Primary Denominations of Christianity (wikipedia.com)
As an enthusiast of religious history and architecture I have visited many churches over the years. Many many churches. Churches of all ages and denominations. I estimate that over time I have probably made pilgrimages to hundreds of churches, perhaps more than five hundred. I have honestly lost count.
I was recently asked how many churches I have visited, and how many I intend to visit. And then a speculative question arose:
Exactly how many churches are there in the world?
To be clear, this was a reference to the number of church buildings, not the number of denominations or congregations. And honestly I had no real idea. There are currently between 2.3 and 2.5 billion Christians in the world, about a third of the total global population. While this includes many semi- and minimally active members, it begs the question, exactly how many church buildings would be needed to accommodate this entire number? I did the math, and estimating that a typical church could accommodate an average of around three hundred people at a time, that would mean there were around eight million church buildings on Earth.
I Googled the question “how many churches are there in the world” to see if I was close. It turns out, I wasn’t.
According to quora.com, the estimated number of church buildings accommodating Christian congregations is approximately 37 million. That’s one for every 65 people. The same website indicates that there are 34,000 Christian denominations in the world (we’ll get back to that in a bit).
Seems a bit high, but hey, who am I to question the World Wide Web?
The number in the United States, according to The Christian Post, is a more realistic 300,000. With an estimated 228.1 million Christians in the United States (including non-actives), that’s an average of 760 members per congregation. If this ratio is projected to the whole world, that gives us a much more down to earth figure of 3.1 million church buildings.
However, the United States is famous for its very large congregations, which could skew the numbers. This is especially true where megachurches are concerned, as these routinely have regularly attending congregations in the thousands.
Based on the above very rough analysis, I estimate that there are probably between eight and sixteen million church buildings in the world.
Which brings us to a logical follow-up question: How many denominations of Christianity are there in the world?
Google did not yield much in the way of specific numbers for the entire globe, but according to the World Christian Encyclopedia there are at least 33,000 Christian denominations in the United States. Going out on a limb and assuming that there is at least one person from every Christian denomination in the world living in America (not unreasonable), then we can assume that there are 33,000 Christian denominations around the world. But maybe there’s a lot more independent churches out there. Its really difficult to tell.
The fact that there are 33,000 Christian Denominations is quoted on many websites, frequently with the tone that this is a good thing. Personally I think that it suggests that Christianity is hopelessly fractured along more dogmatic fault lines than can be reasonably allowed for in a single faith. But that’s just my opinion.
In any event, a deeper look at the numbers shows that Christianity is not nearly so divided as the number 33,000 might indicate. For one thing, it includes that there are multiple denominations for many churches based on how many countries that church is present in. For example, the Roman Catholic Church, which is a single entity under the authority of the Vatican, counts 242 independent denominations, which is, of course, not really factual.
Not surprisingly, Protestant Christianity makes up the bulk of different denominations, counting 9,000 mainstream and 22,000 independent for a total of 31,000. The vast majority of these ‘denominations’ are in fact stand alone congregations, many of which share essentially common beliefs but with no mutual association with one another.
For true denominations involving multiple churches under common leadership, the number is almost certainly less than two thousand. Major ones, with over a million members, probably less than five hundred.
So, in conclusion, The Complete Pilgrim will almost certainly not be visiting every church on Earth; but I hope there are at least another five hundred in our future.
You shouldn’t really trust Quora, most times there are just armchair experts that do no more than get answers from Google. It is like Yahoo answers. Knowing this it takes away from your credibility.
Well, I really do try my best to be as accurate as possible. In the case of this article, I did try to get my hands on the best info available. I am very open-minded about comments, so if you have better sources I will be delighted to let you post them. Thanks!
hello how are you. please may l have the current numbers of church denomination worldwide.
Everything I know is in this article. Sorry I can’t help further!
So what is your count?
I estimate that there are probably between eight and sixteen million church buildings in the world
like FOR Howard Kramer to contact by email his. Info to talk to his I have Questions that he may answer to. I need help on
Thank this is great work he doing .
You are welcome!
There are at least 33000 denominations of Christianity in the united states alone due to the fact that Jesus Christ left no unifying testament, written by Him, to insure Christianity had the spiritual path christians are meant to follow. Churches get organized through interpreting the holy book, the bible.Followers arise to believe that their church is THE ONE AND ONLY church Jesus Himself would attend. It is exceptionally confusing. Not until the unity of religions choose to glorify God and praise Him, with the personal attitude that the reason for our being ,is to glorify God and learn His attributes. When we are listening to the Holy Spirit in our heart and soul, we can convert our faith into spiritual action. We develop a good character and are honest, kind, just, loving and serve to carry on an ever advancing civilization.
Agreed
What is your faith? Neat way to see the world!
It’s strange that the Catholic Church is the oldest church Christian of course, it was founded by Jesus Christ himself. So it’s the Catholic Church is the one true church why are there so many other Christian churches yes I know that there were many bad popes but that wasn’t an excuse for someone to start another church. Christ established One Church. And he said the Gates of Hell will not Prevail against it. You did not say the gates of hell would not try which they do often enough. The Pope’s are human, just like us and there are some that made big errors just like us. You stick with what you believe when it gets tough you don’t run away. And the word Catholic means universe Church. I’m not a scholar I don’t have a college degree but I read and I pray and I asked God to guide me.💖🕊🕊
It will take someone a lot smarter than me to figure out why there are so many different churches in the world.
Hmmmm – too bad the bishops of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constantinople aren’t around anymore to comment. on the (mostly political) events of 1054 AD.
I would love to have first hand accounts of what really happened!
Nazarene elect first woman Bishop/General Superintendent. German-born Rev. Dr. Carla Sunberg has been promoted from President of The Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, to a General Superintendent/Bishop. She was a Missionary in Russia, USSR for 13 years.
Bishop Sunberg has earned a number of advanced degrees in religion, and honored with several honorary D.D.’s
Thw Church of the Nazarene International has grown to 29,000 local congregations with 29,000 pastors
since 1908.
Thanks for the additional information!