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Biblical Witness Fellowship
Biblical Witness Fellowship is an evangelical renewal movement composed of members of the United Church of Christ. Founded in 1978 as the United Church People for Biblical Witness, the movement reorganized as the Biblical Witness Fellowship at a national convocation in Byfield, Massachusetts in 1984, hosted by the current president of BWF, the Rev. Dr. William Boylan. The primary purpose of BWF is "to renew spiritual vitality through faith in Jesus Christ in every local congregation, restoring commitment to the original call and vision of these churches and their denomination." The BWF holds that congregations of the United Church of Christ have been in numerical and spiritual decline, citing denominational statistics that report net losses of members and congregations in every year since 1963. BWF has consistently voiced its criticism of UCC statements regarding things they believe to be contrary to the Bible, especially on social issues. Several of these statements have include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Church Of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4,800 churches and 773,500 members. The United Church of Christ is a historical continuation of the General Council of Congregational Christian churches founded under the influence of New England Pilgrims and Puritans. Moreover, it also subsumed the third largest Calvinist group in the country, the German Reformed. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC. These two denominations, which were themselves the result of earlier unions, had their roots in Congregational, Lutheran, Evangelical, and Reformed denominations. At the end of 2014, the UCC's 5,116 congregations claimed 979,239 members, primarily in the U.S. In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evangelical And Reformed Church
The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). A minority within the RCUS remained out of the merger in order to continue the name Reformed Church in the United States. In 1957, the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with the majority of the Congregational Christian Churches (CC) to form the United Church of Christ (UCC). History Origins Both the Reformed Church and Evangelical Synod originated in the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Almost all their churches in America were established by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. In 1934, both bodies united to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Reformed Church in the United States The Reformed Church in the United States, long known as the German Reformed Church, organized its first synod in 1747 and adopted a constitution ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hartford Seminary
The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connecticut was formed to train Congregational ministers. The next year the Theological Institute of Connecticut was founded at East Windsor Hill, Connecticut. The institution moved to Hartford in 1865 and officially took the name Hartford Theological Seminary in 1885. The Bible Normal College affiliated with the seminary in 1902 and changed its name to Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy. The Kennedy School of Missions became another affiliated activity, originally organized by the Seminary as a separate organization in 1911. In 1913, these three endeavors were combined. In 1961, the entities were legally merged and adopted the new name Hartford Seminary Foundation, which was used until 1981, when the simpler name "Hartford Seminary" came into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evangelical Association Of Reformed And Congregational Christian Churches
The Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches is a fellowship of conservative evangelical Protestant Christian congregations in the United States that became disaffected from the United Church of Christ due to that denomination's national entities professing support for practices such as abortion and homosexuality. Unlike other more sectarian churches, the Evangelical Association does not forbid its member congregations to simultaneously belong to other denominations and fellowships, as the local churches continue to practice congregational polity. History The EA began in 1998 from meetings between the clergy of First Protestant Church in New Braunfels, Texas and St. John's Evangelical Protestant Church in Cullman, Alabama, two large UCC congregations of Evangelical and Reformed (German Protestant) heritage. A core group resulting from interested churches of like mind brought about this initiative to provide a more orthodox alternative fellowship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservative Congregational Christian Conference
The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC or 4Cs) is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. It is a member of the World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship and the National Association of Evangelicals. History The CCCC has its roots in the Conservative Congregational Christian Fellowship, which was formed in 1945 within the Congregational Christian Churches by churches and ministers who disagreed with what they perceived as an unacceptable liberal direction being taken by the majority of the denomination's members and leadership. In 1948, this group established itself as the CCCC. The CCCC was one of two U.S. Congregational Christian bodies to split from the main denomination in the decade leading up to the 1957 merger of the Congregational Christian Church with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, forming the United Church of Christ (UCC). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Institute For Religion And Democracy
The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) is an American Christian conservative think tank that promotes its views among mainline Protestant churches, as well as advocating for its values in the public square. Its critics claim that it has been instrumental in attacking mainline Protestant denominations in the United States including the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1981, the institute's primary focus through the 1980s was communism and their opposition to elements within mainline Protestantism that they perceived as supportive of communism. In more recent years, the IRD has turned their main purposes to the promotion of theological and political conservatism in mainline churches, particularly on issues of "traditional" sexual morality and support of Israel. Background The IRD was founded in 1981 by United Methodist evangelist Edmund Robb and AFL–CIO official David Jessup. Michael Novak and Richard John Neuhaus joined the IRD board early on, as did ''Christianity Toda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers. The PC(USA) was established by the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state. The similarly named Presbyterian Church in America is a separate denomination whose congregations can also trace their history to the various schisms and mergers of Presbyterian churches in the United States. Unlike the PCA, the PC(USA) supports evangelical feminism and supports practise of same gender marriages. It also welcomes practicing gay and lesbian persons to serve in leadership positions as minist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Episcopal Church In The United States Of America
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African-American bishop to serve in that position. As of 2022, the Episcopal Church had 1,678,157 members, of whom the majority were in the United States. it was the nation's 14th largest denomination. Note: The number of members given here is the total number of baptized members in 2012 (cf. Baptized Members by Province and Diocese 2002–2013). Pew Research estimated that 1.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 3 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians. The church has recorded a regular decline in membership and Sunday attendance since the 1960s, particularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. The church was organized after the Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, 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 Criticism of the Catholic Church, errors, abuses, and discrepancies within it. Protestantism emphasizes the Christian believer's justification by God in faith alone (') rather than by a combination of faith with good works as in Catholicism; the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by Grace in Christianity, divine grace or "unmerited favor" only ('); the Universal priesthood, priesthood of all faithful believers in the Church; and the ''sola scriptura'' ("scripture alone") that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. Most Protestants, with the exception of Anglo-Papalism, reject the Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, also known as Liberal Theology and historically as Christian Modernism (see Catholic modernism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ... and Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christianity, Christian teaching by taking into consideration modern knowledge, science and ethics. It emphasizes the importance of reason and experience over doctrinal authority. Liberal Christians view their theology as an alternative to both atheistic rationalism and theologies based on traditional interpretations of external authority, such as the Bible or sacred tradition. Liberal theology grew out of the Enlightenment's rationalism and Romanticism of the 18th and 19th centuries. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Bloesch
Donald George Bloesch (1928–2010) was an American evangelical theologian. For more than 40 years, he published scholarly yet accessible works that generally defend traditional Protestant beliefs and practices while seeking to remain in the mainstream of modern Protestant theological thought. His seven-volume Christian Foundations series has brought him recognition as an important American theologian. He characterized himself a "progressive evangelical" or "ecumenical orthodox" criticizing the excesses of both the theological left and right. He often decried the abandonment of traditional values among liberals, but also the ugly, reactionary habits of some conservatives. His own denomination, in which he was an ordained minister, was the United Church of Christ (UCC). He was raised in the Evangelical and Reformed Church, now merged with the UCC, in which his father and both his grandfathers were also ordained ministers. The "E and R" was a representative of evangelical pietism, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in particular to papal authority, arising from what were perceived to be errors, abuses, and discrepancies by the Catholic Church. The Reformation was the start of Protestantism and the split of the Western Church into Protestantism and what is now the Roman Catholic Church. It is also considered to be one of the events that signified the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period in Europe.Davies ''Europe'' pp. 291–293 Prior to Martin Luther, there were many earlier reform movements. Although the Reformation is usually considered to have started with the publication of the '' Ninety-five Theses'' by Martin Luther in 1517, he was not excommunicated by Pope Leo X until January 1521. The Diet of Worms of May 1521 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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