What is with "non-denominational Christians"?

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mango_2003:
I
The reason is…while Protestant pastors and teachers rely on the Holy Spirit, because they are fallible and are men, sometimes they can misinterpret things. This is where division comes from. No single pastor claims to have everything together with his or (God forbid) her doctrine. This doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t think that his or her doctrine is correct. The difference is…it’s all about constantly learning and reading and studying. We don’t look to our pastors for the final stop. We look to the Word and work along side our pastors and teachers.

~mango~
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Actually, my history in the protestant world has me remembering that the pastor’s intepretatons and teachings were to be accepted as if there could be no other person who would teach differently and because he was pastor that was the final word.

As a Catholic, it is easy to say that think they are the “pope” even though they don’t personally claim perfection – although the ones I knew were pretty heavy handed at not having their teachings questioned. I know that you would not like the comparison, but it is sensible to a Catholic.

I also know that the concordences they used were also considered infallible – not impeccable and sinless – big difference. They would quote Moody or whatever concordence helped them with their semon as if it were inspired, holy scripture.

I think that most non-denoms are the Church of (insert name here). Go down the road and try them on for size and doctrine. If you don’t like this one’s teaching, try another one. If you can’t find one that fits, start your own. Why not, there is no greater authority than you and your Bible.

That is just this mom from the 'burbs humble opinion.
 
hi all

recently i have stumble upon a website on a non-denominational church and below is their mission of faith (for us Catholic, we have the Nicene Creed & Apostle’s Creed)

**We believe in:

One God in three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The verbal plenary inspiration of the sixty-six books of the Bible, the infallible revelation of God.

The deity of Jesus Christ: His virgin birth, His sinless humanity, His substitutionary death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to heaven and His personal coming again.

Salvation by faith in Christ alone, without works and solely by grace.

The power of Christ’s blood to cleanse from sin: “All who come to God by Him”.

The need of works after salvation to express gratitude and to “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

The baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience and subsequent experience to enable the believer to live a life of power as a witness.

The one true Church, the Body of Christ, consisting of all believers, regardless of colour, race or standing, and the need of attending and supporting a Bible-believing local church (Hebrews 10:25).

The need for daily growth in grace through Bible study, prayer and witnessing.

Obedience to the solemn command of Christ to evangelise all nations, and to teach believers the truths of the Word of God.

The resurrection of the body; the eternal glorified state of believers in heaven, and the eternal punishment in hell of all who reject Christ.

The imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ to take His Church unto Himself and establish His kingdom on the earth.**

isn’t it kinda dangerous that even now, they can even come up with their own ‘creed’… are we allow to choose what to believe and not… obedience… well, are these new churches diluting the teaching of our Lord?

what are your thoughts…

little goblin
 
Regarding My Creed
Gee who should I trust the Apostles Creed which most likely was written by those who followed the apostles and sat at their feet. The Nicean Creed which help established the most essential of Christian thought. - THE TRNITY.
or this guys who essentially cuts and paste from those creeds thow in a little luther, Clavin Zwingli, Baptist, and his own interpretation and voila new creed new church new religion. Defnitley not the church Christ founded.

Without admitting to this he is a super pope.
As I once read the pope has less power than most protestant minsters he can only guard and explain the faith handed down to him he can’t invent doctrine or do a 180 on the faith like many of these men.
 
little goblin:
recently i have stumble upon a website on a non-denominational church and below is their mission of faith
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There is an awful lot of doctrine mixed up in that mission statement. 😉

The nondenoms like to pride themselves in their disdain for doctrine, but, as you have shown, nondenoms are full of fundamentalist doctrine. The Unitarian Church would be my example of a Protestant denomination that is nearly devoid of doctrine, and very few nondenoms preach a faith that reflects Unitarian vacuity.
 
