List of new religious movements
A new religious movement is a religious, ethical, or spiritual group or community with practices of relatively modern origins. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may exist on the fringes of a wider religion, in which case they will be distinct from pre-existing denominations. Academics identify a variety of characteristics which they employ in categorizing groups as new religious movements. The term is broad and inclusive, rather than sharply defined. New religious movements are generally seen as syncretic, employing human and material assets to disseminate their ideas and worldviews, deviating in some degree from a society's traditional forms or doctrines, focused especially upon the self, and having a peripheral relationship that exists in a state of tension with established societal conventions.
An NRM may be one of a wide range of movements ranging from those with loose affiliations based on novel approaches to spirituality or religion to communitarian enterprises that demand a considerable amount of group conformity and a social identity that separates their adherents from mainstream society. Use of the term NRM is not universally accepted among the groups to which it is applied. Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands worldwide, with most in Asia and Africa. Most have only a few members, some have thousands, and very few have more than a million. Academics occasionally propose amendments to technical definitions and continue to add new groups.
List
| Name | Founder | Year founded | Type |
| 3HO | Harbhajan Singh Khalsa | 1969 | Sikh |
| Adidam, previously Free Daist Communion, Dawn Horse Fellowship, etc. | Adi Da | 1972 | Neo-Hindu-inspired |
| Adonai-Shomo | Frederick T. Howland | 1861 | Adventist Communal |
| Adonism | Franz Sättler | 1925 | Neo-pagan |
| Adventures in Enlightenment, A Foundation | Terry Cole-Whittaker | 1985 | Religious Science |
| Aetherius Society | George King | 1954 | UFO-Christian |
| The African Church | Jacob Kehinde Coker | 1901 | Anglican |
| African initiated churches | Multiple | Syncretistic Christian-Indigenous | |
| African Theological Archministry, previously Order of Damballah Hwedo Ancestor Priests, Shango Temple, and Yoruba Temple | Walter Eugene King | 1973 | Voodoo |
| Agasha Temple of Wisdom | Richard Zenor | 1943 | Spiritualism |
| Agni Yoga | Helena Roerich, Nicholas Roerich | mid-1920s | Neo-Theosophical |
| Ahmadiyya | Mirza Ghulam Ahmad | 1889 | Indian Islam |
| Aladura | Josiah Ositelu | 1930 | Pentecostal |
| Alamo Christian Foundation, also known as Alamo Christian Church, Consecrated, Alamo Christian Ministries, and Music Square Church | Tony Alamo; Susan Alamo | 1969 | Fundamentalist Communal |
| Altruria | Edward Biron Payne | 1894 | Christian Communal |
| American Buddhist Movement | 1980 | Western Buddhism | |
| American Buddhist Society and Fellowship, Inc. | Robert Ernest Dickhoff | 1945 | Tibetan Buddhism |
| American World Patriarchs | Uladyslau Ryzy-Ryski | 1972 | Eastern Orthodox |
| Amica Temple of Radiance | Ivah Berg Whitten | 1932 | Neo-Theosophical |
| Ananda Marga | Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar | 1955 | Neo-Hindu Tantric |
| Ancient British Church in North America | Jonathan V. Zotique | Homosexually Oriented | |
| Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis | H. Spencer Lewis | 1915 | neo-Rosicrucianism |
| Ancient Teachings of the Masters, also known as ATOM | Darwin Gross | 1983 | Sant Mat |
