The date of origin and founder of various Christian faith groups

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Listed below are the founder, starting date and starting location of a number of Christian faith groups and traditions. They are organized in chronological order. In some cases, the data is under dispute.

Faith Group or tradition	Founder	Date (CE)	Location
Roman Catholic	Jesus, Peter ₁	Circa 30 ₁	Judea
Orthodox churches	Jesus, Peter ₂	Circa 30 ₂	Judea
Lutheranism	Martin Luther	1517	Germany
Swiss Reformed Church	Zwingli	1523	Switzerland
Mennonites	No single founder	1525	Switzerland
Anglican Communion	King Henry 8	1534	England
Calvinism	John Calvin	1536	Switzerland
Presbyterianism	John Knox	1560	Scotland
Baptist Churches	John Smyth	1605	Holland
Dutch Reformed	Michaelis Jones	1628	Netherlands
Amish	Jakob Ammann	1693	Switzerland
Methodism	John Wesley	1739	England
Quakers	George Fox	1647	England
Moravians	Count Zinendorf	1727	Germany
Congregationalism	John & Charles Wesley	1744	England
Swedenborg	Emanuel Swedenborg	1747	Sweden
Brethren	John Darby	1828	England
Latter-day Saints	Joseph Smith	1830	NY, USA
Seventh Day Adventists	Ellen White	1860	NH, USA
Salvation Army	William Booth	1865	England
Jehovah's Witnesses	Charles Russell	1870	PA, USA
Christian Science	Mary Baker Eddy	1879	Pleasant View, NH USA
Pentecostalism	Charles Parham	1900	CA, USA
Worldwide Church of God	Herbert W. Armstrong	1933/1947	OR, USA ₃
Unification Church	Sun Myung Moon	1954	South Korea

Notes:

Beliefs concerning the origin of the Roman Catholic Church differ:

According to the Roman Catholic Church, the church was founded by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, some 50 days after Jesus' execution by the Roman Army, circa 30-APR CE. Peter moved to Rome, and became the first pope of the Christian movement. They believe that he was followed by a continuous succession of popes up to the present day. They teach that the Roman Church is the true church founded by God.

According to many liberal theologians and historians: Peter never moved to Rome. James, the brother of Jesus, headed the Jewish Christian Movement in Jerusalem after Jesus' execution, with Peter as a co-leader. Paul returned to Judea later and founded Pauline Christianity in competition to Jewish Christianity. Gnostic Christianity came still later. Only Pauline Christianity survived. They assert that centralization of church power in Rome did not occur until perhaps the mid 5th century CE. Pope Leo I, who reigned from 440 to 461 CE, claimed that the Bishop of Rome was highest ranking bishop. That time period could be considered as the start of the Roman Catholic church.

Beliefs concerning the origin of the Eastern Orthodox church also differ:

The Eastern Orthodox church and most religious historians teach that there were five Patriarchates in the early years of Christianity. They were: Alexandria, Antioch Constantinople, Jerusalem and Rome. Each was governed by a Bishop. With the advent of Islam, only Constantinople and Rome survived as major power centers. They were in a continual state of disagreement until they formally severed their relationship in 1054 CE by mutually excommunicating each other's leaders.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Bishop of Rome was universally recognized as the center of authority within very early Christianity. The Eastern branch of Christianity broke away from Rome in 1054 CE. However, the two groups both recognize the Apostolic succession and what the Roman Catholic Church considers to be "a valid Eucharist."

Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986) started the Radio Church of God in Eugene OR in 1933 -- one of many churches which contained the phrase "Church of God." He changed the prefix "Worldwide" in 1947.