I had never heard of this organization before today. I was looking over their website.

So they are a non-denominational group, that is not a church per se, but actually refers people/students to "Bible-believing local churches."

I'm curious as to what churches/denominations they refer students to, and how they choose which churches/denominations are "Bible-believing."

In other words I am wondering if they are truly non-denominational, or selectively multi-denominational.

They just tell students that attend Breakaway on Tuesdays that they should get plugged in with a local body of believers...aka Church.

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“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”

“Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.”

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

- George Washington

[This message has been edited by AggieBob08 (edited 3/23/2009 5:40p).]

Oh and no they are not affiliated with any denomination.

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“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”

“Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.”

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

- George Washington

This will depend what you are calling denomination. I know they support attending, baptist, non-denom (Grace and others), Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches at a minimum. In general they want students to become participants in the Church itself, and Breakaway is not a forum for developing that kind of servant leadership.

I do not know about the Catholic church b/c I am not catholic.

Well the main deal for Breakaway is the Tuesday night gathering every week. It's led by Ben Stuart, who in my opinion is one of the best communicators of the word out there, especially to today's college aged crowd.

They do offer help to those who are looking to get plugged into a church, and heavily encourage church involvement. The churches that people will be referred to are churches that adhere to the principles of the Bible. For example you would not be referred to a church that teaches that speaking in tongues is mandatory for evidence of salvation, a church that endorses the prosperity gospel, or things of that nature.

As far as catholics are concerned, I do think Breakaway definitely does have a more protestant lean. Sometimes Ben uses old theologians to illustrate his points, some of whom would probably not sit too well with catholics (like Martin Luther).

Yes, I do wonder if they refer to Catholic churches.

When you say "servant leadership", what do you mean?

Is the phrase "Bible-believing church" a code for, among other things, non-Catholic? Does it not imply, those churches for whom there is no higher source other than the Bible? In other words, there are no authorities such as a pope or cardinals who would instruct as to the doctrine and teachings of a church (of course this would exclude Mormons as well, but I never had any illusions that a group like this would have anything to do w/ Mormons).

I would definitely say that Breakaway would never refer anyone to a mormon church. As for catholics, I'm not sure what Ben's exact stance is. I know he was the youth pastor at Faithbridge in Spring before Breakaway (I think he's actually still on staff there) which is UMC. Ken Werlein, the senior pastor at Faithbridge is also currently on the board of directors for Breakaway.

If I had to wager a guess, Breakaway would probably not explicitly refer people to catholic churches. Not that it's an anti-catholic organization, but I doubt Ben would refer people to a catholic church in much the same way a catholic wouldn't refer someone to a protestant church. His teaching though isn't exclusive one way or the other.

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Is the phrase "Bible-believing church" a code for, among other things, non-Catholic?

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I've been to Breakaway with Catholics who loved it. Catholics are definitely not excluded.

I think Gregg Matte (founder of Breakaway) went to Grace, and probably would have invited others to go there as well.



Breakaway is truly not-denominational. They encourage you to get involved elsewhere, and if you go a couple times, I am sure you would have no problem getting invited to go to church with someone there if you were really interested and asked before or after their devotional.

I've known people from Grace, the Church of Christ, various Baptist churches, Methodists and Catholics that loved Breakaway. That is pretty far ranging.

Well, they don't have any Catholic Churches listed on their website. But that may be because the Catholics don't participate in their Ministry Fair, or didn't sign on to Breakaway's statement of beliefs (which calls the Bible 'authoritative').

I (gasp) used to be a Breakaway volunteer back when Gregg Matte was in charge, and don't recall any anti-Catholicism, although back then I wasn't exactly in tune with what that would look like.

They also don't have any Churches of Christ on their website, because they didnt participate in their church fair, either. When I was in Aggies for Christ, Breakaway was a huge deal to a lot of people, and we even moved our weekly devos so that people could attend both AFC Devo and Breakaway every week.

Actually AFC is listed under "local ministries" on the website.

Ben - do catholics not consider the bible to be authoritative?

And for the record I have never encountered anything that would be considered "anti-catholic" at Breakaway. Ben hasn't taught (to my recollection at least) against doctrines that are exclusive to catholics. He does bring up Martin Luther though every once in awhile in his illustrations, but he's also used puritains, catholics, atheist philosophers, etc. Honestly I think he teaches from about as nonbaised a standpoint as you possibly can without trouncing on the specific doctrines of any particular sect. Also I too know some catholics who have enjoyed Breakaway.

How praise-band-ish is it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3IsLLUer60

Based on this video, it seems, extremely.

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How praise-band-ish is it?

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Very. It isn't church. It is a week night get together of praise music and a short sermon.

shiftyandquick, are you an Aggie?

