Nondenominational Christianity

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Nondenominational Christianity (or non-denominational Christianity) consists of churches which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities [1] by not formally aligning with a specific Christian denomination. [2] Many non-denominational churches have a congregationalist polity, which is self-governing without a higher church authority.

Contents

Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, with followers organizing themselves simply as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ". [note 1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Often congregating in loose associations such as the Churches of Christ, or in other cases, founded by individual pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations, [3] but many typically adhere to a form of evangelical Christianity. [6] [7] [8] [9] Most nondenominational Christians in the United States fall under Protestantism. [10]

History

Alexander Campbell, founder of the Disciples of Christ, head-and-shoulders portrait.jpg
Stonebw01.jpg
Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone believed in a Nondenominational Christianity, which they spread in what is known as the Restoration Movement. [4] [5]
Christians gather at a nondenominational congregation of the Churches of Christ in Texas. LEAKEY'S CHURCH OF CHRIST AFTER SUNDAY SERVICES - NARA - 546233.jpg
Christians gather at a nondenominational congregation of the Churches of Christ in Texas.

Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, with followers organizing themselves simply as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ". [2] [4] [5] Congregations in this tradition of nondenominational Christianity often refer to themselves as Churches of Christ. [3]

Independent nondenominational churches continued to appear in the United States in the course of the 20th century. [11]

Nondenominational congregations experienced significant and continuous growth in the 21st century, particularly in the United States. [12] [13] If combined into a single group, nondenominational churches collectively represented the third-largest Christian grouping in the United States in 2010, after the Roman Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention. [14]

In Asia, especially in Singapore and Malaysia, these churches are also more numerous, since the 1990s. [15]

Characteristics

Worship service, in 2014, at Christ's Commission Fellowship Pasig affiliated to the Christ's Commission Fellowship in Pasig, Philippines CCFPasigjf1305 07.JPG
Worship service, in 2014, at Christ's Commission Fellowship Pasig affiliated to the Christ's Commission Fellowship in Pasig, Philippines
Worship service at Lakewood Church, a nondenominational megachurch, in 2013, in Houston, United States Lakewood worship.jpg
Worship service at Lakewood Church, a nondenominational megachurch, in 2013, in Houston, United States

Nondenominational churches are not affiliated with specifically denominational stream of evangelical movements, either by choice from their foundation or because they separated from their denomination of origin at some point in their history. [16] Like denominational congregations, nondenominational congregations vary in size, worship, and other characteristics. [17] Although independent, many nondenominational congregations choose to affiliate with a broader network of congregations, such as IFCA International (formerly the Independent Fundamental Churches of America). [17]

Nondenominational churches are recognizable from the evangelical movement, even though they are autonomous and have no other formal labels. [18] [19] [20]

The movement is particularly visible in the megachurches. [21] [22]

The neo-charismatic churches often use the term nondenominational to define themselves. [23]

Some non-denominational churches identify solely with Christianity. [24]

Criticism

Boston University religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that nondenominationalism hides the fundamental theological and spiritual issues that initially drove the division of Christianity into denominations behind a veneer of "Christian unity". He argues that nondenominationalism encourages a descent of Christianity—and indeed, all religions—into comfortable "general moralism" rather than being a focus for facing the complexities of churchgoers' culture and spirituality. Prothero further argues that it also encourages ignorance of the Scriptures, lowering the overall religious literacy while increasing the potential for inter-religious misunderstandings and conflict. [25]

Baptist ecumenical theologian Steven R. Harmon argues that "there's really no such thing" as a nondenominational church, because "as soon as a supposedly non-denominational church has made decisions about what happens in worship, whom and how they will baptize, how and with what understanding they will celebrate holy communion, what they will teach, who their ministers will be and how they will be ordered, or how they relate to those churches, these decisions have placed the church within the stream of a specific type of denominational tradition." [26] Harmon argues that the cause of Christian unity is best served through denominational traditions, since each "has historical connections to the church's catholicity ... and we make progress toward unity when the denominations share their distinctive patterns of catholicity with one another." [26]

Presbyterian dogmatic theologian Amy Plantinga Pauw writes that Protestant nondenominational congregations "often seem to lack any acknowledgement of their debts and ties to larger church traditions" and argues that "for now, these non-denominational churches are living off the theological capital of more established Christian communities, including those of denominational Protestantism." [27] Pauw considers denominationalism to be a "unifying and conserving force in Christianity, nurturing and carrying forward distinctive theological traditions" (such as Wesleyanism being supported by Methodist denominations). [27]

In 2011, American evangelical professor Ed Stetzer attributed to individualism the reason for the increase in the number of evangelical churches claiming to be non-denominational Christianity. [28]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The first Nondenominational Christian churches which emerged through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement are tied to associations such as the Churches of Christ or the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous". Its first articulation in writing is the Cambridge Platform of 1648 in New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelicalism</span> Protestant Christian movement

Evangelicalism, also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experiences personal conversion; the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity ; and spreading the Christian message. The word evangelical comes from the Greek (euangelion) word for "good news".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Great Awakening</span> Protestant religious revival in the early 19th-century United States

The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a key part of the movement and attracted hundreds of converts to new Protestant denominations. The Methodist Church used circuit riders to reach people in frontier locations. The Second Great Awakening led to a period of antebellum social reform and an emphasis on salvation by institutions. The outpouring of religious fervor and revival began in Kentucky and Tennessee in the 1790s and early 1800s among the Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian fundamentalism</span> Christian movement opposed to modernism

Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants as a reaction to theological liberalism and cultural modernism. Fundamentalists argued that 19th-century modernist theologians had misinterpreted or rejected certain doctrines, especially biblical inerrancy, which they considered the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restorationism</span> Belief that Christianity should return to the form of the early apostolic church

Restorationism is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer and more ancient form of the religion. Fundamentally, "this vision seeks to correct faults or deficiencies by appealing to the primitive church as a normative model."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restoration Movement</span> Christian movement seeking church reformation and unification

The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840) of the early 19th century. The pioneers of this movement were seeking to reform the church from within and sought "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian denomination</span> Identifiable Christian body with common characteristics

A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and sometimes a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream. Most Christian denominations self-describe themselves as churches, whereas some newer ones tend to interchangeably use the terms churches, assemblies, fellowships, etc. Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another. Groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as "branches of Christianity". These branches differ in many ways, especially through differences in practices and belief.

The Churches of Christ is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations based on the sola scriptura doctrine. Their practices are based on Bible texts and draw on the early Christian church as described in the New Testament.

The Confessing Movement is a lay-led conservative Christian movement that opposes the influence of liberalism and progressivism within several mainline Protestant denominations and seeks to return them to its view of orthodox doctrine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charismatic movement</span> Religious trend

The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gifts (charismata). It has affected most denominations in the US, and has spread widely across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Religious Broadcasters</span> American association of evangelical Christian broadcasting groups

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainline Protestant</span> Older, more establishment Protestant denominations

The mainline Protestant churches are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and charismatic Protestant denominations. Some make a distinction between "mainline" and "oldline", with the former referring only to denominational ties and the latter referring to church lineage, prestige and influence. However, this distinction has largely been lost to history and the terms are now nearly synonymous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelical Christian Church in Canada</span>

The Evangelical Christian Church(Christian Disciples) as an evangelical Protestant Canadian church body. The Evangelical Christian Church's national office in Canada is in Waterloo, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in the United States</span>

Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the United States. Estimates from 2021 suggest that of the entire US population about 63% is Christian. The majority of Christian Americans are Protestant Christians, though there are also significant numbers of American Roman Catholics and other minority Christian denominations such as Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses. The United States has the largest Christian population in the world and, more specifically, the largest Protestant population in the world, with nearly 210 million Christians and, as of 2021, over 140 million people affiliated with Protestant churches, although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations. The Public Religion Research Institute's "2020 Census of American Religion", carried out between 2014 and 2020, showed that 70% of Americans identified as Christian during this seven-year interval. In a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 65% of adults in the United States identified themselves as Christians. They were 75% in 2015 70.6% in 2014, 78% in 2012, 81.6% in 2001, and 85% in 1990. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation. "In God We Trust" is the modern official motto of the United States, as established in a 1956 law signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The phrase first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism</span> Form of Christianity

Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to be growing errors, abuses, and discrepancies within it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in the United States</span>

Protestantism is the largest grouping of Christians in the United States, with its combined denominations collectively comprising about 43% of the country's population in 2019. Other estimates suggest that 48.5% of the U.S. population is Protestant. Simultaneously, this corresponds to around 20% of the world's total Protestant population. The U.S. contains the largest Protestant population of any country in the world. Baptists comprise about one-third of American Protestants. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest single Protestant denomination in the U.S., comprising one-tenth of American Protestants. Twelve of the original Thirteen Colonies were Protestant, with only Maryland having a sizable Catholic population due to Lord Baltimore's religious tolerance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charismatic Christianity</span> Form of Christianity

Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer's life. Practitioners are often called Charismatic Christians or Renewalists. Although there is considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three separate groups: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement, and the Neo-charismatic movement.

Evangelical theology is the teaching and doctrine that relates to spiritual matters in evangelical Christianity and a Christian theology. The main points concern the place of the Bible, the Trinity, worship, Salvation, sanctification, charity, evangelism and the end of time.

