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jim1130
Guest
Sounds impressionable. Maybe this can work to your favor.
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SolaChristo
Guest
Are you sure of that? on what basis do you make this pronouncement?
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ben_dy
Guest
Most of the larger non-denominational churches in the south would flee the church if pentecostal behavior began to occur. The very smallest ones - the churches with 40-50 members or so - might be heavily pentecostal and it would be difficult to say exactly how many small churches of that ilk are around - they don’t have offices so they’re not listed in any phone directory and they don’t seem to advertise their presence save maybe once a year if they have a week-long revival.
So I can see where you might say that with a likely ratio of 75:1 (or higher - 100:1 just sounds too high) the total of smaller non-denominationals added to the mega-church non-denominationals might result in the majority being pentecostal, but I don’t think pentecostal describes the most visible, high-profile non-denominational churches that seem to be attracting such large crowds these days/
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SolaChristo
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Here in the MidAtlantic—WashDC/Balto even the majority of mega churches are more Pentacostal than Baptist.
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Matt16_18
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Are you Non-Denominational closet Baptist reformation of 2002, or non-denominational Spirit filled Pentecostal reformation of 2001 …
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. so I ran over and said “stop! don’t do it!” “Why shouldn’t I?” he said. I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!” He said, “Like what?” I said, “Well…are you religious or atheist?” He said, “Religious.” I said, “Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?” He said, “Christian.” I said, “Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?” He said, “Baptist!” I said, “Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?” He said, “Baptist church of god!” I said, “Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?” He said, “Reformed baptist church of god!” I said, “Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?” He said, “Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!” I said, “Die, heretic scum”, and pushed him off.– Emo Phillips
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SolaChristo
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Father God I lift up Matt16_18 to you, not only him but his entire family. Father I ask you to bless them to give them health, prosper them and give them happiness. I ask this in the name of your only begotten son Jesus.Are you Non-Denominational closet Baptist reformation of 2002, or non-denominational Spirit filled Pentecostal reformation of 2001 …
– Emo Phillips [/indent]
Amen.
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scylla
Guest
One of the things that led me out of a nondenominational Church was the contradiction in belief.
It is constantly stated that they do not believe in a man made church, yet by starting a nondenominational church a man commits hypocrisy by preaching against man made churches.
This and other contradicting beliefs was too much for me to ignore.
Another example is preaching unity, but directly contradicting that by starting up new churches, which then further create disunity. This frustrated me in a discussion with a missionary to the Phillipines who was certain anything but the Catholic Church is good.
The good thing is these churches are very good at bringing people closer to Christ, and hopefully people keep seeking deeper relationships. Many of my friends are part of nondenom churches and I love to share my love of Jesus with them, yet many are so polarized against the Catholic Church that they wont even consider coming come to the Catholic Church.
God Bless
Scylla
It is constantly stated that they do not believe in a man made church, yet by starting a nondenominational church a man commits hypocrisy by preaching against man made churches.
This and other contradicting beliefs was too much for me to ignore.
Another example is preaching unity, but directly contradicting that by starting up new churches, which then further create disunity. This frustrated me in a discussion with a missionary to the Phillipines who was certain anything but the Catholic Church is good.
The good thing is these churches are very good at bringing people closer to Christ, and hopefully people keep seeking deeper relationships. Many of my friends are part of nondenom churches and I love to share my love of Jesus with them, yet many are so polarized against the Catholic Church that they wont even consider coming come to the Catholic Church.
God Bless
Scylla
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ben_dy
Guest
Scylla,
As you’re in CA, which reportedly has both more non-denominational churches and far more ‘mega-churches’ than any other state, I’m curious about your last statement: as you’re statistically more likely to know more members of non-denominational churches would you say that there is some anti-Catholic sentiment in some, many, or most? And what percentages of the membership of these churches would you estimate to be ex-Catholic?
I’m NOT conducting a scientific survey! Just want to see if my observations down south are mirrored, in any way, on the west coast.
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Will_Pick
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What is a non-denominational church and do they all teach the same things. Is it a church for the Irish,Polish or Greek ect.
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Texan_in_DC
Guest
Non Denominational churches sprung up and became very popular in the 90’s. They tend to make claim that instead of being a part of the Southern Baptist Association they are independant from any form of an association and are just simply a bible believing church.
Each of these churches can be different but all I have attended prior to my conversion were like a Baptist church.
The members will go out and hire a minister, so the power of the church lies in the hands of the members, and most elect deacons to carry out the vission of the church.
Ultimatley they want to draw a crowd because they will have a lot of money to buy or expand the size of their building, and build a great christian community either city wide or neighborhood.
As a member of this type of church, we had our regular gifts to pay for the church and staff, plus special times to raise money for a missionary local or national.
Each of these churches can be different but all I have attended prior to my conversion were like a Baptist church.
The members will go out and hire a minister, so the power of the church lies in the hands of the members, and most elect deacons to carry out the vission of the church.
Ultimatley they want to draw a crowd because they will have a lot of money to buy or expand the size of their building, and build a great christian community either city wide or neighborhood.
As a member of this type of church, we had our regular gifts to pay for the church and staff, plus special times to raise money for a missionary local or national.
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geezerbob
Guest
I agree with Tex. The pastor of a “community” church told me that he was trying to reach those who, for whatever reason, disliked Baptists. However, the theology was 100% Southern Baptist.
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Egg4christ
Guest
I am a member of a Non denominational.
Because Non-denom don’t need to talk with anyone about starting their church, there really is no way to classify them.
Most of the now popular “mega-churches” are non-denom.
