[muawiyah]

Actually, both the Baptists and the Mennonites have a BETTER claim to being first than do the Orthodox or Coptics or the church in Rome.

They can quite readily trace their origins to Jerusalem itself, right into the Temple!

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

The Mennonite (Anabaptist) faith movement began in Europe in the 16th Century ...

From their site...

[Cronos]

Actually, both the Baptists and the Mennonites have a BETTER claim to being first than do the Orthodox or Coptics or the church in Rome.

The first church was the Orthodox-Catholic church the predecessor to the churches of Rome, Byzantium, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch etc. This continues in a direct line to the Roman Catholic church, to the Orthodox churches in Constantinople, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Among the other Ancient churches are the Armenian Church, the Chaldean church, the Marthomite church, the Ethiopian church, the Coptic church and the Nestorian church in Persia. These can be dated to the first or second century after Christ.