| Anglo-Saxon Federation of America | Howard B. Rand | 1928 | British Israelism |
| Ansaaru Allah Community | As Siddid Al Imaan Al Haahi Al Mahdi | late 1960s | Black Islam |
| Anthroposophy | Rudolf Steiner | 1912 | Western esotericism |
| Antiochian Catholic Church in America | Gordon Mar Peter | 1980s | Independent Catholic Monophysite |
| Antoinism | Louis-Joseph Antoine | 1910 | Christian Healing |
| Apostolic Christian Church | Samuel Heinrich Froehlich | 1906 | European Free-Church |
| Apostolic Christian Church of America | Samuel Heinrich Froehlich | 1830 | European Free-Church |
| Apostolic Church | Daniel Powell Williams | 1916 | Pentecostal |
| Apostolic Church of Christ | Johnnie Draft; Wallace Snow | 1969 | Apostolic Pentecostal |
| Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God | William Thomas Phillips | 1920 | Apostolic Pentecostal |
| Arcane School | Alice and Foster Bailey | 1937 | Neo-Theosophical |
| Arica School | Oscar Ichazo | 1968 | Sufism |
| Arkeon | Vito Carlo Moccia | 1999 | Reiki Roman Catholicism |
| Art of Living Foundation, also known as Association for Inner Growth and Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Preeth | Ravi Shankar | 1981 | Neo-Hindu |
| Arya Samaj | Mul Shankara | 1875 | Neo-Hindu |
| Aryan Nations, also known as Church of Jesus Christ Christian, Aryan Nations | Wesley Swift | late 1940s | British Israelism |
| Ásatrú | Stephen McNallen | 1970s | Neo-pagan Polytheistic reconstructionism |
| Assemblies of God | merger | 1914 | Pentecostal |
| Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ | merger | 1952 | Apostolic Pentecostal |
| Assembly of Christian Soldiers | Jessie L. Thrift | 1971 | Ku Klux Klan |
| Association for Research and Enlightenment | Edgar Cayce | 1931 | Occult |
| Association of Vineyard Churches | John Wimber | 1982 | Trinitarian Pentecostal |
| Aum Shinrikyo, also known as Aleph | Shoko Asahara | 1987 | Japanese Buddhism |
| Ausar Auset Society | R.A. Straughn | mid-1970s | neo-Rosicrucianism |
| Azali or Azali Babi | Subh-i-Azal | 1863 | Babism |
| Bábism | Báb | 1844 | Shia Islam-Millenarian |
| Bahá'í Faith | Bahá'u'lláh | 1863 | Bábism |
| Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship | Bawa Muhaiyaddeen | 1971 | Sufism |
| Bethel Ministerial Association | Albert Franklin Varnell | 1934 | Apostolic Pentecostal |
| Bible Presbyterian Church | Carl McIntire | 1938 | Reformed Presbyterian |
| Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ | schism | 1957 | Apostolic Pentecostal |
| The Blackburn Cult, also known as the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven | May Otis Blackburn | 1922 | Neo-pagan New Thought |
| Brahma Kumaris | Dada Lekhraj | 1936 | Neo-Hindu |
| Brahmo Samaj, also known as the religion Adi Dharm | Ram Mohan Roy | 1828 | Neo-Hindu |
| Brahmoism | Debendranath Tagore | 1848/1850 | Neo-Hindu |
| Branch Davidians | Benjamin Roden | 1930 | Seventh Day Adventist |
| Branhamism | William M. Branham | 1951 | Pentecostal |
| Breatharians also known as Inedia | Wiley Brooks | 1970s | Hinduism-influenced |
| The Brethren, also known as The Body of Christ and The Garbage Eaters | Jimmie T. Roberts | c. 1970 | Unclassified Christian Churches |
| British Israelism, also called Anglo-Israelism | |||
| Bruderhof, also known as the Hutterian Brethren and Hutterian Society of Brothers | Eberhard Arnold | c. 1920 | Communal |
| Brunstad Christian Church | Johan Oscar Smith | 1905 | evangelical non-denominational Christian |
| Builders of the Adytum | Paul Foster Case | 1922 | Ritual magic |
| Candomblé | 19th century | Syncretistic Neo-African Divination | |
| Cao Dai, also known as Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do | Ngô Văn Chiêu Lê Văn Trung | 1919 | Syncretistic Vietnamese Millenarian |
| Cargo cults | Syncretistic Nativist | ||
| CAUSA International | Sun Myung Moon | 1970 | Unification Church |
| Celestial Church of Christ | Samuel Oshoffa | 1947 | Nativist Pentecostal |
| The Centers Network | |||
| Chabad-Lubavitch | Shneur Zalman of Liadi. | late 18th century | Chasidic |
| Charismatic Movement | 1950s | Pentecostal | |
| Chen Tao, also called God's Salvation Church and God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation | Hon-Ming Chen | 1955 | UFO religion |
| Cheondoism, also called Chendogyo | Choe Je-u | ||
| Cherubim and Seraphim, also known as Sacred Cherubim and Seraphim Society and Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim | Moses Orimolade Tunolase | c. 1925 | African Pentecostal |
| Christ Apostolic Church | Joseph Ayo Babalola | 1941 | Pentecostal |
| Christadelphians, also called Thomasites | John Thomas | 1844 | Baptist family Restorationism |
| The Christian Community, also known as the Christian Community Church and Christengemeinschaft | Rudolf Steiner Friedrich Rittelmeyer | 1922 | Anthroposophy |
| Christian Identity | 1940s | British Israelism | |
| Christian Reformed Church in North America | Gijsbert Haan | 1857 | Reformed Presbyterian |
| Christian Science | Mary Baker Eddy | 1876 | Christian Faith healing New Thought |
| Christian World Liberation Front, also known as the Spiritual Counterfeits Project | Jack Sparks Fred Dyson Pat Matrisciana | 1969 | Christian Fundamentalist-Millenarian |
| Church of All Worlds | Tim Zell Lance Christie | 1962 | Witchcraft Neo-pagan |
| Church of Aphrodite | Gleb Botkin | 1939 | Witchcraft Neo-Pagan |
| Church of Bible Understanding | Stewart Traill | 1971 | Adventist Fundamentalist |
| Church of Daniel's Band | 1893 | Non-Episcopal Methodism | |
| Church of Divine Science | Malinda Cramer | 1888 | New Thought Faith healing |
| Church of God in Christ | Charles H. Mason | 1908 | Pentecostal |
| The Church of God | Grady R. Kent | 1957 | White Trinitarian Holiness Pentecostal |
| Church of God Mountain Assembly | J.H. Parks, Steve N. Bryant, Tom Moses, and William O. Douglas | 1906 | White Trinitarian Holiness Pentecostal |
| Church of God of Prophecy | Ambrose Tomlinson | 1903 | White Trinitarian Holiness Pentecostal |
| Church of God with Signs Following | George Went Hensley | 1920s | Holiness Pentecostal |
| Church of Israel | Dan Gayman | 1974 | British Israelism |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Joseph Smith | 1830 | Latter-day Saint Movement-Millenarian |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Joseph Smith James Strang | 1844 | Latter Day Saint movement |
| The Church of Light | C.C. Zain | 1932 | neo-Hermetism |
| Church of Satan | Anton LaVey | 1966 | Satanism |
| Church of the SubGenius | J.R. "Bob" Dobbs | 1979 | UFO religion Apocalypticism |
| Church of the Creator | Rev. Dr. Grace Marama URI | 1969 | Liberal family |
| Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism | Bobby Henderson | 2005 | Parody |
| Church of the Living Word, also known as The Walk | John Robert Stevens | 1954 | Fundamentalist Occult |
