How do non-denominational Christians pick a church?

[mmmcounts]

Since my family has again recently moved, we have once again started the search for a church home. The search normally starts with denominations which are closest to our particular beliefs. Then we branch out. We have visited a couple of “bible churches” which really made me wonder, how do non-denominational Christians pick their churches?

IFCA is one tag to look for; it stands for “Independent Fundamental Churches of America.” It basically amounts to a group of churches that agree to non-alignment. There is no central headquarters; therefore, it doesn’t qualify as a denomination in and of itself. There also isn’t a centralized charter, although there are a number of things each church must agree to in order to remain sufficiently conservative. Two other requirements are as follows: In order to remain a part of IFCA, you can’t join a denomination; also, since there isn’t a charter or constitution for the group as a whole, each church must create one that meets the general requirements and actually stick to it. Where I live, there’s two IFCA churches within a 15-mile radius. They’re both listed in the phone book with the IFCA tag.

I guess included in this question are sub-questions like does it take a while to find the right fit? Do you find yourself easily eliminating churches? What criteria is used?

It does take awhile to find the right fit, although it may depend on where you live and how selective you can really be. For example, you may live in a more rural setting where there are only a half-dozen Protestant churches within reasonable driving distance. In that situation, you may have to go with a church that forces you to work through some issues in order for you to really fit in. That can be a good thing for you, though. On the other hand, you might live in a place that’s comparable to Wheaton, IL. You could go to a different church every week for two or three years before you cover the whole spread of churches that might be really good options. (This sounds like a gross exaggeration, but it’s actually not outrageous at all). It’s probably not good to take that long, though, and I would strongly suggest that you find a trusted source in your new area who can help you narrow things down a bit.

The first thing you always have to look at is the constitution/charter of a church and examine the core beliefs. Non-denom can be tricky because some N-D churches only carry the tag in order to have a wider appeal. But to find that out, you really have to know what you’re looking for, you have to get access to the church’s documents, and you usually have to sit down and talk to the pastor about it. It helps if the church is N-D but also belongs to a group like IFCA- it more or less guarantees that this issue has already been taken care of well before you ever walk in the door.

After you look into these types of issues, you can narrow things down a bit more based on the needs of your family and the degree to which they have to be met. If you have kids, I would suggest that you make the youth program your next priority. Other criteria that should go closer to the bottom include music style, the size of the church, the order of the service, etc. I suppose a church could be either too large for you or too small. If it was me, I’d prefer something not too large because I place a heavy emphasis on getting involved. At a large church, there often isn’t much for a new person to do. So while looking at churches, I would advise you to look not only to your needs but also to the needs of a particular church. Ask yourself if the church’s needs match up with what you can offer if and when you get involved with something there.

Finally, after all those things are addressed, you just have to get to know the pastoral staff over the course of a few weeks and see if you fit in well with the church family. Again, it’s probably not such a healthy thing for you to demand that every person in a church cater to your specific needs, and it would probably be good for you and your family to have some things to cope with and work through. I’m sure that you’re not a perfect person and you don’t have a perfect family, but you love them and stay faithful to them anyway- and they to you. If it’s something truly serious, though, that’s got to be a judgment call for you and your family, and that’s when you cross that church off your list and don’t look back. It actually might be a good idea to talk about this kind of thing really early on with your family, just so you’re all on the same page with the kinds of things that would cause you to do such a thing. In this kind of situation, surprises are not good things.

 

[jmcrae]

For me personally the beauty of not being associated with a specific denomination is that I can go to basically any church that will have me, since I honestly don’t see any real difference between most of them. Heck, I’ve never even been baptised and I’ve been attending Catholic Mass for the past year or so because I’m going to a university who’s campus chapel offers evening Mass, so I can go to church without having to get up early .

That’s not the only reason I go though, I promise.

Heck, when I first got started, I used to go to the Saturday evening Catholic Mass, because I was teaching Sunday School and didn’t get to hear the sermons, at my church. They had good sermons at the Catholic church on Saturday nights. Yay for Father Cooney! And I went to Bible study at the Catholic Church because it was free. They charged $40.00 at my church.

IOW - it’s okay to have a bad reason for coming to Mass - just come!

