Nondenominational Christian institutions
are those not formally aligned with an
established religious denomination, but
are historically Protestant, or that
remain otherwise officially autonomous.
This, however, does not preclude an
identifiable standard among such
congregations. Nondenominational church
congregations may establish a functional
denomination by means of mutual
recognition of or accountability to
other congregations and leaders with
commonly held doctrine, policy and
worship without formalizing external
direction or oversight in such matters.
Some nondenominational churches
explicitly reject the idea of a
formalized denominational structure as a
matter of principle, holding that each
congregation is better off being
autonomous. A 2012 Gallup survey
reported that 10% of U.S. adults
identify as non-specific Christian.
History
In some countries where the Protestant
Reformation took place, the founders
claimed that the result was not a new
denomination but a reformation of a
supposedly pre-existing "national
church".
Denominationalism was accelerated in the
aftermath of the Westminster Assembly
convened by the English Parliament to
formulate a form of religion for the
national churches of England and
Scotland. In the debate between the two
main parties present at the Assembly,
the Presbyterians and the Independents,
the Presbyterians were in favour of a
form of church government that
maintained the visible organizational
unity of the Catholic Church while
Independents, weary of the
ecclesiastical tyranny they experienced
under the Episcopal system, wished to
organize the churches in a
congregational way envisioning no
legitimate authority of the church above
the local congregation meeting at one
time in a single place. These two
parties were not reconciled and
following the Assembly the Independents
formed their own independent church.
Thus, instead of a united expression of
the Catholic Church in England, there
were now two churches.
Protestant denominations spread and
multiplied, especially in the United
States, as denominational confessional
statements began to be used more to
exclude than to include Christians with
different doctrinal convictions. Each
denomination maintains to differing
degrees some form of organizational and
visible unity with its member churches,
albeit radically decentralized compared
with the Catholic Church.
Today, non-denominational churches, like
the Independents at the Westminster
Assembly, refuse to recognize any
ecclesiastical authority above the local
congregation and deny the visible unity
of the Church despite the fact that the
original denominations were formed by
substantially the same ideology.
Criticism
Boston University religion scholar
Stephen Prothero argues that
nondenominationalism hides the
fundamental theological and spiritual
issues that drove the division of
Christianity into denominations in the
first place 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, which in
turn reduces overall religious literacy,
increasing the potential for
inter-religious misunderstandings and
conflict.
Fr. Jonathan A. Mitchican, a
traditionalist Anglican priest, has also
argued that the term non-denominational
is essentially misleading: "If an
American church calls itself
“non-denominational,” nine times out of
ten what that means is Baptist. Altar
calls and appeals to personal conversion
replace the sacraments as the means of
grace. Baptism is a symbol of one’s
personal conversion, nothing more, and
it is only appropriate for adults."
See also
Community Church movement
Jesuism
Non-church movement
Non-denominational Muslims
Non-denominational Judaism
Postdenominationalism
References
External links
Nondenominational Congregations Study
