Non-denominational Christianity

Template:Short description {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} Template:Christianity Non-denominational Christianity (or nondenominational Christianity) consists of churches, and individual Christians,<ref name="Silliman 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Anderson 2003 w223">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities<ref>Confessionalism is a term employed by historians to refer to "the creation of fixed identities and systems of beliefs for separate churches which had previously been more fluid in their self-understanding, and which had not begun by seeking separate identities for themselves—they had wanted to be truly Catholic and reformed." (MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History, p. xxiv.)</ref> by not formally aligning with a specific Christian denomination.<ref name="Hughes1997"/>

In North America, nondenominational Christianity arose in the 18th century through the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, with followers organizing themselves simply as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ".Template:Refn<ref name="Hughes1997">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Barnett2020"/><ref name="HughesRoberts2001"/><ref name="Cherok2011"/> The nondenominational movement saw expansion during the 20th century Jesus movement era, which popularized contemporary Christian music and Christian media within global pop culture.<ref name="Young 2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Norcross 2023">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Cluver 2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Many nondenominational churches adhere to congregationalist polity, while others are governed by elders. Some nondenominational churches are independent, while others cooperate in loose associations such as the Churches of Christ; in other cases, nondenominational churches are founded by individual pastors such as Calvary Chapel Association established by Chuck Smith.<ref name="Barnett2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some non-denominational churches have grown quite recently within networks like Acts 29.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Certain nondenominational churches are associated with various movements in Christendom, such as evangelicalism or Charismatic Christianity.<ref name="Nash2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 157</ref><ref name="Pew Research Center/ America's Changing Religious Landscape>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="hirr"/><ref name="q495">Template:Cite book</ref>

HistoryEdit

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File:LEAKEY'S CHURCH OF CHRIST AFTER SUNDAY SERVICES - NARA - 546233.jpg

Christians gather at a nondenominational congregation of the Churches of Christ in Texas.

Nondenominational Christianity first arose in the 18th century through the Stone–Campbell Restoration Movement, with followers organizing themselves simply as "Christians" and "Disciples of Christ".<ref name="Hughes1997"/><ref name="HughesRoberts2001"/><ref name="Cherok2011"/> Congregations in this tradition of nondenominational Christianity often refer to themselves as Churches of Christ or Christian churches.<ref name="Barnett2020"/> Sometimes the name "Independent Christian Church" is used to differentiate the congregation from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the group of Stone–Cambpell churches which formed a denomination over the course of the early and mid 20th century.

Independent nondenominational churches continued to appear in the United States in the course of the 20th century.<ref>Roger E. Olson, The Mosaic of Christian Belief, InterVarsity Press, US, 2016, p. 43</ref>

Nondenominational congregations experienced significant and continuous growth in the 21st century, particularly in the United States.<ref>Aaron Earls, "What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean?", Lifeway Research, US, August 8, 2017.</ref><ref>Vincent Jackson, "How non-denominational churches are attracting millennials", Press of Atlantic City, US, February 2, 2017.</ref> In 2010, there were 35,496 nondenominational churches in the US with over 12 million congregants.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 and Southern Baptist Convention.<ref name="hirr">"Nondenominational Congregations Study", Hartford Seminary, Hartford Institute for Religion Research.</ref>

In Asia, especially in Singapore and Malaysia, these churches are also more numerous, since the 1990s.<ref>Peter C. Phan, Christianities in Asia, John Wiley & Sons, US, 2011, p. 90–91</ref>

CharacteristicsEdit

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Nondenominational churches are by definition not affiliated with any specific denominational stream of Christianity, whether by choice from their foundation or because they separated from their denomination of origin at some point in their history.<ref>Gabriel Monet, L'Église émergente : être et faire Église en postchrétienté, LIT Verlag Münster, Switzerland, 2013, p. 135–136</ref> Like denominational congregations, nondenominational congregations vary in size, worship, and other characteristics.<ref name=MeidingerGoreharm>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.</ref> Although independent, many nondenominational congregations choose to affiliate with a broader network of congregations.<ref name=MeidingerGoreharm/>

Many nondenominational churches can nevertheless be positioned in existing movements, such as Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism, even though they are autonomous and have no formal labels.<ref>Pew Research Center, AMERICA'S CHANGING RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE, pewforum.org, US, May 12, 2015</ref><ref>Ed Stetzer, The rise of evangelical 'nones', cnn.com, US, June 12, 2015</ref><ref>Peter C. Phan, Christianities in Asia, John Wiley & Sons, US, 2011, p. 90</ref>

Nondenominational churches may include certain megachurches, while other megachurches are affiliated with large denominations, such as Frazer Free Methodist Church.<ref>Sébastien Fath, Dieu XXL, la révolution des mégachurches, Édition Autrement, France, 2008, p. 25, 42</ref><ref>Bryan S. Turner, Oscar Salemink, Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia, Routledge, UK, 2014, p. 407</ref>

Certain neo-charismatic churches often use the term nondenominational to define themselves.<ref>Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 66</ref>

Many non-denominational churches identify solely with Christianity, rather than a specific branch of it (Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodoxy, and Restorationism).<ref>Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, US, 2001, p. 336–337</ref> Most "other Christians" in America belong to nondenominational churches.<ref name="k978">Template:Cite book</ref>

Citing data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study and General Social Survey, political scientist and statistician Ryan Burge noted that nondenominational Christians are very similar to Southern Baptists, but with some caveats. Burge writes, "Nondenominational churches are typically younger and more racially diverse than Southern Baptist churches. On religious matters, both groups attend church at the same rate, yet nondenominationals are more likely to hold a moderate theological position on the Bible than SBC churchgoers. Finally, when it comes to politics it seems that Southern Baptists and nondenominational Christians are very similar. Nondenominational parishioners are slightly more supportive of same-sex marriage and slightly less supportive of abortion rights, but these differences are small."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CriticismEdit

Boston University 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Steven R. Harmon, a Baptist theologian who supports ecumenism, 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".<ref name=Harmon>Steven R. Harmon, Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity (Cascade Books, 2010), pp. 61–62.</ref> Harmon argues that the cause of Christian unity is best served through denominational traditions, since each "has historical connections to the church's catholicity ... and we make progress toward unity when the denominations share their distinctive patterns of catholicity with one another".<ref name=Harmon/>

Presbyterian 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".<ref name=Pauw>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.</ref> Pauw considers denominationalism to be a "unifying and conserving force in Christianity, nurturing and carrying forward distinctive theological traditions" (such as Wesleyanism being supported by Methodist denominations).<ref name=Pauw/>

In 2011, American evangelical professor Ed Stetzer attributed to individualism the reason for the increase in the number of evangelical churches claiming to be nondenominational Christianity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ryan Burge argues that nondenominational churches are less equipped to monitor or report sexual abuse cases because they lack national organizations to do so. Because of nondenominational churches lack of organizational structure, accountability is minimal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In an article on evangelical clergy sex abuse in The New Republic by Elle Hardy, religious studies scholar Matthew D. Taylor argues that the relative lack of accountability in nondenominational churches attract pastors "who are more megalomaniacal and authoritarian in their personality". Since nondenominational churches lack a hierarchy to answer to, pastors with authoritarian personalities are given more opportunities to exert power and control over their congregants. Nondenominational preachers claim to have oversight from their boards and mentorship from "spiritual parents", but these are usually people they know. Taylor argues, "They’re incentivized to protect their friends and protect the oligarchy. They all have a stake in it, and none of them have personal incentives other than principled theological convictions to actually hold their friends accountable, so that the incentives all push in the direction of abuse and cover-up rather than in the direction of accountability and exposure."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

NotesEdit

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