| Church of the Lord | Josiah Ositelu | 1930 | Pentecostal Family |
| Church of World Messianity | Mokichi Okada | 1934 | Shinto Health healing |
| Church Universal and Triumphant | Mark Prophet Elizabeth Clare Prophet | 1958 | Theosophical Occult |
| Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles, also known as CARP | Sun Myung Moon | 1955 | Unification Church |
| Commandment Keepers: Holy Church of the Living God | Arnold Josiah Ford | 1924 | Black Judaism |
| Community Chapel and Bible Training Center | Donald Lee Barnett | 1967 | Latter Rain Pentecostal |
| Concerned Christians | Monte Kim Miller | ||
| Conservative Judaism | Sabato Morais Marcus Jastrow H. Pereira Mendes | 1887 | Mainline Judaism |
| Core Shamanism, The Foundation for Shamanic Studies | Michael Harner | 1980 | Neoshamanism |
| Covenant of the Goddess | merger | 1975 | Goddess Witchcraft Neo-pagan |
| Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans | Margot Adler | 1987 | Witchcraft Neo-pagan |
| The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord | James D. Ellison | mid-1970s | British Israelism |
| Creativity | Ben Klassen | early-1970's | Pantheism Agnostic Atheism White Racialism. |
| Crossroads Movement | 1970s | ||
| Cyberchurches | non-denominational Christian | ||
| Dalit Buddhist Movement, also known as the Neo-Buddhist movement or Navayana Buddhist movement | B. R. Ambedkar | 1956 | Neo-Buddhism |
| Dances of Universal Peace | Samuel L. Lewis | ||
| Dianic Wicca | merger | 1971 | Witchcraft Neo-pagan |
| Discordianism | Greg Hill, Kerry Wendell Thornley | 1963 | Absurdism, Greek Mythology |
| Eckankar | Paul Twitchell | 1971 | Derived from Sant Mat but denies connection |
| Elan Vital | Shri Hans Ji Maharaj | 1920s | Sant Mat |
| Emin | Raymond Armin | 1971 | New Age |
| End Time Survivors Jesus Christians | David McKay | Fundamentalist Millennialism | |
| Esoteric Nazism | Occult Western esotericism | ||
| Est | Werner Erhard | 1971 | Human Potential Movement Self religions |
| Evangelical Methodist Church | J.H. Hamblen | 1946 | Non-Episcopal Methodist |
| Family Federation for World Peace and Unification | Sun Myung Moon | 1994 | Unification Church |
| Falun Gong | Li Hongzhi | 1992 | Qigong movement |
| Family International, previously known as the Children of God, the Family of Love and the Family | David Berg | 1968 | Fundamentalist, Jesus movement countercultural evangelical |
| Fellowship of Isis | Olivia Robertson | 1976 | Neo-pagan Goddess |
| Feraferia | Frederick Adams | 1967 | Neo-pagan Goddess |
| Findhorn Foundation | Eileen Caddy Peter Caddy Alexis Edwards Roger Benson | 1963 | Christian-Anthroposophistical-neo-Rosicrucian |
| Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas | W.E. Fuller | 1898 | Black Trinitarian Pentecostal |
| First Satanic Church | Karla LaVey | 1997 | Satanism |
| Followers of Christ | Marion Reece | late 19th century | Unclassified Pentecostal |
| Fourth Way | George Gurdjieff | c. 1913 | Esoteric Sufism Western esotericism |
| Fraternitas Rosae Crucis | Paschal Beverly Randolph | 1858 | neo-Rosicrucianism |
| Fraternity of the Inner Light | Dion Fortune | 1924 | neo-Hermeticism Esoteric Christianity |
| Freedomites | |||
| Friends of the Western Buddhist Order now known as Triratna Buddhist Community | Sangharakshita | 1967 | Neo-Buddhism |
| Fundamentalist Christianity | Christian | ||
| General Church of the New Jerusalem | schism | 1890 | Swedenborgianism |
