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Why Are U.S. Religious Labels So Complicated?

Why Are U.S. Religious Labels So Complicated?

Last updated on: October 23, 2026 at 6:52 pm by Richard Ostling

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Why Are U.S. Religious Labels So Complicated? 2026-10-23T18:52:41-04:00 Richard Ostling

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American vista: competing churches face each other along a rural road / Michael Wright @ pexels.com

Commonplace U.S. vista: Competing churches face off along a rural road / Michael Wright @ pexels.com

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:

The situation is complicated but the explanation is simple. It’s because American religion is complicated – in fact, the most complicated spiritual culture of any nation in history. New faiths continually emerge, new schisms occur, and, adding to confusion, groups with very similar names or backgrounds are far different from each other. That’s largely because of Protestantism’s tendency toward splits and its profound impact upon American culture. Protestant-vs.-Protestant competition was one reason the Constitution established no national religion, creating a free market in religion that encourages ever new faiths.

The modern-day landscape is seen in the “Encyclopedia of American Religions” by J. Gordon Melton, which depicts several thousand groups as specific “primary” identities of Americans, ranging from ancient churches to New Thought circles to flying-saucer sects. The last U.S. Religion Census identified 368 religious bodies. (This Census is conducted by expert statisticians, not the federal Census Bureau.)

Added confusion appears when religious organizations change their names. For instance, has “evangelical” become a dirty word? On October 8, the Evangelical Press Association announced that member periodicals voted by 57% to drop that 77-year-old name to become the Christian Communicators Network. Leaders explained there’s concern over “political, cultural, and sociological meanings that often obscure” what the E-word has meant regarding belief. No troublesome political labeling was specified, but we can guess.

Invidious word

Similar marketing involved the invidious word “fundamentalism.” The Independent Fundamental Churches of America, founded in 1930 by Fundamentalists who later spurned “Evangelicals,” softened that name to “IFCA International” in 1996. However, its Web site still champions “fundamental” doctrine and its constitution refers one time to “fundamentalists.”

The Conservative Baptist Association enacted a 2019 “rebrand” with the name Venture Church Network. Leaders decided “Conservative” no longer conveyed belief but a “political and cultural position” (again, no specifics) while “Baptist” is unclear and lacks a “solid reputation.” The CBA was a 1947 schism off the Northern Baptist Convention, which later renamed itself “American Baptist” partly in the vain hope of competing in Dixie with the Southern Baptist Convention. The latter name is misleading for a nationwide denomination but there’s no consensus on a replacement.

In 2018, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially abolished the familiar “Mormon” nickname for such institutions as the beloved Mormon Tabernacle Choir, born in 1873. This presumably reflected the church’s recent effort to normalize an image as legitimately “Christian” and distinguish itself from “fundamentalist Mormons” who perpetuate LDS founder Joseph Smith’s polygamy. The church both changed internal terminology and expected outsiders to drop the longstanding word, including journalists who continue to use “Mormon” for clarity. A smaller denomination founded by Smith’s anti-polygamy son and widow, The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is downplaying its LDS heritage and renamed itself Community of Christ in 2001.

Understandable relabeling

An understandable relabeling was instituted by the Children of God, the late David Berg’s authoritarian group that originated in the Jesus People movement in 1968. The renamed The Family International, admits its “colorful history.” It seeks to live down Berg-era scandals, hostile journalism, and court judgments that past leaders perpetrated physical and sexual abuse of youths.

After Herbert W. Armstrong died, the main body of his Worldwide Church of God so spurned his teachings that after internal turmoil it achieved membership in the orthodox National Association of Evangelicals, and renamed itself Grace Communion International in 2009. Breakaways preserve Armstrong’s original theology.

Then there’s the matter of conflicting groups with similar names or backgrounds, the reason the Religion Guy insists that the media should always specify the exact denomination they’re talking about.

Wrong collectivities

It’s usually wrong to speak of “Lutherans” collectively when the Religion Census lists a dozen differing denominations from that heritage. Look at the two largest and the St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy case the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing November 3. The conservative Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod filed a brief supporting Catholic preschools that assert they should receive state aid on religious-freedom grounds even though they violate state anti-discrimination law by excluding parents over “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” The more liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America embraces the opposite view alongside LGBT interests and state policy.

Confusingly, the ELCA’s name includes “Evangelical,” but scholars categorize it as a “mainline” denomination, over against the conservative churches labeled “evangelical.” The ELCA name does not stem from that familiar two-party system among U.S. Protestants but roots in Europe where “evangelical” means “Protestant” of whatever type. The “Missouri Synod” name is misleading for a denomination represented nationwide. Ditto with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

U.S. denominations with Calvinist origins are labeled “Presbyterian” (if originated in Britain) or “Reformed” (from mainland Europe) — not to be confused with Judaism’s Reform branch. “Mainline” Presbyterians in what’s now the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) suffered three conservative breakaways into the Presbyterian Church in America (1973), Evangelical Presbyterian Church (1981), and ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (2012).

Schism within a schism

The EPC in turn experienced the most recent Protestant schism this month when The Westminster Churches of America held its organizing Synod. Members oppose a June EPC statement they think opens the door to clergy of same-sex orientation who remain celibate while Westminster forbids clergy with “unnatural sexual attractions” or “desires.” As typical Protestants, the walkouts formed a new denomination rather than joining the existing PCA or ECO. Nor did conservatives leaving the Reformed Church in America in 2021 over sexuality join the conservative Christian Reformed Church but formed the new Alliance of Reformed Churches.

The current Texas Senate campaign underscores the variety within that “Presbyterian” label. Democratic candidate James Talarico is a lifelong “mainline” Presbyterian and Presbyterian seminary student who needed to explain his “God is non-binary” remark meant to say Deity is beyond gender. Conservative foes note his home church admitted an atheist to full membership and an assistant pastor thinks Jesus “didn’t die to save our sins” and maybe he never even existed. The mainliners’ national assembly this year shelved a bid to bar polyamory and polygamy among clergy. Such viewpoints would be unimaginable in the other 35 Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in the Census.

The United Methodist Church, largest of the Census’s 16 “Methodist” denominations, experienced the nation’s worst schism since the Civil War when 7,658 traditionalist congregations quit by 2023. Most formed the new Global Methodist Church. The UMC then widened the disparity among “Methodists” by moving left on sexuality teaching.

And all that says nothing about the infinite variety with non-Christian religions.

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