Lack of uniformity in the Church

• There has never been uniformity in the Church
• The Acts of the Apostles and Paul's letters show that even in the early days there were disagreements
• Before what is known as the Great Schism in 1054, when the Orthodox Churches split from the Western Church (which became known as the Catholic Church), there were many councils of bishops to try and deal with disagreements
• Since the Reformation, there have continued to be further splits and tensions
• Disagreements relate to a range of issues such as leadership, the authority and interpretation of the Bible, Church organisation, forms of worship and lifestyle