| The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing | Jim Humble | 2009 or 2010 | UFO-New Age inspired Pseudoscience |
| Gentle Wind Project | John "Tubby" Miller and Mary "Moe" Miller | 1980 | Spiritualism |
| Ghost Dance | Neo-pagan Native American religion | ||
| Global Peace Foundation | Hyun Jin Moon | 2007 | Unification Church |
| Grail Movement | Oskar Ernst Bernhardt | 1924 | Syncretistic Christian New Age Channeling |
| Hanuman Foundation | Richard Alpert | 1980 | Neo-Hindu |
| Heaven's Gate | Marshall Herff Applewhite Bonnie Lu Nettles | 1973 | New Age UFO religion |
| Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy | Swami Rama | 1971 | Hindu |
| Huna | Max Freedom Long | 1936 | New Thought Hawaiian religion |
| I AM Activity | Guy Ballard, Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard | early 1930s | Neo-Theosophical |
| Iglesia Ni Cristo | Felix Y. Manalo | 1914 | Restorationism Unitarianism |
| Isha Foundation | Jaggi Vasudev | 1992 | Hindu |
| Independent Fundamental Churches of America | R. Lee Kirkland | 1922 | Unaffiliated Fundamentalist |
| Insight Meditation Society | Jack Kornfield Sharon Salzberg Joseph Goldstein | 1976 | Theravada Buddhism |
| International House of Prayer also known as | Mike Bickle | 1999 | Charismatic Movement Post-tribulational Historic premillennialism |
| International Church of the Foursquare Gospel | Aimee Semple McPherson | 1923 | White Trinitarian Pentecostal |
| International Community of Christ also known as Church of the Second Advent and Jamilians | Eugene Douglas Savoy | 1972 | New Age |
| Ivanovism | Porfiry Ivanov | 1933 | Neo-pagan Slavic Native Faith |
| Jediism | 2000s | Star Wars-inspired New Age | |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Charles Taze Russell | 1870 | Adventist Bible Students |
| Jesus Army, also known as "Jesus Fellowship Church" and "Bugbrooke Jesus Fellowship" | Noel Stanton | 1977 | Fundamentalist Communal |
| Jesus Movement | late 1960s | Fundamentalist | |
| Jews for Jesus | Moishe Rosen | 1970 | Fundamentalist |
| John Frum | 1936 | Syncretistic Millenarian | |
| Kabbalah Centre | Philip Berg | 1970s | New Age |
| Karma Triyana Dharmachakra | the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa | 1976 | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Kemetic Orthodoxy | Tamara Siuda | 1988 | Kemetic |
| Kerista | John Presmont | 1956 | Communal—After 1960 |
| Kofuku-no-Kagaku | Ryuho Okawa | 1986 | Japanese |
| Kopimism | Isak Gerson | 2012 | Internet religion |
| Konkokyo | Bunjiro Kawate | 1859 | Shinto |
| Krishnamurti Foundations | Jiddu Krishnamurti | 1928 | Neo-Theosophical Universalism |
| Kripalu Center | Amrit Desai | 1966 | Hindu |
| Lama Foundation | Steve Durkee | 1967 | Communal |
| Latter Day Saint movement | Joseph Smith | 1830 | Christian restorationism |
| Latter Rain Movement | George Hawtin Percy Hunt | 1946 | Millenarian Pentecostal |
| Laymen's Home Missionary Movement | Paul S. L. Johnson | c. 1920 | Adventist Bible Students |
| Lectorium Rosicrucianum | Jan van Rijckenborgh; Zwier Willem Leene; Catharose de Petri | 1924 | neo-Rosicrucianism |
| The Living Word Fellowship | John Robert Stevens | 1951 | Latter Rain Pentecostal |
| Local Church movement | Ni Shu-tsu | 1920s | Independent Fundamentalist Other Bible Students |
| Love Family, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ at Armageddon and Love Israel | Paul Erdman | 1969 | Communalism |
