The Non-denominational Churches

Independent congregations and the networks they form: churches that answer to no denomination and gather around the Bible, a band and a welcome for the visitor.

Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study (2023-24): Nondenominational Protestants in the evangelical tradition

Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study (2023-24): Nondenominational Protestants in the mainline tradition

Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study: Executive Summary (2023-24)

Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Megachurch Research

Vineyard USA, Core Values & Beliefs (booklet, PDF)

Vineyard USA, About (Our History: John & Carol Wimber)

Hillsong Church, About us (UK site)

Hillsong UK, Baptism

ARC (Association of Related Churches), Statement of Faith

ARC, About

Acts 29, About

Acts 29, Distinctives

Calvary Chapel, History

Calvary Chapel, What We Believe

Calvary Chapel, How to Know God

National Association of Evangelicals, Statement of Faith

North Point Community Church, Sundays

North Point Community Church, Plan a Visit

North Point Community Church, Baptism

Log Cabin Church, Learn More (a community church that calls itself non-denominational)

Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study (2025), Appendix B: Classification of Protestant denominations

National Association of Evangelicals, "Once-a-Month Communion is the Norm" (Evangelical Leaders Survey, 1 February 2013)

Vineyard USA, Our History

Vineyard USA, John Wimber

G. Jeffrey MacDonald, "Chuck Smith, 86, Dies After Cancer Battle," Christianity Today, 3 October 2013

"What Would Chuck Smith Do?" (the Calvary Chapel split), Christianity Today, March 2017

"Hillsong Church Becomes Own Denomination, Splits From Australia's Largest Pentecostal Group," The Christian Post, September 2018

North Point Community Church, History

"Andy Stanley to step down as senior pastor from North Point Ministries," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 18 October 2026

The movement has no founding date, because it has no founder. The form that fills American cities today grew, in the sources gathered here, from the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and the church-planting networks that followed. The pattern repeats: a pastor who teaches the Bible, a crowd that gathers, a network that forms to train others, and a new church that owes the network nothing but friendship.

Calvary Chapel begins in a trailer court

In the spring of 1961 a group met "in a trailer court recreation room on Newport Boulevard" in Costa Mesa, California, and asked Floyd Nelson to lead their "informal nondenominational congregation." The articles of incorporation of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa were filed that year.

Chuck Smith teaches

On 18 November 1965 the church voted Chuck Smith in as its teaching pastor. His first official Sunday sermon, on 5 December, drew 50 people. Beginning in Genesis, the church read ten chapters a week. The morning sermons were topical and the Sunday evening study went through the same chapters verse by verse.

Smith becomes senior pastor

On 14 September 1966 Smith became senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

The Summer of Love and mass baptisms

In the summer of 1967 Chuck and Kay Smith reached out to the hippies of Southern California, and Smith found himself "carrying out mass baptisms – sometimes 500 at a time – in the Pacific Ocean at Pirates Cove." A radio broadcast of his Sunday evening study began on KGER that year. What began as a small local church later "grew into an international family of over 1700 churches."

Maranatha! Music

Smith launched Maranatha! Music in 1971, "a pioneering record label designed to promote the "Jesus music" that his young followers were producing on the California coast." A Biola University sociologist, Brad Christerson, later said Smith's "impact can be seen in every church service that has electric guitar-driven worship, hip casually-dressed pastors, and 40-minute sermons consisting of verse-by-verse Bible expositions."

The first Vineyard

Kenn Gulliksen "started a church in West LA in 1974, sent out by Calvary Chapel." It came to be known as the first Vineyard church, and by 1982 there were "at least seven "Vineyards" in a loose-knit fellowship of churches."

Wimber's church leaves Calvary Chapel

John Wimber planted Calvary Chapel of Yorba Linda in 1977. Because "the church's emphasis on the experience of the Holy Spirit was not shared by some leaders in the Calvary Chapel movement," his church "left Calvary Chapel in 1982 and joined the Association of Vineyard Churches," and Wimber became the leader of the Vineyard network.

Hillsong is founded in Sydney

Hillsong Church "was founded 1983 in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia," and now has churches in over 26 countries. It describes itself as "a contemporary Christian church."

North Point Community Church

In November 1995 Andy Stanley "cast the vision for a new church" at a convention center north of Atlanta. "Atlanta does not need another church," he said. "What Atlanta does need is a safe environment where the unchurched can come and hear the life-changing truth that Jesus Christ cares for them and died for their sins." The Alpharetta campus opened in 1998, and North Point Ministries now gathers "over 23,000 adults" at its churches each Sunday.

Acts 29 begins

Acts 29 "began in 1999 with a simple conviction: the best way to reach people who do not know Jesus is to plant churches." It grew from a small group of pastors into a network of nearly 650 churches.

ARC begins to train church planters

"Since 2000, the mission of ARC has been to train and resource church planters in starting new churches." The churches it helps plant are "legally autonomous, independently led, separately operated, and solely accountable to their leadership, independent of the ARC organization."

Calvary Chapel divides

In the fall of 2016, after Chuck Smith's death, his son-in-law and successor at Costa Mesa, Brian Brodersen, left the Calvary Chapel Association and launched "a broader, looser body focused on international missions called the Calvary Chapel Global Network." The Association's council said it "cannot endorse" the new network. Its concerns were that Brodersen was departing "from traditional biblical exposition" and did not prioritize "the movement's emphasis on eschatology." Brodersen called it "a difference in method, not doctrine."

Hillsong becomes a denomination

Hillsong had been part of the Australian Christian Churches, the Assemblies of God in Australia. In 2018 Brian Houston wrote that Hillsong was now registered "as a recognized denomination with the ability to credential pastors in our own right." The Christian Post reported that it would remain, "at least in its doctrine, a Pentecostal church."

Pew counts the movement

Pew's Religious Landscape Study of 2023-24 found that 6% of US adults identify as nondenominational Protestants in the evangelical tradition and 1% in the mainline tradition, and says the share of Americans who identify with nondenominational Protestantism "is growing." Pew's count is of people who give the label. It places those who name Calvary Chapel or the Vineyard in its Pentecostal family and those who name Acts 29 in its Reformed family.

Andy Stanley steps down

On 18 October 2026 Andy Stanley, who founded the nondenominational North Point Community Church and North Point Ministries in 1995, announced that he would step down as senior pastor in 2027. He stays on the Board of Elders. Joel Thomas is to succeed him if the congregation approves in a vote, with the result to be announced on 1 November.

Floyd Nelson

The pastor invited in 1961 to lead the informal nondenominational fellowship that became Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

Chuck Smith

Before Calvary Chapel he pastored "several Church of the Foursquare Gospel congregations," and said of that denominational setting, "I just never succeeded." At Costa Mesa he "was known for expository preaching as he worked his way through the entire Bible." He died on 3 October 2013, aged 86.

John Wimber

A pop musician converted at 29, he led the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth and taught at Fuller Theological Seminary before planting Calvary Chapel of Yorba Linda in 1977, which became Vineyard Anaheim. Vineyard USA says he became convinced "that all the biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit should be active in the Church," and his influence "profoundly shaped the theology and practice of Vineyard churches" until his death in November 1997.

Brian Brodersen

Chuck Smith's son-in-law and successor at Costa Mesa. He launched the Calvary Chapel Global Network in 2016 to "engage more with the larger evangelical body," especially in missions abroad.

Andy Stanley

Founder of North Point Community Church. In October 2026 he announced that he would step down as senior pastor of North Point Ministries the next year, and that Joel Thomas would succeed him if the congregation approved.

What the sources do not settle. Hillsong's early history, including its relation to the church in Sydney from which its founders came and the handling of abuse allegations against a leader of that earlier church, is disputed, and this chart does not settle it. A note on the label. "Non-denominational" is a self-description, and Pew counts people who give it. The Hartford Institute finds that among megachurches, "Many are nondenominational, but the majority are affiliated with a denomination," and some large churches that look independent belong to one. Of the networks drawn on here, ARC and Acts 29 are cooperatives that do not govern their churches. The Vineyard approves and disciplines its pastors from a national office, and Hillsong has been a registered denomination since 2018. Calvary Chapel has been two bodies since 2016, the Calvary Chapel Association and the Calvary Chapel Global Network, which publishes the statement quoted here. North Point is a single independent church. This chart attributes each quotation to the one it comes from. Where the movement came from. Calvary Chapel's founding pastor had served Foursquare (Pentecostal) congregations, the Vineyard was sent out from Calvary Chapel, and Hillsong came out of the Assemblies of God. The seeker churches came by another road: North Point began as one new congregation, built for "the unchurched."

The Bible is the final authority, stated in each network's own short statement of faith.

