This is a list of the largest Protestant denominations. It aims to include sizable Protestant Christian communions, federations, alliances, councils, fellowships, and other denominational organizations in the world and provides information regarding the membership thereof. Protestant bodies being considered in this article are divided into:
- transdenominational bodies with more than 50 million members
- international bodies with more than 10 million members
- national bodies with more than 5 million members
- non-national bodies with more than 5 million members
In early 2026, the World Christian Database estimated a total of 637,856,000 Protestants and 426,370,000 Independents (mostly non-denominational Evangelicals, Charismatics, and Pentecostals who do not self-identify as "Protestant"). In 2010, the most numerous international bodies accounted for more than a half of worldwide Protestant population, while the most numerous national bodies accounted for more than 200 of the world's 800 million Protestants.
Transdenominational organizations, such as the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America (PCCNA), Some of the national groupings cannot be considered churches in mainstream Protestant ecclesiology, even when they constitute a single denomination. Examples of the latter category are the Porvoo Communion, and the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD),
Denominational families
According to Christianity Global: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe (2022), the largest Protestant denominations self-reported the following number of adherents worldwide in the year 2020:
- 644,260,000 Charismatics and Pentecostals, corresponding to 8.3% of the global population;
| Secretary-General Thomas Schirrmacher
| New York City, NY, United States
|Worldwide
| 424,255,000
| Communion of Anglican and national Lutheran churches in Europe.
|-
| Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe
| Lutheran<br />Reformed<br />Methodist
| 1973<br />Hölstein, Switzerland
| Secretary-General Mario Fischer
| Vienna, Austria
| Europe
| 50,000,000
| Communion of Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, and United denominations in Europe.
|}
International bodies
International bodies tend to bring together only one Protestant branch which shares common founders, tenets and history. Among the most sizeable international bodies are the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the Anglican Communion, and the Lutheran World Federation, each with more than 70 million members.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name
!Orientation
!Foundation
!Leadership
!Headquarters
!Region
!Membership
!Notes
|-
| Anglican Communion
| Anglican
| 1867<br />Lambeth Conference, London, England
| Archbishop of Canterbury
| London, United Kingdom
| Worldwide
| 85,000,000 - 110,000,000 or 112,340,486
| Brings together Anglicans from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations.
|-
| World Communion of Reformed Churches
| Reformed
| 2010
| General Secretary Najla Kassab
| Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany
| Worldwide
| 100,000,000, 108,297,189,
| Brings together Reformed Christians and United and Uniting Churches from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations. As of 2025, the WCRC is globally one the largest Protestant communions.
|-
| World Assemblies of God Fellowship
| Pentecostal
| 1988
| General Superintendent and Chairman Doug E. Clay
| Springfield, Missouri, United States
| Worldwide
| 86,143,293 - 88,866,189
| Brings together a substantial Pentecostal population, although not the majority, as it is scattered in various independent Pentecostal denominations.
|-
| Lutheran World Federation
| Lutheran
| 1947
| General Secretary Anne Burghardt
| Geneva, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland
| Worldwide
| 78,431,111
| Brings together Lutherans from all over the world, and is the largest of such organizations.
|-
| Baptist World Alliance
| Baptist
| 1905
| General Secretary Elijah M. Brown
| Falls Church, Virginia, United States
| Worldwide
| 53,871,526
| Brings together a substantial Baptist population, although not the majority, as it is scattered in various independent Baptist denominations.
|-
| World Methodist Council
| Methodist
| 1881
| General Secretary Bishop Ivan M. Abrahams
| Waynesville, North Carolina, United States
| Worldwide
| 40,286,617
| Brings together Methodists from all over the world, as it is scattered in various independent Methodist denominations.
|}
National bodies
Although there are "mostly national" denominations like the United Methodist Church (mainly concentrated in the United States), or denominations with dispersed membership like the Apostolic Church and the Church of God (both with membership dispersed around the world) that have a far larger membership than required to be on this list, 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 and is not active beyond that country's borders.
The Church of England, the Church of Christ in Congo, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the Assembleias de Deus, and the Protestant Church in Germany constitute the most numerous national bodies with more than 20 million members each.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name
!Orientation
!Foundation
!Leadership
!Headquarters
!Region
!Membership
!Notes
|-
| Three-Self Patriotic Movement
| State-regulated theology<br />various Protestant denominations
| 1951
| Chairperson<br />Fu Xianwei<br />Secretary General<br />Xu Xiaohong
| Shanghai, China
| China
| 38,000,000
| It is the only Protestant denomination approved by the Chinese government. Its theology is regulated and controlled by the state.
|-
| Church of England
| Anglican
| 1534
| Supreme Governor King Charles III;<br />Archbishop of Canterbury
| London, United Kingdom
| England
| 26,000,000
| The country's established church.
|-
| Church of Christ in Congo
| Methodists,<br />Pentecostals,<br />Baptists,<br />Mennonites,<br />Reformed,<br />Evangelicals,<br />United Protestants
| 1970
| Bishop Pierre Marini Bodho
| Kinshasa, Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| Democratic Republic of the Congo
| 25,500,000
| Federation of most Congolese Protestants. Largest United Protestant denomination worldwide.
|-
| Church of Nigeria
| Anglican
| 1979
| Primate of all Nigeria, Archbishop of Abuja Province Nicholas Okoh
| Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
| Nigeria
| 25,000,000
| Local province of the Anglican Communion.