| Lucis Trust | Alice A. Bailey | 1923 | Neo-Theosophical |
| Madkhalism | Rabee Al-Madkhali | early 1990s | Islam |
| Mahikari | Kotama Okada | 1959 | Shinto |
| Maranatha Campus Ministries | Bob Weiner | 1972 | Pentecosrtal |
| Mazdaznan | Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha'nish | 1902 | Zoroastrianism |
| Meher Baba followers | Merwan Sheriar Irani | 1921 | Hindu-inspired |
| Messianic Judaism | Christianity | ||
| Million Man March | Louis Farrakhan | 1995 | Nation of Islam |
| Mita Congregation | Juanita García Peraza | 1940 | Deliverance Pentecostal |
| Modekngei | Tamadad from Chol | c. 1915 | Syncretistic Christian-Indigenous |
| Monastic Order of Avallon | Henri Hillion de Coatmoc'han | 1972 | Neo-pagan |
| Moody Church | Dwight L. Moody | 1864 | Fundamentalist Evangelical |
| Moorish Science Temple of America | Timothy Drew | 1925 | Black Islam |
| Moral Re-Armament | Frank N. D. Buchman | 1921 | |
| Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness | John-Roger Hinkins | 1971 | Sant Mat |
| Namdhari | Balak Singh | mid-19th century | Sikh |
| Nation of Islam | Elijah Muhammad | mid-1930s | Black Islam UFO religion |
| Nation of Yahweh | Hulon Mitchell, Jr. | 1970s | Black Judaism |
| National Spiritualist Association of Churches | Harrison D Barrett, James M. Peebles, Cora L. Richmond | 1893 | Spiritualism |
| Native American Church, also known as Peyotism | 1906 | Native American religion Entheogen Groups | |
| Native Ukrainian National Faith, also known as RUNVira or Sylenkoism | Lev Sylenko | mid-1960s | Neo-pagan Slavic Native Faith |
| New Acropolis | Jorge Ángel Livraga Rizzi | 1957 | Neo-Theosophical Western esotericism |
| New Apostolic Church | Heinrich Geyer | 1863 | Catholic Apostolic Church Unclassified Christian Churches |
| New Kadampa Tradition | Geshe Kelsang Gyatso | mid-1970s | Tibetan Buddhism |
| The New Message from God | Marshall Vian Summers | 1992 | UFO religion |
| New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn | 1969 | Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Witchcraft Neo-pagan | |
| New Thought | Phineas Parkhurst Quimby | mid-19th century | Metaphysical Faith healing |
| John Ballou Newbrough | 1882 | UFO religion | |
| Odinism | Orestes Brownson | 1848 | Neo-pagan |
| Oomoto | Mrs. Nao Deguchi | 1899 | Shinto-Millenarian |
| Open Bible Standard Churches | merger | 1935 | White Trinitarian Pentecostal |
| Opus Dei | Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer | 1928 | Roman Catholic |
| Ordo Templi Orientis | Carl Kellner;Theodor Reuss | 1895; 1906 | Western esotericism Neo-Hermetism Thelema |
| Pentecostal Church of God | 1919 | Pentecostal | |
| Pentecostalism | Holiness movement | ||
| Peoples Temple | Jim Jones | 1955 | Psychic-New Age |
| Philosophical Research Society | Manly Palmer Hall | 1934 | Occult |
| Pilgrims of Arès | Michel Potay | 1974 | |
| Plymouth Brethren | John Nelson Darby | 1830 | evangelical Millenarian |
| Potter's House also known as Christian Fellowship Ministries, The Door, Victory Chapel, Christian Center, Crossroads Chapel, etc. | Wayman Mitchell | 1970 | Pentecostal |
| Radha Soami Satsang Beas | Seth Shiv Dayal Singh | 1861 | Sant Mat |
| Raëlism | Claude Vorilhon | 1973 | UFO religion |
| Rainbow Family | Barry Adams | late-1960s | Communal |
| Rajneesh movement, also Osho movement | Rajneesh Chandra Mohan | 1966 | Indian religions |
| Ramakrishna Mission, also known as Ramakrishna movement or Vedanta Society | Swami Vivekananda | 1897 | Neo-Hindu Neo-Vedanta |
