A COMMUNITY CHURCH
Most local churches are named after some saint, or have their denomination as part of their name. Why not just their community name such as Loch Lomand Community Church (LLCC) for example. Why do we think that we have to let people know what denomination we are part of?
I have never been much for denominations anyway, although I have always been part of one. I started out in a Baptist Church, then an independent Pentecostal Church, then a Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, and now a PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada) Church. But I don't feel really attached to any denomination, although I have been part of them all when I attended services there. I just consider myself a follower of Jesus, and perhaps "Trans Denominational" might fit, if indeed there ever was one by that name.
But I like the idea of just naming the building we meet in a community place where we gather. I dislike calling it a "church", because we who meet in the building are the "Church", and not the building. But since church is the normal name for our gathering place, I can't think of another to replace it. I'm not really a rebel at heart, although I have been considered that by some, because I have always questioned certain traditions that are part of our normal services and doctrines. Since I started to search the truth through the scriptures more diligently, after my first stroke, I realized for the first time how much of what I had been taught, believed, and in turn taught to others, was not really based on scripture. This caused me to question many more of our traditions that make up the way we "do church".
That's when I found out that many others had been questioning some of these same things, and were actually declaring that God was doing things "outside the box" of the typical church structure. It would seem that God is using a different paradigm for His Church to follow, rather than the old one we have followed for the past century.
These are just some random thought to consider, and discuss.
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Most local churches are named after some saint, or have their denomination as part of their name. Why not just their community name such as Loch Lomand Community Church (LLCC) for example. Why do we think that we have to let people know what denomination we are part of?
I have never been much for denominations anyway, although I have always been part of one. I started out in a Baptist Church, then an independent Pentecostal Church, then a Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, and now a PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada) Church. But I don't feel really attached to any denomination, although I have been part of them all when I attended services there. I just consider myself a follower of Jesus, and perhaps "Trans Denominational" might fit, if indeed there ever was one by that name.
But I like the idea of just naming the building we meet in a community place where we gather. I dislike calling it a "church", because we who meet in the building are the "Church", and not the building. But since church is the normal name for our gathering place, I can't think of another to replace it. I'm not really a rebel at heart, although I have been considered that by some, because I have always questioned certain traditions that are part of our normal services and doctrines. Since I started to search the truth through the scriptures more diligently, after my first stroke, I realized for the first time how much of what I had been taught, believed, and in turn taught to others, was not really based on scripture. This caused me to question many more of our traditions that make up the way we "do church".
That's when I found out that many others had been questioning some of these same things, and were actually declaring that God was doing things "outside the box" of the typical church structure. It would seem that God is using a different paradigm for His Church to follow, rather than the old one we have followed for the past century.
These are just some random thought to consider, and discuss.
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
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