Protestant loyalty: toothpaste vs. denomination

This morning in the USA Today, I saw a headline that caught my eye. "U.S. Protestants more loyal to toothpaste brand than church?" Yes, it ended in a question mark as if the writer was thinking, "Say it ain't so."

The article cited a study done by an Arizona group which found:

16% of Protestants would only consider a single denomination 22% of Protestants would only use one brand of toothpaste 19% of Protestants would only use one type of toilet paper

The researchers concluded that denominations are facing the same problem as many consumer products. There are so many different choices, but in the end many people can't see a difference between them. It's sort of like going to the store to buy laundry detergent. There are a lot of brands, but they all clean your clothes.

A pop culture professor in the article said:

Those distinctions, which seemed so important as the various Protestant churches were identifying and evolving...are really not that important to the average churchgoer in the United States.

Finally, the article pointed to research done by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, which found that 44% of Americans have switched from one faith, or one denomination, to another.

All of this leads me to the question: Is the denominational name of a church losing importance?

Looking at my own life, I'm all over the Protestant denominational spectrum. I grew up United Methodist. I work for the Christian Reformed Church. And I attend an Evangelical Free church. When my wife and I were looking for a church, we cared more about the pastoral teaching and church mission than the denominational label. I'd never really heard of the EFCA, until we attended our church.  That said, we also visited a huge church that appeared to be non-denominational, but was actually part of a denomination we aren't theologically in line with.  In that case, denomination mattered.  We were out the door.

I can see the importance of the denomination in terms of support for it's individual congregations and as a partner for doing ministry. But when it comes to picking which church to attend, does the denominational tie really matter?  What do you think?  After all, the big trend for churches now is to rename themselves to take out the denominational element.

Login to comment

Comments (26)

I can agree with the article when it says that this may not be all bad. The Church should be one body. We will always have our differences, and different denominations isn't all a bad thing either (it essentially equates to contextualization with a culture, in a way).

I'm curious to know too the percent error in the study. Those aren't all that disparate numbers, and while surveys do garner useful and interesting information, they need to be read with a grain of salt.
I think a church's theology is more important than the denomination they claim to be a part of. Although I suppose that was the original purpose of naming the denomination in the first place - to identify themselves with a particularly theology. But in the ensuing decades, as churches drifted away, they kept their names, almost as if it was "branding" or something.

I agree with this. My own Christian theology is far from orthodox, so I will travel far to go to a church that shares my theology. BUT I don't believe it's right to travel to a church that shares your label, brand, or personal preferences.

We need to prepare for life in God's kingdom by getting along with & working alongside all of our brothers and sisters, even the ones we don't get along with.
I think that the denominational element of choosing a church is only in the broadest sense. There are types such as the Baptists, Methodists and Pentacostal. All, in my opinion, are centered more around the style of worship and Biblical teachings that appeal to certain types of worship. For instance, those who are Pentacostal have tendencies to shout amen's out while the pastor is speaking, and emotionally connect to the worship in deep ways that do not make sense to other people. Or so I have been told, since I have never been to a Pentacostal church. On the other hand, the Baptists (at least the church that I am going to right now) would tend to frown on such a thing. The services are full of people silently listening to the pastor, and singing along, often accompanied only by a piano or organ. Personally, I would not like to go to a Pentacostal church because of style. I learn better from hearing just one person speak, without the punctuations of Amen. It is simply better for me, in that sense. The Love Languages of God, by Gary Chapman can probably explain some of this. If a person does not feel a difference in terms of style between a Methodist Church and a Baptist Church, he may go to either, depending on the other criteria a person has. In my opinion, that is probably the main denominational tie we have today, though it does not necessarily hold true in all circumstances of course. The denomination is important for support networks (like the BSU, with which I am familiar). Other than that, it is simply a choice by the person to select a church which speaks to his own love language in a powerful way. Which could also be a reason for the changing of churches, and denominations, in order to satisfy such a need. That's what I think, based on what I have learned and experienced anyway.
Great thoughts.
Really enjoyed your post.
Type your comment here
i come from the phils. and sadly, the demoniation i belong to has, in my opinion, become irrelevant as to helping congregations and being a ministry partner. we are one body but unfortunately, denominations more often than not cause divisions rather than strengthening unity. even within these organizations, conflicts and splits occur that has nothing to do with beliefs but more with power, influence and ego. i think it is the Spirit's moving wisdom that many churches choose to rename in order to veer away from denominational identification. i believe this really a good thing. the visible church should lift uo the name of Jesus. not the name of the denomination.

I think the tendency for differing denominations to squabble, or outright fight, with each other has become very embarrassing to a lot of Christians. It doesn't show the love of Christ to others, and serves as a bad example all round.

Personally, the specific denomination is of interest to me (I like to know things where possible), but far less important than the heart and social conscience of a church.

First and foremost, preach Christ crucified, and then as long as nothing is really theologically out of line, and God isn't being presented in a pharisaical way, then it becomes far less important to me the specific denomination a church groups itself with.
I think it's a good trend that denomination doesn't matter for as many people anymore. I think Christians look bad to non-Christians when they divide along denominational grounds, since it looks like we can't even get along with each other let alone love others.
It would be interesting to know how they defined their "Protestants" - was it just people who tick "Protestant" on the survey because they know they're not "Catholic".

Having said that, I think for the majority of Christians the denomination is only a contributory factor, rather than a deciding factor, in whether or not to attend a particular church.
I'm sorry, but I don't see where Yeshua set up any denominations for us. I may be mistaken, but I remember He told us to work together as a body. When a body is chopped up, it ceases to be a whole, and therefore stops working - together or apart. Get rid of denominations, reunite as the whole body of Christ.
I am a Christian; my loyalty resides in Jesus, who is my savior and my lord. Even tough I have been a Presbyterian for about 50 years (most of that time an ordained elder of the church) I worship with Christians of several denominations in the course of any year; PCUSA, PCA, Evangelical, and others. My test is only that the teachings of the church ... Read Morebe rooted in Scripture and adhere to my understanding of Christ's teachings. It is the Body of Christ, not any denomination, that excites me and fuels my faith.
I think that a denomination in itself is not important, since there is no church that saves anybody. But, certainly there is denominations or independent churches that make a big and honest effort to accomplish their role of being an instrument to lead people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as a personal savior (only way to reach salvation . John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.) Unfortunately, most churches today try to entertain their congregation with modern music, meaningless sermons and Sunday schools with no Bible teachings, where sin, God's will, heaven, hell, commandments and many others "old fashioned" concepts are never spoken of. This kind of churches, so common in these days, are obviously an obstacle for people to find the only real relationship with God that is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
If we consider this fact, we must conclude that not every "christian" church is the same and that looking for a church or a denomination to worship God with our family and where our children can find sound doctrines and biblical teachings to conduct them to become children of God, is extremely important.
I would like to make a final comment and question. Why so many churches are not holding Sunday Evening Services any longer? Do you consider that dedicating a couple of hours to attend church means "keeping Lord's day". If a church purpose is to spiritually feed it's member then...they are starving

See the latest in:

Promotion

promo 1 promo 2
promo 3 promo 4

Donate Now