 

[1beleevr]

In my travels, I have noticed that there are a lot more "mega churches than ever before! These churches, mostly Protestant, or nondenominational, seem to be catering to the “creature comforts” of congregants, what with coffee shops, bookstores, and nice comfortable seating, etc.! The music, with the exception of some hardline pentecostal and maybe Baptist churches, is contemporary Christian, I have heard from many a Christian, who for one reason or another, has left a church! The many reasons given include, but are not limited to: didn’t like the music, doctrinal differences, too conservative, too liberal, no coffe service, pastor’s too rigid, and on and on! I like those churches that are long on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and short on comfort! I don’t need to be entertained when I am in the presence of Christ!

 

[1beleevr]

Heck, when I first got started, I used to go to the Saturday evening Catholic Mass, because I was teaching Sunday School and didn’t get to hear the sermons, at my church. They had good sermons at the Catholic church on Saturday nights. Yay for Father Cooney! And I went to Bible study at the Catholic Church because it was free. They charged $40.00 at my church.

IOW - it’s okay to have a bad reason for coming to Mass - just come!

]

Have to agree with apromisemade; that the freedom of nondenominational is very liberating, and you can just focus on Christ, and the teaching is always very thorough

 

[tweetymom]

]

Have to agree with apromisemade; that the freedom of nondenominational is very liberating, and you can just focus on Christ, and the teaching is always very thorough

It certainally is

 

[Xavierlives]

IFCA is one tag to look for; it stands for “Independent Fundamental Churches of America.” It basically amounts to a group of churches that agree to non-alignment. There is no central headquarters; therefore, it doesn’t qualify as a denomination in and of itself. There also isn’t a centralized charter, although there are a number of things each church must agree to in order to remain sufficiently conservative. Two other requirements are as follows: In order to remain a part of IFCA, you can’t join a denomination; also, since there isn’t a charter or constitution for the group as a whole, each church must create one that meets the general requirements and actually stick to it. Where I live, there’s two IFCA churches within a 15-mile radius. They’re both listed in the phone book with the IFCA tag.

It does take awhile to find the right fit, although it may depend on where you live and how selective you can really be. For example, you may live in a more rural setting where there are only a half-dozen Protestant churches within reasonable driving distance. In that situation, you may have to go with a church that forces you to work through some issues in order for you to really fit in. That can be a good thing for you, though. On the other hand, you might live in a place that’s comparable to Wheaton, IL. You could go to a different church every week for two or three years before you cover the whole spread of churches that might be really good options. (This sounds like a gross exaggeration, but it’s actually not outrageous at all). It’s probably not good to take that long, though, and I would strongly suggest that you find a trusted source in your new area who can help you narrow things down a bit.

The first thing you always have to look at is the constitution/charter of a church and examine the core beliefs. Non-denom can be tricky because some N-D churches only carry the tag in order to have a wider appeal. But to find that out, you really have to know what you’re looking for, you have to get access to the church’s documents, and you usually have to sit down and talk to the pastor about it. It helps if the church is N-D but also belongs to a group like IFCA- it more or less guarantees that this issue has already been taken care of well before you ever walk in the door.

After you look into these types of issues, you can narrow things down a bit more based on the needs of your family and the degree to which they have to be met. If you have kids, I would suggest that you make the youth program your next priority. Other criteria that should go closer to the bottom include music style, the size of the church, the order of the service, etc. I suppose a church could be either too large for you or too small. If it was me, I’d prefer something not too large because I place a heavy emphasis on getting involved. At a large church, there often isn’t much for a new person to do. So while looking at churches, I would advise you to look not only to your needs but also to the needs of a particular church. Ask yourself if the church’s needs match up with what you can offer if and when you get involved with something there.

Finally, after all those things are addressed, you just have to get to know the pastoral staff over the course of a few weeks and see if you fit in well with the church family. Again, it’s probably not such a healthy thing for you to demand that every person in a church cater to your specific needs, and it would probably be good for you and your family to have some things to cope with and work through. I’m sure that you’re not a perfect person and you don’t have a perfect family, but you love them and stay faithful to them anyway- and they to you. If it’s something truly serious, though, that’s got to be a judgment call for you and your family, and that’s when you cross that church off your list and don’t look back. It actually might be a good idea to talk about this kind of thing really early on with your family, just so you’re all on the same page with the kinds of things that would cause you to do such a thing. In this kind of situation, surprises are not good things.

I REALLY like your constitution, charter (bylaws, etc.) idea. Not just because it calls to the lawyer in me, but because it could be something that I do before we even visit a church.

