Many of us wonder why we’re dissatisfied with the church we attend. For some, this might be because the clergy displace biblical teachings in favour of more worldly, including political, ones. However, others might be attending church in a denomination which might not suit their theological beliefs.
So, how do we know what denomination might be correct for us? Here’s a 24-question multiple-choice quiz that can help clarify which church might be best for you, the Christian Denomination Selector. It’s free and you don’t need to register or leave an email address in order to discover the results.
Be warned — you might well be surprised at what your answers to these questions tell you! I certainly was.
Churchmouse Campanologist 
20 comments
January 8, 2011 at 7:10 am
shane
Oh this was an interesting test, but I suspect it would be more fun if you were a non-denominational Protestant. Oddly enough, my number 1 is Eastern Orthodox (I am a traditionalist Catholic). I do feel somewhat reassured that Unitarian Universalism is last.
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January 8, 2011 at 11:19 pm
churchmouse
Thanks, Shane. I can see your point about it being interesting for Evangelicals! 😉 I have some friends (offline) who attend these churches and wonder just where they stand …
Agree about the Unitarian Universalism being last. It did for me, too — a comforting confirmation! 🙂
All the best for 2011!
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January 8, 2011 at 10:42 am
lleweton
Seems I might be two kinds of Lutheran before I’m Anglican (3) or Orthodox (4). To be boring about it, a lot of the answers would depend on defining the question, and there’s no provision for that in this format. For instance: what is meant by a woman ‘minister’? An Anglo Catholic might well agree that there can be women ‘ministers’ but not women priests.
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January 8, 2011 at 11:29 pm
churchmouse
Ahh — I would imagine this is an impulse-type quiz. Having taken a number of these, one is sometimes advised not to tarry over the question. To sit and think about the question or your answer reads too much into the process.
I took this quiz 18 months ago, at which time I was firmly in the Anglican camp, although with Calvinist leanings. Catholicism was far down the list, followed by Orthodox and then by the more ‘sect’-type denominations (e.g. Quaker, Moravian).
When I took this last week, my results were decidedly Calvinist (‘Reformed’), as follows (apologies if I don’t recall the exact labels in every case): Orthodox Presbyterian, Reformed Churches, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), Reformed Baptist (meaning, following the London or Philadelphia Confessions of Faith), followed by another church which I don’t recall, then Anglican, then Methodism, then some others, with Catholicism and Orthodox well down the list.
Life’s full of surprises! 🙂 Thanks, Llew, for letting us in on the results. I find this fascinating.
(Apologies for the multiple updates!)
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October 16, 2011 at 5:10 am
Robert Hickok
Hahahaha! How funny. I’m a durned PCA/OPC. Guessed it, am it, got it. How nice.
Neat quiz, Mouse. Thanks for queueing this one up.
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October 16, 2011 at 6:10 am
churchmouse
Glad you like it, Robert, and that the results checked out!
It’s a surprisingly good starting point for anyone wondering ‘what’ they are, which, as you can see in Llew’s and my cases, may differ from the denominations to which they actually belong.
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October 16, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Cyril Ignatius Kendrick
Well, I took it, and was told that I’m an Evangelical Lutheran; shortly followed by Missouri Synod Lutheran. How in the world did that happen??!!
Being unsure of what to make of that. I guess I’ll continue to see myself as following, or attempting to follow – C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity.
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October 16, 2011 at 10:31 pm
churchmouse
Regrettably, Cyril, I cannot answer you on Mere Christianity, having only read The Screwtape Letters. However, I would recommend reading the Bible regularly, instead of following an author who is promoting his own version of Christianity.
I appreciate that C S Lewis is highly revered here, in the US and in other English-speaking countries, but would you really want to appear before the Holy Throne of Judgment on the Last Day, only to be asked, ‘Cyril, how is it you devoted so much time to reading — and following — C S Lewis in place of the inspired word of God?’ I thought about that in relation to myself a couple of years ago, which really got me reading the Holy Bible! I took stock of how many other topics I read about on and offline. By the time I tallied it all up, I was ashamed of myself. Nothing personal here in relationship to your situation, but I’m just trying to inject another train of thought.