There are some who say they are there to put on a show and get more money. that’s not the way mine works. We have an elder board of people who are all not under the payroll of the church, very spiritual people, but they rarely show up during the service. They help set the payroll for the staff. Also, my church starts every sunday with “If you are new here, we invite you to put your wallets away, and enjoy God’s prescense today. If you are one of our regular attenders we thank you for your continued giving, there is a tithe box in the back for your convenience.”
People think a lot of things about us that aren’t true. I can answer any other questions about my church specifically either here or on PM
Because Non-denom don’t need to talk with anyone about starting their church, there really is no way to classify them.
Most of the now popular “mega-churches” are non-denom.
There are some who say they are there to put on a show and get more money. that’s not the way mine works. We have an elder board of people who are all not under the payroll of the church, very spiritual people, but they rarely show up during the service. They help set the payroll for the staff. Also, my church starts every sunday with “If you are new here, we invite you to put your wallets away, and enjoy God’s prescense today. If you are one of our regular attenders we thank you for your continued giving, there is a tithe box in the back for your convenience.”
People think a lot of things about us that aren’t true. I can answer any other questions about my church specifically either here or on PM
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deb1
Guest
Due to the fact that nondenominational churches can have such a variety of beliefs it is neccesary to speak in broad, generalalities. Therefore the things said about nondenominational churches on this forum are directed at the greater majority of such churches. Your church might be different but it would be hard to talk about a single specific church that most of us have never attended. Your statement “People think a lot of things about us that aren’t true.” seems to imply that you believe that your churches particular viewpoints and tradtionals are representative of all nondenominational churches.
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mellysue
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The only non-denom I was ever a part of was at one time a Baptist church but the pastor didn’t want to pay the dues to SBC so we went independant. Nothing but the sign out front changed.
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Egg4christ
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I’m sorry Deb1. It just feels a little like my religion is being attacked all the time, even though i know these people haven’t even seen my church.
I bet you can see where i’m coming from too. I guess i just want recognition that they’re not all the same.
Thanks for understanding though.
I bet you can see where i’m coming from too. I guess i just want recognition that they’re not all the same.
Thanks for understanding though.
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Cardinalsong
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I am a member of a non-denominational church but wanting to convert to Catholicism. I do like the church & like many of you said, it’s hard to single out any one of them as far as what they teach or what the church doctrine is. At least they don’t put down other denominations & have never heard any anti-Catholic statements from anyone.
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theguidedheart
Guest
This is an interesting point… it would seem to me, that by ‘finding the church that is right for me’… you are determining your own authority - yourself!.. isn’t being Christian about submitting to what Christ wants? and furthermore, this would include submitting to his Church - in that sense, doing anything other than that, especially after understanding just how the Church was founded by Christ and sustained through apostolic sucession in the Bible is to outright reject certain aspects of Chrisianity itself. I would say that the idea that ‘my church’, is equal to ‘your church’, and all of our churches are the same as long as we follow Christ is a dilusion that man tells himself in order to maintain some sense of control. Church has become just another affiliation in alot of ways, and it is no longer a Divine creation… in alot of ways, it seems to me that denominationalism is nothing more than taking the focus away from Christ, and emphasizing each churches own relative beliefs along with the charasmatic heads of each organization.
Anyway, in reponse to my own message which started this thread, I had the chance to visit with my mom at New Years, and had a little bit of a breakthrough in explaning some of the Catholic beliefs, and where we find their roots in the bible… and I couldn’t help but feel like when I was talking to her about things like the Eucharist, that she listened to them like they were some kind of fantasy, and I felt no connection in relating the truth of Sacraments like this to her - I really find it sad that Christianity has been drawn so far off the course by man, that those outside of the Catholic church can no longer see any evidence in truth in things like the Eucharist, despite the fact that it is laid out in scripture and had been believed (and to the death for many of the early martyrs) for so many centuries - these ancient, and holy Sacraments have become nothing more than some kind of Catholic dilusion to those too far outside of our doorstep- the face of true Christian belief and faith has become a stranger to Christians themselves. It just seems like so many Christians have the intent, and the desire there to know Christ as he intended himself to be known, but can no longer see his true likeness because he has been funneled through everyone’s personal filter so that they only get the Christ that they want to hear, and want to obey. Its kind of like the old game of ‘telephone’ that we sometimes played in school as kids - ever since the Reformation the story has been passed along, from person to person, but through the ages each person has added their own twist to the story, or changed things where there was even the slightest confusion, and it has gotten to the point that now, that same story is being passed on through Protestant, and non-denominational churches, but with each having their own representation of the ancient truths of Christianity - just like in elementary school, when the story that started in the front of the class, was nothing like the story that finished in the back of it…
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theguidedheart
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Exactly…this seems like it would be a fact that is impossible to ignore, yet these non-denominational churches never have a hard time keeping their seats full… at least back when I was non-denominational in California…
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JoeyWarren
Guest
Non-denominational?
that’s an Oxy-moron!
They are a denomination of ONE!
I’ve been saying that for years, years, years, and years…
that’s an Oxy-moron!
They are a denomination of ONE!
I’ve been saying that for years, years, years, and years…
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matthias
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Me too, ha ha ha ha ha!!!:yup:
I’m a Catholic now but I used to say this even back when I was a Lutheran. I understood that as part of the Lutheran Denomination I was in a group that divided or “denominated” itself apart because it had specific beliefs. I always told my “non-denom” friends that they were in a “Denomination of One”.
Now I am finally in a real “non-denom” Church. The only existing real non-denom is the Catholic Church because we never devided from anything.
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