Two striking phenomena are growing in the world: the movements that play leapfrog with the ecclesial and confessional borders (the charismatic movement is a good example) and ecclesial communities that refuse any affiliation to a particular denomination (they are often called the neo… something).
The Strasbourg Institute for Ecumenical Studies organized a training course on these movements in early July. […]
André Birmelé [professor of theology at the Protestant theology faculty of Strasbourg] offered us an attempt to classify these “new Christian communities” (sociologists have already invented a new acronym: NCC) into 5 types:
Ethnic churches
Evangelical or charismatic “classic” churches (and the charismatic and pietist movements present in “traditional” churches).
Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches
Megachurches, very much related to the personality of the leader
movements with sectarian tendencies but claiming Christianity.
André Birmele underlined that the appearance of NCCs varies a lot from one country to another, according to the types of positioning of the Churches, in particular the majority Church, in society. He then listed the theological challenges that we face in front of these Churches, and 5 deficits that the appearance of these Churches has brought to light, including the one that seems to me the most important, that of our missionary work… He ended up by ecumenical issues, and I particularly noted that of the need for a new methodology in dialogues, theology and ecclesiology not being the issues that most interest these NCCs. […]
- See more at: http://www.regardsprotestants.com/vie-protestante/nouvelles-communautes-chretiennes#sthash.CKrmBr09.dpuf
