I have recently started talking with a young colleague of mine about the church he attends - he described it as non-denominational. I asked if the Church had a doctrinal statement- to which he said he would have to check. So the next week he got back to me and said he asked the pastor (which happens to be his older brother) if they had a doctrinal statement. The brother/Pastor replied- "yes we do- it's the Bible."

While on the surface, that answer might sound very commendable (and convenient)I know that many drastically differing denominations can claim the Bible as their basis, so the answer that their only doctrinal statement is the bible seems problematic (and not particularly helpful for someone a bit interested in the Church if I could only figure out what they believe in all the nitty-gritty stuff that I would find in a doctrinal statment).

Can anyone extrapolate on the purpose of Doctrinal Statements or Confessions of Faith - in particular why it should be necessary for a Church to have some kind of "what we believe" document other than simply saying "we believe the Bible"?

I am hopefully going to email this friend of mine explaining why I asked for a doctrinal statement but I'm having a hard time pinpointing what exactly I should say....

~Tracylight