Non-denominational what?!

Nomes · 02-22-2002, 11:33 PM

I was just talking to Trav...in fact I still am! HI TRAV!

Anyway, he goes to a non-denominational church. I've always thought they were strange, wouldn't a non-denominational church end up being a denomination?

Like they've got to believe something! Some may lean toward baptist or presbyterian or Penticostal or whatever. I have a friend in Australia, who goes to a non-denominational church and it leans toward being penticostal. But yeah, I just think it's confusing!

What do ya'll think?

SnapCase · 02-23-2002, 12:09 AM

Depends on what your definition of a denomination is.

My personal opinion of what a denomination is a bunch of churches that are governed by a larger administrative body.

guitarman · 02-23-2002, 12:17 AM

The purpose of a denomination is to be just that, a denomination of a large church body. The purpose of a denomination, more than anything, is a unity in doctrine. If every non-denom. church decides to have their own doctrine, then each church will be it's own denomination (which I really don't like one bit).

Aaron

Luke · 02-23-2002, 12:37 AM

Non-denominationals take denominationalism to its utter extreme.

Just something to think about.

GMartin2R · 02-23-2002, 12:52 AM

Quote:

church decides to have their own doctrine

that's how our church is. we have our own docrtinal statement. we are known as n-denom but we still do things with the former assembly church.

FaLa · 02-23-2002, 02:36 AM

I think in theory non-denominational churches are great, but in practice they seem to lose something. Like you said, they always seem to lean a certain way, with most of the ones I've seen leaning towards Pentacostalism and Charismatic. But the concept, while often initially flawed, is a good one. Why call yourself a member of a certain group and have to take on all the baggage they have gotten because of divisions, a bad rep, church history, etc, when you can just say that you are a follower of Jesus and leave it at that? Of course in actuality this is not why most non-denoms are started. They usually begin when one member of a congregation gets a word from God and shouts at the top of his lungs "All denominations are wrong!" The 20 or so people who say "Amen brother!" end up forming his congregation and they meet in an abandonned building for a few years until they can afford a nice suped-up warehouse complete with blue carpet altar, plexiglass pulpit, and massive overhead projector.

I hope no one takes this as harsh, I am pretty much a non-denom kind of person myself, I'm just a sarcastic one who enjoys pointing out stuff like this

Luke · 02-23-2002, 06:55 AM

Saying "I'm a follower of Jesus and just that" (with reference to denominations) sounds spiritual but really is just a stupid comment. Everyone carries doctrinal beliefs, and although they may not agree 100% with any denomination, they still lean toward the stances of particular denominations more than others.

guitarman · 02-23-2002, 07:09 AM

Man, I haven't seen that avatar for a while....!!

Luke · 02-23-2002, 07:57 AM

Heehee...Vivi is back.

skanxalot · 02-23-2002, 08:03 AM

Let me point out some good points though...

1) Right now in America we are seeing a restoration movement and its being fueled by non-denominational churches.

2) If you're interested in church planting (like me) you probably know that a new ND church will grow much more faster than a new D church. People don't want the baggage.

Luke · 02-23-2002, 08:32 AM

skanxalot said:: 1) Right now in America we are seeing a restoration movement and its being fueled by non-denominational churches.
Luke says:: First of all, the above was nothing more than rideculous rhetoric. Second of all, we're in a restoration movement? Really? Resoration of what then? The American church is getting worse, not better. It's worse than it was 10 years ago and it's going downhill, and it's going to take a theological wake-up call before it gets better.
skanxalot said:: 2) If you're interested in church planting (like me) you probably know that a new ND church will grow much more faster than a new D church. People don't want the baggage.
Luke says:: This may surprise you, but I don't care. Numbers and church growth rates don't impress me. Mormon churches grow faster than most Christian churches. Word of Faith churches grow faster than basically anybody, and they also sport the largest church in the world (over 1 million members). It doesn't make them any less of a cult.

Phil · 02-23-2002, 08:32 AM

I go to a non-denomination church, and I know that if you don't, you aren't a Christian.

:kroll:

Seriously, you guys are taking it way to serious. Why should "non-denominational" be a denomination? Certainly you can't group all of them together and call them one denomination, because you get the biggest differences between different non-denom. churches. Niether can you say that every non-denom. is really part of some denom. or other. OF COURSE churches will side with a particular denom. on some topics (maybe every topic!), that has to happen unless that non-denom. church is really some kind of cult. They will probably agree with some denomination on practically every issue.

They may not be 100% with a denom.... because if they were, then they would be part of the denom., but they are separate, and have no reason to be part of a denom.

Personally, I love my church, haven't really heard anything that I disagree on (well, that I didn't disagree on after I heard the explanation). I'm not sure exactly what denom. we are closest to either.

Luke · 02-23-2002, 08:37 AM

Well, I don't appreciate it when denominational churches are considered inferior or when people talk about how horrible denominations are. (I also don't appreciate the general church ignorance of why we have denominations...). And while people are talking about how denominations are horrible and how they make the church less of a unified body of Christ, they go and start a non-denominational church which, instead of being close-knit with a set of churches nationwide, is close-knit with nobody. That is simple hypocracy.

Phil · 02-23-2002, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Luke
Well, I don't appreciate it when denominational churches are considered inferior or when people talk about how horrible denominations are. (I also don't appreciate the general church ignorance of why we have denominations...). And while people are talking about how denominations are horrible and how they make the church less of a unified body of Christ, they go and start a non-denominational church which, instead of being close-knit with a set of churches nationwide, is close-knit with nobody. That is simple hypocracy.

I don't appreciate that either.

sheep · 02-23-2002, 10:10 AM

Quote:

2) If you're interested in church planting (like me) you probably know that a new ND church will grow much more faster than a new D church. People don't want the baggage

that's a load of junk. i know plenty of new denominational churches that are growing steadily. and i plan on helping to plant one eventually myself once i finish school and have experience in the pastoring field.

second, one thing i've noticed about quite a bit of non-denominational churches (NOT ALL... i've been to some nice ones), they just form because they dont wanna follow the way of others... they just wanna be a black sheep and not be accountable to anyone. one thing about denominations is that they have to be accountable to a higher authority. if they go off on a tangent that is considered unbiblical, the denomination can step in. i like that. and i like the fact that within the denom you have a community. at least that's what the Moravian Church promotes. we understand that across the globe that we may all worship differently with different traditions according to our different cultures, but all in all we have a common bond in our doctrine and our belief in Christ, and as soon as we may come into a room together, we're talking like old friends even if we've never met before.

yeah sure it'd be nice if all Christians were like that towards each other. but there are always going to be differences in doctrine, and that's exactly why we have denominations. you have to think... are non-denominational churches helping or hindering the cause of brotherhood among churches? if yours is hindering, you might wanna rethink why youre there.