A religious denomination, (also simply denomination) is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity. In Islam such subgroups are referred to as "sects" rather than denominations. The term is frequently used to describe various groupings of Christian churches ( for example, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism and the many varieties of Protestantism) (Main article: Christian denomination.)

It is also used to describe the four organised branches of Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist), and (less often, though it would not be inappropriate) to describe the two main branches of Islam (Sunni and Shia).

In Hinduism each caste or collection of castes is like a denomination with distinct cultural and religious practices. The major denominations include Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, Smartism, and Halumatha.

Contents

1 Authority of denominations
2 Formation of denominations
3 Examples
4 See also
 

Authority of denominations
Denominations usually have a significant degree of authority over their member congregations, although the term is also used to describe religious groups when the congregations have authority over the "denomination", such as Congregationalist church governance such as the Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ and the numerous Baptist associations.

Formation of denominations
Denominations often form slowly over time for many reasons; due to historical accidents of geography, culture, and influence between different groups, members of a given religion slowly begin to diverge in their views. Over time members of a religion may find that they have developed significantly different views on theology, philosophy, religious pluralism, ethics and religious practices and rituals. As such, in any of myriad ways, different denominations eventually form. In other cases, denominations form very rapidly, either as a result from a split or schism in an existing denomination, or as people from many different denominations share an experience of spiritual revival or spiritual awakening, and choose to form a new denomination based on that new experience or understanding.

Examples
An example within Christianity is the Mennonite and the Church of the Brethren denominations. Both denominations are similar in their beliefs, yet they are unique because their traditions were influenced by different founders (Menno Simons and Alexander Mack respectively). Their division is administrative, and there is much communication and interaction between the two. Since its founding, the Mennonite denomination has split into a number of smaller Mennonite denominations, because of both geography and social and theological differences.

Another example is the Lutheran Church. When Martin Luther protested practice of the Catholics, he and his followers were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church as heretics and ended up forming alternative communities of practice that expressed Luther's understanding of proper church practice that became known as "Lutheran" or "Protestant." Over time, the various churches considering themselves Lutheran identified with one another and through various definitions of "Lutheran" practices (Heidelberg Catechism, five solas, priesthood of all believers) the conglomerations of churches formed concrete denominations based on a common or school of thought related to these practices. Even today there are major ideological differences between different denominations of Lutherans, even though there may be significant overlap beterrn their beliefs and almost no physical hostility.