No creed binds these churches together, but each network publishes a short statement of faith, and each begins with Scripture. The Vineyard calls the Bible "our final authority in all matters of faith and practice." Calvary Chapel says it is "the final authority in every area it addresses." ARC calls it "the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God." Acts 29 adds to the Bible two things it requires of its churches: the Lausanne Covenant and a Reformed view of salvation. The networks say their statements are summaries, not creeds; the Vineyard calls its booklet "an attempt to provide a brief summary," and Acts 29 says that "unity does not mean uniformity."

The Bible is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.

We believe the Bible is the final authority in every area it addresses for every individual Christian, as well as for the church collectively

Every church in the network affirms the Lausanne Covenant and embraces a Reformed view of salvation.

The Vineyard goes further: "We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as our final, absolute authority, the only infallible rule of faith and practice." Hillsong says the Spirit "enables us to use spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues." Those teachings are weighed under the Holy Spirit, below.

Saved by grace through faith, confessed in prayer. Baptism is a public testimony after salvation.

These churches teach that a person is saved by repenting and believing in Jesus, and that baptism follows as a public sign. Hillsong says "in order to receive forgiveness and the 'new birth' we must repent of our sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and submit to His will for our lives." Acts 29 says "no ordinance, ritual, work, or any other activity on the part of man is required in order to be saved." Calvary Chapel's page "How to Know God" offers "a suggested prayer" to receive forgiveness. Hillsong's baptism page calls baptism "an outward declaration of the decision you have made in your heart." North Point calls it "a unique opportunity to tell others about your faith in Jesus." None of the statements here fixes the mode. Calvary Chapel's founding baptisms were in the Pacific Ocean at Pirates Cove, and North Point baptizes adults and students who profess faith, with a separate class for children from kindergarten up.

no ordinance, ritual, work, or any other activity on the part of man is required in order to be saved.

Baptisms are an outward declaration of the decision you have made in your heart to surrender to Jesus.

Baptism is a unique opportunity to tell others about your faith in Jesus.

Calvary Chapel's page says that "experiencing forgiveness and beginning a relationship with God is as simple as trusting in Jesus Christ, and confessing your faith in Him." The prayer it suggests ends with the words "I believe that You have accepted me as Your child forever." Acts 29 holds a Reformed view: "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, not on the basis of foreseen faith but unconditionally." Calvary Chapel says "salvation is by grace alone through faith alone," and "that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved eternally."

An ordinance Christ gave, open to all believers. The sources state no set day or frequency.

The Vineyard teaches that Christ gave the church two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and that "Both are available to all believers." Hillsong lists the "breaking of bread" among the things believers meet to do, without saying how often. ARC and the NAE statement say nothing of the Supper. No survey of non-denominational churches alone was found. The nearest is the NAE's Evangelical Leaders Survey of 2013, a poll of its board, in which "The vast majority (70 percent) said once a month." Weekly, quarterly and every other month shared the rest. The NAE's president said communion once a month "seems to balance taking communion regularly while not replacing the central role of the sermon." A small community church, Log Cabin Church, takes communion on the first Sunday of each month.

Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: water baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both are available to all believers.

the necessity of believers to meet regularly together for fellowship, prayer and the ‘breaking of bread’

everyone is welcome to celebrate communion on the first Sunday of each month.

The NAE survey is of evangelical leaders across many denominations, not of non-denominational churches, and it is from 2013. A Lifeway Research survey of 2012 covered Southern Baptist churches only. How often the non-denominational churches keep the Supper is, on the evidence found, undocumented, and the monthly pattern is the best evidence there is.

Each congregation is its own; networks train and approve pastors but rule differently. A senior pastor leads.

Congregational independence is the common form. ARC says the churches it helps plant are "legally autonomous, independently led, separately operated, and solely accountable to their leadership." Acts 29 says its churches are led by elders: "The elders/pastors (terms used interchangeably) of each local church have been granted authority under the headship of Jesus Christ," and "The office of elder/pastor is restricted to qualified men." The Vineyard's national office keeps more authority: among its stated objectives are to "Approve pastors for local Vineyard churches" and to "Exercise discipline over local church pastors in case of misconduct or heresy." Hillsong, since 2018, has "the ability to credential pastors in our own right." Calvary Chapels, a reporter wrote at Smith's death, "reflect Smith's preferences for authoritative male pastors." Calvary Chapel describes "each local congregation" as "an expression of that universal church." In the very large churches the Hartford Institute finds that the senior minister "is nearly always the singular dominant leader of the church."

legally autonomous, independently led, separately operated, and solely accountable to their leadership, independent of the ARC organization

The office of elder/pastor is restricted to qualified men.

Exercise discipline over local church pastors in case of misconduct or heresy.

The Hartford Institute adds that the senior minister is supported by "teams of 5 to 25 associate ministers and often 100 or more full-time staff." That describes megachurches, not all churches of this kind.

A band, new songs and a talk; a service built to be welcoming.

Worship in these churches is built around music led by a band and a message that teaches the Bible. Hillsong says "we have a heart for authentic worship." North Point describes "live modern music followed by a practical, engaging message." The Hartford Institute finds that megachurches use "Innovative and often contemporary worship formats." Smaller churches differ; Log Cabin describes "hymns, prayers and an inspiring message." The Vineyard says its churches "embody a praxis that includes intimate worship," and its booklet calls experience-based worship the central activity of the Vineyard. Instruments are the norm. A Biola University sociologist traced to Calvary Chapel "every church service that has electric guitar-driven worship," and in 1971 Chuck Smith launched a record label for the "Jesus music" of his young members. No source here states a rule on instruments, and none calls for unaccompanied singing.

we have a heart for authentic worship

Services run about 60 minutes and include live modern music followed by a practical, engaging message.

Vineyard churches embody a praxis that includes intimate worship, actively equipping ordinary people for ministry, responding to the initiative and leading of the Holy Spirit, and joining God's mission in the world.

The Hartford Institute finds that megachurches use "Innovative and often contemporary worship formats." Christianity Today's report at Chuck Smith's death says Calvary Chapels show "openness to contemporary music," and a Wheaton historian, Larry Eskridge, called their worship "restrained exuberance."

The Spirit gives all the gifts today, and many of these churches expect them, including tongues and healing.

Calvary Chapel says: "We are continuationist. We believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Scripture are available to and active in His church today." The Vineyard teaches "the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit" and the laying on of hands "for the empowering of the Spirit, for healing." Hillsong says believers "need to be baptised in water and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit," and that "The Holy Spirit enables us to use spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues." ARC names the Spirit's "Gifts and Fruit" without naming tongues. Acts 29 says "there are different understandings in our networks of the nature and function of these gifts." The NAE statement speaks only of the Spirit's "present ministry."

We believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Scripture are available to and active in His church today

The Holy Spirit enables us to use spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues.

We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit.

Christ returns, the dead rise and judgment follows; Calvary Chapel adds a pre-tribulation rapture and a thousand-year reign.

The statements agree on the main events. ARC says Christ "will return personally in power and glory to receive His Church unto Himself." The NAE statement speaks of "the resurrection of both the saved and the lost." The Vineyard teaches Christ's "glorious, visible, and triumphant appearing," the final judgment, "the eternal blessing of the righteous, and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked." Calvary Chapel names more among the marks of who it is: "We are pre-millennial" and "We are pre-tribulational," with the church "caught up" before a time of trial. When Calvary Chapel divided in 2016, one concern of the Association was that Brodersen did not prioritize "the movement's emphasis on eschatology." Hillsong says only that Christ "is coming back again as He promised."

We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth, to sit upon the throne of David and rule over the house of Jacob (Israel), and the entire cosmos, forever

Jesus Christ sits at the Right Hand of the Father and will return personally in power and glory to receive His Church unto Himself.

the final judgment and the eternal blessing of the righteous, and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked.

A prayer to be saved

Calvary Chapel invites the seeker to pray a suggested prayer and take the answer as assurance.

Calvary Chapel's page "How to Know God" says that "experiencing forgiveness and beginning a relationship with God is as simple as trusting in Jesus Christ, and confessing your faith in Him," and gives "a suggested prayer you can use to express your heart to Him." The prayer asks forgiveness and ends with the assurance that "You have accepted me as Your child forever."

here is a suggested prayer you can use to express your heart to Him

I am putting my trust in Him for forgiveness of my sins and restoration of my broken relationship with You.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The page rests on a true text, "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9-10), and the confession of Christ is part of the gospel. But no one in Acts who asks what to do is told to pray a prayer to be saved. When the crowd asked "what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) the answer was to repent and be baptized "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and Saul, three days in prayer, was told "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16). Saul had been praying for three days and his sins were still on him; he called on the name in being baptized, not before it and not in its place. A prayer that takes the place of that answer leaves the person assured of what the apostles never promised them there.

Calling on the name. Calvary Chapel's statement rests on the promise to "all who call on the name of the Lord," and Paul wrote "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). That is the best text for the prayer, and Acts 22:16 shows what the calling was: "be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name." The calling and the baptism are one act there. Not Calvary alone. The Vineyard says that God "regenerates, justifies, adopts, and sanctifies, through Jesus by the Spirit, all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior" without naming baptism as the point of entry.

No denomination above the congregation

ARC and many networks help plant churches that they do not govern.

ARC describes itself as "a cooperative of independent churches from different denominations, networks, and backgrounds." Its churches are "legally autonomous" and "independent of the ARC organization." Acts 29 says that it "does not assume responsibility for monitoring or policing matters of orthopraxy in our member churches." This is the movement's form: the network serves the congregation and does not rule it.

We are a cooperative of independent churches from different denominations, networks, and backgrounds

does not assume responsibility for monitoring or policing matters of orthopraxy in our member churches

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

This is nearer the New Testament pattern than a hierarchy. The apostles appointed "elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), and no bishop ruled a region of churches. The Antioch church sent out Barnabas and Saul by its own act (Acts 13:2-3), as these networks send planters. Credit is due, and the Vineyard, which approves and disciplines pastors from its national office, departs from it. The gap is within the congregation: a church free of outside rule that is then led by one dominant minister does not have the elders the apostles appointed.

Independence is not the same as obedience to Scripture. A congregation that answers to no one outside must answer to the text, and these churches' own statements say that it does.

Verse-by-verse teaching of the Bible

Calvary Chapel teaches the Bible through, book by book, and its pastors follow Chuck Smith's method.

Calvary Chapel's history says Chuck Smith "emphasized the teaching of the Word of God." In December 1965 he began in Genesis and the church read ten chapters a week; the Sunday evening study was "a verse-by-verse study of those same chapters." A Sunday night radio broadcast of that study began on KGER in 1967.

The Sunday evening study is a verse-by-verse study of those same chapters.

emphasized the teaching of the Word of God

And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

This is commended. Ezra's reading "gave the sense, so that they understood the reading" (Nehemiah 8:8), and the Bereans were "more noble" for "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). A church that teaches the whole book, in order, is nearer the apostles' way than one that preaches on topics of its own choosing. The test is whether the teaching stops where the text stops. Calvary Chapel names a pre-tribulation rapture and a premillennial reign as marks of the movement, and reading the Bible verse by verse does not make those the text's teaching.

Calvary Chapel's own history notes that Smith's Sunday morning sermons were "topical messages," and the verse-by-verse method belonged to the evening study.

Spiritual gifts practiced now

The Vineyard, Calvary Chapel and Hillsong expect prophecy, healing and tongues in the church today.

The Vineyard teaches "the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit." Calvary Chapel calls itself "continuationist." Hillsong names "speaking in tongues." ARC does not name tongues, and Acts 29 says its networks hold "different understandings" of the gifts.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works.

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

The gifts of Scripture were real, and these churches are right to take 1 Corinthians 12 to 14 seriously. But the miraculous gifts came through the apostles' hands: "when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given" (Acts 8:18), and they were "the signs of an apostle" (2 Corinthians 12:12), given to confirm the word spoken at the first. The word they confirmed is now written, and "whether there be tongues, they shall cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8). The weight of the New Testament rests on the gifts having done their work in the first generation.

That the practice varies from the Vineyard to ARC to Acts 29 shows that the churches themselves are not agreed on what the gifts are for.

The senior pastor and the large church

In the largest churches one minister leads, supported by a staff.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research reports of megachurches that "The senior minister often has an authoritative style of preaching and administration and is nearly always the singular dominant leader of the church," supported by "teams of 5 to 25 associate ministers and often 100 or more full-time staff." This is a finding about very large churches, not about all churches that bear this label, and many smaller ones are led by elders.

The senior minister often has an authoritative style of preaching and administration and is nearly always the singular dominant leader of the church.

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church.

Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

I wrote somewhat unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Therefore, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his works which he doeth, prating against us with wicked words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and them that would he forbiddeth and casteth them out of the church.

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister;

In Ephesus Paul "called to him the elders of the church" (Acts 20:17), plural, and told them they were the "bishops" (Acts 20:28). No single man led the church. The one man in the New Testament who "loveth to have the preeminence" (3 John 1:9) is named as a warning. Jesus said of those who rule by rank, "Not so shall it be among you" (Matthew 20:26). A church led by a single dominant minister, however sound his teaching, has the office the apostles did not set up.

Acts 29 is nearer the pattern: it says each church is led by a plurality of "elders/pastors." Whether the practice matches the statement in each church is for each church to answer.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. Choose a course to read the Scripture and the reason. These churches have no common creed, so each verdict names the church or network that teaches the position. Where one stands nearer the pattern than another, that is said. Where they stand further, that is said too.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.

The Vineyard, Calvary Chapel and ARC each put Scripture first, and that is the right foundation: the Scripture is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction" and makes the man of God "complete" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The statements fall short in two ways. They treat what Scripture does not forbid as open to the church, which is why contemporary formats, the band and the prayer for salvation have entered without a text, and the church is told "not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6). And some networks set more than the Bible beside it: every Acts 29 church must affirm the Lausanne Covenant and a Reformed view of salvation, and Calvary Chapel names a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial return among the marks of the movement. This placement rests on those churches and networks, and the family is wide.

Prophecy beside the book. The Vineyard says its people "seek to hear the voice of God on behalf of others," and Calvary Chapel's own history records that "A prophecy is given at a home Bible study" about where the church would move. Both say the Bible is the final authority, and they mean it. But a word from God given today is either Scripture's equal or it is not a word from God, and the apostle's rule is "not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6). The rungs. On the rubric's terms these churches hold Scripture alone in principle (Baptist-like), are permissive where Scripture is silent, and bind a few teachings in some networks (Acts 29, Calvary Chapel). The mean of those rounds to this placement, with no move.

which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

These churches are right that a person is saved by faith in Christ with repentance, and Hillsong states the repentance in plain words. They are wrong about what baptism is for. Peter commanded it "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), Ananias told Saul to "wash away thy sins" (Acts 22:16), and baptism "doth now save you" (1 Peter 3:21). Acts 29 says that "no ordinance" is required to be saved, and Hillsong and North Point teach baptism as a public declaration after salvation. Calvary Chapel puts a prayer in its place. The subject is nearer the text, since these churches baptize those who believe, and Calvary's ocean baptisms were the burial of Romans 6:3-4, though no statement here fixes the mode; but the purpose is not the New Testament's.

Their baptism reaches believers, and that is the apostles' practice. What is missing is the answer the apostles gave: "be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38). A person who prays a prayer and is later baptized as a testimony has been told that the sins were forgiven earlier, and Acts 2:38 does not say so.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

The Vineyard teaches that the Supper is an ordinance of Christ for believers, and Hillsong names the breaking of bread, as the first church did. The New Testament pattern is "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), every week. No statement here names a weekly Supper. The best evidence, the NAE's poll of evangelical leaders, finds once a month the norm, and its president defends that as not "replacing the central role of the sermon." A Supper kept less often than the first day of each week is not the apostles' practice, and the sermon was never its rival: at Troas Paul preached "until midnight" at the gathering that met "to break bread" (Acts 20:7). The Vineyard's and Log Cabin's welcome to all believers is not charged.

What the evidence is. No survey of non-denominational churches alone was found. The NAE poll covers evangelical leaders of many bodies, and Lifeway's 2012 survey covered Southern Baptists only, so the monthly pattern is the nearest evidence, not a measurement. The other two questions. The NAE's president says evangelicals "remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ" at the table, which is the memorial of 1 Corinthians 11:24-26. An open table to "all believers" sets no test the text does not set, so it is not charged; the text's own limits are self-examination and the discipline of the church. The placement is the rounded mean of the three, with no move.

These churches stand nearest the pattern in one place: no hierarchy above the congregation. ARC's churches are "solely accountable to their leadership," and Acts 29 says its elders "will give an account to the Lord." That is the apostles' way: "elders in every church" (Acts 14:23) and no bishop over them. The Vineyard's national office departs from it by approving and disciplining pastors, and Hillsong by credentialing its own. Inside the congregation the gap is a single leader: Acts 29 names elders, but the Hartford Institute finds the senior minister "nearly always the singular dominant leader" in megachurches, and "neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:3) is the apostle's limit. Ordination of a clergy class leaves a division the New Testament does not make.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

The apostles commanded the church to speak "one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), and the instrument named is the heart. Every mention of music among Christians in the New Testament is singing, from Paul and Silas "singing hymns unto God" (Acts 16:25) to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:15). The worship of these churches is "electric guitar-driven," a band that leads and a congregation that follows, which makes the assembly more an audience than a choir, and the Hartford Institute calls the formats "innovative." The teaching of the Word is the church's constant, which is right: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Colossians 3:16). But a worship set, designed for the visitor, adds to what the apostles gave, and the formats rest on what Scripture does not forbid.

