The
Independent Churches of Christ/Christian Churches are not technically an
organization, although many will describe us as being a non-denominational
denomination. Through this pamphlet, we will do our best to represent the
Churches of Christ/Christian Churches, but please recognize that there is quite
a diverse variety under this umbrella. Like many denominations, a range of
perspectives are expressed through the different local churches. However,
unlike formal denominations, an unhealthy view at the local level cannot be
corrected by anyone higher up because there is nobody higher than the local
elders when it comes to dictating what a church should or shouldn't do. Likewise,
an unhealthy denominational view can’t trickle down into the local church and
corrupt a healthy local body of believers.
It is our
movement's desire to restore the teachings and practices of the early church,
hence the name Restoration Movement given to our movement. Throughout history,
churches have split over all sorts of different creeds. We want to avoid that.
We were founded on a principle of striving for unity while maintaining a focus
on the essential truths of the Bible. It would be arrogant of us to say that we
haven't stumbled along the way, but this drive is still our focus today.
Despite our failings, we strive to go straight to the Bible rather than our
founders and be faithful to the practices we find in the early church. This
practice of going straight to the Bible and trying to live a church life as we
see in the early church is why we emphasize local autonomy, baptism by
immersion, the priesthood of believers, and the weekly practice of the Lord's
Supper.
You will see
this ideal expressed in our popular slogans.
- · We are Christians only, but not the only Christians
- · In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; in all things, love.
- · No creed but Christ. No book but the Bible.
With all of
this said, the Restoration Movement and the Independent Church of
Christ/Christian Church branch of that movement were forerunners to the
modern-day non-denominational movement. The battle for local autonomy seems to
have been won. Some may not agree with it being a good thing, but local
autonomy is proving to be a valid model taking root throughout the world.
Barton Stone, the Campbells, and the other trailblazers of the Restoration
Movement paved a way that many follow today despite disagreeing on a doctrinal
point here or there. Independent Churches of Christ/Christian Churches
typically accept many of the churches who are also non-denominational as being
in the same spiritual stream despite having originated from different
historical streams. It's not about the history that got us here but about the
direction we are flowing in together.
John Nugent,
professor of Old Testament at Great Lakes Christian College, had this to say on
describing the Independent Churches of Christ/Christian Churches:
"Something that has caused people to look down condescendingly upon our churches is that they judge our beliefs by the local church people who make the news or grow big churches. Yet these people hardly represent where the movement is at and where it is headed. With more structured denominations eloquent people at the top of the ladder represent them through officially approved statements. Yet these don't always reflect what is going on in the trenches of local bodies as much as the vision of where the leaders seek to take all local bodies. But with us, we are often judged by local personalities who may or may not represent us well. Suffice it to say that we, too, have leaders with robust, well conceived visions and are trying to lead local churches forward just like every other denomination. Such leaders are well-educated and experienced and occupy positions in our churches, colleges, publishing houses, and scholarly communities. A true comparison between traditions would have to either compare all traditions by their local expressions or all traditions by their most eloquent and informed representatives. Unfortunately because our representatives are not easily identifiable, we often suffer imbalanced (strawman) comparisons."
DOCTRINE OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCHES
OF CHRIST/CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
From here we
will move on to looking at some views that are commonly shared by the
individual Churches of Christ/Christian Churches. The key is that there is some
flexibility and difference in the way these issues are expressed at the local
level because of our loose affiliation without any established hierarchy beyond
the local leadership. These are excerpts from the Encyclopedia of the
Stone-Campbell Movement.
