Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Ask The Thoughtful Pastor: Is Acts 29 A Cult? Why Do They Marry So Young?

Ask The Thoughtful Pastor: Is Acts 29 A Cult? Why Do They Marry So Young?

Last updated on: April 6, 2018 at 9:27 am by Christy Thomas

Ask The Thoughtful Pastor: Is Acts 29 A Cult? Why Do They Marry So Young? 2018-04-06T09:27:57-05:00 Christy Thomas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Calvin Refusing The Lord’s Supper To The Libertines, In St. Peter’s cathedral, Geneva. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

Issues about the Acts 29, neo-Calvinist church movement continue to concern me for multiple reasons. See these questions today for the Thoughtful Pastor.

Two questions today over similar issues:

Dear Thoughtful Pastor: I read your article about neo Calvinism and the Acts 29 network. I have attended a few Acts 29 churches. I am frustrated with how things are, and I am having a hard time finding a church that shares my convictions. I am no longer complementarian, and I am not on board with predestination

Do you see this movement lasting? Or has it been around a while, and people just think it is a new movement?

I feel like this theology is creeping into many churches, not just Acts 29. What are your recommendations on finding a good church?

And

Dear Thoughtful Pastor: My daughter recently became a member an Acts 29 church. I find the congregations similar beliefs, regurgitation of biblical information, and identical behaviors a bit peculiar. They seem to think that their interpretation is right and above all others understanding of the Bible.

Many of her friends in the church circle have recently become engaged or married. All fit the similar profile of dating 6-9 months before becoming engaged, married within 5-8 months, and knowing each other for a total of a year or slightly more from meeting**, dating, engagement** and marriage. All are college students under 23. All seem to think Ephesians is the most important book in the Bible.

In your research, is this church border-line cult, or is it the new “religious trend” for kids under 25?

Important definitions:

Acts 29: an aggressive church planting network grounded in neo-Calvinist theology. The president of Acts 29 is Matt Chandler, lead pastor of the Flower Mound-based Village Church. See this site for more infomation.

One Acts 29 core value: “the equality of male and female and the principle of male servant leadership.” This works out in church life as “Complementarian.” Husband and wife complement each other in their roles. Under the Acts 29 assertion of equality, the husband/father/male takes on ultimate leadership roles and responsibilities in both home and church.

Predestination: a theology which asserts that a totally sovereign God chose, even before the creation of humanity, who would spend eternity in heaven. Those not chosen are destined for hell, seen as “eternal conscious torment.”

Both complementarianism and predestination can be found in the Bible, particularly in the letter to the Ephesians, thus its centrality in the teachings of neo-Calvinist churches.

John Calvin, a 16th-century French theologian articulated these understandings as a part of the larger Protestant revolution, which Martin Luther and his 95 Theses had sparked. It’s not new.

Its strengths come from the orderly hierarchical nature of the theology, the direction of God in all of life’s decisions, and its unshakeable belief that the Bible is without error of any kind. These principles support quick marriages because God has a chosen mate of the opposite sex for each. Once that person appears, why wait? God will work out all possible problems.

But life is messy and doesn’t always fit into watertight boxes and boundaries, so those strengths may also be its weaknesses.

Core doctrines are established by a small group of men, mostly Caucasian. Debate concerning them has no place in an Acts 29 church. Believe it or leave.

The book of Ephesians was probably written around 62 AD by Paul of Tarsus. Paul, a Roman citizen, never met Jesus but penned a number of letters that comprise our New Testament.

The Gospels were written later as the formation of communities centering on Jesus began to take place. They speak routinely of the rule-breaking life of Jesus, bringing into question the careful order of life, family, and church found in Ephesians.

Jesus routinely ate with sinners, fed the hungry, touched and healed the untouchables of his day and demanded no particular beliefs. Worse, he hung out with women and let them speak with him in public, an almost unspeakable breach of conduct for a good first-century Jewish male.

So, are Acts 29 churches cult-like?

Yes, in the sense that they are sure they and they only have the correct interpretations of Scriptures and have the words that lead to salvation.

No in the sense that there is freedom to leave, although that freedom is limited to some extent by the covenants that must be signed by those wishing to achieve full membership status. Those membership covenants give the all-male elders considerable leeway in deciding whether to put someone under church discipline. When a member has been placed under discipline, he/she may not withdraw membership until the situation has been resolved to the satisfaction of the elder board.

Even so, it can be safe place to be, to thrive, make friends and find mates. Many people rear wonderful families in this environment.

As for how to find a good church: I’m going to leave that for the next column!

The Thoughtful Pastor All questions are welcome. You can email your questions to [email protected], “like” her Facebook Page, or message her on Twitter.

[Note: a version of this column appears in the Friday, February 19, 2016 print and online editions of The Denton Record Chronicle.]

membership covenants for churches

theology

Village Church

Village Church cult

Previous Post

February 15, 2016

On Facebook, Defining Christians and Friendship Bullying

Next Post

February 19, 2016 Pope Says OK to Birth Control

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category " obedience abortion accommodation accountability administration adolescence Advent advice an ordinary death anxiety apology apportionments Ash Wednesday ask thoughtfulpastor baptism betrayal Bible bondage calling certainty change character charity children Christianity Christmas church church as garden clergy clergy credentials closure comfort compassion competition compromise Confirmation conservation conservative conspiracy theories consumer conversion coronavirua corruption courage covenant cultural context death Deconstruction discipleship discord divorce doctrine doing good drugs dysfunctional Easter Easter; Resurrection education election entertainment envy escape evaluation evil exclusive church exercise faith faithfulness family fasting fear feast featured film review finances first world problem food forgiveness fundamentalist garden gay marriage General Conference generosity giving thanks GLBT glory good government grace guilt habit happy harmony hateful acts healing health health care heaven hell hello/goodbye heresy hidden agenda holiness homelessness homosexuality humility hymn hypocrisy Imago Dei In training inclusive church indulgence injustice innocents insurance intolerance itinerancy joy Justice kindness Kingdom of Heave kingdom of heaven language laughter laundry lawsuit leadership Lent LGBTQ liberal life Little Things Matter longform meandering thoughts memories mercy metaphor metrics miracle misfortunes morality Mormon Muslim mystery worship natural disasters New Category Name nutrients older adults oppression pain Paleo paperwork partnered pastor peace pension pharmaceutical placebo politics poverty prayer privilege public schools questions quiet racism rain reason reconciliation religion repentance requirements rescue respect rest resurrection retirement Sabbath sacrament sacred salvation same-sex marriage sanctuary schism schooling science SCOTUS secrecy separation of church and state sexism sexuality short cuts silence sin sleep soil spiritual journey stillness suffering surgery sustainable church teacher technology thank you theology therapy thinking tolerance TOS trust truth Uncategorized welcome Why Easter? wisdom women worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz