How Old Is Your Church?

by Gregory Thompson, PhD

1. If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, in approximately 1520.

2. If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII, an ex-Catholic, in the year 1534.

3. If you are a Mennonite, Nenno Simons, an ex-Catholic, created the sect 1536.

4. If you are a Presbyterian, John Knox founded the church in Scotland in 1560.

5. If you are a Congregationalist, your religion began with Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.

6. If you are a Baptist, John Smyth created your sect in Amsterdam in 1605.

7. If you are Dutch Reformed, Jonas Michaelius started the sect in New York in 1628.

8. If you are a Quaker, your religion began with George Fox in 1652.

9. If you are a Episcopalian, Samuel Seabury created the sect in the American Colonies as an offshoot of the Church of England in the 17th Century.

10. If you are Methodist, the sect was started by John and Charles Wesley, in England in 1744.

11. If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded the sect in London in 1774.

12. If you are a Mormon, (Latter Day Saints) your religion comes from Joseph Smith revealed in Palmyra, N.Y. in 1829.

13. If you are Seventh Day Adventist, the sect was created by Ellen White in 1860.

14. If you are Salvation Army, the sect was created by William Both, London in 1865.

15. If you are a Jehovah’s Witness, the sect came from Charles Take Russell in 1872

16. If you are a “Christian Scientist,” the sect was created by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy in 1879.

17. If you are one of the organizations known as, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal Gospel, Holiness Church, Pilgrim Holiness Church, Assemblies of God, United Church of Christ, etc., your religion is one of the thousands of new sects founded by men in the last century.

18. If you are Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, true God and true man, and that this one Church to which people must belong to be saved, will exist until the end of time. Let your Heart be Meek and Humble like the Sacred Heart of Jesus and die to yourself to bring peoples souls to Jesus the Son of God, through the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Bride of Christ.