[Glenmerle]

The church is bound, but members of the congregation are only bound by conscience. Articles of faith or "confessions" are a form of glue that holds a church together.

I see. I guess that's similar to the less formal doctrinal statements that nondenominational churches put out.

You know you're not going to hear a sermon extolling the Rapture at a Lutheran church, because the church doesn't recognize sufficient support for it in the Bible.

I know this is a side issue, but I wonder how many churches teach the Rapture. It seems to be a popular idea among TV evangelists, members of the media who like to mock Christianity, and so on, but how many Christian churches actually teach this? The last church I attended, the Evangelical Free Church, taught against it. I suspect it's better known in pop culture than in actual churches.

[GoLightly]

I guess that's similar to the less formal doctrinal statements that nondenominational churches put out.

I never knew that nondenominational churches put anything like that out & I "shopped" a couple of them. It makes sense that they do.

I know this is a side issue, but I wonder how many churches teach the Rapture. It seems to be a popular idea among TV evangelists, members of the media who like to mock Christianity, and so on, but how many Christian churches actually teach this? The last church I attended, the Evangelical Free Church, taught against it. I suspect it's better known in pop culture than in actual churches.

Both nondenominational Bible churches that I "shopped" in my area teach it. One was a small church & the other one was quite large, connected to an even larger congregation in another nearby suburban community. I've no idea how widespread it is, but it is out there & not just something the media is making up to make Christianity look bad.