|-
| Assembléias de Deus
| Pentecostal
| 1911
| General Superintendent José Wellington Bezerra da Costa
| São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil
| Brazil
| 22,500,000
| Fragmented into smaller units which together gather the vast majority of Brazilian Pentecostals. The largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.
|-
| Born Again Movement
| Evangelicals,<br />Charismatics,<br />Chinese house church
| 1968
|
| Henan, China
| China
| 20,000,000
| House church, not recognized by the Chinese government.
|-
| Protestant Church in Germany
| Prussian, United,<br />Lutheran,<br />Reformed
| 1948
| Praeses of the Synod Irmgard Schwaetzer<br />Chairman of the Council of the EKD Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
| Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany
| Germany
| 17,979,849
| Federation of most German protestants.
|-
| Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
| Lutheran
| 1959
| Bishop Dr. Wakseyoum Idossa
| Addis Ababa, Chartered city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| Ethiopia
| 15,000,000
| The world's largest Lutheran denomination.
|-
| Church of Uganda
| Anglican
| 1897
| Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala Stanley Ntagali
| Namirembe Hill, Kampala District, Uganda
| Uganda
| 13,311,801
| Local province of the Anglican Communion.
|-
| Southern Baptist Convention
| Baptist
| 1845
| President Clint Pressley
| Nashville, Tennessee, United States
| United States
| 12,311,954
| The world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
|-
| Fangcheng Fellowship
| Evangelicals,<br />Charismatics,<br />Chinese house church
| 1971
|
|
| China
| 10,000,000
| House church, not recognised by the Chinese government.
|-
| Nigerian Baptist Convention
| Baptist
| 1915
| Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle, President (and chief executive officer)
| Ibadan
| Nigeria
| 9,015,000
| House church, not recognized by the Chinese government.
|-
| Church of Christ in Nations
| Reformed
| 1906
| Rev. Amos Musa Mohzo
| Jos, Plateau, Nigeria
| Nigeria
| 8,000,000
| The world's largest Reformed denomination.
|-
| Batak Christian Protestant Church
| Lutheran
| 1861
|
| Hutatoruan V, Tarutung, North Sumatra, Indonesia
| Indonesia
| 6,333,000
| The world's second-largest Reformed denomination.
|-
| Anglican Church of Kenya
| Anglican
| 1970
| Jackson Ole Sapit
| Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya
| Kenya
| 5,860,000
| Local province of the Anglican Communion.
|-
| Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
| Reformed
| 1846
|
|
| Nigeria
| 5,800,000
| The world's third-largest Reformed denomination.
|-
| Church of Sweden
| Lutheran
| 1593
| Archbishop of Uppsala Antje Jackelén
| Uppsala, Uppsala County, Sweden
| Sweden
| 5,484,000
| Local province of the Anglican Communion.
|-
| Church of South India
| United Churches
| 1947
| The Rt. Rev. K. Reuben Mark
|
| India
| 5,000,000
|
|}
Non-national bodies
These denominations operate worldwide and cannot be considered alongside other national bodies.
Many sizeable non-national bodies happen to be Pentecostal. The list also includes the largest Adventist church (the Seventh-day Adventist Church), the largest Methodist church (the United Methodist Church) and the largest African initiated church (the Zion Christian Church) and the second largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, The Pentecostal Mission (TPM).
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name
!Orientation
!Foundation
!Leadership
!Headquarters
!Region
!Membership
!Notes
|-
| Seventh-day Adventist Church<br />
| Adventist
| 1863
| Erton Köhler
| Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
| Worldwide
| 23,684,237
| The world's largest Adventist denomination. Brings together the vast majority of the world's Adventists.
|-
| The Apostolic Church<br />
| Pentecostal
| 1911/1916
|
|
| Worldwide
| 15,000,000
| Trinitarian Pentecostal denomination which emerged from the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival.
|-
| Zion Christian Church<br />
| African initiated
|
|
| Zion City Moria, Limpopo, South Africa
| Southern Africa
| 15,000,000
| The world's largest African initiated church with Anglican, Pentecostal and evangelical influences.
|-
| United Methodist Church<br />
| Methodist
| 1968
|
| None
| Worldwide
| 9,984,925
| The world's largest Methodist denomination.
|-
| New Apostolic Church International
| Irvingian
| 1863
| Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider
| Zürich, Switzerland
| Worldwide
| 9,240,000
|
|-
| Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)<br />
| Pentecostal
| 1886
| Dr. Tim Hill
| Cleveland, Tennessee, U.S.
| Worldwide
| 9,200,000
|
|-
| International Church of the Foursquare Gospel<br />
| Pentecostal
|
|
| Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| Worldwide
| 9,000,000
|
|-
| Church of God in Christ<br />
| Pentecostal
|
|
| Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
| Worldwide
| 6,500,000
|
|}
See also
- Christianity and colonialism
- European colonization of the Americas
- History of the Puritans in North America
- Political influence of Evangelicalism in Latin America
- Protestant missions
- List of Protestant missionary societies
- List of Protestant mission societies in Africa
- Protestant Reformation
- English Reformation
- Great Awakenings
- History of Christianity in the United Kingdom
- History of Christianity in the United States
- Protestantism by country
- Protestantism in South America
- List of Christian denominations
- List of Christian denominations by number of members
- List of megachurches in the United States
- List of religious organizations
- List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches