What does non-denominational church mean to you?

Question

A lot of people seemed confused about the term, so I'm just wondering what people's beliefs or perceptions about it are.

Answer 1

It seems to me that the main thing non-denominational churches have in common is that they are independent congregations. There is no "home office" (well, no earthly one anyway), apostolic authority, church hierarchy, chairman, etc. to which all the individual churches look for leadership and doctrine -- it's strictly local. The pastor is their leader, and that only as long as the folks in the pews approve of the job he/she is doing. Since the church answers to no central authority, they can do as they wish in their worship services and Bible interpretation.

Answer 2

I appreciate everyone s passion in this post, but it seems there is a belief that belonging to a denomination is a bad thing. It s not at all. It s not a club with rules that have to be followed. It means the church identifies with a larger body and that larger body has some authority to govern the independent church. They can t come in and dictate and wag their finger, but if the pastor starts teaching or preaching ideas that don t line up with the governing body and aren t biblical, he can be removed. Unfortunately, non denominational churches don t have this protection. With that being said, we are all to test the Scriptures and I understand why people can become turned off of belonging to a denomination. If you went to a church where people behaved a certain way it can turn you off of the group as a whole. The bottom line is neither are bad. I have never said I m an Assembly of God Christian, I m a Christian, the church I choose to attend is an AG church. If my pastor starts preaching unbiblical doctrine, he can be removed. It just means he has to be accountable to someone, and that the church has support from a larger group. There is nothing wrong with either one and we should all be making sure what is taught is sound doctrine, not taking any pastor s word for it, but immersing ourselves in the Word and committing to study. God Bless!

Answer 3

Not part of a denomination.. Catholic, Methodist, Anglican/Episcopalian, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc. Not part of a network of Churches tied to a specific history or traditions. Many families have long histories of affiliation within a specific denomination and it is a binding force of the family. Family traditions are important. Then again a family tradition of affiliation probably could be established at a non-denominational Church as well no doubt.

Answer 4

There is no such thing as a non-denominational church. A church is defined by its specific set of beliefs. The only way a church could be non-denominational would be to have no defined beliefs at all. And that would make it pretty difficult to be a church. And if you don't think a non-denominational church has specific beliefs, just walk in and express a belief contrary to what the pastor is preaching. A church that doesn't affiliate itself with a pre-existing denomination is not "non-denominational". Rather, it is simply a new denomination, one more rift in Christianity, one more violation of the stated will of God, "that they all may be one".

Answer 5

Starbrite,
A Non-Denominational Church is one that is not associated with other churches. Denominational Churches generally have creeds that they follow and/or they pool their money and make a joint decision on where that money may be spent and how that is done. Generally they will pool their monies and send it to an organization who does part of their work of evangelizing for them. This is unBiblical from what I have seen. Have a wonderful week.
Thanks,
Eds


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Our Non-Denominational Church is not a free-for-all. We use ONLY the BIBLE to make decisions as to what should be done in religious services and we read, study, and obey our FATHER as HIS WORD guides us to do. We refuse to follow any man-made creeds that limit what is done in the church but are careful to follow the first century Church examples that are given in the scriptures.


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Answer 6

To me, it means they are Christians, but can't find a denomination with which they agree on all points. Non-denominational churches don't recognize the authority of the leaders of any denomination (ie the Catholic Pope or LdS Prophet).

Answer 7

I go to a non-denominational church http://www.alcf.net

The basic teaching is that God only has one church and that it is the spiritual body of Christ composed of all born again believers not an organization with a denominational label. Denominations were not God's idea they were men's idea and they were a bad idea because they cause division among the body of Christ. In Heaven there isn't going to be a Baptist section and a Lutheran section, we are all one in Christ.

Answer 8

There is no definite standard.

Lots of congregations CLAIM TO BE "NON-DENOMINATIONAL" but are really just un-affiliated denominational churches. Their doctrines are straight out of some denominational "play book," rather than the scriptures.

I would WANT "non-denominational" to represent a true, Biblically based and organized congregation of believers, united in Jesus and calling themselves by Biblical names rather than human originated names.

Answer 9

In Christianity, a non-denominational church is a congregation, usually of Baptist, Charismatic, or Pentecostal orientation, which is independent of any higher organization in its doctrine, practices, and finances.

Answer 10

My husband is non-denominational. To him that means he follows the bible, not a man-made religion. The only doctrines and dogma he follows is in the bible.

To many this means that non-denominational are lost or pick and chose what to follow. This is not true. Instead they decide to follow Jesus through what is revealed in the bible.