[AMA Series] Churches of Christ

Hello, hello! I hope you've had a good week thus far. Continuing on with the r/Christianity Denominational AMA Series, the next three AMAs will represent the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement.

Today's Topic
Churches of Christ

Panelists
u/Zaerth
u/KSW1
u/tylerjarvis
u/ythminister

THE FULL AMA SCHEDULE

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AN INTRODUCTION

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from u/Zaerth

The Churches of Christ are part of the Restoration Movement, also known as the Stone-Campbell Movement. Including also the Disciples of Christ, as well as the independent Christian churches and churches of Christ, the movement has its roots in early 1800s America and the Second Great Awakening. Several independent groups were formed with a similar goal: ecumenical unity through the return to a more primitive form of Christianity, particularly that of the 1st century New Testament Church. Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and others set their denominational differences aside, leaving behind their creedal statements of faith that they saw as divisive and harmful to the Body of Christ. Their intent was being “simply Christians.”

Among them were two notable groups. The first was led by Barton W. Stone and referred to themselves as just “Christians.” The second was a group that called themselves the “Disciples of Christ” and were led by a Scots-Irish father and son, Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Also influential in this second group was Walter Scott. Though originally independent of each other, after recognizing their many similarities, they were formally united in 1832.

The Civil War caused a lot of divisions in America, with brother fighting brother. Unfortunately these divisions affected the Stone-Campbell churches and were heightened by the death of the original leaders. Differing beliefs and opinions on certain issues (primarily instrumental worship and organized missionary societies) led to a split, formalized in 1906: the Churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. (The third group, the “independents,” split from the Disciples in the 1960s.)

That’s our history in an itty bitty nutshell.

As the others will point out, defining the Churches of Christ can be very difficult. Each congregation is autonomous, meaning they are self-governed. We have no formal structure beyond the congregational level. As such, there’s a fairly broad spectrum represented under the name “Church of Christ.” On one end, you have the conservative, fundamentalist churches, characterized by a more sectarian, “we are the true church” spirit. On the other, there are the progressive churches, which are more ecumenically minded, hearkening back to one of our old slogans: “We’re Christians only, but not the only Christians.” And then you have many churches in between!

Personal: I’m the minister at a small Church of Christ in Iowa. I was raised in the Churches of Christ and went to an affiliated college (Abilene Christian University). I’ve lived in over 20 places and counting. I can wiggle my ears.

EDIT: Also, shout out to r/StoneCampbell!

from u/tylerjarvis

My experience with the Church of Christ has been varied. As "autonomous" congregations, there is a large variance between the various churches, although most ascribe to a certain basic set of theologies and practices such as:

1. The necessity of (adult) baptism for salvation
2. Weekly participation in communion
3. A capella worship
4. Reliance on Scripture as our "creed"

Not every member of every church of Christ adheres to all of these, but this is a pretty good standard of what to expect if you visit one.

I grew up in a conservative church of a Christ, and attended a Church of Christ university. I currently work at a more progressive Church of Christ as a youth minister. I love my denomination, even though I often find myself disagreeing with some of the more common theologies in our churches. My answers will come from a more progressive viewpoint, but reflect experiences in conservative contexts.

from u/KSW1

I grew up in CoC education, from first grade to undergrad, and though I no longer identify as Church of Christ, it is by far the most familiar denomination to me.

There are regional variances in practice, as each church building is run autonomously, but in general, the ones I went to had these things in common.

• A desire for simple worship. To them, that means no instruments, no fancy church clothes, no elaborate decoration in the church. Bare bones stuff.

• "Speak where the Bible speaks, silence where the Bible is silent". This is somewhat of a controversial one, and it's where the justification for no-instrument-in-worship comes from, because they say that the early church didn't use them, so they don't see the need for them. This is also from where they take a stand that women can't preach in church. Various strands are more and less severe about this, my experience was pretty moderate as far as people's feelings went, but I knew some people who would have a heart attack if you brought a guitar or woman near the pulpit.

• Emphasis on baptism. SUPER emphasis on baptism. They would baptize you in the nearest muddy ditch if you so much as hinted that you liked Jesus.

• No long hair on guys. Totally unimportant in the grand scheme of their doctrine, but for whatever reason, hearing this from the time I was little made me want to grow my hair out. And I did! Not super duper long, but long enough that one time, a very very ancient conservative esteemed CoC member got up to speak in chapel at my college, saw me, and told the whole university that long hair on a man is shameful. We all laughed it off later, but it kinda freaked me out at the time.

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Thanks to the panelists for volunteering their time and knowledge!

As a reminder, the nature of these AMAs is to learn and discuss. While debates are inevitable, please keep the nature of your questions civil and polite.

Join us tomorrow when u/pilgrimboy and u/FlareCorran take your questions on the independent Christian churches and churches of Christ!