Calvinist churches?

[desmalia]

Which (if any) denominations hold to traditional Calvinist teachings these days?
I know the Dutch CRC used to, but they've abandoned quite a bit of that now (at least the Canadian chapter has). Are there any that still hold true to it? Or is it mainly only found among some independant non-denoms now?

The reason I'm asking is that all the Baptist churches in the new city I'm moving to belong to Armenian style associations, which is not what we're looking for.

Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

[bbas 64]

Originally Posted by desmalia

Which (if any) denominations hold to traditional Calvinist teachings these days?
I know the Dutch CRC used to, but they've abandoned quite a bit of that now (at least the Canadian chapter has). Are there any that still hold true to it? Or is it mainly only found among some independant non-denoms now?

The reason I'm asking is that all the Baptist churches in the new city I'm moving to belong to Armenian style associations, which is not what we're looking for.

Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

Good Day, Desmalia

There are Presbies, and lsome Reformed baptist churches and you have the founders churches. What city are you moving to?

IN Him,

Bill

[desmalia]

Thanks Bill. We're moving to Nanaimo. There is one Presby church there, but the pastor's wife was, until recenltly, a pastor of her own church as well, which suggests that they are more liberal. There are quite a few Baptist churches, but all that I've researched so far are very liberal as well. There are no Southern Baptist churches in the area at all.

[DIANAC]

Hi, desmalia,
Just a small-tiny correction. It's Arminian, not Armenian. Armenia is a country, former Soviet Union republic, where I was born.
One more...just because a church is not Calvinistic, it's not Arminian. There are middle-road churches.
BTW, we are armenian, but not Calvinist. Imagine, if we were armenian Arminian. Or, even better, armenian Calvinists? That would confuse anyone!
Be well,
Diana

[desmalia]

LOL, thanks Diana. My spelling seems to get worse every year! Spell check has not been good for me...
(Armenian Arminian - too funny!!!)

I've mentioned Calvinist in this thread because I am looking for a more reformed church, and Calvinist tends to be the best place to start. I'm fairly sure there are some middle-of-the-road churches in this city. But that's not really what we're looking for.

[DMcKay]

There really has to be some clearing up of what you're asking in order to answer your question. the reason being that many say Calvinist when what they really mean is that the church holds to all 5 points of the Synod of Dordt which are commonly called T.U.L.I.P. There are many who loudly and proudly say that they are 5-point adherents to T.U.L.I.P., but who would say that they are not Calvinists. Calvin taught quite a bit more than T.U.L.I.P. and I, for one have never had to read through his writings even though I do have them all.

Many of the Independant Baptist Churches with which I am familiar are 5-pointers. As are many of the Bible Churches. But you need to be very specific when you ask a question like this because it covers a lot of area. As my brother BBAS 64 has said many of the more conservative Presbyterian churches are 5-Pointers, and many that call themselves Reformed are as well, but there may be some of their practices which some don't agree with.

For example, I was asked to teach a Sunday School Class at a local Presbyterian church. I was told that they were doing a contemporary religion class and they wanted the opinion of someone with Baptist credentials. I agreed to teach the class. I picked up a copy of the doctrinal book written by the late Dr. Kennedy from Coral Ridge Church. The Sunday before the class I received a list with specifics of exactly what they were looking for. These things included, who was the first Baptist preacher and when during the Reformation did the Baptists begin, and how did their departure from the Catholic Church happen. As I got up to teach the class, I said with tongue in cheek that the first Baptist preacher was named John and that the Baptist church was around long before the Catholic Church was formed.

As I spoke I mentioned that from what I had read from Dr. Kennedy's book that there didn't appear to be too many differences between Presbyterians and Baptists. I explained that Baptist were first called ana-baptist because they didn't hold to the heresy of pedobaptism. As I was leaving I was approached by several people and thanked for the presentation. Then the pastor came up and mentioned that he could think of one difference. He then asked if I wished to stay for the service, were they would be baptizing several infants. Ooooopppsss! Excuse me while I remove my foot from my mouth.

[desmalia]

Oh man, that must have been so embarrassing!

