What is the Presbyterian Church (USA), and what do they believe?
The Presbyterian Church (USA), or PC(USA), is a mainline denomination based in Louisville, Kentucky. With about 2 million members, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is one of the largest denominations in the U.S. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is the result of a 1983 merger of two theologically liberal churches: the Presbyterian Church in the United States…
What is the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC or CRCNA)?
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a Reformed church that separated from what eventually became known as the Reformed Church in America (RCA) in 1857. The split between the Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church occurred due to the increasingly liberal drift of the RCA. The official website of the CRCNA…
What is the Pentecostal Church and what do Pentecostals believe?
Pentecostalism is a fairly modern movement within Christianity that can be traced back to the Holiness movement in the Methodist Church. A major focus of Pentecostal churches is Holy Spirit baptism as evidenced by speaking in tongues. There are approximately 170 different denominations that identify themselves as Pentecostal. Toward the end of the 19th century,…
What is the Vineyard Movement?
The Vineyard Movement is a network of Charismatic churches, part of a movement recognized by such names as “Third Wave,” “power theology,” and the “signs and wonders movement.” The Vineyard Movement’s founder, John Wimber, formed five churches in 1982, with the goal of forming 2,000 churches by the year 2000. The stated goal of the…
Who are the “frozen chosen”?
Generally, people apply the term frozen chosen in a couple of ways. In some contexts, frozen chosen denotes Christian groups that tend to be intellectual, reserved, and more focused on doctrine than on loving their neighbors. It is most often employed to refer to Presbyterians and/or other Reformed Christians who emphasize being “chosen,” (i.e., the…
What is the United Methodist Church, and what do Methodists believe?
The United Methodist Church is the largest American mainline denomination, with nearly 12 million members in 42,000 congregations worldwide. The United Methodist Church is a participating member of the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches and is one of the leading proponents of ecumenism today. The church was formed in 1968…
What is the Zion Christian Church?
One of the largest religious groups to originate in Africa is the Zion Christian Church (ZCC). In 1925, a Basotho shepherd and self-proclaimed prophet named Joseph Engenas Matlhakanye Lekganyane founded the Zion Christian Church in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The Zion Christian Church has a sizable following today in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho,…
Who are the Plymouth Brethren, and what do they believe?
The various churches of the Plymouth Brethren movement are independent, conservative, and evangelical. While it is difficult to come up with solid numbers, it is estimated that there are about one million people who identify themselves as Brethren. Some prefer to just be known as Christians, to avoid any connotation of denominationalism. The Brethren movement…
What is the New Apostolic Reformation?
The New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR, is an unbiblical religious movement that emphasizes experience over Scripture, mysticism over doctrine, and modern-day “apostles” over the plain text of the Bible. Of particular distinction in the New Apostolic Reformation are the role and power of spiritual leaders and miracle-workers, the reception of “new” revelations from God, an…
What is Seventh-day Adventism, and what do Seventh-day Adventists believe?
Seventh-day Adventism is a sect of Christianity that believes, among other things, that worship services should be conducted on the “seventh day” (the Sabbath) instead of on Sunday. There seem to be different “degrees” of Seventh-day Adventism. Some Seventh-day Adventists believe identically to orthodox Christians, other than holding to the Saturday Sabbath. Other Adventists, however,…