ON LOCAL
AUTONOMY
"Christian
Churches/Churches of Christ have opted for a polity fiercely protective of
congregational autonomy. This is evident from the total absence of any
organizational tie uniting the fellowship of some 5,500 congregations and
hundreds of agencies. There is powerful resistance to any effort that might be
seen as compromising in any way the complete and total autonomy of each
congregation. Thus all extra-congregational efforts and agencies (and there are
many) rise ad hoc from private initiative and are sustained by continuing
endorsement from supporting congregations and individuals." (187)
ON MISSIONS
"Few
would deny that the Independent/direct support method of doing missions
employed by Christian Churches/Churches of Christ involves some problems. Few
of the religious communions that are more highly structured, however, can rival
Christian Churches/Churches of Christ in the number of missionaries that are
sustained on the fields. Missions continue to be a focus of major interest
among most of the churches, claiming a considerable portion of each
congregation's budget." (188)
ON WATER
BAPTISM
"True
to the Stone-Campbell heritage, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ practice
immersion of believers as the only valid baptism because they understand this
to be the only method of baptism found in the New Testament and practiced by
the early church. They insist that baptism finds its meaning as it relates to
forgiveness of sin; but they emphatically reject any form of water
regeneration, a charge that is sometimes wrongfully made because of the
emphasis placed on this ordinance" (188).
ON THE
LORD'S SUPPER
"The
other ordinance/sacrament (the latter term is seldom heard) found in Christian
Churches/Churches of Christ is the Lord's Supper, which is observed every
Sunday in every congregation. This, too, is believed to have been the practice
of the early church, and thus it holds a central place in the churches' effort
to 'restore' early Christian faith and practice. Emphasis is generally focused
on the memorial nature of the Supper. Elders usually preside at the table,
although this is not mandated. The Supper is made available to all believers
('open communion')" (188).
ON OUR TEST
OF FELLOWSHIP
"Other
than the 'Petrine confession' of Christ's divinity found in Matthew 16:18 there
is no creedal formula that unites Christian Churches/ Churches of Christ. The
historic slogan 'No Creed but Christ' is taken very seriously. Theological
definitions viewed as barriers to Christian unity and hence rejected as a basis
of fellowship. There is little question that this rejection of theological
formulation has sometimes resulted inadvertently in a degree of theological
shallowness and simplistic Biblicism, but it is an important component of the
heritage of the Stone-Campbell Movement and a basic conviction endorsed by the
whole fellowship" (188).
ON PASTORS
AND THEIR HIRING
"Christian
Churches/Churches of Christ ordain their minister and invest sole authority to
do so in the local congregation. The strong emphasis on the priesthood of every
believer, however, leaves little room for much distinction between clergy and
laity. Thus, laypersons may conduct baptisms, and lay leaders may preside at
communion services. There is no system of ministerial placement among the
churches. Each congregation seeks and employs its own minister(s)" (188).
ON
EVANGELISM
"Evangelism
is a continuing emphasis among Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. The
methods have changed from the revival meetings of bygone years to newer forms
suggested by the church growth movement; but the impulses have not abated. Many
'mega-churches' with attendance averages in excess of 1,000 can be
identified...the largest of these is the Southeast Christian Church in
Louisville, Kentucky" (188).
ON
COOPERATION WITH OTHER CHURCHES
"Christian
Churches/Churches of Christ are not formally involved in any aspect of the
ecumenical movement. This is due not only to the paucity of mechanisms enabling
these churches to join a council but also to the continuing conviction that
such official recognition of denominational statuses would be a repudiation of
the Stone-Campbell heritage. Nonetheless, ministers from these congregations
have no hesitation about participating in local ministerial associations, and
they generally support community efforts in association with other Christian
bodies...Finally, missionaries often engage in cooperative activity with
missionaries from other Christian bodies as they seek to make an impact on
non-Christian cultures" (189).
**
You can look
at the belief statement of the largest and most prominent Independent Church of
Christ/Christian Church, Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, to
see a belief statement that is fairly representative of the beliefs of the
movement. I share this to just show that we have unity with other churches
despite not have a central hierarchy.
Southeast
Christian Church's Belief Statement:
What We
Believe
Essential
truth. Our Statement of Faith. These things don’t change at Southeast. This is
what we believe, and it’s who we are at the core as a church.
