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Earlier this summer, the Southern Baptist Convention garnered considerable attention for its disfellowshipping of two churches that allow women to serve in the office of pastor.Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and a smaller congregation known as Fern Creek Baptist Church of Louisville, Kentucky, were disfellowshipped following a majority vote by messengers at the SBC's Annual Meeting in June. Some 90% of messengers voted to disfellowship churches that have women in the role of pastor. That is 9 in 10 messengers.Several other Christian denominations allow women to serve as pastors, however. As The Christian Post previouslyreported, this number even includes...

I grew up attending a Fundamental, Independent Baptist church, and no, those aren’t capitalized by mistake. That’s because the words “Fundamental” and “Independent” were displayed prominently on our sign, our church bulletin, and anywhere else the church name appeared. It wasn’t just that we were “Baptist,” or even a “church” – because any ragamuffin group of heretics could band together and call themselves a “church” in these United States – no, we wanted the world to know we were “independent” of any top-down control, and we believed we had the “fundamentals” of the Christian faith. Of course, those were the...

(CNSNews.com) - The majority of Americans in 2017 did not identify themselves as Protestants, according to Gallup surveys conducted during the year, and the differing religious denominations tended to be concentrated in certain geographical areas. “About half of Americans (48 percent) identify as Protestants or other Christians who are not Catholic or Mormon,” said Gallup in its analysis of its polling. The numbers from the Gallup survey align with numbers derived from a Pew Research Center survey published in 2015. That survey indicated that from 2007 to 2014, Protestants had dropped from 51.3 percent of the population to 46.5 percent....

Much of the switching in religious identity in the United States over the past several years occurred among the “nones,” specifically Americans who identify as agnostic or as “nothing in particular.” But the Christian landscape hasn’t remained static in the meantime. Though academics have long wondered whether the US will follow the secularizing trend found in most of Europe, the greatest shifts among believers have occurred within Christianity, not away from it. The three-wave Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES)—which surveyed the same individuals in 2010, 2012, and 2014, and started with 9,500 respondents—reveals how few Catholics and Protestants have changed...

In a recent interview in which she announced she had joined the Episcopal Church, Rachel Held Evans said, Just about every denomination in the American church— including many evangelical denominations — is seeing a decline in numbers, so if it’s a competition, then we’re all losing, just at different rates. Many Americans, both within and outside the church, share Evans perception of the decline of denominations. But is it true? Are most denominations truly seeing a decline in numbers? Before we answer the question, we should clarify what is meant by “decline.” We could, for instance, say that Protestantism has been...

In a recent interview in which she announced she had joined the Episcopal Church, Rachel Held Evans said, Just about every denomination in the American church— including many evangelical denominations — is seeing a decline in numbers, so if it’s a competition, then we’re all losing, just at different rates. Many Americans, both within and outside the church, share Evans perception of the decline of denominations. But is it true? Are most denominations truly seeing a decline in numbers? Before we answer the question, we should clarify what is meant by “decline.” We could, for instance, say that Protestantism has been...

There is the commonly heard CoC 5 step plan of salvation which is “Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, and Baptism“. But this is by no means the standard CoC plan of salvation. Many CoCers include living a faithful christian life, growing in the faith or continuing in the way of Jesus as a 6th step. And Walter Scott originally had 6 steps in his plan of salvation which he said was “Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Remission of Sins, Gift of the Holy Spirit and Eternal Life”. But before he had 6 steps Scott only had 3 steps in his plan and they...

*******THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT LINKS EMBEDDED IN THE POST. ARE THERE REALLY 38,000 DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS? by Damon Whitsell Is Christianity really as divided as some people say it is? Are there really around 38,000 differing denominations? These questions are relevant to the Word of Faith movement because its teachers can be quite anti-denominational at times. And since some in the Word of Faith movement such as Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen along with the Pope and many others are calling for Charismatics and the Roman Catholic Church to unite, saying the Protestant protest is over, these questions are really important...

How Many Protestant Denominations Are There? Partial List of 5000+ Protestant Denominations by Name How Many Protestant Denominations Are There?    The 20,000 / 30,000 numbers and David Barrett's statistics "The Facts and Stats on "33,000 Denominations" The 20,000 / 30,000 numbers and David Barrett's statistics Part II (Above links derived from here) ===> ("How Many Protestant Denominations Are There?") ⛪⛪⛪⛪⛪⛪⛪⛪⛪⛪ There are many, many more Protestant denominations out there, not just those reflected in the links above.    How many?    Well, nobody really knows for sure exactly how many Protestant denominations exist at any given point in...

