Check.Church

The Family Tree of Christianity

Every church division we can find. The true church began in Acts 2. At some point, it was lost. In 1827 believers began meeting again on the truth of the one body. Today there are around 50,000 denominations, as counted by the World Christian Database, but there can only be one body where the Lord is.

The spine and the great forks

The spine: the post-apostolic church through the ReformationAD 33today10042443145110541173138214571517151915251534The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchThe spineChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchThe spineThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchThe spineOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismCatholicWaldensians (Pre-Reformation dissent)WaldensiansPre-Reformation dissentLollards (Pre-Reformation dissent)LollardsPre-Reformation dissentUnitas Fratrum (Pre-Reformation dissent)Unitas FratrumPre-Reformation dissentLutheran (Lutheran)LutheranLutheranReformed (Reformed and Presbyterian)ReformedReformed and PresbyterianAnabaptist (Anabaptist)AnabaptistAnabaptistChurch of England (Anglican)Church of EnglandAnglican

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2.

Families

Questions people ask

How many Christian denominations are there?
There are about 50,000 denominations, as counted by the World Christian Database, 2025. Denominations are counted in different ways: distinct communions, national branches, independent networks, and rites. The World Christian Database counts per-country organizations, so one worldwide communion contributes many entries.
Where does the tree start?
At the post-apostolic church, the organized church after the apostles (about 100 to 325). Every body on the tree descends from it by a documented chain of separations, unions and renewals. The assembly of Acts 2 is a pattern anchor above the tree, not a node, and no body descends from it.
Which denomination left first?
The tree does not draw any body as the one that left. The councils of 431 and 451 are marked by which churches received them, and the schism of 1054 is a mutual fork with both sides at equal weight.
Does the tree show what each tradition claims about itself?
Yes. Each node records the documented genealogy, and a tradition's own account of its origin appears on a separate card in its own best terms, applied identically to every tradition including this site's own.

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-10.