Lutheran Churches of the Reformation, LCR, is an association of Lutheran congregations.

The LCR is governed through annual conventions where delegates of the congregations vote.

For missions, the LCR has a missionary-at-large to serve those who have moved away from their congregations and other like-minded Lutherans.

Abroad, the LCR supports congregations in Nigeria and Kenya and has trained pastors for the Lutheran Churches of the Reformation in Nigeria.

As of March 2009, about 1, 300 people are baptized members of LCR congregations.

The congregations in the LCR and the Concordia Lutheran Conference were organized as the Orthodox Lutheran Conference, or OLC, in 1951.

These congregations formed the Concordia Lutheran Conference, while the others, along with Kretzmann, joined with more conservatives leaving the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to organize as the LCR.

The Fellowship of Lutheran Congregations, FLC is a group of congregations that left the LCR in 1979 after a dispute concerning the proper procedure of excommunication.

In February 2006, five congregations and four pastors suspended church-fellowship with the rest of the LCR when, in the wake of a disagreement regarding the doctrine of the ministry, an LCR congregation was dissolved through legal action by certain members, most of whom were female, who disagreed with their pastor.

A position paper titled The Ministry and Auxiliary Office with Respect to Legalism, which was presented at that conference in an attempt to resolve the controversy, has since been adopted unanimously by the remaining congregations of the LCR.

Those congregations that withdrew membership with the LCR have declared church-fellowship with each other and have since organized the Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference or OLCC.

* the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large ;

Although most congregations hire one or more Rabbis, the use of a professional hazzan is generally declining in American congregations, and the use of professionals for other offices is rarer still.

In 2006, a few top staff in the national denominational offices ( two attorneys named, the Clerk suggested by role in the exposé article cited below ; none of those staff still serve in those offices ) produced documents labelled " Privileged and Confidential Attorney Work Communication " recommending that presbyteries use " spiritual language " in defending property rights and assuming a defensive posture, obligating congregations to file suit.

" Mergers of local congregations and use of the term " Unitarian-Universalist " in printed publicity date from 1932 or earlier.

While these were written to govern congregations, not individuals, many UUs use them as guides for living their faith.

* The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large ;

Some congregations emphasize this diversity and use it to enrich individuals ' search for their own truths.

Congregations call themselves " churches ," " societies ," " fellowships ," " congregations ," or eschew the use of any particular descriptor ( e. g. " Sierra Foothills Unitarian Universalists ").

A few congregations use neither.

However, some UU congregations have grown to appreciate alternative terms such as fellowship and retained them even though they have grown much larger or lost features sometimes associated with their use ( such as, in the case of fellowships, a traditionally lay-led worship model ).

In most cases, congregations also use other elements of liturgical worship, such as candles, vestments, paraments, banners, and liturgical art.

In adopting the statement on Holy Communion entitled This Holy Mystery in 2004, the General Conference of the Church urged congregations to move toward weekly celebration of communion and to use the official liturgies of the church when doing so.

The church in which he preached, the Église de Notre Dame la Neuve — now known as the Auditoire de Calvin — had been granted by the municipal authorities, at Calvin's request, for the use of the English and Italian congregations.

Other congregations have incorporated the use of red balloons, signifying the " Church's Birthday " into their festivities.

For congregations that use a Paschal candle it is the largest candle in the worship space.

Today, the " Brethren Suit " still is worn in the most conservative congregations, although some men dress in a simple style by wearing a collared shirt in a single color without a tie, while women in these congregations may continue to practice the use of a prayer covering.

Like some other groups that assert the lack of clerical titles within the church as narrated in the New Testament, congregations in the Restoration Movement ( i. e., influenced by Barton Warren Stone and Alexander Campbell ), often disdain use of The Reverend and instead use the more generalized designation Brother.

Under the new financial reporting regime, local churches are permitted to use some funds for local purposes, such as constructing local church buildings for use by the congregations.

The WELS believes that the Ministry of the Word is divinely established and that congregations and the synod may choose the forms of public ministry they wish to use.

* The Authorized Version ( King James Version ) of the Bible is the English translation used for church services in North American congregations.

Though the local congregations are commonly and popularly known as Elim Pentecostal Churches, the legal name of the denomination is still Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, which is based on the church's stand for four fundamental truths-" Jesus Christ as the Saviour, Healer, Baptiser in the Holy Spirit, and Coming King.

