Nelson's Guide to Denominations

by J. Gordon Melton (Editor)

The Complete Guide to American Denominations and Christian Organizations. Nelson's Guide to Denominations provides essential data on 800+ Protestant and Catholic churches operating in the United States and Canada, plus ecumenical and cooperative associations and parachurch organizations. Every entry reports the name of the group, a brief history, key leaders or a contact person, address, email and/or website, membership stats, unique features, world mission affiliates, and sidebars on special ministry initiatives. The guide also includes a section on trends and prospects for the church in North America and a symposium on the Bible in America.

Genres: Reference, Christian

620 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2007

About the author

John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.

His areas of research include major religious traditions, new religions and alternative religions, Occultism and Parapsychology, New Age, and vampirology.

Melton has been criticized by several scholars for what they see as conflicts of interest in his reporting of some of the groups he studies.