Non Denominational Churches

3Scoreand10 · Mar 29, 2015

Much has been said about the many denominations in the world today.
My question is about those who call themself Non Denominational churches.
What do they believe and practice?
I have known people from two different ND churches, and both were very different.
One began as a Sourthern Baptist but later removed all Baptist references from their sign and literature, but continued to teach Baptist doctrine. They did this so they could grow in numbers in a city with a large collage population, and it worked.
The other accepted any and every type of belief. Their attitude was that everyone was welcome and could believe and practice what they wanted.
Is this the norm, or just two extremes?

dcontroversal · Mar 29, 2015

You know an interesting concept is found in scripture.....each church was identified with the city it was in and carried no particular denominational name and or title....while we can understand and get an idea of what doctrine is taught by the (label) at the end of the day it was the church AT -----------.

I too have heard of NON-DOM. churches using that label so as to draw those who would normally be turned off by a label.

I have no problem with the church at ----------!

Angela53510 · Mar 29, 2015

My experience with ND was back when I was first saved. The city I lived in had some huge ND, all break away Pentecostal/charismatic churches. I think the doctrine (Armininan) was similar. The only thing different than the AoG (PAOC in Canada) was that they were not answerable to anyone, and there was no emphasis on missions.

One started a "bible" school, and it was pretty elementary in teaching, cause I attended a class and really didn't learn much.

The thing that works for me with conventions, if they are run properly, is supporting missions and seminaries to train people for ministry. Also, if there is an issue, there are usually people in the organization who are good with solving church problems that can come in and work with the church. NOT impose a solution though. What I don't like about denominations or conventions, is when they start dictating theology. Esp. like the SBC and their Faith and Message 2000, which actually took Jesus out of the message as being head of the church. And demanding that the Seminary professors sign statements which disagreed with their personal beliefs, as read in the Bible.

I was in Pentecostal churches for quite a few years, and other than having a doctrinal statement, there wasn't much difference from the ND. I did go back about 8 years ago, when I was taking theology and read the PAOC doctrinal statement. I found a lot about those not believing in a pre-trib pre-millennial rapture being heretics, and anyone believing in eternal security also being a heretic. I do not think either of those issues affect one's salvation.

My thought is that every ND church is going to be different, given their history, leadership and doctrine. But they are all bonded by not being accountable to anyone. And I don't think that is Biblical!

AuphirahQueen · Mar 29, 2015

3Scoreand10 said:

Much has been said about the many denominations in the world today.
My question is about those who call themself Non Denominational churches.
What do they believe and practice?
I have known people from two different ND churches, and both were very different.
One began as a Sourthern Baptist but later removed all Baptist references from their sign and literature, but continued to teach Baptist doctrine. They did this so they could grow in numbers in a city with a large collage population, and it worked.
The other accepted any and every type of belief. Their attitude was that everyone was welcome and could believe and practice what they wanted.
Is this the norm, or just two extremes?[/Q

[h=1]Matthew 23 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)[/h][h=3]Religious Hypocrites Denounced[/h]23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.[a] 3 Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do,[b] because they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry[c] and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger[d]to move them. 5 They do everything[e] to be observed by others: They enlarge their phylacteries[f] and lengthen their tassels.[g] 6 They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

Read all of Matthew 23: Reveal truth about corrupt religious leaders of the past, present and future.

Man preaching one's knowledge, ideology, philosophy,opinion, theology, new age and etc is not new. The Sacred Word reveals to a believer what is about happen on this earth. Are believers truly reading , studying the Sacred Word through the Holy Spirit for Sword of Truth from above or seeking man's religion. Read about about the seven churches in Revelation:

The seven churches are located in:
- Ephesus (Metropolis of Ephesus)
- Smyrna (Metropolis of Smyrna)
- Pergamon (Metropolis of Pergamon)
- Thyatira.
- Sardis (See of Sardis)
- Philadelphia (Metropolis of Philadelphia)
- and Laodicea, near Denizli (see Laodicean Church)

breno785au · Mar 29, 2015

If someone asks me what denomination is your church I shrug my shoulders, try and think of a name and then say, I dunno we are just people getting together in the name of Jesus to encourage and exhort one another. Young and old, whatever race you are we get together and learn from each other.
That's pretty much it at a congregational level I'd say.
You can do all that with or without a denominational name.

