Local church

Local church

A local church is a Christian religious organization that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by pastors or lay leaders, and, in nations where this is permissible, often seek seek non-profit corporate status. Local churches often relate or affiliate with denominations, connecting them with a specific tradition within the Christian religion, sharing in a broad sense a history, culture and doctrinal heritage with other church bodies of the same tradition.

Contents

Types

A local church may be an independently run congregational church and may be associated with other similar congregations in a denomination or convention, as are the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention or like German or Swiss Landeskirchen. It may be united with other congregations under the oversight of a council of pastors as are Presbyterian churches. It may be united with other parishes under the oversight of bishops, as are Methodist, Anglican, and Eastern churches. Finally, the local church may function as the lowest subdivision in a large, global hierarchy under the leadership of one priest, such as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Such association or unity is a church's ecclesiastical polity.

Description

Among congregational churches, since each local church is autonomous, there are no formal lines of responsibility to organizational levels of higher authority. Deacons of each church are elected by the congregation. In some Baptist congregations, for example, deacons function much like a board of directors or executive committee authorized to make important decisions, although these congregations typically retain the right to vote on major decisions such as purchasing or selling property, large spending and the hiring or firing of pastors and other paid ministers. In many such local churches, the role of deacons includes pastoral and nurturing responsibilities. Typically, congregational churches have informal worship styles, less structured services, and may tend toward modern music and celebrations.[citation needed]

Local churches united with others under the oversight of a bishop are normally called "parishes." Each parish usually has one active parish church, though seldom and historically more than one. The parish church has always been fundamental to the life of every parish community, especially in rural areas. For example, in the Church of England, parish churches are the oldest churches to be found in England. A number are substantially of Anglo-Saxon date and all subsequent periods of architecture are represented in the country. Most parishes have churches that date back to the Middle Ages. Thus, such local churches tend to favor traditional, formal worship styles, liturgy, and classical music styles, although modern trends are common as well.

Local parishes of the Roman Catholic Church, like episcopal parishes, favor formal worship styles, and still more traditional structure in services. The importance of formal office is also a distinctive trait; thus a solemn mass may include the presence of officers of the Knights of Columbus as an escort for the regional bishop when he is present. Likewise, vestments are valued to inculcate the solemnity of the Holy Eucharist and are typically more elaborate than in other churches.

A local church may also be a mission, that is a smaller church under the sponsorship of a larger congregation, a bishop, or a greater church hierarchy. Often congregational churches prefer to call such local mission churches "church plants."

A local church may also work in association with parachurch organizations. While ParaChurch Organizations/Ministries are vital to accomplishing specific missions on behalf of the church they do not normally take the place of the local church. Ministries, Bible Studies and other such Parachurch partnerships may be seen as beneficial and as a great means of personal growth and effective ministry but without superseding (in priority and commitment) the local body of Christ.

Local church vs. denomination

The word denomination is sometimes used as a synonym of local church. Sometimes, however, denomination is used to mean the whole tradition to which the local church belongs. So, for example, some writers refer to the United Methodist Church as a denomination, while others refer to Methodism as a denomination. For this reason, many scholars in the disciplines of Theology and Religious Studies prefer to speak in the following manner: a religion is a broad movement, sharing a common world view and some doctrinal and philosophical positions, a tradition is a movement within a religion, a church body a physical manifestation of a tradition and a congregation a local gathering of believers who belong to the church body.

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Local Church —    The Local Church is an indigenous nondenomi national Chinese Protestant body, also known as the Little Flock and the Assembly Hall Churches. The movement was founded in the late 1920s in Shanghai by Watchman Nee (1903 72). Raised a Methodist,… …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • local church —    This term (from the Latin locus, meaning place ) refers to the presence of the universal Church in a particular place; the local church is properly identified as a diocese or eparchy, but it is popularly used to refer to as a parish.    See… …   Glossary of theological terms

  • Local Church controversies — Non Theological Controversies Naming Issues Internally, the Local Church movement generally refers to itself as The Lord s Recovery . Some critics claim that, as Watchman Nee and Witness Lee never claimed the name Local Church for the movement,… …   Wikipedia

  • Local Church, the — ▪ international religious group       international Evangelical Christian group founded in China in the 1930s and based on the belief that a city or town should have only one church.       The Local Church grew out of the ministry of Watchman Nee …   Universalium

  • Local church (disambiguation) — A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches (affiliation), a group affiliated with Witness Lee and the Living Stream Ministry * Parish, a local church united with other parishes …   Wikipedia

  • Local Church (and ‘shouters’) — Protestant sect The ‘Local Church’, which is sometimes called by its adherents ‘churches in the Lord’s recovery’, is a movement partially derived from ideas of Watchman Nee (Ni Tuoshen, 1903–72) and his movement, called by some the Little Flock.… …   Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture

  • The Local Church — is one of several groups which arose out of the Plymouth Brethren tradition …   Wikipedia

  • Church of God in Christ — Classification Protestant Orientation Pentecostal Polity Episcopal Leader Charles E. Blake Geographical areas Worldwide Founder Charles Harrison Mason Origin …   Wikipedia

  • Church planting — is a process that results in a new (local) Christian church being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, new worship centre or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already… …   Wikipedia

  • Church Property —     Property Ecclesiastical     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Property Ecclesiastical     Abstract Right of Ownership     That the Church has the right to acquire and possess temporal goods is a proposition which may now probably be considered an… …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”