Pastor Blogs - Why is Wellington a Non-Denominational Church?

Question: Why is Wellington a non-denominational church? Is it because it is not scriptural to be apart of a denomination? I would think there would be some benefit to being associated with others who share your convictions. I am simply curious as to your reasons for remaining non-denominational.

Answer: As a pastor and elder, I really care about the people who worship and serve at Wellington. My responsibility as pastor and teacher is not my job, but my life's calling and passion, so I never want to do anything that could ever hurt the people the Lord has entrusted to me in any way.

Therefore, if our eldership could find a denomination that shared our conviction regarding theLordship of Christ, the authority of His inerrant word and a commitment to making disciples by teaching the people to obey all that He has commanded, we would certainly consider becoming a part of such an organization. While we have found other congregations who agree with our convictions and commitment, we have yet to find a denomination.

If all Southern Baptist churches were of the same mindset as Al Mohler, John MacArther, Mark Dever, Alistair Begg, etc, we could gladly become a part of such a denomination, but I had this conversation with one of their leaders recently and he agreed there are many Baptist churches who remain a part of their denomination "in name only" but do not share basic convictions regarding fundamental truths.

We can't with a clear conscience place our congregation under the authority of a denomination that is so inclusive that fundamentals of the faith have to be compromised in order to maintain unity.

I am responsible for the people entrusted to me, so I try to be very careful about any authority I would allow to be placed over them that could compromise any portion of Scripture.

Wellington is a part of the IX Marks (Mark Dever) commitment ... T4G coalition ... TMAI (The Masters Academy International) and other ministries that connect like-minded congregations but are not classified as a denomination with officers, delegates, etc.