List of new religious movements: Difference between revisions

For an alternative list of new religious movements see List of religions: New religious movements.

This List of new religious movements lists groups that appears as a religious, ethical or spiritual grouping that have not yet become recognised as a standard denomination, church, or body. New Religious Movements are interesting because of their potential and the window they give into how religions form or evolve. New Religions have the potential to become mainstream or to self-destruct. In either case it helps the understanding of the psychology of religion.

The definition of new by Eileen Barker and David V. Barret's, is first appearing after the end of World War II and new in a certain country or new for a certain culture. An alternative definition used in this list for new is groups that originated after 1900 and a third definition includes all religious groups founded later than Sikhism (post-16th century). Groups that appeared before the end of WWII will be marked as such.

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Notes:

• Some movements are listed by the name of their founder, because the public identifies the founder with the movement, or because there is no name yet of the movement, or because the name is unknown.
• Known extinct new religious movements are designated as such.

A

• Ásatrú
• A Course in Miracles (ACIM)
• Aaronic Order
• Adidam (The Way of the Heart) founded by Adi Da Samraj, born Franklin Albert Jones, also called Bubba Free John, Da Free John, and Da Love-Ananda
• Aetherius Society
• Aladura churches - Independent African church with Pentecostal aspects. Started in the 1920s
• Alcoholics Anonymous - Listed for being a movement with religious overtones, but rarely seen as a religion itself. Started in the 1930s
• AMORC-Rosicrucian group founded in 1915
• Ananda Marga Yoga Society
• Andrew Cohen (founder of group variously called Friends of Andrew Cohen Everywhere, "evolutionary enlightenment" or "EnlightenNext")
• Antoinism Founder Louis-Joseph Antoine died in 1912
• Artgemeinschaft Neo-Nazi form of Germanic Neopaganism
• Assemblies of God(Before US entry in WWI, new in many places)
• Association for Research and Enlightenment - Founded in 1931.
• Aleph, formerly known as Aum Shinrikyo.

B

• Bala Sai Baba (founder)
• Alice Bailey founder of Arcane Society in 1923
• St. Benedict Center-Quasi-Traditionalist Catholic who split off in the 1950s due to the excommunication of Leonard Feeney. The membership itself was not excommunicated so they consider themselves in communion with Rome.
• The Body of Christ(Extinct Attleboro group)
• Branch Davidians
• Branhamism founded by William Branham
• Brownsville Revival - Not a religion per se, but a kind of movement.
• Bruderhof - Founded 1920

C

• Call to Renewal Subtitled: Christians for a New Political Vision
• Calvary Chapel
• Campus Crusade for Christ - An Evangelical organization or movement, but not a particular denomination.
• Cao Dai-Dates from 1926
• Channeling (mediumistic) - Like UFOs it's a concept linked to several NRMs rather than being an NRM itself as such. NRM or NRMish groups linked to some form of it include Antoinism, Cao Dai, Church Universal and Triumphant, Faithists of Kosmon, Toward the Light groups, Urantia, and possibly a few others.
• Charismatic Movement - A multi-denominational movement that includes Catholics, Protestants, and possibly others. Many to most charismatics claim descent from ecstatic or mystical elements of Christianity dating back to the second century.
• Chen Tao (The Right Way)
• Christadelphians' Central fellowship (Dates from roughly 1957, but the Christadelphians as a named group began during the US Civil War. See article)
• Christian and Missionary Alliance(Began around 1887 as an organization, but did not and was not deemed a denomination of its own until 1965.)
• Christian Coalition - A movement of Christians rather than a specific Christian denomination.
• Christian Identity
• Christian Reconstructionism - A new movement of Christian Fundamentalist thought, but not precisely a denomination.
• Christian Science(founder died in 1910)
• Church of All Worlds - Began as a fictional religion in the book Stranger in a Strange Land but currently claims 2,000+ members and tax-exempt status as an actual religious group named for the fictional one.
• Church of God with Signs Following(founded in 1910 and has had legal problems over its practice of snake handling)
• Church of God International - Name for two separate denominations, both of them apparently dating from after WWII. One is a recent splinter of the Worldwide Church of God. The other is from the Philippines.
• Church of the Last Testament - New Russian movement founded by Sergei Torop
• Church of World Messianity - Japanese shinshukyo dating from 1926 or 1935
• Church Universal and Triumphant affiliated with The Summit Lighthouse
• Concerned Christians
• Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen

D

• Destiny Church, New Zealand
• Discordianism
• Divine Light Mission

E

• Eckankar
• Elan Vital
• Endeavor Academy founded by Charles Buell Anderson
• est

F

• Falun Gong (Members of Falun Gong do NOT consider themselves to be a religion)
• Findhorn Foundation
• Fourth Way Probably before WWII, based on the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff
• Freedomites(Founded in 1902)
• Fundamentalist Christianity(Before the Treaty of Versailles)
• Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Before World War II and has had persistent legal problems due to its practice of polygamy.

G

• Gnostic Institute of Anthropology
• God's Army-Para-military group that had religious aspects.

