How do you know which denomination you belong to?

[Vap841]

Personally, my friend, I don't worry about "which denominations" recommend that I claim their proprietary membership. And as an Existentialist, I don't have to overly concern myself with circling my ideological wagon of faith in order to defend it.

I belong to Christ and His Historic Church Universal. ... of course, when I say this, I get a bunch of funny looks from quite a few fellow Christians. But that's ok.

Anyway, don't worry about denominations. Just find a Trinitarian church in which you feel you belong.

Yeah I would rather choose based on the character of the people than the denomination. My eclectic beliefs don’t fit into any denomination anyway lol.

 

[aiki]

I'm curious to know how you figured out which denomination you belong to? Did you have to attend many churches and use your own discernment to see if it fits? Is it a must to follow a specific denomination?

God won't be checking your denominational affiliation at the Final Judgment. What will matter then is whether or not He knows you as one of His own. Will you stand before Him as His redeemed, born-again child, or as a rebellious sinner, unrepentant, rejecting the Atonement of His Son for your sin?

Anyway, far, far more important than denomination is the church's fidelity to God's word, to teaching it all with carefulness and faithfulness, seeking the approval of God rather than Man, shining undimmed the light of divine truth in the growing darkness of the World. Does the church add to or subtract from the word of God? You will only know, of course, as you are yourself a careful student of the Bible. Does the church hold to the divine, plenary inspiration of Scripture in its original form? Does God's word have authority over the beliefs and practices of the church, shaping and constraining its life and work? Or does the church approach the Bible like a buffet, picking and choosing preferred bits and pieces of the Bible, ignoring the culturally-awkward parts, rejecting anything that runs counter to the modern social narrative, that defies the present rising philosophies of the World? These are the important questions when considering joining a church community, not "Does this church make me comfortable?" or "Does this church suit my personal preferences?"

My background is really just reading the Bible with little to no outside help. I did get a KJV Bible with Bible study elements to help me understand areas that I don't understand. I do watch a few sermons on YouTube though when I feel that I need to hear a pastor explain scriptures.

If you are a born-again child of God, you have been made a member of the Body of Christ, the Church universal, the family of God, and as such you have been gifted spiritually so that you might benefit the Church and be benefited by it. To remain unattached from the Church is to squander your spiritual gifting to the detriment of the Church, and to starve yourself of the vital fellowship of believers God intends that you should enjoy. The Church - the Bible-believing parts of it, anyway - has an important stabilizing and checking effect on the individual believer's doctrine and living, too, preventing the believer from being "swept about by every wind of false doctrine."

It has been my experience that many (not all) conservative Baptist churches, E-Free, Alliance, Presbyterian, Mennonite, Church of the Nazarene, and mainstream, conservative Pentecostal churches are places where you are most likely to find the fullest and most careful proclamation of God's truth and believers who know and love Jesus Christ in a way that is clearly in evidence in the character of their living.

 

[Daniel9v9]

Thanks for your post! I read through your overview and that has made me think if denominations are simply created by men with their own set of beliefs? I'm truly a noob when it comes to this, so keep that in mind and I'm literally someone who just went straight to the Bible after I gave my life to Jesus.

Although I'm not stressed about this, it definitely has made me to be more observant if it crosses my path!

Well, I'm glad to help and I can appreciate how confusing it is. It's not easy to understand what everyone believes and teaches.

It's a bit difficult to think of denominations as a problem if by that we think of the non-denominational church(es) as the true church and all other denominations as churches made by men. The reason for this is that non-denominational churches are not non-denominational in teaching, but in government. That is, they tend to operate independently (or in loose networks), but they have a very distinct theological framework (albeit somewhat varied). They are essentially Baptist/Charismatic.

I don't think anyone sincere sets out to invent their own teaching, but rather, people claim to receive God's Word in different ways. However, even so, I think we can be comforted with that the unity of the Church does not depend on our understanding of God's Word but on God's love and grace. Though man is divided, Christ is the one who unites us in Himself. And where we can be assured that He is speaking to us is in the Bible, which are the words of the Holy Spirit, given us to grant us repentance, faith, life, joy, hope, and comfort. So going straight to the Bible is wonderful! And ideally, we want to go to a church that delivers to us the fullness of God's Word.

Regarding His Word, our Lord says:

Hebrews 1:1-2: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world."

2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

Psalm 119:105: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

God bless!

 

[Bob Crowley]

I was baptised Presbyterian as an infant. My father was (unbelieving) Catholic and my mother was (nominal) Anglican. Back in those days (1953) there were strict rules about who could marry who in which church (despite the fact that just eight years earlier the whole lot, including atheists, fought together to the death against the Axis powers to grant some sort of freedom in the world (in the West anyway)).

I think my mother sweet talked a Presbyterian minister behind her place of work to marry her and my father. I suspect one of the conditions was that the children would be baptised Presbyterian. My sister who came along 6 years later (and who died in 2005) wasn't baptised at all, although I believe she had herself baptised before she died.

So I was packed off to Sunday School, and later spent a year or two in the Presbyterian Youth Fellowship which I didn't enjoy much, as I felt out of place. There was no religion in our home, and my parents went to church for weddings and funerals. I became atheist by the time I was fifteen.

But by the time I was 28, after going through what turned out to be a rather negative four years of my life, I felt this persistent push to return to the same Presbyterian Church where I'd had some Sunday School years before. It didn't let up. So I went. That was around October 1982. This time I met a pastor who was to have a salutary effect, along with his capable family, and other people in a small, vibrant church.

It's one thing to say that God guided me there, but as far as I'm concerned the people also had a key part to play. Churches aren't theological vacuums - a sense of community is very important.

I became Christian. In turn the pastor predicted towards the end of his life that I'd become Catholic, saying "I think God might want you go back there" (since my father in a sense had taken me out his own Catholic (non) faith. I was going to leave his church anyway as I was getting married and moving too far away to continue, and he died of cancer less than 3 months after I left. So we both left his Presbyterian parish at about the same time.

To cut a long story short I became Catholic circa 1996 or 97, and I'll go on record as saying that the old pastor turned up in a vision some time after he died and said "The Catholic Church is CLOSEST to the truth", with a distinct emphasis on the word "closest".

And that's how I got there to cut a long story short, and that's where I'll stay.

PS - Paidiske mentioned church terminology. In my early days as a Catholic I thought the priests lived in the "manse" which was the Presbyterian term. Next thing I knew I was being corrected that it was the "Presbytery", which as a former Presbyterian caused me a bit of a double take. Then there were the new terms - Sacristy, Tabernacle, and Ciborium to name a few. The Presbyterian Church was jargon free by comparison.

 

[DragonFox91]

I was raised RCA. The church had faithful believers but I found it lacking. For example, Sunday School was social hour. This didn't make sense to me. I thought 'if you're not teaching the youth, how will you expect them to be disciples?' I'd read the Bible on my own time & realized the church would skirt around church issues because it didn't want to upset anyone. The Sunday service Bible reading would just be a verse or two. I don't mean to knock on it b/c I know faithful believers who attended, but it wasn't good. (Could've just been an individual church problem & not a denomination-wide problem, the church ended up closing, you wonder why)

My friend introduced me to Baptist churches. I consider that my denomination. They were more fundamental. I thought what they taught matched what I was reading in the Bible. It seemed also a very Family-first denomination, not just for older adults. It seemed a lifestyle. I don't see the point in identifying w/ a religion if it's just a 'Sunday morning' type thing. I don't see the point in having 'Scripture' that's only half true. God is either who he says he is & is worthy of being worshipped w/ all mind, strength, & heart, or it's all a fraud.

Talk to people, read church 'what we believe' statements, read your Bible, pray about it, attend churches & meet the staff & leaders.

The truth is all believers are part of one catholic church.

 

[splish- splash]

For me If I am able to connect the dots & come out with Christ, then that for me is all I need. I am happy where I am now but have changed churches in the past quite a bit.

 

[Junkyarder]

I am also struggling with where I should settle in as a member of the church. I constantly visit different denominations, some more than others.

Everyone seems to have pretty strong arguments for why their denomination is superior. I'm simply not intelligent enough to make heads or tails of it all.

No matter how many patristic writings I read, or lives of saints, or history of churches. It all seems to blend or confuse me.

What I am certain of, is that I can feel the presence of the Holy spirit when the faithful gather and praise him with humility. Some churches even leave their doors unlocked and I can visit alone. Some churches have the lingering love still in the air even with no member around.

It's awe inspiring, this makes me think that God is not too concerned with us making the perfect correct choice as to which denomination. Only that we earnestly make every attempt to pick up our crosses and follow him boldly.

 

[timf]

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Paul writes that divisions (one might say denominations) are an indication of immaturity. As a starting point a denomination might be useful, but one shouldn't think so much in terms of which is the "right" one as which can help me learn to grow in the lord.

Any denomination that is not helping you become more like Jesus may be left behind.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: