What does "Non-denominational church" mean?

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maurin

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This is a serious question.

What does it mean, and how many different “Non-denominational” churches are there? Are they all united in doctines, or are they fragmented?
 
Basically to be non-denominational means that the local congregation may or may not have a guiding body in their heirchy (sp?) other than their own Elders which may or may not include the Pastor. There are “independent” Baptist or other types of denominational churches as well.

Even in some Protestant denominations there isn’t much of a heirchy (again sp?) to turn to if a member is having problems with the local congregation. Trust me… The Assembly of God IS a recognized denomination but when I was a member and had some concerns I couldn’t get anywhere with them.

in Christ
Steph

OH-- and their basic theology is Trinitarian, but loosely organized.
 
Note to Moderators:

Thank you for moving this to the appropriate forum.

maurin.

Note to those who have replied:

Thank you. This has been quite helpful!

maurin
 
“Non-denominational” seems to go with “self-ordained”…usually meaning “I got mad at the Protestant church I was going to, so I started up my own church and put myself in charge, and others went along with me until they get mad and do the same thing”.
 
Sweeney said:
“Non-denominational” seems to go with “self-ordained”…usually meaning “I got mad at the Protestant church I was going to, so I started up my own church and put myself in charge, and others went along with me until they get mad and do the same thing”.
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😃 👍 😉
 
Sweeney said:
“Non-denominational” seems to go with “self-ordained”…usually meaning “I got mad at the Protestant church I was going to, so I started up my own church and put myself in charge, and others went along with me until they get mad and do the same thing”.
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That’s EXACTLY what happened in the church I currently attend (for now).

Very sad.😦
 
This is also why I want to come home to the Catholic Church. I’ve always questioned the authority of the non-denominational church so my quest began 3 years ago & this is where I’m at–almost home:)

Not to say that they weren’t very wonderful & helped me with my walk with God (they were), it just got to the point of “is this all there is?” I found out that “I haven’t see anything yet” after learning about the Catholic Church, which is still a work in progress:thumbsup:
 
maurin said:
This is a serious question.

What does it mean, and how many different “Non-denominational” churches are there? Are they all united in doctines, or are they fragmented?
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Peace be with you.

I define it as religious anarchy, where they answer to no higher authority, although they profess that their higher authority is God. They are still members of a denomination, whether htye like it or not, but with so many preachers graduating from ministry school they have to find a job somewhere.
 
In my observation, most NDC’s have a primarily baptist flavor. But that doesn’t hold true for all.
 
Cardinalsong said:
This is also why I want to come home to the Catholic Church. I’ve always questioned the authority of the non-denominational church so my quest began 3 years ago & this is where I’m at–almost home:)

Not to say that they weren’t very wonderful & helped me with my walk with God (they were), it just got to the point of “is this all there is?” I found out that “I haven’t see anything yet” after learning about the Catholic Church, which is still a work in progress:thumbsup:
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Blessings to you on your journey my friend!
 
To me, it’s an oxymoron. Although they might not belong to a denomination, they are sectarian. Granted, the ones I’ve seen are the ones on TV i.e. Jimmy Swaggart, John Haggee, etc.
 
Cardinalsong said:
This is also why I want to come home to the Catholic Church. I’ve always questioned the authority of the non-denominational church so my quest began 3 years ago & this is where I’m at–almost home:)

Not to say that they weren’t very wonderful & helped me with my walk with God (they were), it just got to the point of “is this all there is?” I found out that “I haven’t see anything yet” after learning about the Catholic Church, which is still a work in progress:thumbsup:
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May the Lord Bless you, and keep you safe on your journey home. In anticipation of that day, welcome home!!! We’ve missed you very much.

maurin
 
Sweeney said:
“Non-denominational” seems to go with “self-ordained”…usually meaning “I got mad at the Protestant church I was going to, so I started up my own church and put myself in charge, and others went along with me until they get mad and do the same thing”.
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That’s exactly what my Dad did. He hired and fired Pastors until my little brother became the Pastor. Then they joined the Congregational Holiness, but had problems with them and joined “Church of God” after lil bro got ordained as pastor and bishop.
 
jim1130 said:
Peace be with you.

I define it as religious anarchy, where they answer to no higher authority, although they profess that their higher authority is God. They are still members of a denomination, whether htye like it or not, but with so many preachers graduating from ministry school they have to find a job somewhere.
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And some have not even attended any type of Ministry school. Those are the most dangerous.
 
Mickey said:
In my observation, most NDC’s have a primarily baptist flavor. But that doesn’t hold true for all.
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A received a postcard welcoming me to attend services at a church that meets in the local cineplex. They billed themselves as “100% religion free”. After poking around on their website, I find they’re preety much Church of Christ.

momentumchurch.com/
 
Non-denominational means that they don’t believe division in the church is good. As a result they refuse to align themselves with any particular denomination. Doctrines are usually fairly vague so as to include the varying beliefs of most denominations. Here is a statement of faith as asn example:

  1. *]We believe in one God, eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
    *]We believe God became incarnate in Jesus Christ and that all of our hope centers on the person and work of Jesus, who was fully God and fully man.
    *]We believe Jesus is God. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, his death on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin, His resurrection, His ascension to Heaven, and His future return in power and glory to judge both his followers and non-believers.
    *]We believe in Justification by grace through faith alone, a one-time declaration by God in response to our God-given faith that declares us innocent in His sight.
    *]We believe that because of sin, we are only able to come to God through regeneration by the Holy Spirit who also grants us repentance from sin and gives us faith in Jesus Christ.
    *]We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit who enables Christians to live godly lives.
    *]We believe that the Bible is the infallible, authoritative, inerrant Word of God and the final authority for salvation and faithful living.
    *]We believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, inspired the authors of the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books of the Bible
    *]We believe in the necessity of obedience to the Word of God.
    *]We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.
    *]We believe that in Christ, there is unity of all followers.
    *]We believe in the Sovereignty of God over all creation.
    *]We believe in the faithful Stewardship of God’s creation.
    *]We believe that our chief purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
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  1. Usually such issues as OSAS or Predestination are avoided, because they cause division. This can be a problem because the things about it being taught generally fall to whatever the pastor thinks (even though not addressed in official doctrine) or whatever the majority of the Sunday School teachers think. When that isn’t the case these subjects just are ignored completely so that no one is ever taught about Predestination or free-will etc.
 
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