What is the difference between denominations in churches?

Question

I was wanting to attend a local church, but I see many that are non-denominational, presbyterian, pentacostal, church/assembly of god, church of christ, baptist, etc. What are the differences????

I want a church that follows the bible and believe in the lord because that is what I believe.

Answer 1

It shouldn't be hard to find a church that believes in the word of the Lord. I go to a non denominational/pentecosal church

Pentecostals believe that there is one God. Also believe that to be saved that you have to be baptized in Jesus name and recieve the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Also reading from the New Kings James version of the bible

Baptist is a term describing a tradition within Christianity and may also refer to an organization such as a church or denomination, or an individual adherent such as a church member. The tradition takes it name from the conviction that followers of Jesus Christ should be immersed in water as a visible and public display of their faith.

Presbyterianism is a form of Protestant Christianity, primarily within the Reformed branch of Western Christianity. Presbyterianism traces its institutional roots back to the Scottish Reformation, led by John Knox. The word 'Presbyterian' refers the form of Presbyterian church governance. Local congregations are governed by Presbyteries made up of representatives of the local congregations, a conciliar approach which is found at other levels of decision-making (Kirk Session and General Assembly). There are therefore no bishops in Presbyterianism. The office of elder is another distinctive mark of Presbyterianism: these are specially commissioned non-clergy who take part in local pastoral care and decision-making at all levels.

In Christianity, the term non-denominational refers to those churches which have not formally aligned themselves with an established denomination. Non-denominational churches establish their own internal means and methods of policy and worship without interference from the policies and worship practices of regional, national, or multinational organizations. Members of non-denominational churches often consider themselves simply "Christians", and many feel at home when visiting any number of other denominational churches with compatible beliefs.

On the other hand, some non-denominational churches consciously reject the idea of a denominational structure as a matter of doctrine, insisting that each congregation must be autonomous, sometimes pointing out that in early Christianity, there were no denominations. In support of this stance, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 is often cited

In Christianity, the term non-denominational refers to those churches which have not formally aligned themselves with an established denomination. Non-denominational churches establish their own internal means and methods of policy and worship without interference from the policies and worship practices of regional, national, or multinational organizations. Members of non-denominational churches often consider themselves simply "Christians", and many feel at home when visiting any number of other denominational churches with compatible beliefs.

On the other hand, some non-denominational churches consciously reject the idea of a denominational structure as a matter of doctrine, insisting that each congregation must be autonomous, sometimes pointing out that in early Christianity, there were no denominations. In support of this stance, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 is often cited

The Assemblies of God is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination with approximately 52.5 million worldwide who are members of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship [1] as of 2005. In the year 2000, the Assemblies of God World Congress reported 107 fraternal fellowships and 10,000 converts a day worldwide [2]. As of 2005, the fellowship operated 859 Bible Schools, 1,131 Extension Programs and 39 Seminaries outside of the United States

The inspiration of Scripture.
The Trinity.
The Deity of Christ.
Original sin.
Fellowship with God can be restored by accepting Christ’s offer of forgiveness for sin.
Two ordinances: Baptism, by immersion after receiving Christ, and the Lord's Supper, as a symbolic remembrance of Christ's suffering and death.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit following conversion.
Speaking in tongues as the evidence of Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification is a declaration and progressive lifelong process.
The Church's mission is to seek and save all who are lost in sin; the Church is the Body of Christ and consists of all people who accept Christ, regardless of Christian denomination.
Divinely called and Scripturally-ordained ministers serve the Church.
Divine healing of the sick is provided for in the atonement.
The Blessed Hope: a Rapture preceding the bodily return of Christ to Earth.
Premillennial eschatology.
Final Judgement and eternal damnation of the lost.
A future New Heaven and New Earth, in which Christ will dwell with his people forever.
Drinking is prohibited and it's use is condemned.
The use of tobacco is condemned.

The Churches of Christ are non-denominational autonomous Christian congregations. These churches comprise about 2,000,000 members in over 15,000 individual congregations worldwide. [3]

Those who self-identify as members of Churches of Christ generally emphasize their belief that the modern Churches of Christ represent the intent of the original, primitive Christian church established by Jesus Christ and the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost as described in the New Testament in Acts

Answer 2

Romans 8 sttates God uses all things for good. Denominations come, alas, from people believing their way alone is better/best. In reality, each shares a slice of the truth. God kept his part of the bargain in that the multiple denominations now fit the multiple tastes of the multiple believers - something like trying out the various bottled waters.
Most churches believe in the Lord as I rejoice you do. Most will also claim to follow the Bible. Find a church where you are comfortable - because that is the one you will attend regularly.

Answer 3

There are too many variations to even begin to list. There are thousands of "Christian" churches in the world. Most are take-offs of the Catholic Church -- the Protestants took off from the Catholics, and then they continued to split and schism.

Some differences are doctrinal, some governmental some moral, others... you name it.

Even before the last of the original Apostles died, errors in doctrine and practice were creeping into the Church of God. The Apostles even warned of such. But there were (and are) various groups that kept to the original teachings as best they could. These groups were persecuted and slandered by the other "Christian" churches (primarily by the Catholic Church).

