Where: Columbia Lakes Resort Conference Centre, Houston, USA

On the 8th of December, Dialogue Society North volunteers attended the seminar titled “Christian Denominations” by Dr. Lynn Mitchell (University of Houston) at Columbia Lakes Resort and Conference Center in West Columbia, Texas, USA. Dr. Lynn Mitchell referred to different groups called denominations while explaining the history of Christianity. He said that the first Christian organization was the Catholic Church, which eventually broke into different denominations especially in the 1500s as a result of Martin Luther and John Calvin. He stated that Christianity was divided between eastern and western theology. And in these two divisions there are six branches: Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Assyrians. Restorationism is sometimes considered the seventh branch. He emphasized that crusades, oppressive wars and genocides are not Christian acts. He also mentioned about the influence of Judaism and Enlightenment on Church.

The whole event lasted for two hours including question/answer section, and participants were very pleased and glad for having chance to take part in this event and share their opinions with others. And for us it was a good opportunity too, to take part in such event in a different environment abroad.