Nondenominational Church
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Nondenominational Christianity (or non-denominational Christianity) consists of
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...
es which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligning with a specific Christian denomination. Many non-denominational churches have a congregationalist polity, which is self-governing without a higher church authority. Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the
Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (17 ...
, with followers organizing themselves simply as "
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
" and " Disciples of Christ". 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, but many typically adhere to a form of
evangelical Christianity 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 exper ...
.Protestantism 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 b ...
.


History

Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the
Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (17 ...
, with followers organizing themselves simply as "
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
" and " Disciples of Christ". Congregations in this tradition of nondenominational Christianity often refer to themselves as Churches of Christ. Independent nondenominational churches continued to appear in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in the course of the 20th century. Nondenominational congregations experienced significant and continuous growth in the 21st century, particularly in the United States. 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 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 Southern Baptist Convention. In Asia, especially in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, these churches are also more numerous, since the 1990s.


Characteristics

Nondenominational churches are not affiliated with specifically denominational stream of
evangelical 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 expe ...
movements, either by choice from their foundation or because they separated from their denomination of origin at some point in their history. Like denominational congregations, nondenominational congregations vary in size, worship, and other characteristics.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. Although independent, many nondenominational congregations choose to affiliate with a broader network of congregations, such as
IFCA International IFCA International, formerly the Independent Fundamental Churches of America, is an association of independent Protestant congregations and other church bodies, as well as individual members. It was formed in 1930 in Cicero, Illinois as a success ...
(formerly the Independent Fundamental Churches of America). Nondenominational churches are recognizable from the
evangelical 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 expe ...
movement, even though they are autonomous and have no other formal labels. The movement is particularly visible in the
megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...
es. The neo-charismatic churches often use the term ''nondenominational'' to define themselves. Some non-denominational churches identify solely with Christianity.


Criticism

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
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. 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."Steven R. Harmon, ''Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity'' (Cascade Books, 2010), pp. 61-62. Harmon argues that the cause of Christian unity is best served through denominational traditions, since each "has historical connections to the church's
catholicity Catholicity (from , via ) is a concept pertaining to beliefs and practices that are widely accepted by numerous Christian denominations, most notably by those Christian denominations that describe themselves as ''catholic'' in accordance with th ...
... and we make progress toward unity when the denominations share their distinctive patterns of catholicity with one another."
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
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."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. Pauw considers denominationalism to be a "unifying and conserving force in Christianity, nurturing and carrying forward distinctive theological traditions" (such as
Wesleyanism Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
being supported by Methodist denominations). In 2011, American evangelical professor
Ed Stetzer Edward John Stetzer (born 1966) is an American author, speaker, researcher, pastor, church planter, and Christian missiologist. Stetzer is Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and Executive Direc ...
attributed to
individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
the reason for the increase in the number of evangelical churches claiming to be non-denominational Christianity.


See also

*
Evangelicalism 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 exper ...
*
Protestantism in the United States Protestantism is the largest grouping of Christians in the United States, with its combined denominations collectively comprising about 43% of the country's population (or 141 million people) in 2019. Other estimates suggest that 48.5% of the U ...
*
History of Protestantism in the United States Christianity was introduced with the first European settlers beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries. Colonists from Northern Europe introduced Protestantism in its Anglican and Reformed forms to Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony, N ...
*
Community Church movement The Community Church movement aims to bring together and support local community churches. Community churches have existed in the United States since the early nineteenth century. Small communities did not always have the population or finances t ...
*
Jesuism Jesuism is a belief system considering itself to be the true representation of the teachings of Jesus and contrasts itself from the teachings of mainstream Christianity.Owen J. Flanagan. ''The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World.'' ...
* Local churches *
Non-church movement The is an indigenous Japanese Christian movement which was founded by Uchimura Kanzō in 1901. Many of his disciples have likewise been well-known intellectual figures. Today it is believed that 35,000 people belong to the movement in Japan, Taiwan ...
*
Non-denominational Muslim Non-denominational Muslims () are Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches. Non-denominational Muslims are found primarily in Central Asi ...
*
Non-denominational Judaism Jewish religious movements, sometimes called " denominations", include different groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements (includin ...
* Postdenominationalism * Sunday Christian


Notes


References


External links


Nondenominational Congregations Study
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nondenominational Christianity Ecclesiology Christian terminology