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mango_2003:
This is exactly why I could never convert to Roman Catholicism. I’d have to put my faith into a man made instituion, something I could not do (yes I realize we’re going to differ on the idea the the RCC isn’t man made in your eyes). I’m sorry that was your experience. That’s too bad.
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Well, i’d like to see you give us the proof here. Of course you have to back it up without Scriptue as you yourself admit that your interpretations of verses are not infallible therefore giving yourself no authority whatsoever within you for us to listen to you. 😃
 
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Maccabees:
As I once read the pope has less power than most protestant minsters he can only guard and explain the faith handed down to him he can’t invent doctrine or do a 180 on the faith like many of these men.
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Good point!!

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
What I think is “with” non-denominational Christians is they have
either
  • very unique beliefs as a whole, and don’t fit in anywhere else
or
  • they have quite mainstream beliefs, but there was some pastor somewhere that wanted to be more active than his denominational church was up for, so he goes off on his own, and is a leader of a new “non-denominational” group
The first type seems to grow into a denomination (or cult) eventually.

The second type seems to remain non-denominational and hopefully the leader is a “really good” guy who tries to be godly, otherwise he will be in the church business for totally wrong reasons eventually.

One thing that seems to be common, at least from my limited communication, is that they have basic modern Baptist beliefs, and don’t want to be a part of a denomination because they feel it hampers their freedom in many ways.

And you can’t fail to mention creeds. Being Reformed, I feel comfortable discussing the necessity of church Creedal statements or Confessions with non-denominational folks. But since they typically have a very weak understanding of church history or the “nature” of a church, then such explanations tend to either go over their heads or be completely misunderstood.

? The solution ? Become Catholic !!
 
No Seriously!!

I know there are many here that would say that becoming Catholic would be a great start in the right direction. But I’m Reformed, I’m not actually saying that.

I know there are like 80 or 90 posts on this topic of Authority, but nonetheless, this has developed into a discussion about authority, Church authority to be specific. It’s interesting.

Being the kind of Reformed guy I am, I would say the solution would be to go to a church that fully upholds the Westminster Confession of Faith. But maybe even I have a problem with some of it’s doctrines on a Biblical level! Should I fully commit myself and how I’m going to raise and instruct my children in their faith by the worldview presented in a document that doesn’t even claim to be fully what the Bible, or God’s Spirit would have us to believe and live by?

I think Catholic 4 A Reason 👋 has a good point earlier in this thread, and it has been discussed, but let me add my bit to it. Suppose I trust the WMCOF, well, what about future “official Reformed teachings”? What Reformed denomination do I trust? Just mine? Why? What about the OPC, the PCA, or the Cumberland Presbyterians? Why not the World Congregation of Reformed Churches (or whatever title they hold), or the RPCNA or RPCUS, or PCUSA? Can you have a PCUSA church in Mexico, or Korea? (I’m one of the above in that list). What does a guy do, be a
“Pot-Luck-Presbyterian”?🙂

Is my question clear? Is there a clear answer?
 
Reformed Rob:
What I think is “with” non-denominational Christians is they have
either
  • very unique beliefs as a whole, and don’t fit in anywhere else
or
  • they have quite mainstream beliefs, but there was some pastor somewhere that wanted to be more active than his denominational church was up for, so he goes off on his own, and is a leader of a new “non-denominational” group
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isn’t this exactly what the reformers did? :confused:

i don’t think non-denominational churches are “getting back to 1st century Christianity” as they claim, but returning to 16th century Christianity and trying to reform churches from the outside instead of from the inside where they might do some good.
 
Think about this; non denominational churches*** must*** believe that theirs is the only church that actually has the whole truth; the only one not corrupted by false teachings. This implies that even the other non-denominational churches have it wrong. Heaven forbid any other non-denominational churches from accepting their teachings; suddenly they would have a denomination, which ruins the whole thing!
So their slogan really is this: WE CAN’T AGREE WITH ANYONE OR ELSE WE CEASE TO EXIST! COME WORSHIP!

