- General Resources
- Holy See web site (the Vatican’s official web site)
- http://www.vatican.va
- New Advent Catholic Web Site (jumpsite)
- http://www.newadvent.org
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen
- Catholic web links
- http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/catholic.html
- Marian Library of Dayton
- http://www.udayton.edu/mary
- Catholic Orders
- Christ in the Desert Monastery
- http://www.christdesert.org/pax.html
- Monks of Adoration Monstery
- http://www.monksofadoration.org (Features sanctuary picture updated every 60 seconds.)
- Franciscan Timeline
- http://worldmall.com/erf/francisc/francis.txt
- Secular Franciscan Order
- http://www.ofs.it
- Secular Franciscans (USA)
- http://pages.map.com/SecularFranciscanEcology
- Order of Saint Benedict
- http://www.osb.org/osb
- Sacred Places & Things
- Shroud of Turin Official Site (Vatican Exhibit)
- http://sindone.torino.chiesacattolica.it
- St. Jude Shrine
- http://www.stjudeshrine.org
- Eastern Rite Churches
- Arimathea (Orthodox Christianity jump site)
- http://www.orthodox.co.uk/arimathea.htm
(The impressive Arimathea site has links to the official sites of most of the Orthodox bodies, and to the eastern-rite Catholic churches.) - Orthodox Church in America
- http://www.oca.org
- Example: Holy Trinity Cathedral (San Francisco) http://www.holy-trinity.org
- Byzantine Catholic Church in North America
- http://www.byzcath.org.
(The Byzantine Rite Catholic churches remain in communion with the Vatican, in contast to the Orthodox churches, which do not. The liturgy used by both traditions is essentially identical.)
- "High Church" Denominations
- Episcopalians:
Episcopal Church (Unofficial) - http://www.mit.edu/~tb/anglican (excellent links)
- Church of England Home Page
- http://www.church-of-england.org
- Franciscan Order of Céli Dé (Anglican Franciscans)
- http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~jketler/grayfriar.html
- Episcopal Lectionary
- http://www.io.com/~kellywp
- Lutherans:
Evengelical Lutheran Church in America - http://www.elca.org
- Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
- http://www.lcms.org
- Presbyterians:
Presbyterian Church in America - http://www.pcanet.org
- Example: Peachtree Presbyterian Church (Atlanta GA)
- http://www.peachtreepres.org (Internet broadcast of regular services.)
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- http://www.pcusa.org
- Congregationalists & Similarly Organized Groups
- Congregationalists:
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches - http://www.naccc.org
- United Church of Christ
- http://www.ucc.org
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
- http://www.disciples.org
- Churches of Christ
- http://www.church-of-christ.org
- Example: Asylum Hill Congregational Church (Hartford CT)
- http://www.ahcc.org (audio sermons)
- Baptists:
American Baptist Churches - http://www.abc-usa.org
- Southern Baptist Convention
- http://www.sbcnet.org
- Example: Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Falwell's Congregation)
- http://www.trbc.org
- Methodists:
United Methodist Church - http://www.umc.org
- Free Methodist Church of North America
- http://www.fmcna.org
- Evangelical Methodist Church
- http://www.emchurch.org (Caution: This site plays hymns as you browse it.)
- African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- http://www.amezion.org
- United:
United Church of Canada - http://www.uccan.org
- Others
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) Official Web Site
- http://www.lds.org
- Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Official Web Site
- http://www.rlds.org
- Christian Science Church
- http://www.tfccs.com
- Jehovah's Witnesses site: Watchtower Bible & Trace Society
- http://www.watchtower.org
- Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- http://www.quaker.org
- Seventh Day Adventists
- http://news.adventist.org/main
- United Pentecostal Church International
- http://www.upci.org
- Example: Dual Highway Church of God
- http://members.aol.com/jhamby1878 (Hagerstown MD) (audio of pentacostalist Rev. Jim L. Hamby's sermons)
- Unitarian-Universalist Association
- http://www.uua.org/main.html
- Example: Univarian Universalist Church of Atlanta http://www.uuca.org
- Worldwide Church of God (publishers of Plain Truth)
- http://www.wcg.org
The essential logic of Protestantism is to found new churches when there are differences of opinion on points of faith or practice. As a result there are countless completely independent churches and very small congregations, typically congregational in character or founded by a single pastor and controlled largely by him or her.
In some cases these may be groups of immigrants who conduct religious services in the language of their home country but without affiliation with a larger denomination.
In other, somewhat more interesting, cases these churches define themselves by some social or doctrinal issue that is central to their mission and seems important at the historical moment of their founding. It is sometimes difficult to appreciate how differences that seem trivial today could have been important enough in the past to split churches over. (That is why fusion of separate churches occurs as well as fission of existing ones.)
To suggest the nature of the process, this section is devoted to new denominations derived from one concern of our own era: issues of gender and sexual-orientation.
Various gender and sexual-orientation issues have proven particularly troublesome for mainstream denominations in recent years. For example, Roman Catholicism requires celibate male clergy, but movements have arisen urging that this be changed. Some denominations prohibit female clergy, and again the prohibition is under almost continuous attack and occasional defiance. Most mainstream denominations condemn homosexuality with greater or lesser severity, although sometimes with an outreach. (An example of Catholic outreach is the St. Victor Church http://www.saintvictor.org in Los Angeles. )
Not surprisingly, one finds newly instituted independent churches or small denominations that are founded specifically as a result of such issues.
Here are some examples that emerged from Alta Vista in response to the search string "+Christian +church +gay":
- Gay Denominations
- Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches http://www.ufmcc.com
(A Los Angeles-based and otherwise often rather conservative "gay denomination" of Protestantism.) - Evangelicals Concerned http://www.ecwr.org
(A Seattle-based "non-denominational evangelical resource" for conservative Gay Christians.) - American Apostolic Catholic Church http://hometown.aol.com/apostcath
(A denomination of half a dozen congregations following generally "high church" liturgy.) - Gay Congregations
- Freedom in Christ Evangelical Church
http://www.freedominchrist-sf.org
(A charismatic congregation in San Francisco.) - Ray of Home Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ
http://www.rayofhopechurch.com
(A gay congregation in New York) - White Rock Community Church
http://www.whiterockchurch.org
(An otherwise conservative Protestant congregation in Dallas)
Here are links to a few San Diego Churches' Web Sites. This is not a comprehensive list, merely a way to explore some specific congregations of wider Christian denominations and movements.
- Chinese Community Church-United Church of Christ
- http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/1885
- Christ the Cornerstone Lutheran Church
- http://users.aol.com/chriso7980/ctc.html
- Clairemont Covenant Church (Evangelical Covenant
- http://www.clairemontcov.org
- College Avenue Baptist Church
- http://www.cabc.org
- Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul
- http://www.stpaulcathedral.org
- Saint-Johns Episcopal Church (Chula Vista)
- http://www.saint-johns.org
- Episcopal Church in La Jolla
- http://www.stjameshall.com/church.html
- First United Methodist Church of SD
- http://www.fumcsd.org
(Also check our their jump-site page of links to other Christian denominations at http://www.fumcsd.org/fumcsd/relig.html.) - Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist (La Jolla) (Christian Science)
- There is a single coordinated web site, the "Christian Science On-Line Reading Room," for all San Diego Christian Science churches: http://www.sdchristianscience.org
- Kehilat Ariel Messianic Congregation (Messianic Jews)
- http://www.kehilatariel.org
- La Jolla Congregational Church (United Church of Christ)
- http://www.lajollaucc.org
- Orthodox Christian Fellowship (UCSD)
- http://sdcc3.ucsd.edu/~ocf
- Orthodox Presbyterian Church
- New Life Orthodox Presbyterian Church (La Mesa)
http://www.lsvillage.com/newlife
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is a conservative branch established in 1936 in reaction to liberalizing changes in the main denomination. - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- Prebsyterian Church in La Jolla
http://www.ljpc.org - First Presbyterian Church of San Diego
http://www.fpcsd.org
(Complete with streming audio sermons.) - Village Community Church
http://www.villagechurch.org - Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)
- New Hope Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America)
http://www.newhopesandiego.com/NewHopeMain.html http://www.newhopesandiego.com/NewHopeMain.html - North City Presbyterian Church
http://www.northcitychurch.com http://www.northcitychurch.com - Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (La Mesa) (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America)
- http://www.svlc.org
- The Rock Church (Point Loma off Rosecrans) (interdenominational literalist)
- http://www.therocksandiego.org
- St Pius X Church (Roman Catholic)
- http://www.saintpiusx.org
- West Coast Worship Center (Evangelical-Charismatic)
- http://www.wcwc7.org
- Christian Clip Art Collection
- http://www.itsnet.com/~highland/clipart.html
- Cross-Search, a major Christian jump site
- http://www.crosssearch.com
- St. Jerome's House, a very full Christian jump site
- http://members.aol.com/DWFrancis/sjh.html
- Chinese Paintings on Christian Themes (Exhibition Catalog)
- http://www.usfca.edu/library/thacher/icons/gallery.html
- The Bible in Lego Blocks
- http://www.thebricktestament.com.
- Bible in Pig Latin
- http://www.well.com/user/earl/Ible-bay.html
- Tale of an Excommunicated Former Mormon
- God and I
Ever wonder how it feels to be excommunicated? This light-hearted piece suggests that it feels great.