We believe…
We believe in one God—Father, Son and Holy
Spirit (Matthew 5:16,45; 6:1,4,8,9; James 1:17/John 1:1; 14:9 / Genesis 1:2;
John 4:24; 14:16-20; 2 Peter 1:21)
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator
of all things visible and invisible (Genesis 1:1; Acts 17:24-28; Hebrews 11:3)
We believe
in Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son, my one and only Savior (John 1:14; 1
John 4:9 / John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:18)
- · Who was born Jesus of Nazareth, both fully human and fully divine, conceived of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary (Matthew 21:11; John 19:19 / John 1:14; Romans 5;15-17; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 1:1 / Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26-38)
- · Who suffered and was crucified under Pontius Pilate (Luke 23:1-46)
- · Who died and was buried, and Who rose again bodily from the dead on the third day (Luke 23:44 – 24:8; John 20:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
- · Who ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father (Luke 22:69; Acts 1:1-9; Colossians 3:1)
- · Who will return to earth to judge both the living and the dead (Matthew 24:36-42; John 14:1-3, Acts 1:10-11; 10:39-42; 1 Peter 4:5)
We believe
in the Holy Spirit
- · Who is an active and operative part of the triune God (John 16:5-15; Acts 1:7-8; Romans 8:26-27)
- · Who indwells every Christian (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:14)
We believe
in the Bible—God’s Holy Word, Scripture. We believe God inspired the autographs
(original writings) of the Scripture and those autographs were consequently
without error (Mark 12:36; John 14:26; 16:12-15; Acts 1:16; 1 Corinthians
2:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:14-16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
We accept
the Bible as the final authority for all matters of faith and practice (Isaiah
40:8; Matthew 5:18; 24:35; Romans 15:4; Hebrews 4:12)
We believe
the Bible teaches that man, created by God, willfully sinned against God and is
consequently lost and without hope apart from Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; Romans
3:23)
We believe
the Bible teaches that salvation—the forgiveness of sins—is only by grace
through the blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 2:8-9;
1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7)
We believe
the Bible teaches that one receives God’s grace by putting faith in Christ,
repenting of sin, confessing Christ and being immersed into Christ (Romans
5:1-2 / Luke 24:45-47; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9 / Matthew 10:32; Romans
10:9; Philippians 2:11; 1 John 4:15 / Acts 2:38, Romans 6:1-7; Galatians 3:27;
Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21)
We believe
in the Church of Jesus Christ, founded on the Day of Pentecost and consisting
of all Christians everywhere (Matthew 16:13-18; Acts 2:14-47)
We believe
the Bible teaches that the Elders are to exercise authority over the local
congregation (Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1
Peter 5:1-4)
SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. Why have a church at all if the community is independent from other communities? The main reason I would think most of us attend is for the community of believers aspect, and if the whole community is just one church building, then why not just sit at home in my pajamas and read the bible and call that my personal church?
A. This is a great question and it comes down to what we believe the church's mission to be. We believe God's wants to fill every city and town around the world with communities whose life together points others to God's kingdom.
Q. Why have a church at all if the community is independent from other communities? The main reason I would think most of us attend is for the community of believers aspect, and if the whole community is just one church building, then why not just sit at home in my pajamas and read the bible and call that my personal church?
A. This is a great question and it comes down to what we believe the church's mission to be. We believe God's wants to fill every city and town around the world with communities whose life together points others to God's kingdom.
We also believe that God's Spirit is the rudder that guides the church. So our independent status allows us to be highly responsive to the Spirit's leading. Since we understand God's Spirit as empowering specific gatherings of believers, irregardless of whatever network they may be a part of, we believe that independent communities work well for the heart of God's purpose for the Church in his mission.
Because God promises his Spirit to gathered communities, not individuals who do spiritual things by themselves, independent gathered communities are in a fundamentally different category from an individual at home.