I’ve never heard of the IFCA so I look into that as well.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

 

[Xavierlives]

In my travels, I have noticed that there are a lot more "mega churches than ever before! These churches, mostly Protestant, or nondenominational, seem to be catering to the “creature comforts” of congregants, what with coffee shops, bookstores, and nice comfortable seating, etc.! The music, with the exception of some hardline pentecostal and maybe Baptist churches, is contemporary Christian, I have heard from many a Christian, who for one reason or another, has left a church! The many reasons given include, but are not limited to: didn’t like the music, doctrinal differences, too conservative, too liberal, no coffe service, pastor’s too rigid, and on and on! I like those churches that are long on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and short on comfort! I don’t need to be entertained when I am in the presence of Christ!

Well, we have been attending a mini-mega church off and on while we search. There are things we love about it. There are some things we are not so thrilled about. One of the huge benefits to a larger church is the church’s ability to bring in some powerhouse singers to lead the praise music. Another thing was Vacation Bible School this summer for the kids. I don’t think I have ever seen an entire campus turn into looking like an ancient town with decorations that were assembled in 24 hours and then torn down for time to have 8000 people come to come to 4 services. The other thing is, I don’t think I have ever seen a more humble man (the pastor). He’s not on TV (but he is well known) and he utilizes the elders of the church, the various minister, and all of the resources to push feeding and housing the poor, to spreading the word, to ministering to the needs of the congregation.

 

[peary1]

Probably by Rock - Paper - Scissors

They might as well with some of the lame excuses I’ve heard in my day.

 

[1beleevr]

Probably by Rock - Paper - Scissors

They might as well with some of the lame excuses I’ve heard in my day.

]

This is a very L-A-M-E post!

 

[Jars_of_Clay_1]

Since my family has again recently moved, we have once again started the search for a church home. The search normally starts with denominations which are closest to our particular beliefs. Then we branch out. We have visited a couple of “bible churches” which really made me wonder, how do non-denominational Christians pick their churches?

I guess included in this question are sub-questions like does it take a while to find the right fit? Do you find yourself easily eliminating churches? What criteria is used?

As a Christian I’ll tell you how I begin my search for a church. I’m look for one right now as a matter of fact.

I begin my search on the internet to see what churches are in my area. Cult like churches (Mormon, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientology, etc) are immediately ruled out. I also am not interested in attending the Catholic church.

So, I start evaluation by reading their individual Statement of Faith on their website. I also begin to read things they abide by such as (but not limited to):

Do they believe the bible is the inerrant word of God? Yes - good!
Do they believe in the Trinity - Really good, etc.
Then I would listen to an online sermon. Is what is stated biblically true? Does the Rev., / pastor go on and on about himself? (No good.) What is the content of that sermon?

Then I have a look at their ministries.
Do they care about the people in their flock?
Do they serve the poor?
Do they serve in missions?

Ok, on paper they may look good, then I go for a visit.

What is the congregation like? Are they welcoming or are they closed? How do they not only treat me as a visitor, but how do they treat each other (that’s how I’ll be treated in the future)?

What is the Pastor like? Self-centered or warm and welcoming?

Did the sermon honor God?

Did the worship honor God?

There are many things to look at when looking for a church. These are just a few. I hope it was helpful to you.

 

[Xavierlives]

Then I would listen to an online sermon.

Here I am, using the internet to discuss the search and I never thought about looking on their websites for sermons. Thanks. Great idea!

 

[mmmcounts]

I REALLY like your constitution, charter (bylaws, etc.) idea. Not just because it calls to the lawyer in me, but because it could be something that I do before we even visit a church.

I’ve never heard of the IFCA so I look into that as well.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

Yea, no problem. I never really looked for church constitutions online before because I always know any church is going to have a physical copy; now that I’ve look around, though, I’m finding that a lot of churches don’t put it online. My church, for example, has a constitution that I’ve read carefully and kept up with on its amendments. It’s not online, though. A more general statement of faith and purpose is on there, but you’d have to walk inside the church in order to get a look at the document. The same has tended to be true of other non-denom and/or Bible churches in my immediate area. You get something every once in awhile, but you usually can’t count on it.

This is a pretty good selection from a random non-denom Bible church from somewhere in Wisconsin. Not my area, but a decent template to look at.
waunakeechurch.com/constitution.html

This is what stuck out to me as I went through the statement of faith:
1: “the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His Will for the salvation of men, and the Divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life”- all of that is pretty much essential.
4/5: “regenerate the believing sinner…only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.” This speaks pretty strongly to monergistic regeneration. I’m on board with that, but I don’t know if you would be. Some churches won’t show a clear preference on this kind of issue, but for this one, I like it when they do.
8: “We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head.” That’s a pretty clear picture of what the church looks like along with some clear soteriology.
11: “We believe in the personal and premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this “blessed hope” has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.” I do tend to lean premil, but I wouldn’t say I know that for sure. It is pretty typical of an IFCA church to be pretty decisive about this- on paper, anyway- although this particular church is not a part of IFCA. It is a young church, though, so maybe that’s why.