I am indeed having trouble defining what I'm looking for in so many words, so this is a challenge. Most often I'm just finding what I'm not looking for, instead of what I am looking for. So that seems to be my starting point. Does that make sense?

If it helps, I'll lay out a few issues that we keep running into.

First, when it comes to paedobaptism, I'm not a proponent of it, but I don't have a problem with it as long as it's understood that it does not equal salvation. DH grew up in the Christian Reformed Church, where this is common practice. It's very similar to the baby dedications we see at Baptist and other churches. So that particular issue isn't one that I would consider a major one, and DH feels the same.

What I would like to find is a church that prefers expository preaching instead of just topical. I find topical offers too much opportunity to veer outside of context in order to present a human message, instead of God's pure message. I don't mind some topical, but it's really not ideal.

I believe that the Bible is clear when it comes to the issue of women's roles in the church and that we are not to take roles of authority over men or to teach them. When just discussing this with a fellow Christian, it can certainly be an issue that we agree to disagree on without losing fellowship. However I really think the church leadership needs to take a strong stand on such issues. When they start giving in to political correctness in one area, other compromises are soon to follow. So this is an important one.

I believe it's important for a church to make a stand against the support of gay marriage and should not be accepting of ongoing homosexual activity among its members (or any sinful activity, especially sexual sin). Of course all are welcome to come to church as seekers and should be greeted with open arms. But when it comes to ongoing sin, proper discipline needs to be taken. Some churches are still taking this stand. But some are not, and some are, but going to great lengths to water it down as to not appear too offensive to those who disagree.

The same goes for church discipline as a whole. I find it severely lacking in the majority of churches I've been to. Everyone is afraid to stand up for the truth for fear of being called judgmental. But proper discipline is exercising God's love for one another. Accountability is vital in the church body and should be both welcomed and encouraged.

In particular I see the majority of churches turning a blind eye to divorce and remarriage, which is harming members of the body more than anything. If the accountability and support systems were more biblical, this would not be so common.

Now, I'm quite sure I'm not a true 100% Calvinist by anyone's standards. But my beliefs do lean very much in that direction, so that is why I used the term in this thread. But I do very much agree with the five points of Calvinism.

An issue that does not pertain specifically to Calvinism, it seems that most churches in the area I'm moving to are heavily involved in the charismatic/Toronto blessing/health&wealth kind of services. While I do believe God uses His people to perform certain miracles on occasion, I have issues with many of these churches, especially regarding some serious abuse and twisting of Scripture for the sake of the "feelings".

So, as I'm sure you guessed, we're not looking for a charismatic church. And we're not looking for a liberal or politically correct church. It's not so much about rituals or traditions as it is about solid basic doctrine, above all else. We'd like to find a church whose primary goal and focus is the glorification of God. Sounds simple, but it really isn't.

Not sure if I've yet been able to express myself in a way that makes any sense at all yet. So please do ask more questions for clarity. Thanks for your patience. I'm sure there are more issues, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately.

[TrinityLives]

Sounds like my church... I may be writing this wrong , and I feel silly because I am not sure if its correct but its"Affiliated with the Baptist Conference" ( It always says in our Sunday brochures but I cant remember the exact title). Sounds very similar if not to the T of what you are looking for but I live in California ( yeah believe it or not its not a liberal church by any means).
I have been pretty happy that our Pastor is willing to stand up and say all non "politically correct" things without fear. The church is very large and is growing so I believe it is anointed as well.
I don't know if that helps your search but heres there link, maybe you can write and ask if they know of any others like them in your area?????


www.goldenhills.org

They do the dedications btw...

[Annie]

i dunno if theres one in your area but have you considered Calvary Chapel?
from what you listed out in your criteria i think you'd probably very much enjoy CC. The only area where you may differ is they are a pentecostal group (as is my understanding anyway i could be wrong) but they are certainly not toronto blessing level. The most you might notice is more raised hands during worship than where you've gone before

[TrinityLives]

Annie:

I attend a Calvary for Celebrate but my friend goes on Sundays, she says they believe in the fruits of the spirit and you find others speaking in tongues etc. Have you seen that at yours?