WDOC:About

The aim of the World Directory of Churches is to catalog every single Christian church on the planet, regardless of language, size, creed, or denomination. From the growing church communities in Africa and Latin America to the ancient ruins of the Middle East, from the cathedrals of Europe to the mega-churches of North America -- our goal is to provide an accurate and up-to-date resource for Christians everywhere, so that the whole world can learn of the diversity and breadth of Christianity, and so that anyone who so desires can find a church to call home.

The World Directory of Churches was started on July 16, 2011 by Alex Moore, a student of ecumenical theology from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The site went public on August 1, 2011 with just two churches in its database. Today there are churches, monasteries and denominations in the Directory.

FAQ
Q. Has a project like this ever been attempted before?

A. As far as we know, no one has ever attempted a worldwide catalog of Christian congregations. Some efforts have been made individually to catalog churches in North America and Canada. In 1982, the World Christian Encyclopedia was published which cataloged some 22,000 denominations worldwide. To date, it remains the largest single survey of Christianity. Various denominations worldwide keep detailed records of their member congregations; lists of denominations exist online or in books, but many are not easily available for public consumption. Some large denominations like the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches have a detailed (and ancient) structure in place for identifying parishes by diocese, episcopal see, or bishopric. However, never has there been a comprehensive list of worship service/mass times published or maintained by the Roman Catholic Church. We can confidently say that no cross-denominational detailed database of Christian congregations exists at the global level.

Q. How many churches are there in the world?

A. The effort required to estimate this number is staggering. There are more than 30,000 Protestant denominations in the United States alone, with each denomination containing one to thousands of congregations. In the world, it has been estimated that some 50,000 congregations are founded each year, mainly in Africa and South America where growth is explosive. But the practicalities of this census are even more difficult: Christian communities without access to a physical building are often hard to categorize, and some underground churches in oppressive societies would be dangerous to publicize, and to that end should remain in safe hiding. The World Directory of Churches also aims to catalog many inactive churches, though surely thousands of ancient or destroyed church buildings are simply lost to history. Current estimates suggest there are well over 2 billion Christians living in the world, or approximately 2 in 5 human beings. If each congregation averaged 60 members, there might be 35 million active congregations on Earth.

Q. What exactly does "Church" mean in the context you're using?

A. We are aware that the term "Church" has many different meanings. One common usage of the word is employed in the description of denominations. For example, Presbyterians might use "The Church" to refer to the Presbyterian Church. Just as frequently, a person might speak about "going to church", meaning visiting a physical building. And of course, one might talk about the members of one's "church", or one's congregation, which may worship with or without church building.

Thus, the term "Church" might refer to a denomination, building, or congregation. The World Directory of Churches aims to catalog all three uses of this term, all three telescoping layers of Christianity, from the universal to the local.

Q. How can you possibly hope to catalog every church on Earth?

A. Internet users across the world have the opportunity to contribute to the World Directory of Churches by creating or editing pages for any church anywhere. By increasing awareness through search engines and other campaigns, we encourage everyone to keep church pages updated with worship service/mass times, contact information, history, photos, current events, and more information. The Directory is only as strong as its volunteers, but with a diverse, global audience and such an important mission, we are confident that we can catalog the largest Christian churches within a few years.

Q. Is the information on the World Directory of Churches available for reuse?

A. Content on the World Directory of Churches adheres to the Creative Commons License 3.0, the same as Wikipedia, which allows for any redistribution or reuse of text, images or other content for any purpose, commercial or otherwise. It is not our responsibility to ensure that all content copied to the WDOC is open-source. Each user has the obligation to verify that the material they post has no restrictions on redistribution. You can read more about the Creative Commons License here.

Q. Why does this site look so much like Wikipedia?

A. The World Directory of Churches utilizes the same open-source collaborative software that powers Wikipedia, called MediaWiki. We are not in anyway affiliated with Wikia, Inc. You can learn more about the MediaWiki software here.

Q. The term denomination is not appropriate for my church.

A. We are aware that the term "denomination" can be controversial for some Christians, as historically it has been a mark of designation between Protestants, and is almost never employed by Catholics or the churches of the East. However, there is simply no better alternative in English. Thus, for simplicity's sake, we have used "denomination" to refer also to organizations of all Protestant and non-Protestant churches.