As a result, these groups are few in number and small (but Jesus said, "the gates of hell (Hades) shall not prevail against" his Church -- so they must always be present).

There are two organizations that I suggest you check out:
* United Church of God, an International Association:
http://www.ucg.org/
* Living Church of God
http://www.livingcog.org/

Read some of their literature (both offer it on-line and free hard copy); you'll find that it is far more biblical than the churches that you listed. At the very least, you will learn of things in the Bible you never knew before.

As there are so many churches out there, it would be humanly impossible to check out all of them. So, your first order of business is to pray to God for guidance. He will bless a sincere heart.

Answer 4

I agree with you 100%. First, know your Bible and what it says, then search for a church that has the same beliefs.

For example, the Bible says in Exodus 20:8-11, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

God said to "Remember" because He knew we would forget. So, for me finding a church that keeps the 7th day Holy is the key. That day is Saturday, in accordance with what the Jews have being keeping all along.

Having this knowledge will help you weedout all the churches which worship on Sunday - the Lord's day, but certainly no the Sabbath day of the Bible. There is no where in the Bible which states that God changed it, and why would He have a change of heart after writing this in stone on the ten commandments.

Look up "Sabbath" at bibleinfo.com

Answer 5

I don't know the differences but some are cultural reasons and because of the religious scholars who formed these churches. They learned the Bible interpreted it and chose to focus on particular teachings of the Bible. Some follow only the new testament, some follow the whole thing and some follow the old testament. Some talk about certain books of the Bible or they use certain Bibles in their churches. Its all confusing to me too. Look it up. My family is christian but I am not. I understand it is confusing.

Answer 6

I do not believe you will find a "church" that follows Scriptures. Churchianity follows its own "creed" and has no respect for the writings. The Creator said we were to call on His name, It is YHVH. He sent His Son to be our Savior... and His name is YHVH is my Savior (YAHOSHUA) they set apart a special day for rest and worship, it is the Seventh day (the one most folks call Saturday) With just these three major points of understanding which are quite clear from Scripture, I don't think you will find one. Stay with the Book (Get a good translation-- or maybe more than one)

Answer 7

The “church of Christ” is neither Catholic, nor Protestant. The church of Christ is not a denomination. The church of Christ identifies itself by name as a church that is trying to follow the “doctrine of Christ” (2 John 9). The “church of Christ” identifies itself by name as a church that belongs to Christ. The name points to the owner and builder. The name points to the one who purchased the church. (Matthew 16:18, Acts 20: 28)

In contrast to this the name of many denominations point to the name of a man, a particular practice, or the way they are organized. A member of a denomination identifies himself by name as one who submits to the authority of that denomination and tries to follow the doctrine (teaching) of that denomination. Why not just follow the doctrine and authority of Christ?

The church of the Bible is compared to a bride, with Christ being the groom. A bride honors the groom when she agrees to wear his name. But many churches today wear man made names.

Suppose, for example, Mr. Smith asks his girlfriend to marry him. She agrees, but says, “Our friend Mr. Jones is a good man, so when we get married, instead of being called Mrs. Smith, I want to be called Mrs. Jones.” Would Mr. Smith have a reason to question her loyalty to him? Would he feel honored? Why would a bride wear another man’s name? Why would a church want to wear a man-made name? The “church of Christ” wears a name found in scripture (Romans 16: 16).


The church of Christ wishes to restore the church to the teaching that was established and authorized by Christ and his apostles. We wish to have Biblical authority for everything we practice and teach. (Col. 3:17)

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the head of the church and the church is his body. (Eph. 1:22-23) The church of Christ recognizes this, and therefore there is no “headquarters” on earth. Each congregation is independent and goes directly to the Bible to learn what should be taught and how we should worship. We believe the Bible is sufficient and we need no other authority or creed books. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:3) Christ has “all authority” and we wish to follow this authority by following the things He taught. (Matt 28:18-20) We don’t want to add any man-made doctrine. (If we follow the authority or teaching of men, then Christ does not have “all authority” in our spiritual lives.) If we teach as doctrine the commandments of men, this makes our worship vain! (Matthew 15:9)

Please do not confuse the church of Christ with the “United Church of Christ”, the “International Church of Christ”, the “Church of Christ Scientists”, or the “Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints (Mormons)”. These groups are not the same and they teach drastically different things!

If you wish to know more about those who simply want to be New Testament Christians (nothing more, nothing less, nothing else), I invite you to investigate the church of Christ by comparison to the Scriptures! I have included a few web sites below that you might wish to visit, or you can e-mail me with any additional questions.

Answer 8

all churchs follow the bible and believe in the lord, it's just they have different ways of dealing with stuff, i'd google them and see which churches fit in with your lifestyle as they all have different traditions. You may want a ornate church with lots of elaborate services or ones that are more simple, how about you try going to different churches in your area and see which one grabs you. I wish you luck and god bless.

Answer 9

The Catholic Church follows the Bible and we believe in God and that Jesus died for us

God Bless You

Answer 10

they each have a certain doctrine
you would have to meet up with Pastor from each church
or go church shopping each sunday

You will know it when its right