| Ramtha | J. Z. Knight | 1977 | New Age |
| Rastafari | Leonard Howell, Joseph Hibbert, Archibald Dunkley, Robert Hinds | 1935 | Jewish and Christian-influenced Afro-centric new religious movement |
| Reformed Druids of North America | 1960s | Neo-pagan | |
| Reiki, also Usui Shiko Ryoho System of Healing | Mikao Usui | 1922 | Energy medicine Japanese Buddhism |
| Religious Science | Ernest Holmes | 1948 | New Thought |
| Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism | Vladimir Megre | 1997 | Neo-pagan Slavic Native Faith |
| Risshō Kōsei Kai | Nikkyo Niwano Myoko Naganuma | 1938 | Nichiren Buddhist |
| The Rosicrucian Fellowship | Carl Louis von Grasshof | 1909 | neo-Rosicrucianism |
| Sacred Name Movement | Clarence Orvil Dodd | 1930s | Adventist Church of God |
| Sadharan Brahmo Samaj | Anandamohan Bose, :en:Sivanath Sastri, Umesh Chandra Dutta | 1878 | Brahmoism |
| Sahaja Yoga | Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi | 1970 | Neo-Hindu |
| Saiva Siddhanta Church | Subramuniy | 1957 | Hindu |
| The Salvation Army | William Booth | 1865 | Holiness movement |
| Saminism Movement, Samin movement | Samin Surosentiko | 1889 | Abrahamic religions Nativist |
| Sant Nirankari Mission | Baba Buta Singh Ji | 1929 | Sikh |
| Santa Muerte Cult | 2000s | Syncretic Folk Catholic | |
| Scientology | L. Ron Hubbard | 1955 | UFO-Psychic New Age |
| Sekta Niebo | Bogdana Kacmajora | 1990 | Christian |
| Seicho-no-Ie | Masaharu Taniguchi, Fenwicke Holmes | 1930 | Religious Science-Shinto |
| Self-Realization Fellowship | Paramahansa Yogananda | 1935 | Neo-Hindu |
| Semitic Neopaganism | Raphael Patai | 1960s | Neo-pagan Feminism |
| Seventh-day Adventist Church | Ellen G. White | 1860 | Adventist |
| Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement | schism | 1925 | Seventh Day Adventists |
| Shakers | Ann Lee | 1750s | Communal—Before 1960 |
| Shengdao, also Tongshanshe | Peng Tairong | early 20th century | Chinese salvationist |
| Shepherd's Rod, also known as the Davidians, officially, the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association | Victor T. Houteff | 1935 | Seventh Day Adventists |
| Shiloh Youth Revival Centers | John J. Higgins, Jr. | 1969 | Communal—After 1960 |
| Shinji Shumeikai, also Shumei | Mihoko Koyama | 1970 | Church of World Messianity Faith healing |
| Shinnyo-en | Shinjo Ito Tomoji Ito | 1936 | Japanese Buddhism |
| Shinreikyo | Kanichi Otsuka | post–World War II | Shinto Syncretistic |
| Shri Ram Chandra Mission | Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj | 1945 | Hindu |
| Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres | Kuppuswami Iyer | 1935 | Neo-Hindu |
| Slavic Native Faith, also known as Rodnovery | Władysław Kołodziej, Jan Stachniuk | 1920–30s | Neo-pagan Polytheistic reconstructionism |
| Soka Gakkai International | Tsunesaburo Makiguchi | 1930 | Nichiren Buddhism |
| Spiritualism, Spiritism | Kate and Margaret Fox | 1848 | Psychic-Mediumship Metaphysical |
| Subud | Muhammed Subuh | 1933 | Kejawèn Sufism |
| Sufi Ruhaniat International | Samuel L. Lewis | 1968 | neo-Sufism |
| Sukyo Mahikari | Sekiguchi Sakae | 1978 | Mahikari Syncretistic |
| Summum | Claude Rex Nowell | 1975 | Unclassified Christian Churches |
| Syntheism | Alexander Bard | 2012 | Pantheist Humanist Netocratic |
| The Satanic Temple | Lucien Greaves Malcolm Jarry | 2012 | Satanism Nontheistic |
| Tenrikyo | Miki Nakayama | 1838 | Shinto |