Christianity is by far the largest religion in the United States; more than three-quarters of Americans identify as Christians. A little more than half of us identify as Protestants, about 23 percent as Catholic and about 2 percent as Mormon. But what about the rest of us? In the Western U.S., Buddhists represent the largest non-Christian religious bloc in most states. In 20 states, mostly in the Midwest and South, Islam is the largest non-Christian faith tradition. And in 15 states, mostly in the Northeast, Judaism has the most followers after Christianity. Hindus come in second place in Arizona and...

In his speech to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Pope Francis said “the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but must always confront itself with, be inserted within and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church” The speech given by Francis to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission this morning followed faithfully in the footsteps of his predecessor Benedict XVI teaching. Members of the Commission – scholars and theologians from all over the world gathered under the leadership of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mgr. Gerhard...

I was asked this in an online forum, and my answer got too long to manage. Here’s my infallible prediction. How did I do? Orthodoxy: Little visible change, zero substantive change. Increasing numbers and cultural impact. Progress toward a single American Archdiocese, but still not there yet.Catholicism: Neither women priests nor married priests will happen. Increasing disaffection among liberal American Catholics leading to a significant decrease in attendance. Identification as Catholic will be increasingly cultural rather than creedal. This trend, combined with decreasing numbers of men seeking the priesthood, will force additional parish churches to close. This will be...

Denominations and Christian Truth Question: I have a question about Christianity. I once heard that there are thousands of different Christian denominations. The exact number is not important. Each denomination has its own, unique interpretation of the Bible, and each denomination asserts that its interpretation is the correct one. Not every denomination can be right; someone has to be wrong. With respect to the OPC and John Calvin, how do you know that the OPC's interpretation is the correct one? Answer: It was Solomon who wrote "this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have...

Catholic Biblical Apologetics Apologetics without apology! What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about ...? ... and why? This website surveys the origin and development of Roman Catholic Christianity from the period of the apostolic church, through the post-apostolic church and into the conciliar movement. Principal attention is paid to the biblical basis of both doctrine and dogma as well as the role of paradosis (i.e. handing on the truth) in the history of the Church. Particular attention is also paid to the hierarchical founding and succession of leadership throughout the centuries. This is a set of lecture notes...

I saw the Father in the Garden with Jesus and the Father had a shofar in his left hand . My sons and daughters of Zion ( hebrews 12:23 )it is time to unite as one with me The Father for we are advancing inward to penetrate the last strongholds . See them in the center for we have them surrounded , yet many within this circle that have resisted me and my will " Jesus " shall soon be inialted OR come into this very army I have formed as My Bride and soon there shall be a great...

Supporters of gay marriage, frustrated over a ballot-box defeat in California, have channeled much of their anger toward the towering white spires of Mormon temples. For months, the Mormon church sought to portray itself as just one member of a coalition of Catholics, evangelicals, black Protestants and others supporting Proposition 8, a measure to stop gay marriage in California. Some opponents of the measure sought to dispel that in the campaign's final weeks, pointing to extensive Mormon organizing and the staggering amount of money donated by individual Mormons at the behest of church leaders in Salt Lake City. Since the...

I hope I'm posting this in the right place, as I am relatively new to Free Republic. That said, I was wondering if anyone could give me a book recommendation? I've been looking for a good doctrinal/historical comparison of the different Christian denominations and sects. Anyone?

(German) Reformed Church in the United States (Original) Church of God Advent Christian Church African Methodist Episcopal Church African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church Alaska Moravian Church Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference) Alliance of Baptists in the USA Amana Church Society American Association of Lutheran Churches American Baptist Association American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. American Baptist Convention American Baptist Mississippi Convention American Ethical Union American Evangelical Christian Churches American Evangelical Lutheran Church American Lutheran Conference American Rescue Workers American Unitarian Association Anglican Orthodox Church of North America Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene)...

One Body, Many Political Views Ralph WebbOn Thursday, October 3, a six-member panel participated in a forum seeking to address the question, "How Would Jesus Vote?" The nearly two-and-a-half hour evening discussion was co-sponsored by Advance Church of Silver Spring, MD, and the Skinner Leadership Institute (SLI). The forum was held in Washington, DC, and was moderated by Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, President of SLI. The six speakers represented a variety of Christian churches and denominations. They were: the Rev. Bruce Clark, pastor of Advance Church and forum organizer; the Rev. Richard Cizik, Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of...