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

• Protestantism by country
• List of Christian denominations by number of members
• List of Christian denominations
• List of the largest Protestant churches in the USA
• List of religious organizations

References

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2. http://www.worldea.org/whoweare/introduction
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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.
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8. "Baptist World Alliance". Bwanet.org. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
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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. Svenska kyrkan i siffror Svenska kyrkan