😃
 
Martino,
Code: 
This is not always the case, and though doctrinal differences amongst denominations and non-denominations are present, typically they're not at the forefront of the issue.
I would suggest that the main issue is quite often merely the desire to not be involved with a “denomination” and the ecclesiology that whatever denomination(s) the leader(s) wants to get away from. Sometimes the intent or motives are in themselves quite admirable, from a certain point of view.
You do great pointing out the inconsistencies of such reasoning if indeed that were the common line of reasoning, but I’d say that the situation as you presented it is in fact most often not the case. I could be wrong, I did not conduct a Gallup Poll or a John Jay Study into this matter! But, I think I’m onto something just by my limited exposure to non-denominational people, and the fact that their beliefs, at least around here, are pretty mainstream non-Presbyterian (in regards to church Government I mean) Evangelical. Like, you know, typical Southern Baptist. So there may be very little in the way of doctrinal differences, except for views of church government of course.
 
Reformed Rob–But do you think that members of non-denominational churches really understand the “doctrine” of their church and where it fits in with other Christian churches’ doctrines? I suspect not. It seems to me that people join non-denominational churches because of the minister, the fellowship, the music, the service, but NOT the doctrine or the beliefs.
 
Every single conversation that I have had with a member of a non-denominational church have basically been identical. They tell me that their church simply “teaches what the Bible teaches.” This implies that other Churches either do not set out to do the same thing or they fail in their attempt. It does not occur to them that their church only teaches “what their pastor says the Bible teaches.” The fact that there are differences in interpretations seem to be lost on them, or at least the ones that I have talked to. I am not down on them individually and agree that they probably have the best intentions at heart. But the fact is that they follow “one man” and that would be “their pastor!”
 
**It seems to me that evangelical churches are growing, and the mainline Protestant denominations are losing ground because the mainliners have become too secular, too liberal on issues such as abortion. **

**Evangelical churches often join with the Catholic Church on social and moral issues, which I think is real ecumenism at work…We can join together to fight for moral living, but still respect each other’s religious views. **

Now…I DID NOT SAY THAT ALL RELIGIONS ARE THE SAME. I said that we each have the right to choose what religion we belong to, and that this right can be respected while joining with other Christians in the fight against such moral isues as abortion.
 
La Chiara:
Reformed Rob–But do you think that members of non-denominational churches really understand the “doctrine” of their church and where it fits in with other Christian churches’ doctrines? I suspect not. It seems to me that people join non-denominational churches because of the minister, the fellowship, the music, the service, but NOT the doctrine or the beliefs.
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Oh, I suppose not, you’re probably right. But don’t be surprised, there are some quite knowledgeable people in these churches, but they are knowledgeable about things that perhaps are not entirely true and accurate. I’d say those people have got their beliefs together.

But yeah, for the most part, I think what I said is just proof of how deeply the mainline Evangelical doctrines have infiltrated the American non-denominational mindset. And most of the people that go probably aren’t conciously following the minister as a mere person, but rather what he teaches and stands for, and they like the “contemporary” music and puppet shows and such as that used in worship of God and teaching.
 
Catholics do indeed need to learn from the nondenoms. If ex-Catholics can commit to a nondenom and help raise a million dollars in a single collection, Catholics can make the same commitment to their parish.

The ex-Protestants that are coming into the Catholic Church are a great blessing. If we could get our clergy to listen to the ex-Protestants, we could all learn some lessons how to build up a committed community of believers

I certainily do agree with you here. I have had a lot of experience with Protestant churches, and know that they (especially the evangelical ones) do seem to inspire a great sense of committment among their members. Those of us who have expeienced Evangelical Protestantism first hand, but have chosen to either remain Catholic or to return to the Catholic faith have something to share with the rest of you. We know WHY and HOW evangelical churches appeal to so many Catholics. We also know and understand WHY and HOW we have made our own decison to be Catholic, in spite of all the Evanlgelical churches might have to offer in terms of fellowship and committment.
My biggest concern is that our Catholic young people are so easily swayed…They do not fully understand their own faith, cannot defend it, and so are easily drawn into other churches. Once there, they often stay. The church I am most familiar with is heavily populated with ex-Catholics…In fact, most members have come from denominations other than the present non-denominational one. Interesting. I think that is because this church tends to accept everyone, and since it does not teach “doctrine”, (in a sense), but sticks to what would be called the “basics”…Very easy to “join”.
This does not mean the church is wishy-washy. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, they do make it easy to “become a Christian”, and the warmth/fellowship is very heartening to anyone seeking a church home.
 
tkdnick said:
😃 Heard this on the radio the other day…the guy said that Non-demoninational Christians are the largest denomination of Christians. Just thought i would throw that in here.
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Interesting play on words. Also, it should be pointed out that Catholics are the largest christion denomination, although we really aren’t a denomination since we are the vine from which they all separated.
 
