Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: car@cblpn.att.com (Clarissa A Brower) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Why so many kinds of Christians ? Summary: Different churches emphasize different ministries Message-ID: Date: 1 Jan 90 15:53:29 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 56 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , oh@m2.ti.com (Stephen Oh) writes: > In article jmoon@lehi3b15.csee.lehigh.edu (Jonggu Moon [890911]) writes: > >Over here in old L.U., there are more than one Christian Fellowships. > >There's Lehigh Christian Fellowship of IVCF, Navigators, > >the Fellowship of Christian Atheletes and the Roman Catholic Newman Center. > >And we pretty much ignore each other. > >Why are there so many different Christian Groups on Earth ? So called "traditional" denominations (Methodist, Baptist, etc.) usually attract a certain kind of Christian. Often, these are middle class families with children. Of course, there are exceptions, this is a generalization for the sake of argument. The fellowships such as IVCF, Navigators, etc. are often called the "parachurch." These are focusing on a specific group of people that for one reason or another may not belong to a "traditional" church. The informality and common age group are examples of what might attract a person to a parachurch. There is a place and a role for both. For a good discussion on how the two approaches could be combined read, "Unleashing the Church" by Frank(?) Tillapaugh. > >If the God described in the Bible exists, why are the Presbyterians > >keeping their distance from the Baptists ? What are the Protestants > >and the Roman Catholics at each other's throats in Ireland ? In the case of the two examples above, often political differences are as much a problem as doctrinal. In the town where my parents grew up, many of the other Protestants do not appreciate the fact that the Baptists led the temperance movement back in the 20s. Of course, that was a long time ago, but it gives you an example of how churches can that may agree on doctrine can disagree in ways that create division. With the situation in Ireland, there is a prolonged political and economic conflict there that goes back long before Protestant vs. Catholic. As for the differences in denominations, it is a good idea to find out from each group what their doctrine and beliefs are. Some of the denominations are close in beliefs, some are not, I won't even try to go into the differences and whether or not some are "more right" than others. There is an ecumenical movement that attempts to build unity among Christian congregations. Those that do not participate feel that, for one reason or another, some of the churches involved are not correctly preaching the word of God. I hope this has been helpful. I chose not to state my position on ecumenicism since it is a controversial issue that many churches disagree on. As a result, you could see postings for and against ecumenicism for days and you wouldn't have an "official" answer of if it is right or wrong. C. Brower AT&T-NS -I don't speak for AT&T