Deus Misereatur

  What is a denomination? How are we to think about denominations? Are our denominations wrong in the eyes of God? Those are significant questions to address. I've written a few things through the years on this subject. For example, in 2016 I wrote a letter to a woman who said denominations are a sin and we should get rid of them. My response can be found in " A Letter on Denominations ". I also reviewed a book by Peter Leithart, a volume that perceptively describes how we should view our present denominational situation, and hold it lightly as we always lean toward the day when the Father will finally answer his Son's prayer in John 17, and all God's people will be one. That review was on Leithart's book " The End of Protestantism ". But, today, I am simply going to describe my prayerful approach that I recently picked up. It's not earth shattering, but it has already been helpful for me. First, what is a denomination ? A denomination is a name ...

The End of Protestantism: Pursuing Unity in a Fragmented Church Peter J. Leithart Brazos Press A division of Baker Publishing Group PO Box 6387 Grand Rapids, MI 49517-6287 www.brazospress.com ISBN: 9781587433771; $21.99; October 2016 Diagnostic and Prognostic;  5 Stars of 5 From early on as an ordained Presbyterian minister, I have cultivated friendships across denominational lines. While standing out in front of an abortion clinic in Texas every week for ten years, I made good friends with Roman Catholics. I was a member of a ministerial alliance for several years, even functioning as the President for two of those years. For the last two years I have met monthly with Baptist, Nazarene, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Disciples of Christ ministers to pray for one another, our churches and our city. Just recently I invited a dear friend, an African-American United Methodist minister, to preach at my Installation service where I was installed as the new Senior Pas...

(Today, a woman wrote me a letter telling me that denominations were wrong, and that "there are no denominations in God's word." The following is my reply that I sent back to her): 15 July 2016 Dear Gxxxxxx, Thank you so much for your brief note on the dangers of denominations. I agree that denominations are, in many ways, highly problematic for Christ’s Church. And you have zeroed in on the main difficulty: “Denominations are made by men, not by God.” Many years ago I was a minister, an evangelist, in a group that claimed denominations were a sin. I preached it, taught it, proclaimed it for over 5 years. And then one day the lights slowly came on for me. That group I was in, known as the Churches of Christ, was divided and segmented into 20 to 30 different enclaves, and each assembly had no fellowship with almost any of the other Churches of Christ in their own town or city – even though they all claimed to be Churches of Christ. Each group was right, an...