section_path: Historic divisions in Christianity/Christian denominations today
section_name: Christian denominations today
paragraph_text: Christian denominations today
  
  Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century, also known as the "Apostolic Age", and in the present day, a number of widely varied Christian groups exist, both within and without mainstream Christianity. Despite the division between these groups, a number of commonalities exist throughout their traditions, understanding of theology, governing church systems, doctrine and language. As such, many of these groups are visibly divided into different communions or denominations, groupings of Christians and their churches in full communion with one another, but to some degree set apart from other Christians.
  
  The World Council of Churches counts 348 member churches, representing more than half a billion members of the major Christian traditions. This, with the Catholic Church's 1.25 billion Christians, indicates that 349 churches/denominations already account for nearly 80% of the world's Christian population.
  
  One problem with the larger numbers is that single denominations can be counted multiple times. For example, the Catholic Church is a single church, or communion, comprising 24 distinct self-governing particular churches in full communion with the bishop of Rome (the largest being the Latin Church, commonly called "Roman Catholic"). Further, the Catholic Church's presence in each country is counted as a different denomination—though this is in no way an ecclesiologically accurate definition. This can result in the one Catholic Church being counted as 242 distinct denominations, as in the World Christian Encyclopedia.
  
  Additionally, single nondenominational congregations or megachurches without denominational affiliation are effectively counted each as its own denomination, resulting in cases where entire "denominations" may account for only a handful of people. Other denominations may be very small remnants of once larger churches. The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (Shakers) have only two full members, for example, yet are a distinct denomination.
  
  Most current divisions are the result of historical schisms —a break in the full communion between previously united Churches, bishops, or communities. Some historical schisms proved temporary and were eventually healed, others have hardened into the denominations of today. However individual denominations are counted, it is generally acknowledged that they fall into the following major "families" of churches (though certain parts of some Christian denominations, such as Quakerism, may fall into the mainline category though the majority are evangelical Quakers):
  
  In the United States, the historic racial/ethnic churches are sometimes counted as a distinct family of churches, though they may otherwise fit into any one of the previous categories.
  
  Some of these families are in themselves a single communion, such as the Catholic Church. Other families are a very general movement with no universal governing authority. Protestantism, for example, includes such diverse groups as Adventists, Anabaptists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Evangelicals, Hussites, Lutherans, Messianic Jews, Methodists (inclusive of the Holiness movement), Moravians, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Reformed, and Waldensians. Many of these have, as a result of ecumenical dialogue, established full or partial communion agreements.