H

• Hare Krishnas
• Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (3HO) founded by Yogi Bhajan
• Heaven's Gate (cult) (extinct)
• Hoa Hao - Before World War II
• House of David-Founded 1902
• House of Yahweh
• Humanistic Judaism

I

• I AM Movement
• Iglesia ni Cristo 1914 founding, but included because its new to many of the nations where it exists.
• I-Kuan Tao - Before World War II
• Institute of Noetic Sciences - A movement with religious overtones founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell, but not a religion per se.
• International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - Founded in 1927
• International Churches of Christ
• International Peace Mission Movement, founded by Father Divine in the 1930s.
• Ior Bock (founder)

J

• Jesus Army-Also called Jesus Fellowship Church or New Creation Christian Community
• Jesus Movement
• Jesus People USA
• Jeung San Do - Before WWII, possibly before WWI
• Jonestown (extinct)

K

• Kabbalah Centre
• Kerista
• Kimbanguism
• Kofuku no Kagaku, also known as The Institute for Research in Human Happiness

L

• Landmark Education
• Latter Rain Movement
• Left Hand Path religions(largely meaning Satanism and Occultism)
• Liberal Catholic Church International-(1942 schism in movement from 1916)
• Lifespring - Status as a religion or movement disputed.
• Lobsang Rampa aka Tuesday Lobsang Rampa aka Cyril Hoskin (founder)
• Local Church - 1920s China
• Lumpa Church

M

• Makuya
• Mata Amritanandamayi - Leader of a movement within Hinduism, but perhaps not founder of a religion per se.
• Meher Baba Groups, named for Meher Baba. (Sometimes called Babaism, but that can cause confusion with Babism)
• Messianic Judaism - Meaning the MJAA and UMJC organizations
• Mita Congregation - Founded circa 1940
• Moorish Science Temple of America - Founded in 1913
• Moral Rearmament - International organization with religious aims or multi-denominational movement.
• Mother Meera Founder of a movement within Hinduism
• Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God presumably extinct
• Mukyokai - Somewhere between 1893 and 1930

N

• Nation of Islam - Before WWII originally, but reorginization in 1978. (Its article has NPOV disputes, but check it for explanation of dates.)
• Nation of Yahweh
• National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. - Founded in 1915.
• Neopaganism - Blanket term for a group of NRMs seeking to revive earlier religions in some form.
• New Acropolis
• New Age - Blanket term for a movement with religious overtones that led to various religions.

O

• Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (founder)
• Oomoto - Founded back in 1892, but activities outside Japan mostly came in the 1920s
• Order of the Solar Temple

P

• Palmarian Catholic Church
• Pentecostalism(present form 1901-1906)
• Peoples Temple (extinct)
• Philadelphia Church of God
• Process Church of the Final Judgment
• Promise Keepers-Religious movement, but not a religion.

Q

• Quan Yin Method- A term coined by Suma Ching Hai

R

• Raëlism
• Rajneesh
• Ramtha's School of Enlightenment
• Rastafari movement Founded in 1930s, there's some ambiguity about the precise date.
• Religious Science - Currently called United Church of Religious Science Founded in 1926
• Rissho Kosei Kai - 1938

S

• Sahaja Yoga
• Santo Daime - Possibly since 1930s, but not an international movement until 1990s
• Sathya Sai Baba (founder)
• Scientific Pantheism - Religious organization of a specific kind of pantheism.
• Scientology
• Seicho-No-Ie Japanese new religion founded in 1930, but considered new by the standards of Japanese history.
• Self Realization Fellowship founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920
• Shinreikyo-Founded 1947
• Swami Shyam's Shyamspace aka International Meditation Institute
• Siddha Yoga - Movement of Hinduism
• Silva Mind Control (Silva Method)
• snake handling
• Soka_Gakkai Founded in 1930, but considered new from a Japanese historical perspective.
• Spiritualism - Something of a blanket term that dates to the early nineteenth century and led to several NRMs
• Sri Chinmoy (founder)
• Subud - Movement whose status as a religion itself is debated.
• Sukyo Mahikari
• Summum
• Swami Kriyananda founder of Ananda Church of Self Realization
• Swami Roberto-Founder of Anima Universale
• Synanon (extinct)
• Synchronicity Foundation

T

• Temple of the People-(1898, in current location 1903)
• The Brethren <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/body_chr.htm">
• The Family, the new name of the Children of God
• The Forum
• The Way International (the way): Religious organization/movement founded in 1942, status disputed.
• Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
• Transcendental Meditation - A system, but not a denomination or religion as such.
• True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days
• True Buddha School founded by Lu Sheng-yen
• The Twelve Tribes aka Northeast Kingdom Community Church, Church in Island Pond, & The Communities
• Two X Twos(Founded by 1904)
• Tony Samara (founder)

U

• UFO related: Aetherius Society, Chen Tao (The Right Way), Heaven's Gate, Raelians, Unarius Academy of Science, Universe people
• Unification Church
• Unitarian Universalist
• Universal Church of the Kingdom of God-Original Portuguese name is Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus. Founded in the 1970s this Brazilian Pentecostal group is mentioned as some claim it to be the most rapidly growing faiths/movements in the world.
• Universal Life Church
• Universal Sufism - Pre-WWII and probably before WWI
• Urantia - Sometimes considered a religious text rather than a religion itself.

V

• Vampire Lifestyle
• Vedanta Society-(Founder died in 1902, gained legal status in 1909)
• Vineyard Movement - A movement, it's status as a denomination is disputed.

W

• Wicca
• Willow Creek Community Church - Not a denomination, but a movement of sorts.
• Worldwide Church of God - Founded in the early 1930s

Links

• Religious Tolerance
• Alternative Religions

References

• Barrett, D. V. The New Believers - A survey of sects, cults and alternative religions 2001 UK, Cassell & Co. ISBN 0304355925
• Hadden, Jeffrey K. and Douglas Cowan The New Religious Movements Homepage @The University of Virginia [1]