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Church of Christ Stuff For the Curious |
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Churches of Christ were born in the early 1800s, when people from various protestant groups formed a unity movement, called the “Restoration Movement.” The idea was to eliminate all denominations and just have one universal church as God intended. In order to achieve this goal, they agreed to several things: · Stop calling themselves by any name other than “Christian.” (No longer called Baptist or Presbyterian, etc.) · They abandoned their denominational organization and practice, and agreed to attempt to be like the “primitive church” in organization and practice (what we do in church, and who decides). · To have no written creed or statement of faith, but to accept only the bible From these simple principles came most of the things that make the Churches of Christ unique today. We do these things because they believed the first churches did them: · Lord’s Supper every Sunday · Only acapella singing in church (No musical instruments) · No name … we are just “Christ’s church,” or the church of Christ · Lead by multiple Elders (Also called Pastors, Bishops, Presbyters) · No central organization … each congregation is autonomous · All members are Priests & Saints (no clergy) At first these things were conceived as ways to achieve unity, but over time they became reasons for division. Some decided, for example, that it was unnecessary to continue to imitate the primitive church’s practice of acapella music. Some decided they would rather have instruments in church than to fellowship with the others, so they split and formed today’s Christian Churches, which are just the same as Churches of Christ, but with instrumental music. |
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Quick overview of Churches of Christ |
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If you’re NOT a member of a Church of Christ, and curious about our beliefs, read on. This is just a quick guide. Someday perhaps we’ll add links to more complete information. |
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No, we are not |
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Are you the same as: The International Church of Christ? United Church of Christ? Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)? |
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God: We believe He is The Creator, Sustainer, and Savior of all Jesus: He is God’s only begotten Son, the Anointed One of Israel. He took human form, died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. By His wounds we are healed. He is our Lord, and on Him we fully depend. Holy Spirit He was sent as a Helper by Jesus, and now lives inside all those who have been born again. Bible: We believe the traditional 66 “books” of the bible are inspired by God, and completely true, reliable, and able to equip us for good works Salvation: God gives the right to become His children (grace) to all who faithfully receive Jesus. We accept His gift by repenting, being born of water and Spirit, and by obediently walking in His light. |
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What are your core beliefs? |
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We have only one Boss: Jesus. Many churches have men called elders who ‘lead,’ but we do not have them at this time. |
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How are you organized? (Who’s in charge?) |
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The answer to this depends upon who you ask. Some people believe that since the bible mentions singing without instruments, it was a deliberate statement of God’s desire. Others believe that instrumental music would be fine (or even preferred) in church, but accept the practice out of respect for others they love. There are other views, but these two represent most folks. |
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Why do you sing without musical instruments? |
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The biggest difference between us and other Churches of Christ is not in what we are, but what we are becoming. At a glance, we appear to be exactly like most mainstream churches. Hopefully, however, this will not be the case for long. We believe in our original ideal: Unity through Restoration. We would like to make it possible for believers to be united and share a common spirit, and we believe the best way to accomplish that is to bring back the idea of restoration. Most current Churches of Christ are caught up in various debates that are more divisive than unifying. One group insists on their freedoms, while the other believes these are not actually freedoms at all, but that God wants something different. Meanwhile, neither of these groups are willing to abandon their current hard hearted ideas and return to simple, primitive Christianity. The biggest barrier is the willingness to “do without.” Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that they should be willing do abandon their rights in pursuit of unity and service to God. So if my brother’s conscience will be compromised by my exercise of a freedom, I will simply give up my freedom for the weaker brother. This means that we teach that many things are permissible, but we don’t practice them because it would create a disturbance within the family. Among other Churches of Christ, our beliefs and teachings would be considered “liberal,” but our practices would be traditional. Someday, if our Lord wills it, our efforts will be blessed by a new generation of disciples who will not have the baggage of church traditions, but will still be careful not to crush the weak. Restoration is the key to our changes. Jesus’ disciples have learned a lot about the primitive church during the last 200 years, yet most Churches of Christ have not changed their practices as they have learned new information. THIS is how we will gradually grow to be much different than most traditional Churches of Christ today, who seem to imagine that they have already restored the primitive church, and that restoration is the only “authorized” way to organize and operate a church (The source of many churches’ exclusivity). |
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How are you like (or different from) other Churches of Christ? |
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Future Answer |
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Future Question |
