One of the most common questions we get asked by those leaving Adventism is how to navigate finding a new local church. Our first recommendation is to make sure you understand what the Church is and the various usages of the term “church.” We are an unashamedly classical Protestant organization and we recommend finding a classically Protestant local extension of Jesus Christ’s Body to fellowship with and be fed Christ through both Word and Sacrament ministry. We are located in the United States so our recommendations are in line with that.
Classical Protestant churches universally agree on:
- Monergism (vs. Synergism)
- The Law Gospel distinction
- The Trinity
- The Apostles’, Athanasian, and Nicene Creeds
- Word and Sacrament Ministry
- A once for all time, completed atonement at Calvary
- The 5 Solas (Scriptura, Fide, Gratia, Christus, Deo Gloria)
- The universality (catholicity) of the Christian church
- Infant baptism
- The presence of Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Supper
- Two sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper)
- Liturgical worship
The doctrines classical Protestants disagree on are disputable matters, as Paul himself recognized the existence and validity of (Romans 14:1 NIV). They have unity in what the Bible lays forth as the essentials and charity in areas of non-essentials. This is not to say that these secondary doctrinal matters are not important, but they do not put someone outside of the Christian faith. They are a matter of in-house iron sharpening iron debate between brothers and sisters in Christ.
Below are the classically Protestant branches of Christianity:
Presbyterian (Reformed)
The term “Presbyterian” most specifically refers to a system of church governance. It is the belief of representative assemblies, called presbyteries, over and against episcopal governance (government by bishops) or by congregations (congregationalism). Presbyterianism has a rich history back to the Church of Scotland, well before the Protestant Reformation, which was the point wherein it became a movement in various regions. The Reformed branch of the Reformation was the largest including the Dutch Reformed, French Reformed, German Reformed, Swiss Reformed, Continental Reformed, and others.
Formal statements of faith in the Presbyterian tradition include 1) The Westminster Standards (Confession, Larger and Smaller Catechism), 2) The Three Forms of Unity (Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort) and, 3) The Helvetic Confessions.
Presbyterian Denominations We Recommend:
The Presbyterian Church of America (PCA)
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC)
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (RPCNA)
United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA)
Reformed Churches in America (RCA)
Lutheran
The Lutheran tradition is rooted in the reformation of the Church starting in Germany, eventually spreading to Sweden, Hungary, and the Scandinavian countries. They are organized worldwide in autonomous regional or national synods. Such as the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). The term Lutheran was originally foisted upon Martin Luther and his students as a pejorative. Luther preferred and used the term “evangelical.” By which he meant that they were centered on the gospel.
Formal statements of faith in the Lutheran tradition are contained in The Book of Concord (Augsburg Confession, Luther’s Larger and Smaller Catechism, Formula of Concord, etc.).
Lutheran Denominations We Recommend:
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS)
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)
American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC)
Anglican
The Anglican churches tie back to the Church of England which recognize the archbishop of Canterbury to be its nominal head. The Church of England has roots dating back to the christianization of England in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Under King Henry VIII in the 16th century, the Church of England broke with the Roman Catholic communion due to conflicts with Pope Clement VII. This eventually led to archbishop and reformer Thomas Cranmer implementing changes that aligned the Church of England with the Reformation.
Formal statements of faith in the Anglican tradition include 1) The Book of Common Prayer, 2) The 39 Articles of Religion, and 3) Lambeth Quadrilateral (The Bible, the Nicene Creed, Baptism, Holy Communion, and the episcopate).
Anglican Denominations We Recommend:
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
Conservative Anglican Church of North America (CACNA)
Anglican Catholic (Anglo-Catholic)
We do not recommend joining a modern day evangelical local church which have their roots in the Radical Reformation of the Anabaptists, no differently than Seventh-day Adventism. We also recommend against joining Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy (Eastern, Greek, Oriental, etc.).
However, this does not mean that we do not recognize that lots of well-meaning, born again believers fellowship within and are a part of these various local expressions of the Christian faith. Which is why we pray for unity within the Church as scripture implores us to seek (John 17:20; Romans 15:5–6; Ephesians 4:2–3). We recognize the sentiment of church historian, Philip Schaff, who notes in his infamous History of the Christian Religion:
The unhappy divisions of Christendom, while they are the source of many evils, have also the good effect of multiplying the agencies for the conversion of the world and facilitating the free growth of every phase of religious life. The evil lies not so much in the multiplicity of denominations, which have a mission to fulfil[l], as in the spirit of sectarianism and exclusivism, which denies the rights and virtues of others. The Reformation of the sixteenth century is not a finale, but a movement still in progress. We may look hopefully forward to a higher, deeper and broader Reformation, when God in His overruling wisdom and mercy, by a pentecostal effusion of His Holy Spirit upon all the churches, will reunite what the sin and folly of men have divided. There must and will be, in the fullest sense of Christ’s prophecy, “one flock, one Shepherd” (John 10:16).
Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Religion, Vol. VII, § 2. Protestantism and Romanism