On what it rests. This placement rests on North Point, Hillsong, Calvary Chapel, the Hartford findings for megachurches and the Vineyard. A small church that sings hymns stands closer. Prayer in these churches is offered to God through Christ, as Calvary Chapel's suggested prayer is, and that is the apostles' pattern and is not charged. The placement is the rounded mean of the music, the added acts and the address of prayer, with no move.

The Spirit does indwell every believer, and ARC's and Calvary Chapel's statements say it truly. But the Vineyard, Calvary Chapel and Hillsong teach that every gift of the first century, tongues and healing and prophecy among them, is available to the church now. The miraculous gifts were given through the apostles' hands (Acts 8:18), as "the signs of an apostle" (2 Corinthians 12:12), to confirm the word, "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders" (Hebrews 2:4). The apostles are gone and the foundation was laid (Ephesians 2:20). Where a prophecy is claimed beside the written word, it stands against the sufficiency these same churches affirm. ARC and Acts 29 hold a more cautious view, and are nearer. This placement is authored.

But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus:

The common core is right: Christ returns "in power and glory," the dead rise, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29), and the wicked are judged. ARC, the NAE statement and the Vineyard hold this, and Hillsong holds it briefly. Calvary Chapel names as marks of the movement a rapture before a time of trial and a premillennial reign on "the throne of David." Holding that order is not the fault by itself, though the plain texts lean against it: the saints are raised "at the last trump" (1 Corinthians 15:52), the Lord's revelation from heaven brings rest to His people and "vengeance to them that know not God" on the same occasion (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8), and "the hour cometh" for all in the tombs, good and evil alike (John 5:28). The fault is making the scheme a mark of who the movement is: when Calvary Chapel divided in 2016, the Association, which said it "cannot endorse" the new network, named among its concerns that Brodersen did not prioritize "the movement's emphasis on eschatology." This placement is authored. It rests on Calvary Chapel for that binding, and stands one step off because the binding is one network's and the rest of the family holds the plain core, as the Baptist chart treats the Regular Baptists.

Their best texts. The rapture texts are real: "we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). What the text does not say is that this meeting comes years before the Lord's coming in judgment; Paul calls it the trump "of God," and 2 Peter 3:10 puts the burning of the earth on "the day of the Lord" that comes "as a thief." Revelation 20 is the one passage that speaks of a thousand years, and it is a vision. An order of events may be held as an opinion, but a scheme made a mark of the movement, where the Lord said "of that day and hour knoweth no one" (Matthew 24:36), goes beyond what was given. The pages read do not say whether Calvary Chapel denies that Christ reigns now, so this chart does not charge it with that. ARC, the Vineyard and Hillsong stand nearer, with the plain core.

The non-denominational churches take the Bible as their authority and teach it. They preach that Jesus was born of a virgin, died for sins and rose bodily, and that He returns. Their pastors baptize believers, not infants. They owe no allegiance to a pope, a hierarchy or an ecclesiastical court, and the cooperative networks, ARC and Acts 29, leave each congregation to answer to its own leaders. They plant churches in cities where there were none and welcome a visitor with no church background. Some pastors teach whole books of the Bible in order, as Chuck Smith did from Genesis on.

Measured by the New Testament alone, these churches stand near the pattern in having no denomination above the congregation and in putting the Bible first. They stand short in the purpose of baptism, the weekly Supper, the single dominant leader, the band-led assembly, the claim of miraculous gifts today and the end-times scheme some of them make a mark of the movement. Baptism is for the remission of sins, and a prayer takes its place. The Supper belongs to the first day of every week. Elders, in the plural, lead a congregation, and the apostle forbids lording it. Singing is to be the congregation's, with the heart as the instrument.

These are not the failings of churches that never opened the book. Their founders left denominations, and some left them for the Bible alone, and they teach it with energy. The answer to them is not to doubt their love for Christ but to finish what they began: to ask of the prayer, the band and the miraculous gift what they asked of the creed and the hierarchy, and to be baptized "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), to break the bread on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), and to hold "the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6) and nothing beside them.

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