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- Protestantism
Church of Christ
Church of Christ, any of several conservative Protestant churches, found chiefly in the United States. They are strongest in parts of the Midwest and in the western and southern parts of the country. Each church is known locally as a Church of Christ and its members as Christians, and each church is autonomous in government, with elders, deacons, and one or more preachers or ministers, who typically serve under the leadership of a board of elders. There is no organization beyond the local church.
History
The early history of this group is identical to that of the Disciples of Christ. They developed from various religious movements of the Second Great Awakening in the United States in the early 19th century, especially those led by Barton W. Stone in Kentucky and Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. These men had all been Presbyterians. They pleaded for the Bible as the only standard of faith, without additional creeds, and for the unity of the people of God by the restoration of New Testament Christianity. Refusing affiliation with any sect, they called themselves simply Christians.
Controversies developed among the Christians about the middle of the 19th century, principally over the scriptural authorization for organized mission societies and the use of instrumental music in worship. In 1906 in the federal census of religion there was added to the earlier listing of Disciples of Christ a new listing of Churches of Christ that enumerated those congregations opposing organized mission societies and instrumental music. The New Testament mentions neither, and, therefore, the Churches of Christ consider them to be unauthorized innovations.
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After the division, the Churches of Christ continued to grow. Though the churches oppose organized mission societies, missionary work is supported by individual churches. In the late 20th century, the Churches of Christ again experienced internal divisions between more progressive congregations, which increasingly encouraged ecumenism with other Protestant denominations, and more conservative congregations, which remained largely separate from other Christian traditions. Members of the Churches of Christ—particularly the progressive churches—support more than 20 liberal arts colleges and numerous high schools in the United States.
Beliefs and membership
A hallmark of worship in the Churches of Christ tradition is unaccompanied congregational singing. Baptism is of adults, and the Lord’s Supper is observed as a memorial of Christ’s death. The Churches of Christ affirm the orthodox teaching of the person of Christ and the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice with the primacy of the New Testament as the revelation of the will of God.
Variations of conviction about specific practices (whether a single, “common” cup or many cups are to be used in communion) and doctrines (especially millennial ones about the perfect age of Christ’s reign on earth) have produced sharp controversies and withdrawal of fellowship.
In the early 21st century, the group reported 1.18 million members and more than 12,000 congregations in the United States. There are no officers or headquarters.
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