In 1817 – under the auspices of King Frederick William III of Prussia – the community of the Supreme Parish Church, like most Prussian Calvinist and Lutheran congregations joined the common umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Prussia ( under this name since 1821 ), with each congregation maintaining its former denomination or adopting the new united denomination.

The English congregations have officially used the New King James Version since 1998.

The ILC was organized in 1979 after three congregations left in protest when a pastor was suspended from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod because of claims he made regarding the King James Version of the Bible.

The writer of the letter of James identifies himself as “ a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ ,” in much the same way as did Jude, who introduced the letter of Jude by calling himself “ a slave of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James .” ( Jas 1: 1 ; Jude 1 ) Furthermore, the salutation of James ’ letter includes the term “ Greetings !” in the same way as did the letter concerning circumcision that was sent to the congregations.

James Robertson, a minister from Oxford County, Ontario was first called ( 1873 ) to a congregation in Winnipeg, and in 1881 was appointed as missions superintendent, where he provided leadership and growth to new settlers, student ministers, ordained missionaries, and congregations.

His funeral was held before a packed house at Beth-El on November 6, 1879, where his plain coffin was carried into the congregation by 12 pallbearers and placed before the pulpit, which included such gathered rabbinic notables as Richard James Horatio Gottheil of Congregation Emanu-El, Einhorn's son-in-law and successor Kaufmann Kohler of Beth-El, another son-in-law Emil G. Hirsch of Louisville, Kentucky, along with representatives of the congregations he served in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Today, the two church congregations serving the Muskoday First Nation are St. James Anglican Church and the Muskoday Baptist Church.

Literature departments of various congregations of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the USA report that the Watchtower Society no longer prints the American Standard Version Holy Bible nor any other Bible ( other than the Watchtower's own New World Translation and Kingdom Interlinear translations ) and thus no longer supplies them to the congregations, however some individual congregations of the Jehovah's Witnesses may still have some ASV Bibles in stock and available to the public.

* A primitive faith based on the Bible alone promised a way to sidestep the competing claims of the many denominations available and for congregations to find assurance of being right without the security of an established national church.

With a standardised, printed English Bible and Prayer Book being read to church congregations from the 1540s onward, a wider public became familiar with a standard language, and the era of Modern English was under way.

Beginning in 1894, Christian ministers under the direction of Charles Taze Russell were appointed to travel to and work with local Bible Students congregations for a few days at a time ; within a few years appointments were extended internationally, formally designated as " pilgrims ", and scheduled for twice-yearly, week-long visits at each local congregation.

However, some congregations accept or even encourage individual interpretation of the Bible and their faith.

Bible scholar Bruce Metzger wrote regarding the formation of the New Testament canon, " Although the fringes of the emerging canon remained unsettled for generations, a high degree of unanimity concerning the greater part of the New Testament was attained among the very diverse and scattered congregations of believers not only throughout the Mediterranean world, but also over an area extending from Britain to Mesopotamia.

The controversy fractured the Bible Student movement and some congregations split into opposing groups loyal either to Rutherford or those he had expelled.

The " Bible " churches look more like traditional non-denominational congregations.

The second group does not use separate Bible classes, and consists of approximately 1, 100 congregations.

A third group does not use multiple communion cups ( approximately 550 congregations ; this category overlaps somewhat with those congregations that do not use separate Bible classes for children ).

What followed was a period of increased sovereignty among local churches, what McKean calls a " reactionary ' new vision ' of autonomous congregations, consensus leadership with no lead evangelists, the elimination of structured outreach ( Bible Talks ) and the elimination of discipleship partners.

They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, and seek to be New Testament congregations as originally established by the authority of Christ.

Free Will Baptist congregations believe the Bible is the very word of God and without error in all that it affirms.

* Some congregations conduct Bible studies and classes as part of the routine church schedule.

Most congregations also hold summer vacation Bible school classes during the summer school holidays.

Having Presbyterian roots and located mostly in South Carolina, this group of around 15 congregations was affiliated with Nickles Holmes Bible College in Greenville.

Besides speaking in tongues, other spiritual gifts recorded in the Bible ( specifically in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 ) are encouraged to operate in Pentecostal Holiness congregations for the edification of the Body of Christ.

The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches exists to increase fellowship between member congregations, promote evangelism and missions, and represent the congregations through membership in boards and organizations outside the FEBC.

Aberhart was a fundamentalist, preaching the revealed word of God and quoting the Bible to find a solution for the evils of the modern, materialistic world: the evils of sophisticated academics and their biblical criticism, the cold formality of middle-class congregations, the vices of dancing and movies and drink.