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Religious denomination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | Denominations usually have a significant degree of authority over their member congregations, although the term is also used to describe religious groups when the congregations have authority over the "denomination", such as the numerous Baptist associations or the Unitarian Universalist Association. |
 | | Denominations often form slowly over time for many reasons; due to historical accidents of geography, culture, and influence between different groups, members of a given religion slowly begin to diverge in their views. |
 | | In other cases, denominations form very rapidly, either as a result from a split or schism in an existing denomination, or as people from many different denominations share an experience of spiritual revival or spiritual awakening, and choose to form a new denomination based on that new experience or understanding. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Religious_denomination (384 words) |
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