There are some advantages to a church joining a Christian denomination. You’re likely to be part of some group or other, and if you make it official (by joining a denomination) you get the benefits of united action, pooled resources, and due process.
There are some disadvantages, as the history of Christianity in America, at least, has made clear. If theological liberalism establishes itself in centers of power, results can be disastrous.
I think independent Baptist churches—the group of which I’m a part—can learn a thing or two from the work of the one denomination I know of that has largely recovered from such a disaster, a denomination very similar to us in many ways: the Southern Baptist Convention. Southern Baptists are stuck with each other in ways independents are not, so they have committees hammering out statements on issues that independents find it hard to talk about with civility.
Please do, especially if you’re an independent Baptist, check out the statement that the Calvinism Advisory Committee of the SBC—composed of Calvinists and Arminians—has recently put out.
Related: Al Mohler’s irenic piece on Calvinism and Arminianism.
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