Personally, my home church is IFCA and decisively pre-mil on paper. This comes from the dispensationalist element of fundamentalism, and it’s one of the most-criticized things about it. In person, though, my pastor doesn’t take a hard line on it in talking to you or in his personal opinion. We’re actually going through Revelation on Sunday mornings right now, and he’s decided not to get into the various perspectives like pre-mil and a-mil. He does favor pre-mil, but he’s decided not to make it a central issue (if at all) when teaching on Revelation. Some pastors stand by the saying “If you’re 51% certain of something, you should preach it like you’re 100%.” My pastor really doesn’t like that philosophy. He’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-70% on pre-mil, so if he did teach on it, he would just be honest and say that. But right now, it looks like he’s not going to make it an issue at all- and that’s something you wouldn’t be able to guess just by looking at the church constitution.

That covers most of the key items that I would look for in telling a serious non-denom church from a wide-appeal n-d. There are other things to look at, though, and you’ll be able to bring it all together as you keep looking at different places. My assessment of Grace Community Church (the one I linked to) is that it looks pretty solid. I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t a member of IFCA if I hadn’t looked up the list.

This is another link with stuff on IFCA, in case you want to give that a look.
ifca.org/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=140009342&sec_id=140001498&nc=1261009694468
Items that tend to be most troublesome for people are dispensationalism and some of the things under the header of “Movements Contrary to the Faith.”

Additionally, there is an IFCA Constitution, although it is not binding on any individual church as their own constitution is, nor are any churches allowed to copy and paste this constitution and use it as their own. It wouldn’t really work very well, either, since it addresses the criteria by which a church becomes a member of IFCA rather than the criteria by which a person joins a church. Articles 12-16 cover all the ins and outs of getting in and out as a church.

Anyway, those are some of the issues to work through. I don’t know of any non-denominational groups like IFCA apart from IFCA, and while you certainly don’t have to attend a church that is a member of it, I do think it’s a good idea to make sure you don’t go to a church that couldn’t ever be a part of it for reasons having to do with core teachings on God, the Bible, salvation, ecumenism across religions, issues with annihilationism, etc. If it couldn’t be part of IFCA because it’s a non-denom church that isn’t into dispensationalism or fundamentalism, there are some pretty good reasons for doing that. But whatever church you go to, I would make sure they’re on point with just about everything else.

I’ll look around and see if there’s any other non-denom groups that do roughly the same thing, but I don’t think there are any. Good luck in your church hunt, and make sure you access those lawyer skills when you’re cross-examining the pastors that you talk to!

 

[Dokimas]

Since my family has again recently moved, we have once again started the search for a church home. The search normally starts with denominations which are closest to our particular beliefs. Then we branch out. We have visited a couple of “bible churches” which really made me wonder, how do non-denominational Christians pick their churches?

I guess included in this question are sub-questions like does it take a while to find the right fit? Do you find yourself easily eliminating churches? What criteria is used?

I get blind folded, spin around, point and follow my finger til I find a church.

 

[jmcrae]

I get blind folded, spin around, point and follow my finger til I find a church.

it’s as good a method as any, since the whole point of Church is that we can’t lean on our own understanding. It seems very weird that one would have to understand what words like “premillennial”, “regenerate” and “monergistic” mean, before you could start going to Church. How are you to be taught, if you already think you know everything - especially if you were to leave when they start teaching you something you didn’t know, before, or that contradicted what you thought you already knew?

 

[PRmerger]

it’s as good a method as any, since the whole point of Church is that we can’t lean on our own understanding. It seems very weird that one would have to understand what words like “premillennial”, “regenerate” and “monergistic” mean, before you could start going to Church. How are you to be taught, if you already think you know everything - especially if you were to leave when they start teaching you something you didn’t know, before, or that contradicted what you thought you already knew?

Indeed!

I remember thinking how peculiar it was to hear a woman proudly describe her mother going from church to church every Sunday until she found a church for her and her children that “felt right.”.

Isn’t that the epitome of creating a religion in your own image? Shouldn’t we be conforming our beliefs to the Truth, not trying to create a truth that matches our own?

