[xzins]

I would use the US Military's handbook on denominations. They have listed within all those that are organized/recognized varieties of faith. (They also have non-Christian varieties of religion that are present in the US.) The handbook is used by chaplains in gaining background info on some of the religious beliefs of those who might join up as soldiers.)

A denomination doesn't include every tom/dick/harry who hangs out a shingle....which isn't a fair way to consider a denomination in the first place. A denomination is a successfully enduring BODY of adherents to a broadly distinctive brand of belief.

You'll be relieved to know that the military doesn't include umpteen thousand catholic churches. There's ONE Roman Catholic Church. There is, however, a Byzantine Catholic Church.

[Catholicguy]

<> Do you have a suggestion for the number we ought to use in referencing different protestant denominations? If 30,000 is objectionable, then what is an unobjectionable number?<>

[tiki]

http:/www.gem-werc.org/index.htm

Here is a site with a lot of statistics. I don't know where they got them but they've got a lot of them. It is interesting.