Jon4TheCross · Mar 29, 2015

Either way...it doesn't matter what they say or preach from the pulpit...even if every word is true...
Body language is louder...and hard to misinterpret in a group.

3Scoreand10 · Mar 29, 2015

Jon4TheCross said:

I will disagree because what is preached and taught is what matters most.
Is their teaching the truth acording to the Word, or is it heresy?

resurrection33 · Mar 29, 2015

3Scoreand10 said:

I think in any denomination - or non-denomination - you will find a wide variety of beliefs. I am a United Methodist, and it makes me cringe a bit when I see some information at the entryway stating, "This is what United Methodists believe."

Nobody is in a position to know what I believe. I think that is the way all people are. There are conservative United Methodists and there are liberal United Methodists. A typical non-denominational church could be left-leaning or right-leaning, but each individual has his, or her, own set of beliefs.

Joshua_Generation · Mar 29, 2015

resurrection33 said:

This is precisely why the UMC in the USA will be the next major protestant denomination in the USA to announce that Gays and Lesbians will be welcomed by their denomination and will also allow the Gay/Lesbian weddings to happen in the UMC church and allow Gay/Lesbian ordination.

This is the elephant in the room for the uMC in the USA right now. Sadly it will likely mean the smaller rural UMC churches will close, because of the connection oriented structure of the UMC.

The liberal view and change to non-biblical social justice is why we left the UMC several, several years ago. The conservative voices in the UMC do not stand a chance against their larger liberal counterparts. The race is for the cash. The UMC is one of the most wealthy protestant denominations in the USA and the liberal arm of the UMC is after all that money.

It is only a matter of time before the Book of Disciple is amended to allow Gays/Lesbians. Do not be surprised when you see just how many female/male Methodist ministers are already leading double lives. On Sunday a minister of social liberal justice, on Sunday night as a gay or Lesbian.

We saw this manifesting years ago and left the UMC. It all started when we were asked to stop talking about Jesus to our young adult and youth group and concentrate on God instead. No Altar calls at Youth camps, no praying with people.

We belonged to middle America rural District as well

Test_F_i_2_Luv · Mar 29, 2015

The easiest way to get a basic idea is is to read their Statement of Faith.

In saying they are non-denominational, they are implying that they don't line up with a mainline denomination, even though the difference(s) may be very minor.

It also suggests that they are autonomous and don't report to an overseeing body that is located somewhere else.

VCO · Mar 29, 2015

dcontroversal said:

I was born again the last week of 1977. Since that time I have attended quite a few non-denominational Churches, simply because we moved a lot over the years. Everyone that I attended, doctrinally believed exactly the same except for one issue, and that was whether to be Elder Rule or Congregational Rule. One the Board of Elders makes all the decisions, and the other type the Elders present the recommendations of the Board Meetings for the Congregational to Vote on. I can support both Biblically, so I did not care which way they decided to go. ALL of them were NEITHER Calvinists, nor Arminian in their doctrinal beliefs. For example I personally wholeheartedly believe in 3 of the 5 points of Calvinism and wholeheartedly disagree with 2 of the 5 points of Calvanism. THEREFORE BOTH SIDES DISOWN US, and I am perfectly happy with that, because I have NEVER liked being pinned with any label except CHRISTIAN.

The two points of Calvinism that I DISAGREE with are as follows, and I will highlight in red what I specifically disagree with:

Unconditional Election:
God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not (Rom. 9:15, 21).

Limited Atonement:
Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect. Support for this position is drawn from such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 where Jesus died for ‘many'; John 10:11, 15 which say that Jesus died for the sheep (not the goats, per Matt. 25:32-33); John 17:9 where Jesus in prayer interceded for the ones given Him, not those of the entire world; Acts 20:28 and Eph. 5:25-27 which state that the Church{should be BRIDE, the sum total of O.T. and N.T saints} was purchased by Christ, not all people; and Isaiah 53:12 which is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion where he would bore the sins of many (not all).

I am not trying to start an Arminian/Calvanist debate, because I hate such bickering. I hesitate to say this, because I dislike titles other than simply Christian; but if I has to pick a title that describes what I personally Believe, I would have to say that I am a non-denominational, non-charismatic, conservative Evangelical.

