Study of Denomintions 03/07/2010

A Study of Denominations
Cont. from last week

The Salvation Army : The Salvation Army was established by William Booth in England in 1865 as essentially a modified form of Wesleyan Methodism, focusing on the need for benevolence while literalizing the metaphors in the Bible concerning "military" organization within the church.

Pentecostalism/The Charismatic Movement : Pentecostalism originated in the beginning of the twentieth century from the Wesleyan Holiness movement of the nineteenth. It was believed in 1901 that a woman received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit," because of which she supposedly spoke in tongues and demonstrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in the time of the Apostles. In 1904 this movement took off in Los Angeles with a revival in a building on Azusa Street, and many individuals were strongly impacted by the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" that occurred there. Many denominations, such as the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the Assemblies of God, many of the Churches of God, and others began around this time because of these events.

Some of these Pentecostals began to believe around 1914 that baptism ought to be administered in the name of Jesus alone, since all of the features of God may be found in Christ alone. These individuals became known as the Oneness Pentecostals, and the United Pentecostal Church and some other groups are a part of this movement.

Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, many members of other denominations began seeking the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" and many found it, and began to preach the ability to have the gifts in their own denominations. This was to be known as the Charismatic Movement, from the Greek word charis, meaning "gift."

Finally, in the later years of the twentieth century, many televangelists and others began to synthesize the gifts of the Holy Spirit with standard Evangelical-type theology, creating the "third wave" of Pentecostalism. This is seen especially with the proliferation of televangelism and also many churches such as the Vineyard Association of Churches.

International Church of Christ : Also known as the Boston Movement or the Crossroads Movement, the International Church of Christ began with Kip McKean, who, in 1979, established a congregation near Boston, MA, based upon his teachings, which were a combination of the doctrines of the Crossroads movement (which taught the idea of "discipling") and his own beliefs. Originally tenuously accepted by other congregations of churches of Christ, McKean's doctrines soon demonstrated themselves to be too far to be accepted by other congregations. The ICOC has gone through significant tumult since 2002 after the dissolution of the head leadership and the departure of Kip McKean; he has recently begun the "Portland Movement," attempting to return to the original concepts within the ICOC. These churches may go by the name "International Church of Christ" or "International Christian Church."

Movements
During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries we have seen a large growth in movement-based Christianity. The popularity of ecumenism in this postmodern environment has led many to cross denominational boundaries and establish trans-denominational movements that are very popular.

Evangelicalism : The Evangelical movement finds its origins in the eighteenth century with the impetus to go out and promote the Gospel (or evangelize) that was shared by many denominations. Wesleyanism, Baptists, some Calvinists, and some Anglicans initially took part. The movement has continued to the present day. The Evangelical movement is based mostly on a "faith only" belief system, with most believing in some form of the "once saved, always saved" doctrine. Evangelicals tend to be dispensational/premillennial in eschatology, and at different times have been instruments for progress and conservatism in politics.

Ecumenism : The ecumenical movement was first organized in 1910 at the International Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. The movement attempts to unify divergent Christian denominations by emphasizing shared beliefs while minimizing differences. The movement is best manifest in the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches, organizations devoted to inter-denominational dialogue and action. As postmodernism and relativism have grown in popularity in the past fifty years, so more and more denominations are becoming a part of the ecumenical movement.

Fundamentalism : Fundamentalism is a movement within Evangelicalism that began in the late nineteenth century as a reaction to the "liberal" tendencies in many Protestant denominations that undermined confidence in the inspiration of the Bible. Other evangelicals and fundamentalists parted ways in the 1940s; today, fundamentalism is marked by passionate defenses of the perceived "fundamentals" of the faith, often involving as much tradition as it does substantive Biblical truth.

The Community Church Movement : Community churches are first seen explicitly in the 1920s, although financial necessity may have compelled various members of denominations in small villages to meet together in times past. The Community Church movement is a consequence of the evangelical and ecumenical movements: if denominational boundaries are not going to be considered important anymore, the impetus is there to have an organization without any such denominational affiliation, and therefore we have community churches. While community churches profess having no denomination, the doctrines of denominations, particularly those present within the Evangelical movement, abound.

The House Church Movement: While Christians have met in houses since the beginning (cf. Philemon 1:2), and there is no stigma to meeting in houses per se, in the latter part of the twentieth century there has been a movement to rid churches of many of the vestiges of traditionalism, and many such persons have established "house churches". The difficulties with such movements are not in meeting in houses per se, but the other doctrines that tend to go with such groups.

The Megachurch Movement : While there have been many churches of large size before the modern day, beginning in the 1950s, America and other "Christianized" countries saw the emergence of very large churches having many thousands of members, now called "megachurches". Half of existing megachurches are not affiliated with a particular denomination but have connections to the Evangelical and Charismatic movements. Many megachurches develop as cults of personalities surrounding popular preachers. Megachurches tend to emphasize services heavily influenced by modern forms of entertainment and focus on self-empowerment through small groups and inspirational literature. Megachurches are also known for their large buildings, support groups, coffeehouses, bookstores, and other forms of marketing and materialism.

Emergism : The twenty-first century has seen the birth of the emergent movement, a diverse group of individuals, mostly of the Evangelical movement, who seek to communicate to the postmodern world using postmodern conceptualizations of Christianity. While the members of the movement would like to bridge the divide between "liberal" and "conservative" branches of Protestantism, there is much concern regarding their wholehearted embrace of postmodernism and its ideals.

Conclusion
We have now reached the present time and can see, if only quickly and without exhaustive detail, the development of the denominations and movements that we currently see in the "Christian" world today. The path is difficult to determine and very confusing, yet we can see that the majority of these denominations were established on the basis of new ideas of men and those who would follow them. The rest of the study will focus on the ideas and doctrines which are in harmony with the teachings of the Scriptures.

Positions of Authority


Statement of Belief
The Scriptures teach that elders were appointed in the churches,
And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed who were instructed to oversee their church ( Acts 14:23 ),

"Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood" ( Acts 20:28 ),


and that they should meet certain qualifications,

Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, soberminded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach; no brawler, no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) not a novice, lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have good testimony from them that are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil ( 1 Timothy 3:1-7 ).


Deacons were also appointed in the churches and were expected to conform to certain qualifications,

Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, if they be blameless...Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus, ( 1 Timothy 3:8-10 , 12-13 ).

Sections

● Who is the Pastor?
● A Hierarchy of Bishops
● Elders Determining Doctrine?
● Widowed or Childless Elders?
● The Deacon
● Deacons Without Elders
● Female Deacons [Deaconesses]
● Female Elders
● Female Evangelists
● Homosexual Evangelists
● Priests
● Ordination
● Synods, Councils, Conventions, and Other Meetings


Who is the Pastor?