Free Republic

Whether churchgoers believe that tithing — giving 10% of one’s income — is a biblical commandment varies depending on age and denomination, according to a recent study. Lifeway Research, an organization that examines ongoing church ministry trends, published a study on April 25 that found more than 3 in 4 American Protestant churchgoers (77%) view tithing as a biblical command that the faithful must abide by today. The study of 1,002 American Protestant churchgoers was conducted online from Sept. 19-29, 2022, using a national pre-recruited panel. The completed sample has a 95% confidence level and the sampling error does not...

Depending on who you ask there are many ways to say grace before a meal. You show us how you pray when gathered with others and we'll tell you what that says about your theology. So listen carefully next time during grace and that'll be a dead giveaway as to what that person believes. The prayer is for massively unhealthy fried chicken and casseroles to nurture our bodies - Baptist Every other word is "thou", "thy", or "yeoldethinesteth" - KJV Baptist Prayer is led by a woman - Hey, wait a minute, you're not a Christian! Prayer is about how...

In a move critics are calling “unwise and potentially destructive,” the United Methodist Church has delayed its General Conference meeting for a third time amid the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting theologically conservative United Methodists to announce the official launch of a new denomination. On Thursday, General Conference organizers announced they are postponing the meeting to 2024 “due to COVID-related and governmental policies/constraints.” The 2020 General Conference originally had been set for May 2020 in Minneapolis but was rescheduled for Aug. 29 – Sept. 7, 2021. It was rescheduled again for 2022 at the same venue. Commission Chairperson Kim Simpson said the...

Just a query to those more knowledgeable and savvy, about church denominations. Actually, I mean ANY division of organized Christian religion. I am frustrated by so many churches now, with all the nonsense of the last 2 years. Paying homage to BLM and homos and bowing down to every COVID decree. Everyone says what was our church, Lutheran Church - MO Synod (LCMS), is good for being true. However, after the riots started I saw a bit too much virtue-signaling. The only thing I can say was the website did not seem to specify blacks and BLM, but the statement...

Accepting the Vatican II Sect as the Catholic Church has consequences. So does believing that Jorge Bergoglio is the Vicar of Christ despite being a public apostate: If he is a valid Pope, then there is no power on earth that can undo his papacy. If he is truly the successor of St. Peter, then he can resign voluntarily, but no one can take the pontificate from him... Clearly, it is high time we looked at what the Catholic Church teaches on the (im)possibility of judging and removing a valid Pope. In this post, therefore, we will examine two things:...

Citing the growing global nature of the church, Brian Houston, global senior pastor of the popular Hillsong Church, has announced a split from Australia's largest Pentecostal denomination to become a denomination of its own. Since their inception, Hillsong Church has been a part of the Australian Christian Churches, a branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, which is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world. In a recent letter to the ACC, Houston said Hillsong's operation as a church had outgrown the capacity of the ACC. "As Hillsong Church has continued to grow, we no longer see ourselves as...

Romans 10:13King James Version (KJV) 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

MY RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ABOUT TO MEET AS ONE , FOR I AM BRINGING TOGETHER MY KINGDOM , NOT A CHILD OUT OF PLACE , NOT A SOUL THAT I KNOW , AS PART OF THE KINGDOM SHALL BE LEFT OUT OF MY FOLD , I AM CALLING MY LEADERS THAT HAVE OVERCOME , TO BRING TOGETHER MY KINGDOM , THE JOSHUAS , THE REUBENS , MANNASEHS AND DANS , THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES SURROUNDING " I AM " , THE SEVEN SPIRITS " THE EYES ON THE STONE " , I AM CALLING ALL MY KINGDOM HOME , FOR WHAT...

This pole wants to know the religion of those at Free Republic, well lets tell them. Looks like 270 have voted already and 25% are catholic, while 19% are Unaffiliated Evangelical Christians. Poll on Freepers Religion

Just a thought. It occurred to me that those on FR need a place to discuss religion, religious thought, denominal issues all things religious without worrying about hurt feelings or bruised egos. This would be a bare knuckle discussion. If you have thin skin or are easily offended it would be better not to participate.

Further church membership notes, relating to ethnicity: Consider two facts: First, the Catholic Church in America is growing. Second, the Hispanic population in America is exploding. Cardinal Mahony and radio talk-show host Mike Savage both seem to think the second fact is the explanation for the first. They have polar-opposite feelings about this fact, and they both show high contempt for each others’ feelings. (Not that Cardinal Mahony singled out Mike Savage by name.) But are the two related? The Census Bureau’s 1990 data report 22.3 million Hispanics. By 2003, that number increased to 39.9 million. Various studies have found...

Top 50 Most Influential Churches The 2005 survey was sent to 2,000 church leaders with the goal of ranking the nation’s fastest growing churches and churches with more than 2,000 weekend attendance. The 127 churches nominated for the 50 Most Influential Churches survey were located in 32 states and represented 27 affiliation groups and/or denominations. The term affiliation is used to include networks of unaffiliated, independent churches.

One thing I've been thinking about is where the blame lies for the current state of factionalism in Christianity. As a parent, I don’t tolerate my children blaming someone else for their own unloving actions. “He started it,” I hear. When I follow up on the story, I usually find out a little more than I wanted to know about the ability of children to think like lawyers, and present the facts as skillfully as any defense attorney. But my children also know the response they will get from me. I always point back to their God-given responsibility for their...

If creeds are so useful for the truth they may contain, but are not authoritative for our salvation, then we might as well call Moby Dick by Herman Melville a creed. Scripture is quoted in the novel, so it contains some inerrant truth, right? People view creeds as watchdogs to protect a group from heresy, but if the creed has no real authority, then it is a toothless watchdog. One bit of prose is as good as another, provided there is some semblance of truth in it.As long as we are all free to dissent with this phrase or that...

It's my experience that one of the most kind and useful things we can do to facilitate edifying relationships with other believers is to assume they have good motives. When I don't recognize that a fellow Christian is sincere in what I perceive to be his error, it is far too easy to dismiss him or demonize him. Too often, I've treated a brother in error as if he is a brother wanting to be in error. The truth is that there is no other kind of brother but a brother in error while we are in this human body,...

This chart is VERY general and minimal. There are literally tens of thousands of additional lines that could be included, for various unique Churches, like say, the Amana Colonies. MANY of those Churches seem to be hybrids where some local group has seen some value in each of two or more existing Denominations. So, there might be an "Evangelical Lutheran Episcopal Congregational Methodist Church", and it would be tough to even GUESS what they believed! You'd have to contact such a Church and request a Statement of Faith from them. Our hope with this chart is that, if you are...

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