Reformed Baptists, Particular Baptists and Calvinistic Baptists, are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology. Depending on the denomination, Calvinistic Baptists adhere to varying degrees of Reformed theology, ranging from simply embracing the Five Points of Calvinism, to accepting a modified form of federalism; all Calvinistic Baptists reject the classical Reformed teaching on infant baptism as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. The first Calvinistic Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is a significant summary of the beliefs of Reformed Baptists. The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century to denote Baptists who retained Baptist ecclesiology, but adopted elements of Reformed doctrine, such as covenant theology.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle is a large independent Reformed Baptist church in the Elephant and Castle in London. It was the largest non-conformist church of its day in 1861. The Tabernacle Fellowship have been worshipping together since 1650. Its first pastor was William Rider; other notable pastors and preachers include Benjamin Keach, John Gill, John Rippon and C. H. Spurgeon. The Tabernacle still worships and holds to its Biblical foundations and principles under its present pastor, Peter Masters.
Joshua Eugene Harris is an American former Evangelical Christian pastor. Harris' 1997 book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, in which he laid out his ideas concerning a Biblically based Christian approach to dating and relationships, helped shape purity culture for many Christian millennials. Harris was lead pastor of Covenant Life Church, the founding church of Sovereign Grace Ministries, in Gaithersburg, Maryland from 2004 until 2015. In 2018, Harris disavowed I Kissed Dating Goodbye and discontinued its publication. The following year, Harris announced that he was separating from his wife, had "undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus" and had given up on his Christian faith.
Sovereign Grace Churches is a group of Reformed, neocharismatic, Evangelical, restorationist, Christian churches primarily located in North America. It has variously been described as a family of churches, a denomination, and an apostolic network. It has also been described as a cult, due to its unorthodox teachings, systemic control of members, and allegations of covering up child sex abuse. Besides the North American congregations, there are also congregations in Australia, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Germany and Mexico.
LIFE Church UK, formerly the Abundant Life Church, is a Christian megachurch established and based in Bradford, England. The church has additional facilities in Warsaw and describes itself as "one church, three locations". Sunday services are regularly streamed online. In 2003 it had an attendance of over 2,000 people; by 2006, the figure had climbed to 2,800.
Covenant Life Church is a non-denominational, evangelical megachurch in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Established in 1977, it spawned other churches and was the flagship church of Sovereign Grace Churches until it left the group in December 2012.
Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewhere, especially as pastors, missionaries, and counselors. It does not require all students to be members of the PCA, but it is bound to promote the teachings of its denomination. Faculty must subscribe to the system of biblical doctrine outlined in the Westminster Standards.
Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Maryland in the United States founded by Fr. John Carroll in 1774. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Washington and its archbishop. It is named after John the Evangelist.
Charles Joseph Mahaney, commonly known as C.J., is an American Christian minister. He is the senior pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, and was formerly president of Sovereign Grace Ministries, now known as Sovereign Grace Churches, a network formed to establish and support local churches. He was one of the founding pastors and leaders of Covenant Life Church, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Under Mahaney's leadership, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville is a member of Sovereign Grace Churches and works with the Southern Baptist Convention for training and Christian mission work.
Towson United Methodist Church is a large United Methodist Church in the historic Hampton subdivision of Towson, a suburb in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its past, rooted in 19th-century America and subsequent growth in the two centuries since then, has closely paralleled the nation's political and sociological trends. It was a congregation split asunder in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War in a border state of divided loyalties, which eventually reunited and built a church in the post–World War II era of the 1950s, a time of reconciliation and rapid growth by mainline Protestant denominations, especially in the more affluent suburbs.
Elmbrook Church is a non-denominational, evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, Wisconsin, in Waukesha County. Since the church's founding in 1958, it has become one of the largest churches in the United States. Weekly church attendance averages 7,000, making it the largest church in Wisconsin and one of the 100-largest churches in the United States.
Greater Grace World Outreach (GGWO) is a nondenominational evangelical Christian church that emphasizes grace, the finished work, and missions. The headquarters of Greater Grace World Outreach is currently located at its megachurch in Baltimore, Maryland. The church has a weekly attendance of 1500+. GGWO was founded by Carl H. Stevens Jr. who was succeeded by Pastor Thomas Schaller as Presiding Elder and Overseeing Pastor of Greater Grace World Outreach in Baltimore in April 2005. GGWO has been investigated by multiple organizations for cult-like practices including spiritual abuse by leadership.
In religion, a covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general. The concept, central to the Abrahamic religions, is derived from the biblical covenants, notably from the Abrahamic covenant. Christianity asserts that God made an additional covenant through Jesus Christ, called the "new covenant".
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians is an evangelical Presbyterian denomination in the United States. As a Presbyterian church, ECO adheres to Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity. It was established in 2012 by former congregations and members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA). Denominational disputes over theology—particularly ordination of practicing homosexuals as pastors and gay marriage—and bureaucracy led to the founding of ECO. In 2018, ECO has over 383 congregations, 103,425 covenant partners and over 500 pastors. ECO churches are egalitarian in beliefs and ordain women as pastors and elders.
Luther Memorial Church is a Lutheran congregation at 1021 University Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin in the United States. A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), it is known for its worship, music, education, social ministry and preschool programs. The congregation's cathedral-like Neogothic-style building, designed by local architects Claude & Starck and built in 1923, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
First Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian congregation in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, founded in 1882 by Rev. A. B. Coit. It was the first church in the town and predated Hattiesburg's own incorporation by two years. In 1973 it left the Presbyterian Church in the United States to become a charter member of the more theologically conservative Presbyterian Church in America.
Grace Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States. Under the leadership of Russell H. Conwell, the congregation became one of the largest in the country and was the parent of many other institutions, most notably Temple University and Temple Health. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.