La Chiara:
Are evangelical separate from non-denominational or are some non-denominational also evangelical? I didn’t think evangelical was a denomination, so wouldn’t that mean that evangelical is non-denominational? Heavens, this is so complicated. Wouldn’t it be nice if we Christians were all Catholic!/QU There are some evangelical churches that have “Evangelical” as part of their names Examples: Evangelical Free, Evangelical Covenant, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, etc. I also don’t understand what the difference is between evangelical and fundamentalist, even though I was once one! Yes it WOULD be nice if we were all catholic!
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What a convenient word, “non-denominational”. It’s so clean I wonder if it has any legs to stand on. Cut them out from under and it denies it ever had them or needed them.

So many lies and distortions about the Church and organized religion, many of which were fabricated by break away Christians in an effort to undermine the Church of Rome. The lies have grown up and continue to flourish and this to the detriment of the entire body, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.

Have we Christians become so afraid of the enemy that we now choose to live in denial rather than proclaim the truth? When those who hate God say the Church is no good because it did that or does this, the new age Christians like to say “Yes, but it’s not about Church; only faith in Jesus Christ is important.” And when those who hate God say religion has led to these crimes or those crimes against the entire human race, the new age Christians like to say, “Yes, but it’s not about religion, that’s just a bunch of man-made traditions.”

How convenient to be so righteous as to jump ship when it’s coming under siege. I say it’s time to stand up and face the enemy in his own courts. No more running and hiding under the guise of “that’s OK, it’s not my church anymore.” Leaving the Church is not the answer; fearing only God will heal our brokeness.
 
I’d like to say hello to everybody as it is my first time to post anything here. I am actually an in-between…a half catholic and half non-denominational christian. I know it is a contradiction in terms, but let me explain myself. I grew up Catholic and was baptized Catholic, was educated in a Catholic school, studied in a non-sectarian University, which caused me to see what was on the other side of the fence. Now, I attend christian church and catholic church sometimes. I love the faith of non-dem christians, the way they are on fire, the way the just love being christian - the focus on the personal relationship - and I just got tired of the routinary character of catholicism - where i come from - the Philippines, most are born catholic, and a lot die without ever understanding why they are. I found refuge in my “lostness” in the Christian churches. I was disillusioned by the banality of the way Catholicism is practiced in the Philippines, the way people owuld come in and say the replies from memory without ever understanding it, the priest scandals, the hypocrisy of the churchgoers themselves. We might be able to say a lot about doctrine, but do our lives account for anything?

You see, the lack of a specific denomination I believe can be attributed not to the “lack of commitment” but the dedication to another type of commitment- the personal relationship. this is what is always emphasized in services. I also believe that those who have not experienced interaction with or immersion in the non-denominational life should not judge them - jesus would certainly disapprove of that. But also I have this unsettling feeling sometimes that there is something wrong. Is it just the case of a foot looking for an old shoe (catholicism) - just a little unused to this new kind of church? I feel that the personal relationship is not enough. That reading your bible everyday is not enough. Jesus went out and spread the love. He did not merely sit with other people and talked about it. And the sanctity of the eucharist i look for. When I first took communion in a non-denominational christian church, i was affected by the lack of solemnity. we ate tiny pieces of bread, passed it around and drank grape juice from tiny containers. I have a lot of questions about doctrines and which is right. But basically, I want to approach God in the way that I will feel his direct involvement in my life.

I still have a lot of questions. I am searching and seeking - the comfort that I have is jesus is at the end of the line no matter where I go. “Seek and you shall find.” Only “Jesus is the way the truth and the life.” Peace to all.
 
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