I bet those praise singers on stage pull a lot of wool. I imagine it would be like a psueodo rock-star.

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How praise-band-ish is it?

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Not that there's anything wrong with that./Seinfeld

I keep asking why not a single person here on texgas.com has a Blinn tag.

So I will answer whether I am an Aggie when everyone here answers whether they are/were a Blinndergartener.

Am I an Aggie, I'm going to be chuckling about that for a while.

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I keep asking why not a single person here on texgas.com has a Blinn tag.

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It is TexAgs, not TexBucs.

I received three credits through Blinn. History 2 or some such. I also CLEPed HISTORY 1. I also took Calculus through HCC. All other college classes were taken at Texas A&M for undergrad.

100% aggie undergrad.

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Ben - do catholics not consider the bible to be authoritative?

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I'm not sure about the wording, but I'd guess Catholics wouldn't sign onto anything that appears Sola Scriptura-ish. Honestly, I don't know if that wording would be acceptable to Catholics or not. Any help from Catholic doctrine buffs?

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I received three credits through Blinn. History 2 or some such. I also CLEPed HISTORY 1. I also took Calculus through HCC. All other college classes were taken at Texas A&M for undergrad.

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If you have line of Blinn on your transcript, you're from Blinn, and are not a pure Aggie.

That line was after I had 140-something A&M credits.

I know Breakaway is considered non-denom, but I do remember the leadership and a lot of financial support coming from the baptist church. Gregg Matte who started up breakaway with a few other guys and was the leader for over 10 years is now the lead pastor at Houston's First Baptist Church.

I think breakaway is one of A&M's best organizations and as a student found it to be very uplifting.

I really enjoy it. My roomate, a catholic, did not get as much out of it but never felt excluded because he was catholic.

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How praise-band-ish is it?

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There's usually 25ish minutes of music on the front end, then a sermon that lasts anywhere from the 35-45 minute range. If you're thinking about showing up I would highly recommend it. As I said earlier, Ben Stuart's level of understanding and his ability to communicate scripture to college aged students is amongst the best I've heard.

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I keep asking why not a single person here on texgas.com has a Blinn tag.

So I will answer whether I am an Aggie when everyone here answers whether they are/were a Blinndergartener.

Am I an Aggie, I'm going to be chuckling about that for a while.

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Wow. Defensive much? I was asking because it would be strange for someone to have gone to A&M in the last 10 years and not have heard about Breakaway. Your posts seemed a bit trollish but I didn't want to judge them as that until I knew when/if you were at A&M.

BTW, I didn't go to Blinn. I'm an Aggie.

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How praise-band-ish is it?

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Is there something wrong with praise bands?

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Is there something wrong with praise bands?

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Yes! They suck!

Well...besides musical taste?

I assume there has been no BMX at Breakaway.

At least tell me that.

The thing about praise bands, is that they signify a cultural shift away from the traditional practice of Christianity. The praise band combined with jeans and "super-casual" atmosphere, and the pop-psychology-rebranded-as-Christianity, sprinkled with a little prosperity gospel, stirred in with big-screen TVs and multimedia, throw in a little lasers, and the occasional BMX demonstration, and pretty soon you are pretty far away from what your parents and grandparents thought was "true Christianity."

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.

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The praise band combined with jeans and "super-casual" atmosphere, and the pop-psychology-rebranded-as-Christianity, sprinkled with a little prosperity gospel, stirred in with big-screen TVs and multimedia, throw in a little lasers, and the occasional BMX demonstration, and pretty soon you are pretty far away from what your parents and grandparents thought was "true Christianity."

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Just because praise bands have led to this in the past, that doesn't mean they have to lead to this. My church has a praise band, and I can tell you that we have none of the rest except for a big screen.

Don't forget. Everything that your parents and grandparents thought was "true Christianity" was at one time a new practice. My grandma thinks I am a heathen because I don't go to "Sunday School". I guess than means that the church was full of heathens for 1800 years then.

Wow. You really don't get it. I shouldn't be surprised. Breakaway isn't church. It is a chance for kids to come together during the week, sing a few songs together and hear a message.

There is no prosperity gospel. No pop-psychology. No lasers. No BMW bikes.

Just a few songs and a message to uplift young people during the week.

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The thing about praise bands, is that they signify a cultural shift away from the traditional practice of Christianity. The praise band combined with jeans and "super-casual" atmosphere, and the pop-psychology-rebranded-as-Christianity, sprinkled with a little prosperity gospel, stirred in with big-screen TVs and multimedia, throw in a little lasers, and the occasional BMX demonstration, and pretty soon you are pretty far away from what your parents and grandparents thought was "true Christianity."

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If it doesn't look like how I want it to look like, then it must not be the Gospel.