Churches of Christ

Churches of Christ is a fellowship of loosely associated Christian churches united by their common beliefs and shared differences from most Christian denominations. Originating in the early nineteenth century from a movement that came to be known as the Restoration, these churches do not consider themselves Catholic or Protestant. Their philosophy is not one of disagreement with existing churches but of restoring the church to its first-century origins in the time of the first apostles and the earliest Christians.

There are several Christian fellowships of similar names that are not linked to the Churches of Christ. These include the churches of Christ—spelled with a small c in church—and the Church of Christ—with church as a singular.

The Churches of Christ claim 11,875 congregations, with membership hovering around 1.4 million worldwide. The largest concentration of churches in the United States can be found in Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

History

In 1801, a camp revival meeting—popular during the time in American religious history known as the Great Awakening—was held in Cane Ridge, Kentucky. The minister hosting the meeting, Barton W. Stone (1772-1844), was astonished at the depth of religious fervor and deep emotional reaction he saw among the more than 20,000 people from various Protestant denominations that attended the meeting. Stone was convinced that abandoning all faith practices except those derived directly from the Bible's New Testament would restore the church to unity, just as he felt it did among the various denominations who had gathered for the revival.

A former Baptist named Alexander Campbell (1788-1866), who shared a similar philosophy, joined with Stone and formed the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement—often known as the Restoration Movement. They encouraged breaking away from denominational labels and practices and emphasized a strict following of the New Testament. The Old Testament was considered to be inspired by God and an accurate representation of its times, but its rules and teachings should only be followed when they are repeated in the New Testament.

The early leaders of the Churches of Christ encouraged adherents to only use the terms Christian or disciple to refer to themselves and abandon other labels. Although the founders' intentions were to foster a return to Christian unity, the church was beset by division almost from the start. One of these disagreements was about church music. Some felt instrumental music was permissible. Others, citing the fact that the New Testament makes no mention of instrumental music but only of singing, felt that only a cappella singing was acceptable. This is still the official position of the Churches of Christ.

Beliefs

The Churches of Christ do not follow a creed or any formal statement of church doctrine or belief. Instead, they rely fully on the New Testament, which they believe is the basis for the faith and the only way to return it to the one true church that Christ intended.

In keeping with what they read and observe in the New Testament, members of the Churches of Christ are baptized when they are consenting believers, not as infants. They believe baptism brings forgiveness of sins and that infants are without sin. Other conditions for baptism include listening to the gospel and believing in Christ, which also require consent.

They observe the Lord's Supper—also called the breaking of bread, or simply communion—on a weekly basis, usually on Sunday, the biblical first day of the week. In most churches, this is done with unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice rather than wine. This practice is based on scriptural accounts of the disciples coming together on the first day of the week to break bread, as described in the New Testament Book of Acts (Acts 20:7).

Churches of Christ worship services include music, but only as described in the New Testament. This means it is limited to the singing of hymns, Psalms, and other spiritual songs without instrumental backup. This is in keeping with the belief that if a practice is in the New Testament, it is part of the Churches of Christ's practice; if the New Testament mentions it as something to be avoided or is silent on the matter, it is not part of the Churches' practice.

Organization

The individual churches of the fellowship known as the Churches of Christ are each self-governed by a council of men who are elected from each congregation and meet the criteria stipulated in the New Testament books of 1 Timothy and Titus. Each congregation also has deacons who meet the biblical requirements mentioned in those same Biblical books.

Unlike most Christian churches, they do not follow a hierarchical structure and have no local, regional, national, or international councils, boards, or other governing bodies. They have no central leader and instead proclaim Christ as the leader of their church. They do not host annual meetings and have no official publications, and are linked only by their common belief in God and Jesus Christ as savior, as outlined in the New Testament.

While there are other groups who hold similar beliefs, they often differ in one or more areas—singing versus the use of instrumental music being a common one, weekly communion another—and are thus different from the main Churches of Christ despite the similarities in name.

Various groups do work together cooperatively on projects such as missions and outreach efforts. As a group, they are also members as a group of the World Council of Churches.

Bibliography

Baxter, Batsell Barrett. “Who Are The Churches of Christ and What Do They Believe?” Internet Ministries, church-of-christ.org/who-are-the-churches-of-christ. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Bost, Thomas G. "Reason, Freedom, and Apocalyptic Vision: Churches of Christ and the Practice and Teaching of Law." Faith and Law: How Religious Traditions from Calvinism to Islam View American Law, edited by Robert F. Cochran, New York University Press, 2008, pp. 130-147.

"Disciples of Christ/Churches of Christ." World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/disciples-of-christ-churches-of-christ. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Fillinger, Kent E. “Noninstrumental Churches of Christ Facing Uncertain Future.” Christian Standard, 13 Oct. 2021, christianstandard.com/2021/10/noninstrumental-churches-of-christ-facing-uncertain-future. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Jones, Timothy Paul, PhD. Christian History Made Easy. Torrance, California: Rose Publishing, pp. 53-54.