At the end of the day, C S Lewis can only give you what was his interpretation of Scripture. Is it the correct one? How would you know? Because it chimes in with our particular thought? Is that the truth? Or is it what we would like to believe is the truth?
On your test results, I thought you might test as a Lutheran (based on your comments), so they do not surprise me. I am not too sure about the Evangelical Lutherans — at least the ELCA. The LCMS are, in practice, close to a traditional Roman Catholic Mass and a number of their clergy have mixed well with their Roman Catholic counterparts. I have a few LCMS blogs on the blogroll, namely:
http://pastoralmeanderings.blogspot.com/
http://stmatthewbt.org/category/sermons/
http://thehighmidlife.blogspot.com/
http://gnesiolutheran.com/
http://lcmssermons.com/
http://www.lcmc.net/
http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/djw/lutherantheology.html
http://lutherantheology.wordpress.com/
And, for an insider’s glimpse, one not to miss is Ichabod, by a retired pastor, Dr Gregory Jackson, now a professor with the University of Arizona:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/
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January 14, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Anne Bennett (@AnneKavkaz)
I got eastern orthodox as #1. I converted to it in 2005.
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January 31, 2012 at 2:09 am
Red Rabbit
That was fun! I’m not a christian but I answered based on “if I were a christian what would I believe and practice” and, to no surprise my number one response was Anglican.
It was interesting to see Eastern Orthodox as #2 since if I weren’t Anglican I probably would be orthodox. Evangelical Lutheran was 3 and Roman Catholic 4.
Reformed, Pentecostal, Baptist and JW were at the bottom – again, no surprise.
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January 31, 2012 at 2:14 am
churchmouse
Cool! Thanks for taking the time to run through the test — you might have some ideas for churches to visit. 🙂
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January 31, 2012 at 2:14 am
churchmouse
Cool! Thanks for taking the time to run through the test — you might have some ideas for churches to visit. 🙂
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March 21, 2012 at 3:48 pm
onechristian
Very interesting result for me. Number one for me: ELCA, number six; Methodist. I was raised Methodist, but I now attend ELCA. Number two: LCMS, no problem working cooperatively with them, but would not join them. Thanks for sharing this quiz.
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March 21, 2012 at 4:05 pm
churchmouse
And thank you for sharing your results with us!
That quiz is a pretty good barometer and nicely done as it doesn’t take long to complete.
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June 26, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Dr Wm Ryzek
Ok Mr. Mouse, I’m going to start my own church.
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June 26, 2012 at 8:28 pm
churchmouse
😆 Nice one, Dr Ryzek!
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July 6, 2012 at 4:39 am
Tom
I am rather surprised at the results also. It puts me way outside the two main religions I was involved as young, but that may be a good thing, indicating I have since learnt to understand my belief system on my own efforts, especially within the last few years when some tragedy struck and put me on a collision course with God. This is a very interesting quiz and I will pass it along to others curious as to how they would fit in amongst current denominations. Thanks, this was very interesting.
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July 6, 2012 at 7:57 am
churchmouse
You’re very welcome, Tom — I appreciate your discussing how the results fit into your life and circumstances. Delighted to read that you’ll pass the link on to friends.
God bless you.
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August 8, 2012 at 7:16 pm
MemorizingRevelation
Ha! #1 Southern Baptist (100%), #2 Freewill Baptist (92%), #3 Reformed Baptist (92%)… I think I’m a Baptist…. I am but I’m a Independent Fundamental Baptist, not a Southern Baptist. Of course I’m a Christian before any of the denominational nonsense.
I guess no surprises there, and glad I’m 0% unitarian universalist.
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August 9, 2012 at 12:33 am
churchmouse
Well, there you go — another confirmation of the test’s accuracy.
I, too, was relieved that my results showed Unitarian Universalist at the bottom of the list.
Thanks for commenting!
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