References

  1. ↑ Confessionalism is a term employed by historians to refer to "the creation of fixed identities and systems of beliefs for separate churches which had previously been more fluid in their self-understanding, and which had not begun by seeking separate identities for themselves—they had wanted to be truly Catholic and reformed." (MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History, p. xxiv.)
  2. 1 2 3 4 The Journal of American History. Oxford University Press. 1997. p. 1400. Richard T. Hughes, professor of religion at Pepperdine University, argues that the Churches of Christ built a corporate identity around "restoration" of the primitive church and the corresponding belief that their congregations represented a nondenominational Christianity.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Barnett, Joe R. (2020). "Who are the Churches of Christ". Southside Church of Christ. Retrieved 7 December 2020. Not A Denomination: For this reason, we are not interested in man-made creeds, but simply in the New Testament pattern. We do not conceive of ourselves as being a denomination–nor as Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish—but simply as members of the church which Jesus established and for which he died. And that, incidentally, is why we wear his name. The term “church of Christ” is not used as a denominational designation, but rather as a descriptive term indicating that the church belongs to Christ.
  4. 1 2 3 Hughes, Richard Thomas; Roberts, R. L. (2001). The Churches of Christ. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 63. ISBN   978-0-313-23312-8. Barton Stone was fully prepared to ally himself with Alexander Campbell in an effort to promote nondenominational Christianity, though it is evident that the two men came to this emphasis by very different routes.
  5. 1 2 3 Cherok, Richard J. (14 June 2011). Debating for God: Alexander Campbell's Challenge to Skepticism in Antebellum America. ACU Press. ISBN   978-0-89112-838-0. Later proponents of Campbell's views would refer to themselves as the “Restoration Movement” because of the Campbellian insistence on restoring Christianity to its New Testament form. ... Added to this mix were the concepts of American egalitarianism, which gave rise to his advocacy of nondenominational individualism and local church autonomy, and Christian primitivism, which led to his promotion of such early church practices as believer's baptism by immersion and the weekly partaking of the Lord's Supper.
  6. ↑ Nash, Donald A. "Why the Churches of Christ Are Not A Denomination" (PDF). The Christian Restoration Association. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  7. ↑ Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 157
  8. ↑ "Appendix B: Classification of Protestants Denominations". Pew Research Center - Religion & Public Life / America's Changing Religious Landscape. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  9. ↑ Nondenominational Congregations Research at Hartford Institute for Religion Research website. Hirr.hartsem.edu. Retrieved on 2010-11-03.
  10. ↑ "Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics".
  11. ↑ Roger E. Olson, The Mosaic of Christian Belief, InterVarsity Press, USA, 2016, p. 43
  12. ↑ Aaron Earls, What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean?, research.lifeway.com, USA, August 8, 2017
  13. ↑ Vincent Jackson, How non-denominational churches are attracting millennials, pressofatlanticcity.com, USA, February 2, 2017
  14. ↑ Nondenominational & Independent Congregations, Hartford Seminary, Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
  15. ↑ Peter C. Phan, Christianities in Asia, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2011, p. 90-91
  16. ↑ Gabriel Monet, L'Église émergente : être et faire Église en postchrétienté, LIT Verlag Münster, Switzerland, 2013, p. 135-136
  17. 1 2 Nicole K. Meidinger & Gary A. Goreharm, "Congregations, Religious" in Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World (Vol. 1: eds Karen Christensen & David Levinson: SAGE, 2003), p. 333.
  18. ↑ Pew Research Center, AMERICA'S CHANGING RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE, pewforum.org, USA, May 12, 2015
  19. ↑ Ed Stetzer, The rise of evangelical 'nones', cnn.com, USA, June 12, 2015
  20. ↑ Peter C. Phan, Christianities in Asia, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2011, p. 90
  21. ↑ Sébastien Fath, Dieu XXL, la révolution des mégachurches, Édition Autrement, France, 2008, p. 25, 42
  22. ↑ Bryan S. Turner, Oscar Salemink, Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia, Routledge, UK, 2014, p. 407
  23. ↑ Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 66
  24. ↑ Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, USA, 2001, p. 336-337
  25. ↑ Prothero, Stephen (2007). Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn't. New York: HarperOne. ISBN   978-0-06-084670-1.
  26. 1 2 Steven R. Harmon, Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity (Cascade Books, 2010), pp. 61-62.
  27. 1 2 Amy Plantinga Pauw, "Earthen Vessels: Theological Reflections on North American Denominationalism" in Theology in Service to the Church: Global and Ecumenical Perspectives (ed. Allan Hugh Cole: Cascade Books, 2014), p. 82.
  28. ↑ Stetzer, Ed. "Do Denominations Matter?". ChurchLeaders.com. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
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