is calculated is baloney. Also, I believe that most non-denominational churches even though they lack a hierarchy which binds them aren’t really all that different to begin with. However, even just reading the bible can lead to schism among allies who are joined against the Catholic church. There should be only one denomination as St. Paul told us; we don’t follow Apollos or Paul but Christ. I would invite all to research the one true Church, the Catholic Church and come and see what is really taught and really present there.

1. Anonymous, 2023, Gordon Conwell Seminary, downloaded 2/4/23, <https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/research/quick-facts/>

2. http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/DENOMS.php