| Tensegrity | Carlos Castaneda | 1995 | Neoshamanism New Age |
| Terasem | Martine Rothblatt | 2004 | Transhumanism |
| Thelema, also known as the A∴A∴ order | Aleister Crowley | early 1900s | Occult neo-Hermetism Western esotericism |
| Theosophical Society, also known since 1882 as Theosophical Society Adyar | Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge | 1875 | Occult Eastern and Western esotericism |
| Theosophical Society Pasadena | William Quan Judge | 1895 | Theosophical |
| Tolstoyan primitivism | Leo Tolstoy | 1901 | Christian anarchism Pacifism |
| Toronto Blessing | Randy Clark | 1994 | Pentecostal |
| Transcendental Meditation | Maharishi Mahesh Yogi | 1958 | Neo-Hindu |
| Triratna Buddhist Community | Sangharakshita | 1967 | Neo-Buddhism |
| True Buddha School | Lu Sheng-yen | Late 1980s | Tibetan Buddhism Taoism |
| True Gnostic Church | Azrael Ondi-Ahman | 1979 | |
| Twelve Tribes | Gene and Marsha Spriggs | 1972 | Messianic Jewish Communal—After 1960 |
| Two by Twos, also known as Cooneyites, Christian Conventions, the Workers and Friends, the Truth, etc. | William Irvine | 1897 | Independent fundamentalist family |
| Umbanda | Zélio Fernandino de Moraes | 1920 | Spiritism |
| Unarius Academy of Science | Ernest Norman, Ruth Norman | 1954 | UFO Religion |
| Unification Church, also known as the Moonies | Sun Myung Moon | 1954 | Syncretistic Christian |
| Unitarian Universalism | consolidation | 1961 | Unitarian Universalism |
| United Holy Church of America | Isaac Cheshier | 1900 | Black Trinitarian Pentecostal |
| United House of Prayer for All People | Marcelino Manoel de Graca | 1925 | African American Pentecostal |
| United Israel World Union | David Horowitz | 1944 | Other Jewish Groups |
| United Lodge of Theosophists | Robert Crosbie | 1909 | Theosophical |
| United Pentecostal Church International | merger | 1945 | Apostolic Pentecostals |
| Unity Church | Charles Fillmore and Myrtle Fillmore | 1889/1903 | New Thought-Christian |
| Universal Great Brotherhood | Serge Raynaud de la Ferriere | late 1940s | Other Theosophical Groups |
| Universal Life Church | Kirby Hensley | 1962 | Liberal Family |
| Universal White Brotherhood | Peter Deunov | 1900 | Other Theosophical Groups Esoteric Christianity |
| Urantia Foundation | William S. Sadler | 1934 | UFO religion Psychic New Age Christian occultist |
| Vajradhatu | Chögyam Trungpa | 1973 | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Vale do Amanhecer | Tia Neiva | 1959 | Spiritualism |
| Volunteers of America | Ballington Booth Maud Booth | 1896 | Holiness movement |
| Varankar | Sri Allen Feldman | - | - |
| The Way International | Victor Paul Wierwille | 1942 | Independent fundamentalist family |
| The Way of the Livingness | Serge Benhayon | 1999 | Neo-Theosophical and/or "Socially harmful cult". |
| White Eagle Lodge | Lady Elizabeth Carey | 1943 | Other Theosophical Groups |
| Wicca | Gerald Gardner | c. 1949 | Neo-pagan Witchcraft Occult |
| Women's Federation for World Peace | Hak Ja Han | 1992 | Unification Church |
| Wotansvolk | David Lane | 1990s | neo-völkisch paganism |
| The Word Foundation | Harold W. Percival | c. 1904 | Theosophical |
| World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church | Hyung Jin Moon Yeon Ah Lee Moon | 2015 | Unification Church-based ultra-Orthodox/Fundamentalism |
| Yiguandao | Wang Jueyi; Chang Thien Ran | late 19th century | Chinese salvationist-Millenarian |