Over the years since I was born again, I have attended:
2 - Evangelical Free Churches (Free means free of any Denominational hierarchy ruling over the local Congregation.)
3- Bible teaching Community Churches (Those that spend more time expositing the Word of GOD than the rest of the service.)1 - Bible Church
2 - Bible Fellowship Churches
1 - Fellowship of Grace Brethren Church
1 - Independant Baptist Church

All of them were doctrinally the SAME. But I believe in doing my homework, researching their Doctrinal Statement of Faith, and personally asking their Pastor all kinds of questions about their beliefs, before I ever start attending that Church.

Here is a link to a typical Doctrinal Statement of Faith of the type of Churches that I have attended over the past 30 some years. I will not use an extremely long one, but one that is thorough, yet shorter than some, like Dr. John MacArthur's Grace Community Church. I chose to use Standish Bible Church's Doctrinal Statement, because of it's thoroughness, yet the brevity of each Statement, makes for easy reading. While it was not one of the Churches that I listed as those we attended, I am very familiar with it, as friends of ours went to that Church, and we went with them to their Services a couple times. It is a small non-denominational Church, and I have found them to be biblically sound and very friendly:

http://www.standishbiblechurch.org/what-we-believe.html

I guess you will have copy/paste the address to see the Doctrinal Statement, as it does not want to hyper-link for some reason.

kennethcadwell · Mar 29, 2015

The Non-Denominational movement teaches only from the bible and what the Holy Spirit leads one in God's wisdom and knowledge to do only what His will is. Those that still follow the doctrines taught in denominational churches are not true non-denominational churches because they are still letting man doctrine lead them instead of God's Holy Spirit.

As non-denominational relies solely on the Holy Spirit and God's word.

MarcR · Mar 29, 2015

3Scoreand10 said:

As you pointed out, ND churches can cover the full spectrum of denominational beliefs and more.

In my experiences most ND churches are Biblically sound and have chosen to work outside a denomination because of issues related to church polity or image.

Jon4TheCross · Mar 29, 2015

3Scoreand10 said:

Well...the lack of power in mainstream church...and in so many walks disagrees with you. The world can see the hypocrisy...but the "church" wants to pretend that they are loving to the best of their ability... People are not as stupid as the "church" pretends they are.

AbbeyJoy · Mar 29, 2015

My church is ND. We believe in the whole bible, and we believe everyone is welcome to our church. For we are here to reach the lost even denominations people are welcome,

to be quite honest though our church was known as an assembly of God and My Pastor wanted to be non denominational so he can make new people feel welcome

Jon4TheCross · Mar 29, 2015

Jon4TheCross said:

Jesus taught in the best way...saying...follow me.

He showed what power hypocrisy has...that is why body language is so very important...cause it preaches a message to those watching as well.

Matthew 23:2-4New King James Version (NKJV)

2*saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3*Therefore whatever they tell you to observe,[a] that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4*For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Beware of hypocritical churches...cause a lil leaven can leaven the whole lump.

Luke 11:49-51New King James Version (NKJV)

49*Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50*that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51*from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

3Scoreand10 · Mar 29, 2015

Jon4TheCross said:

The lack of power is the result of teaching a corrupt Gospel, and not teaching the truth of the Word.

3Scoreand10 · Mar 29, 2015

AbbeyJoy said:

So he just changed the name to gain numbers without changing what he taught.
Just like the Southern Baptist church I refered to.

VCO · Mar 29, 2015

kennethcadwell said:

Like I said, the Churches that I have attended have NO Denominational Hierarchy, and we CERTAINLY believe that the Holy Spirit TEACHES us what the WORD means by what it says and how it applies to our lives. That is what I meant by Bible Teaching Churches that EXPOSIT the WORD. AND I TOTALLY disagree with your comment that IMPLIES that all the Denominational Doctrines are all in ERROR. TOTALLY DISAGREE! ALL of what I mean by Mainline Churches have the SAME COMMON CORE OF BELIEFS that is 100% Biblical.

Correct me if I am wrong, but you seem to be on an awful high pedestal looking down on the rest of Churches, and believe me, it hurts when GOD knocks you off there with HIS paddle called "Humble LOVE For the Brethren". Been there, done that several decades ago, when I used to think if you were NOT of my denomination, YOU WERE WRONG!

Test_F_i_2_Luv · Mar 29, 2015

AbbeyJoy said:

I see nothing distinctive about this description of a non-denominational church.

What church doesn't believe in the whole Bible?

Most any denomination will welcome anyone.

Churches reach out to the lost and help its existing members mature.

Non Denominational Churches

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