Christian denominations in the United Kingdom

The Church of England is the established church in England, with a parish system that reaches every community in the country. Shaped by the English Reformation, it holds catholic and reformed traditions together, from quiet rural evensong to lively city congregations. It cares for around 16,000 church buildings, and average weekly attendance is roughly 700,000.

The Church of Scotland, often simply called the Kirk, is Scotland's national church and follows Presbyterian governance through elected elders. It dates from the Scottish Reformation of 1560 and keeps a presence in parishes from the Borders to the islands. Membership stands at around 250,000, though many more Scots retain a link with their parish church.

The Methodist Church in Britain grew from the eighteenth-century revival led by John and Charles Wesley, whose open-air preaching reshaped British Christianity. Methodists emphasise personal faith, hymn singing and practical service to their neighbourhoods. The church has around 130,000 members and several thousand chapels and churches across Great Britain.

Baptist churches practise believer's baptism by immersion and value the independence of each local congregation. The tradition has deep roots in Britain: the first Baptist congregation on English soil gathered in London in 1612. The Baptist Union of Great Britain links around 1,900 churches with roughly 100,000 members, alongside separate unions in Scotland and Wales.

Pentecostal churches emphasise the present work of the Holy Spirit, with lively worship, prayer for healing and the exercise of spiritual gifts. In the UK the movement spans historic bodies such as Elim and the Assemblies of God as well as many Black-majority churches, including the New Testament Church of God and the Redeemed Christian Church of God. It is among the fastest-growing streams of British Christianity, with several hundred thousand regular worshippers.

The United Reformed Church was created in 1972 by the union of Congregational and Presbyterian churches in England and Wales, later joined by the Churches of Christ. It stands in the Reformed tradition and is known for its ecumenical spirit. Today it has around 1,000 local churches and some 35,000 members.

The Church in Wales is the Anglican province covering Wales, formed when the church there was disestablished from the Church of England in 1920. Worship is offered in both Welsh and English across its six dioceses. Regular Sunday attendance is in the region of 25,000 to 30,000.

The Scottish Episcopal Church is the Anglican church in Scotland, distinct from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. It kept its bishops after the Reformation settlements and consecrated the first American bishop in 1784, a landmark for the wider Anglican Communion. It has around 300 congregations and roughly 20,000 members.

The Church of Ireland is the Anglican church across the island of Ireland, with dioceses in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. Disestablished in 1871, it retains cathedrals and parish churches in every county of Northern Ireland, including St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast. Around 340,000 people on the island identify with it, with the majority in the north.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland, with congregations across the north and a smaller presence in the Republic. Its roots lie with Scottish settlers of the seventeenth century, and it is governed by elders through a General Assembly that meets in Belfast. Membership is around 190,000.

Beyond the national churches, Britain and Ireland are home to a range of smaller Presbyterian denominations, including the Presbyterian Church of Wales, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and several Free and Reformed Presbyterian bodies. All share Reformed theology and government by elders rather than bishops.

Evangelical describes churches across many denominations that stress the authority of the Bible, personal conversion and sharing the Christian message. In the UK the term covers Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal, independent and many other congregations. The Evangelical Alliance estimates around two million evangelical Christians in the UK.

Independent evangelical and free churches govern their own affairs without belonging to a denomination. Many are linked through networks such as the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, which alone connects around 600 congregations. Styles range from traditional chapel services to informal contemporary gatherings.

Non-denominational churches sit outside the historic denominational structures altogether, often describing themselves simply as Christian or community churches. In the UK they range from small fellowships meeting in schools and village halls to large city congregations. They form a steadily growing part of British church life.

The Elim Pentecostal Church began in 1915, when George Jeffreys formed an evangelistic band in Monaghan, and it grew rapidly through revival campaigns across Britain. Elim churches combine Pentecostal conviction with a practical, community-minded outlook. The movement has around 500 churches in the UK and Ireland.

Assemblies of God Great Britain is a fellowship of classical Pentecostal churches formed in 1924. Local assemblies are self-governing and share a commitment to Spirit-filled worship, evangelism and church planting. The fellowship numbers around 600 churches across the UK.

Newfrontiers is a family of charismatic evangelical churches that grew out of the British new church movement, shaped from the late 1970s by the Bible teacher Terry Virgo. Its congregations emphasise church planting, lively worship and every-member ministry. The wider movement now spans many nations, with well over a hundred churches in the UK.

Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland belongs to the international Vineyard movement, which arrived in Britain in 1987 with a church plant in south-west London. Vineyard congregations blend relaxed contemporary worship with charismatic prayer ministry. There are more than 100 Vineyard churches across the UK and Ireland.

The Salvation Army was founded by William and Catherine Booth in the East End of London in 1865 and is known as much for its social work as for its worship. Local churches, called corps, combine Sunday services with food banks, debt advice, homelessness support and, famously, brass bands. There are around 600 corps across the UK and Ireland.

Quakers, formally the Religious Society of Friends, began in seventeenth-century England through the preaching of George Fox. British Quaker worship is mostly unprogrammed: Friends gather in silence and speak only when moved to do so. Britain Yearly Meeting has around 450 local meetings and roughly 20,000 members and regular attenders.

Congregational churches descend from the English Independents and Dissenters of the seventeenth century, holding that each local church is complete in itself under Christ. Those that stayed outside the 1972 union that formed the United Reformed Church continue in bodies such as the Congregational Federation and the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches. A few hundred chapels remain across the UK.

The Brethren movement began in Dublin and Plymouth in the late 1820s as a search for simple New Testament church life without ordained clergy. Open Brethren assemblies, often known as Gospel Halls or evangelical churches, break bread weekly and are led by local elders. Several hundred assemblies meet across the UK.

The Free Church of Scotland was formed at the Disruption of 1843, when hundreds of ministers left the established Kirk over the right of congregations to call their own ministers. It remains strongest in the Highlands and Islands and holds a conservative Reformed faith, with psalm singing still central to worship in many congregations. It has around 100 congregations.

Seventh-day Adventists worship on Saturday, which they observe as the biblical Sabbath, and look forward to the return of Christ. The British Union Conference oversees congregations across the UK and Ireland, many of them notably diverse and community-minded. There are around 38,000 members in the British Isles.

The Roman Catholic Church in England, Wales and Scotland serves a Catholic population of several million, in full communion with the Pope. Parish life centres on the Mass and the sacraments, and many congregations have been renewed in recent decades by worshippers arriving from Poland, India, Nigeria and elsewhere. Weekly Mass attendance across Britain runs into the high hundreds of thousands.

Orthodox Christians in the UK worship in parishes of the Greek, Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Antiochian and other patriarchates, alongside Oriental Orthodox communities such as the Copts. The ancient liturgies are usually sung, often in a mixture of English and the community's heritage language. Migration has made Orthodoxy one of the growing streams of British Christianity, with several hundred thousand adherents.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been present in Britain since 1837, when its first missionaries arrived in Preston, Lancashire. Congregations meet in local chapels for Sunday worship, and the church maintains temples near London and Preston. Recorded membership in the UK is around 180,000.

Jehovah's Witnesses meet in Kingdom Halls and are known for their door-to-door and public ministry. Their teachings on the Trinity and the Kingdom of God differ from those of the historic churches. Britain has around 130,000 active Witnesses.

Christian congregations that do not fit neatly within the main traditions, including house churches, chaplaincies, Lutheran and international congregations, and churches from many nations now meeting across the UK.