What Is Catholicity?

Wanted: Catholic Pastors

By Mark Dever | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

Do you actively work to partner with other local churches to fulfill the Great Commission? Or do you act as if your church can take the gospel to the ends of the earth all by yourselves?

What Is Catholicity and What Does It Require?  

By Jonathan Leeman | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 09.29.2023

What do our churches mean by “catholic” when we recite the Nicene creed (381) and declare our belief in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church?

Are Ecclesiological Convictions and Catholic Affirmations Mutually Exclusive?

By Jonathan Leeman | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 09.25.2023

The charge of anti-catholicity, when used to critique ecclesial convictions, evinces an inadequate understanding of catholicity.

A Catholic Church

By Mark Dever | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 09.05.2023

The church’s catholicity is the simple acknowledgement that the church is not confined to any one place or people.

Fundamentalism May Feel Safe, But It’s Shortsighted

By Phil Newton | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 09.11.2023

A narrow fundamentalism blinds us to healthy catholicity and theological error due to pride in a sterile, tightly-packaged belief system.

What Catholicity Requires: Tightly Held Beliefs and Big Hearts

By Scott Logsdon | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

How do we partner well with others when our convictions don’t align?

When Catholicity Leads to Compromise

By Jonathan Worsley | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 10.30.2023

For all the good of catholicity, an over-realized catholicity is potentially poisonous.

Catholicity in History

Martin Bucer as a Cooperating Pastor

By Jason Lee | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 10.26.2023

Against the Reformation’s backdrop of such vehemence and occasional violence, there are also sterling examples of Christian partnership and catholicity.

“Very Sweet Honey”: Basil of Caesarea’s Friendship with Syrian Christian Eusebius of Samosata

By Michael A. G. Haykin | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

Eusebius’s friendship with Basil of Caesarea during the doctrinal watershed of the 370s is of vital importance and should be remembered in any account of the Cappadocian theologian’s formulation of the Holy Spirit’s deity.

Catholicity in a Divided Age

Ecclesiological Triage

By Michael Lawrence | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 09.19.2023

How do we decide when and to what extent to cooperate with churches that are more or less like-minded?

Same Health, Different Look: Ecclesiology in Historically Black Churches

By Welton Bonner | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

You can build beautiful partnerships with churches that look different than yours if you look beyond the forms to see the elements.

Black and White Church Catholicity

By Bobby Scott | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

How can predominantly white and black churches work together without compromising the convictions of each?

Why Racist Churches Are Anti-Catholic

By M. Y. Emerson, R. Lucas Stamps | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

Racism is a direct affront to Scripture, to the gospel, and to the Nicene Christianity that follows from them.

The Internet and Christian Catholicity

By Samuel D. James | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 08.14.2023

Every Christian, church, and pastor lives in a specific context. It’s increasingly difficult to remember our particularity in the digital age.

Catholicity and the Local Church

Partnering Together: A Practical Guide

By Aaron Menikoff | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 07.31.2023

Churches ought to relate in four specific and interconnected ways.

Single Assembly: Advancing the Gospel by Investing in Other Churches

By Alex Arrell | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 08.21.2023

The implication of multi-site/service models is that the best way for the lost in your town, city, or country to hear the gospel is the expansion of one particular empire.

Cooperating Under Persecution 

By Paul Plantinga | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 10.10.2023

I see a strong and growing catholicity among persecuted churches in China that churches in freer environments could learn from.

Give Members Permission to Leave Your Church

By Juan Sanchez | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 08.10.2023

Once we learn to hold on to our members loosely, assuming they are joining another gospel-preaching church, we will begin to enjoy the benefits of leading some to flourish elsewhere, blessing other churches as a result.

Catholicity and the Church Membership Process

By John Sarver | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.06.2023

Meaningful membership upholds glad-hearted catholicity.

How to Use Prayer Meetings to Promote Catholicity

By Ben Lacey | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.13.2023

Use your prayer meeting to help create Great Commission culture in your church, a culture that puts competition to death and extends friendship, hospitality, and generosity to other churches.

Pray for Revival—in the Other Guy’s Church

By Andy Johnson | 9Marks Journal: Pursuing Revival While Avoiding Revivalism | 06.14.2022

God has a big plan for his whole world, and God will accomplish his work in the world. Sometimes he may do that through us. Sometimes he may do it through the church down the street.

Stop Calling Them Names

By Sam Emadi | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 07.17.2023

If you’re prone to use name-calling with theological opponents, consider three passages in Scripture and how they address our unhealthy culture in evangelicalism of pejorative labeling.

Catholicity and Missions

The Great Commission Is Bigger Than Your Church

By Bobby Jamieson | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.20.2023

The Great Commission is bigger than your local church. How should that shape your priorities and posture as a pastor?

How Catholicity Compels Missions

By J. Kelly, J. Bowman | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 10.04.2023

Catholicity is not only an anchor to help the church remain faithful to the apostolic faith, but it also provides a theological basis for global missions.

How Catholicity Promotes Church-Centered Missions

By Ryan Robertson | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 08.28.2023

How can pastors encourage their congregations to appreciate ecclesiological distinctives without discarding a spirit of catholicity?

Catholicity in Different Contexts

What I’ve Learned from the Anglicans

By Dave Gobbett | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 07.24.2023

Here are nine lessons a Baptist learned from his friends within the Church of England.

What I’ve Learned from the Baptists

By Sam Ferguson | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 07.24.2023

Here are four things Baptists have taught one Anglican about ecclesiology.

What I’ve Learned from the Presbyterians

By Mike McKinley | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 07.24.2023

My life, thinking, and ministry would be much poorer if it were not for the influence of the Presbyterian ministers, teachers, and writers that I have encountered, whether in person or through their writings.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Association, edited by Ryan King & Andrew King

Review by Nathan Carter | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 07.20.2023

“Association” is unique in the way it presents a deeply biblical vision for autonomous congregations working with each other.

Book Review: Until Unity, by Francis Chan

Review by Taylor Hartley | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 09.15.2023

Chan’s ‘Until Unity’ appeals for Christians to be united.

Book Review: Baptists in the Christian Tradition

Review by Jeremy Kimble | 9Marks Journal: Catholicity | 11.27.2023

In their recent edited volume “Baptists and the Christian Tradition”, Matthew Emerson, Christopher Morgan, and Luke Stamps, along with various contributors, argue for the good of theological retrieval and engaging the Great Tradition for the sake of strengthening Baptist beliefs.

Seasons in a Pastor’s Life

Giugno 2024
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Evangelism

Febbraio 2024
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Catholicity

Novembre 2023
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Church Planting

Novembre 2023
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A New Christian Authoritarianism?

Aprile 2023
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The Church’s Ministries

Dicembre 2022
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The Pastor and Church Administration

Settembre 2022
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Pursuing Revival While Avoiding Revivalism

Giugno 2022
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Expressive Individualism in the Church

Marzo 2022
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Sound Doctrine: The Foundation for Faithful Ministry

Ottobre 2021
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The Ordinary Means of Grace—Or, Don’t Do Weird Stuff

July 2021
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How to Build Up Your Church: A Guidebook for Members

Marzo 2021
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Heaven: Rejoicing in Future Glory

Dicembre 2020
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Pastoring Through Political Turmoil

September 2020
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Shepherding: The Work & Character of a Pastor

Giugno 2020
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What’s Wrong With Gospel-Centered Preaching Today?

Marzo 2020
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Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning

Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning

Dicembre 2019
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The Heart of the Gospel: Penal Substitutionary Atonement

August 2019
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Church Membership: Following the Lord Together

Church Membership: Following the Lord Together

Maggio 2019
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Ecclesiology for Calvinists

Febbraio 2019
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The Pastor and Pornography

The Pastor and Pornography

Ottobre 2018
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Pastoral Burnout: Its Causes & Cures

Luglio 2018
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Church Life: Our True Political Witness

Spring 2018
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Church Discipline: Medicine for the Body

Gennaio 2018
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The Reformation and Your Church

Fall 2017
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Church Mergers and Plants

Summer 2017
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Pastoring Singles

Spring 2017
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Healthy Churches around the World

Fall / Winter 2016
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Authority: God’s Good and Dangerous Gift

Summer/Fall 2016
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The Church Praying

Spring 2016
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Confessions, Covenants, and Constitutions: How to Organize Your Church

Winter 2016
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Missions: Adding Wisdom to Zeal

Dicembre 2015
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Multi-Ethnic Churches

Summer/Fall 2015
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Expositional Preaching

Spring 2015
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Complementarianism & the Local Church

Winter 2015
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Vanishing Church?

Fall 2014
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Biblical Theology: Guardian and Guide of the Church

Summer 2014
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The Church Singing

May–June 2014
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Prosperity Gospel

January–February 2014
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Evangelism – Part 2

November–December 2013
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Evangelism – Part 1

September–October 2013
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Is Scripture Enough?

July–August 2013
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Church and Churches

May—June 2013
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Pastoring Christians for the Workplace

March—April 2013
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Lay Elders: A User’s Guide—Part 2

Jan—Feb 2013
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Lay Elders: A User’s Guide – Part 1

November—December 2012
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Discipling in the Church

September—October 2012
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Mercy Ministry in the Church

July—August 2012
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Wanted: Apostolic Pastors

May—June 2012
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The Underestimated Doctrine of Conversion

March—April 2012
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Don’t Be Too Cool for Sunday School

January—February 2012
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Revitalize: Why We Must Reclaim Dying Churches—and How

November—December 2011
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The Pastor and his Staff, Part 2

September—October 2011
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The Pastor and his Staff, Part 1

July—August 2011
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Church Membership: Holding the Body Together

May—June 2011
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Church and Parachurch: Friends or Foes?

March—April 2011
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Pastoral Moves

January—February 2011
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Book Reviews on the Mission of the Church

November—December 2010
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Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality

September—October 2010
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Pastoring Women

July—August 2010
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Journal about Deacons

Deacons

May - June 2010
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A New Evangelical Liberalism

January—February 2010

Church Discipline (Part 2)

November—December 2009

Church Discipline (Part 1)

September—October 2009

Missions

July—August 2009

Multi-site Churches

May—June 2009

Young Pastors

March–April 2009

Raising Up the Next Generation of Pastors

January–February 2009

Counseling in the Church

November–December 2008

Family & Parenting

September–October 2008

Marriage & Pastors’ Wives

July—August 2008
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Living As a Church

May–June 2008

Cooperation

March–April 2008

Corporate Prayer

January–February 2008

Church & Culture

November–December 2007

Race and Ethnicity

September—October 2007

The Gospel

July–August 2007

Preaching

May–June 2007

Elders (Part 2)

March–April 2007

Hospitality & Friendship

January 2007

Elders (Part 1)

February 2007

Biblical Theology

November–December 2006

The Church’s Mission

October 2006

The Emerging Church

September 2006

Miscellaneous Articles

Dicembre 1999