Leaving church the other day a lady asked me a question about nondenominational churches: what they believe, do their pastors have a theological education etc.? I first of all responded by distinguishing between nondenominational churches and interdenominational churches. As I pastored an interdenominational community church for 18 years I had the occasion to explain the differences. Being raised in, trained by, and served in a denominational church most of my life I have also had the experience of working in student ministry in interdenominational colleges as well in three different countries. Interdenominational settings accept the beliefs and traditions of all the major Protestant denominations. They affirm and use the historic Creeds and use portions of the denominational liturgies in their worship. They usually celebrate the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion on a regular basis. One of my Sunday services celebrated it monthly and the other weekly. They also accept and baptize children as well as adults. Their clergy are drawn from the denominations and have been educated in universities and theological seminaries. When members join their congregation they affirm basic Christian beliefs and contribute their denominational experience and traditions. They lose nothing of their experience and add much to the community. Interdenominational churches celebrate the Christian year with all its seasons: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. In my church they display tapestry banners for each season. They pay attention to aesthetics, to the beauty of the sanctuary and to a variety of music with various instruments and choirs so as to minister to the glory of God. They may even have some stained glass windows.

Nondenominational churches on the other hand are singularly focused on reaching out to the unchurched. Their philosophy of ministry is to successfully communicate and attract those who are outside the traditional churches. They provide a ministry to the contemporary culture and particularly to the next generation. They do this by connecting with the needs of the community through ministries that provide help to the hungry, disabled, the alienated, the purposeless, the disenchanted and those who are hurt, abused and depressed. Their worship consists of high energy enthusiastic popular music, praise songs and concert-like bands with a challenging message from a forceful preacher. The preaching is focused on application of biblical passages and themes to the needs of the hearers. Application is the forté of the message. The preachers engage the culture with an emphasis on apologetics providing reasons for people to believe in the Gospel. Small group fellowships enable the congregation to establish personal relationships, to dive deeper into beliefs and needs. Most churches that are growing are nondenominational, often large and therefore called megachurches. They have the ethos and culture of Baptist churches. They are attracting younger segments of the population. Their meeting places have no windows, but theatrical lighting with a stage devoid of religious symbols or church furniture. Their liturgy is music and message. Their clergy are variously educated and endowed with superior communication skills.

There will always be different forms of churches as there are different personalities and different needs in the community. Each will attract its own constituency. The wonder of the Gospel is that it can be packaged so differently and yet can serve the needs of all people of whatever stripe. Vive la difference!