We do still have fellowship as a community. We go on mission trips and work with other Christian Churches wherever that may be. We are united in sharing ideals despite not having a formal body holding us together. We have a strange yet beautiful sort of unity that isn't forced or kept together by any organization. We are unified in our common friendships and shared mission.
*
Q. Why do you oppose congressional cooperation and/or covenant relationships between congregations?
A. All of our working with other churches spins out of relationships that people in the churches have with each other or relationships that pastors have with each other. If there isn't any relationship, there isn't much cooperation. Everything really spins out of relationships.
Missions are typically done through multiple churches
working together to support a person. Church planting is usually done in
cooperation with churches. Stadia is an example of an organization that is
planting churches together. Disaster relief is structured cooperation with
organizations like IDES. The churches in the area I grew up in work together
with an orphanage. Our camps and colleges are a result of us working together.
However, our cooperation usually exists by an individual with a vision selling
it to multiple churches, which then unites us in the cause. Churches can choose
to join in or stay out.
Q. How does a new congregation form within the Christian Church movement? What keeps it from moving just into the more independent side of things?
A. We plant churches like crazy. Stadia is an organization from
our brotherhood. Exponential is the largest church planting conference in
America, and it is Christian Church in origins yet works with all
denominations.
The only thing that keeps churches from moving out of the
brotherhood (as we like to call it) is that they share the common core
convictions with each other, have good relationships with others in other
Christian Churches / Churches of Christ, and desire to work together. A lot of
us don't really care if you are part of our movement. We will gladly work with
you in your efforts to further the kingdom. Exponential would be a perfect
example of this.
The one positive of all of this is that churches also seem
to crumble when the Spirit has left the building because there is no system
left to just prop it up. Despite this, our brotherhood is healthy and growing.
*
Q. What exactly do you believe in terms of essential truths? If you had to give me what the essential truths are, what are they?
*
Q. What exactly do you believe in terms of essential truths? If you had to give me what the essential truths are, what are they?
A. This has always been a tough one. For we are anti-creedal
in our nature, yet we often have belief statements. Creeds have been typically used
to define who is in and who is not.
Disappointingly, some of us have become more sectarian than
the sectarianism of the denominations our movement was founded to free the
church from. We claim to have no book but the Bible as our guideline for
fellowship and the faith, but we all too often place our interpretations of pet
Scriptures or even beliefs that are not even expressed in Scripture as issues
of fellowship. In denominational churches, they typically have handbooks that
describe what the church believes, what it requires to be a leader in the
church, and how people in the church should live. We have no handbook outside
of Scripture, but all too often, we have erred in making unwritten,
ever-changing handbooks, a handbook just as legalistic as those in the
denominations, except we are not transparent about them and people do not know
what is expected of them.
Our conviction at our church is to not be that way. We want
to be non-denominational, not anti-denominational. There is a big difference.
Anti-denominational people think that people in denominations cannot be right
with God because they are in a denomination. Non-denominational means that we
choose to be locally led, but we don’t hate denominations. Through
non-denominational lenses we do not see the man-made lines we have created.
Non-denominational people do not get hung up with denominational names and view
each person as an individual, right with God based upon their own faithfulness
to Him and not on their church affiliation. Condemning people in other churches
and dividing over the names we use to call ourselves is so contrary to
Scripture.
There are four passages of Scripture that should be the
cornerstone of what we believe is essential: Love God (Matt 22:34-40), love our
neighbors (John 13:34-35), love one another (Matt 7:15-20), accept people as
brothers and sisters in Christ who show fruit and claim that Jesus is Lord (1
Cor 12:1-3). That’s it. Once we start broadening beyond that, we start
alienating people and continually add to our essentials creating a list that
will keep growing and never stop growing.
With all that said, this has been the wrestling match
through the ages. Some would want to make local autonomy, baptism, or the
Lord's Supper essentials. And that is definitely a view held in parts of our
movement. We won’t hold those up as essentials; those are just the way that our
local church expresses restoration convictions in our areas.
Q. Can you recommend/is there a history of the churches?
