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Congregational Churches
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational government. Each Wiktionary:congregation, congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. These principles are enshrined in the Cambridge Platform (1648) and the Savoy Declaration (1658), Congregationalist confession of faith, confessions of faith. The Congregationalist Churches are a continuity of the theological tradition upheld by the Puritans. Their genesis was through the work of Congregationalist divines Robert Browne (Brownist), Robert Browne, Henry Barrowe, and John Greenwood (divine), John Greenwood. In the United Kingdom, the Puritan, Puritan Reformation of the Church of England laid the foundation for such churches. In England, early Congregationalists were called ''Ecclesiastical separatism, Separatists'' or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presbyterian Polity
Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance (" ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session (or consistory), though other terms, such as ''church board'', may apply.For example, the Church of the Nazarene, which subscribes to a body of religious doctrines that are quite distinct from those of most properly named Presbyterian denominations (and which instead descends historically from the Wesleyan Holiness Movement), employs a blend of congregationalist, episcopal, and presbyterian polities; its local churches are governed by an elected body known as the church board or simply "board members"; the term elder in the Nazarene Church has a different use entirely, referring to an ordained minister of that denomination. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presby ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kansas City Statement Of Faith
The Kansas City Statement of Faith is a 1913 confession of faith adopted by the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States at Kansas City, Missouri. This concise statement of Congregational beliefs restates traditional congregational polity and endorses ecumenism, while also displaying the drift away from Reformed theology that had occurred in American Congregationalism. Contents American Congregationalists had adopted earlier confessional statements. The Savoy Declaration, a modified version of the Westminster Confession of Faith, had been in use in America since the 18th century and reflected an earlier commitment to Calvinist theology. The Kansas City Statement of Faith was crafted in 1913 to "affirm traditional congregationalist principles in a form that would meet the needs" of the 20th century. The statement is organized into three sections on "Faith", "Polity", and "Wider Fellowship". The section on faith affirms belief in God the Father, Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Some Christian denominations do not use any of those creeds. The term ''creed'' is sometimes extended to comparable concepts in non-Christian theologies. The Islamic concept of '' ʿaqīdah'' (literally "bond, tie") is often rendered as "creed". History The earliest known creed in Christianity, " Jesus is Lord", originated in the writings of Paul the Apostle. One of the most significant and widely used Christian creeds is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea to affirm the deity of Christ and revised at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381 to affirm the trinity as a whole. The creed was further aff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congregational Polity
Congregational polity, or congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or " autonomous". Its first articulation in writing is the Cambridge Platform of 1648 in New England. Major Protestant Christian traditions that employ congregationalism include Baptist churches, the Congregational Methodist Church, and Congregational churches known by the ''Congregationalist'' name and having descended from the Independent Reformed wing of the Anglo-American Puritan movement of the 17th century. More recent generations have witnessed a growing number of nondenominational churches, which are often congregationalist in their governance. Although autonomous, like minded congregations may enter into voluntary associations with other congregations, sometimes called conventions, denominations, or associations. Congregationalism is distinguished from episc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Church Polity
Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (congregational) forms of organization as well as denominational. A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polity relates closely to ecclesiology, the theological study of the church. History Questions of church government were documented early on in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles and "theological debate about the nature, location, and exercise of authority, in the church" has been ongoing ever since. The first act recorded after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was the election of Saint Matthias as one of the Twelve Apostles, to replace Judas Iscariot. During the Protestant Reformation, reformers asserted that the New Testament prescribed an ecclesiastical government different from the episcopal polity maintained by the Catholic Church, and consequently different Protestant bodies organized into different types of polities. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It also conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, random sample survey research, and panel based surveys, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research. The Pew Research Center states it does not take policy stances. It is a subsidiary of the Pew Charitable Trusts and a charter member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research's Transparency Initiative. History In 1990, the Times Mirror Company founded the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press as a research project, tasked with conducting polls on politics and policy. Andrew Kohut became its director in 1993, and the Pew Charitable Trusts became its primary sponsor in 1996, when it was renamed the Pew Research Center for the Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship
The World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship (WECF) is a global association of evangelical Christian Congregational Churches, from various national associations around the world, which is united by a common belief in the lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible, as well as by its common desire for evangelism. Origins In 1891, in London, the International Congregational Council (ICC) was founded. This body represented, for many decades, congregational unity throughout the world. However, in the 20th century, Liberal Theology and Ecumenism spread among Congregational churches throughout the world. Many Congregational churches, as a result, have abandoned the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy and also the distinctives of Congregationalism. In the 1960s and 1970s, several congregational groups around the world merged with Presbyterian and/or Methodist and/or Anglican groups, forming denominations such as the Igreja Evangélica Presbiteriana de Portugal, Unitin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Gospel, Christian gospel. The term evangelical is derived from the Koine Greek word ''euangelion'', meaning “good news,” in reference to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Evangelicalism typically places a strong emphasis on personal conversion to Christianity, conversion, often described as being “born again (Christianity), born again,” and regards the Bible as the ultimate authority in matters of Christian theology, faith and practice. The definition and scope of evangelicalism are subjects of debate among theology, theologians and religious studies, scholars. Some critics argue that the term encompasses a wide and diverse range of beliefs and practices, making it difficult to define as a coherent or unified movement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with Congregational church, Congregational missions in Oceania, Africa, and the Americas, although there were also Presbyterians (notable for their work in China), Methodists, Baptists, and various other Protestants involved. It now forms part of the Council for World Mission. Origins In 1793, Edward Williams (minister), Edward Williams, then minister at Carr's Lane, Birmingham, wrote a letter to the churches of the Midlands, expressing the need for interdenominational world evangelization and foreign missions.Wadsworth KW, ''Yorkshire United Independent College -Two Hundred Years of Training for Christian Ministry by the Congregational Churches of Yorkshire'' Independent Press, London, 1954 It was effective and Williams began to play an acti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territorial evolution of the British Empire, territories of the British Empire from which it developed. They are connected through their English in the Commonwealth of Nations, use of the English language and cultural and historical ties. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental relations, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations between member nations. Numerous List of Commonwealth organisations, organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Northwest
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation through the Northwest Ordinance, it was the nation's first post-colonial organized incorporated territory. At the time of its creation, the territory included all the land west of Pennsylvania, northwest of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River below the Great Lakes, and what later became known as the Boundary Waters. The region was ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris of 1783. Throughout the Revolutionary War, the region was part of the British Province of Quebec and the western theater of the war. It spanned all or large parts of six eventual U.S. states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the northeastern part of Minnesota). Reduced to present-day ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