 

[Xavierlives]

Indeed!

I remember thinking how peculiar it was to hear a woman proudly describe her mother going from church to church every Sunday until she found a church for her and her children that “felt right.”.

Isn’t that the epitome of creating a religion in your own image? Shouldn’t we be conforming our beliefs to the Truth, not trying to create a truth that matches our own?

Or is it separating the wheat from the chaff?

 

[PRmerger]

Or is it separating the wheat from the chaff?

Could you explain this a bit?

Are you saying that you advocate going to a church, listening to the pastor–whom you know to be a fallible man–and staying until you decide he’s teaching something that goes against your interpretation? Then, you go and find another church?

Or, do you stay no matter what?

And, remember, if this pastor is fallible, by definition, [SIGN1]HE IS GOING TO BE WRONG [/SIGN1]at some point. Why should you stay with someone whose interpretation is–absolutely–going to be wrong?

 

[1beleevr]

Could you explain this a bit?

Are you saying that you advocate going to a church, listening to the pastor–whom you know to be a fallible man–and staying until you decide he’s teaching something that goes against your interpretation? Then, you go and find another church?

Or, do you stay no matter what?

And, remember, if this pastor is fallible, by definition, [SIGN1]HE IS GOING TO BE WRONG [/SIGN1]at some point. Why should you stay with someone whose interpretation is–absolutely–going to be wrong?

]

All priests, ministers, pastors and yes, even popes, by virtue of their humanness, are, I believe FALLIBLE! When however, they are teaching from the inerrant Word of God, which in and of itself, INFALLIBLE, an anointing falls upon them, and the Holy Spirit leads into all Truth!

 

[PRmerger]

]

All priests, ministers, pastors and yes, even popes, by virtue of their humanness, are, I believe FALLIBLE! When however, they are teaching from the inerrant Word of God, which in and of itself, INFALLIBLE, an anointing falls upon them, and the Holy Spirit leads into all Truth!

That’s certainly proven false by the existence of over 40,000 different denominations, some teaching CONTRARY doctrines–yet each claiming the Holy Spirit led them into this “truth”.

So are you saying the Holy Spirit guides all these Christian to the truth?

1. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Lutherans the Eucharist is the true presence of Christ, and then tell the Baptists it is only a symbol?
2. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Methodists it is alright to have female ministers, and then tell the Baptists it is unbiblical?
3. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Seventh Day Adventists that Saturday is the day of worship, and then tell the Presbyterians the day of worship is Sunday and not Saturday?
4. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Lutherans that the Blessed Virgin Mary was and remains always virgin, and then tell the Baptists she had other children?
5. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Baptists, ‘once saved always saved’, and then tell the Church of Christ that Sola Fides is unscriptural?
6. How can the Holy Spirit tell Episcopalians to baptize infants and then tell Pentecostals infant baptism is invalid?
7. How can the Holy Spirit tell Mormons that the Holy Trinity is three separate persons, and then tell Methodists the Trinity is three persons in one GOD

From: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=5333581&highlight=bill#post5333581

 

[1beleevr]

That’s certainly proven false by the existence of over 40,000 different denominations, some teaching CONTRARY doctrines–yet each claiming the Holy Spirit led them into this “truth”.

So are you saying the Holy Spirit guides all these Christian to the truth?

1. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Lutherans the Eucharist is the true presence of Christ, and then tell the Baptists it is only a symbol?
2. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Methodists it is alright to have female ministers, and then tell the Baptists it is unbiblical?
3. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Seventh Day Adventists that Saturday is the day of worship, and then tell the Presbyterians the day of worship is Sunday and not Saturday?
4. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Lutherans that the Blessed Virgin Mary was and remains always virgin, and then tell the Baptists she had other children?
5. How can the Holy Spirit tell the Baptists, ‘once saved always saved’, and then tell the Church of Christ that Sola Fides is unscriptural?
6. How can the Holy Spirit tell Episcopalians to baptize infants and then tell Pentecostals infant baptism is invalid?
7. How can the Holy Spirit tell Mormons that the Holy Trinity is three separate persons, and then tell Methodists the Trinity is three persons in one GOD

From: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=5333581&highlight=bill#post5333581

]

Probably the same Holy Spirit that tells the rest of us that we don’t have to spend time in purgatory; but apparently tells catholics they do! There shouldn’t be any argument that man(including priests, pastors, ministers, and even your pope) is fallible! And I do believe Jesus, when He told ME that the Holy Spirit would lead me into ALL TRUTH!