These words designate bodies of believers who are united in a common faith and form of worship. By derivation, the word denomination is precisely directed to this concept. It comes from the Latin word for name and applies to a religious group adhering to a particular creed under a distinctive name. In its broadest sense, denomination may refer to any such group: State aid to denomination is a subject of fierce controversy. The adjectival form, denominational , is often used in this sense as a synonyms for parochial: denominational schools. But in a restricted sense, the noun denomination is commonly reserved for specific Protestant communions: Representatives of several Protestant denominations were present ?Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians. Church is interchangeable with denomination in this sense. The Methodist denomination, for example, is more often referred to as the Methodist Church . But church has a much wider range of application than denomination . In its broadest sense it may refer to ecclesiastical organization and authority as distinguished from secular authority: the separation of church and state. In the context of Christianity it may designate all, or a major part, of Christendom.

• All Christians are members of the universal Church ; The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church ; The Archbishop of Canterbury is the highest prelate of the Church of England.

In its most strictly limited sense it may refer to an individual congregation or to the building in which that congregation worships.

• Which church do you belong to?; My church (or the Presbyterian Church ) is just round the corner.

Also, where church stresses the union of believers in one body, denomination emphasizes separateness. Hence, in an ecumenical age of interdenominational activity, the word denomination is less often used in its religious context than formerly.

Religion is a general word embracing all systems of religious belief. It can be used to refer to the major faiths or to their larger subdivisions: the Christian religion ; the religion of the Mormons; the Jewish religion ; the religion of the Essenes; Islam is the religion of the Moslems. Like denomination, religion may sometimes emphasize differences in belief and in this sense it is often used with reference to Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism: to marry outside one’s religion .

Sect may designate a smaller group within a denomination, especially one that differs from the larger body in a particular matter of faith or worship. Sect is also used derogatorily of a relatively small, unorthodox denomination to stress its separateness or peculiarity: odd sects that spring up and bank on emotional appeal. The word sect acquired this derogatory connotation as a result of the many historical instances when sects were formed by groups that had split from their parent religion because of doctrinal discontent: the sects of the Gnostics.

The term cult is often applied to the forms or followers of a religious system that is looked on with suspicion or disfavour: The cult of Dionysus inspired orgiastic revelry during the celebrations of the Eleusinian mysteries. It also denotes a kind of worship or veneration that is not theistic in principle and is sometimes faddish in practice: the cult of nature; teenage worship that found momentary expression in the cult of the Beatles.