Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: credmond@watmath.waterloo.edu (Chris Redmond) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Question on Finding A Church Message-ID: Date: 9 Jun 90 03:47:24 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Waterloo Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article telesci!kstehm@pyrnj.pyramid.com (Kevin J. Stehm) writes: >The question for finding a church was answered for me in a ... ready? ... > >Christianity is suffering from a bad case of "I'm of Luther." or "I'm of >Peter." I think it is human nature to want to join a team but, with the Lord, >we must solo together. I don't like people sticking a stereotype on me >because of a church I attend (although that may have already happened!). >Likewise, I prefer NOT know where a person is from because of stereotypes >I may harbor (lurking, insidious and silent)! >So I vote "YEA" to Non-denoms. It's great that Kevin has found the place for him, but I think it would be wise to be cautious in praising "non-denominational" local churches as the answer. In fact I think it would be wise to be cautious in using the label "non-denominational". If a congregation is the only one in a small town, or on a campus, then perhaps "non-denominational" is a fair label for it: the people involved come from many denominational backgrounds, but suspend their differences for the sake of making the group work. On the other hand, when there are Presbyterians, Baptists and Lutherans already nearby, a group calling itself "non-denominational" is under serious suspicion of being just another denomination. This can happen on a large scale: one of the major Protestant groups in the United States, the one whose local churches are typically called "First Christian" (anybody know the corporate title?), was started in the 19th century by an idealistic clergyman who thought he and his followers would transcend denominations and just teach "the gospel of Jesus". It doesn't work that way. CAR