Christian Church/Disciples of Christ

[John81]

Disciples of Christ Beliefs and Practices
Explore the Beliefs of the Disciples of Christ (Christian Church)
By Jack Zavada, About.com Contributing Writer

The Disciples of Christ, also known as the Christian Church, has no creed and gives its congregations complete autonomy in their doctrine. As a result, beliefs vary widely from individual church to church, and even among members within a church.

Disciples of Christ Beliefs
Baptism - Baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It signifies new birth, a cleansing from sin, the individual's response to God's grace, and acceptance into the faith community.

Bible - Disciples of Christ consider the Bible to be the inspired Word of God and recognize 66 books in the canon, but beliefs vary on the inerrancy of Scripture. Individual churches cover the spectrum from fundamentalist to liberal.

Communion - Open communion, where all Christians are welcome, was one of the reasons for the founding of the Christian Church. In the Lord's Supper, "the living Christ is met and received in the sharing of the bread and the cup, representative of the body and blood of Jesus."

Ecumenism - The Christian Church constantly reaches out to other Christian denominations. One of the early goals was to overcome the differences among Christian faith groups. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) belongs to the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches and has had conversations with the Roman Catholic Church.

Equality - One of the four priorities of the Christian Church is to become an anti-racist church. The Disciples of Christ include 440 predominantly African-American congregations, 156 Hispanic congregations, and 85 Asian-American congregations. The Disciples also ordain women.

Heaven, Hell - Views on heaven and hell among the Disciples of Christ range from belief in literal places, to trust in God to provide eternal justice. The church itself does not engage in "speculative theology" and lets its individual members decide for themselves.

Jesus Christ - The Disciples' Confession states that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God ... Lord and Savior of the world." Belief in Christ as Savior is the only requirement for salvation.

Priesthood of Believers - The ministry of believers extends to all members of the Christian Church. While the denomination has ordained clergy, lay people play key roles in the church.

Trinity - Disciples of Christ profess God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in their Confession, and they baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Church members are allowed freedom of opinion on this and other doctrines and are expected to give others that same freedom.

Disciples of Christ Practices
Sacraments - Baptism is practiced by immersion; however, people who join from other Christian denominations are accepted without the need to be baptized again. Baptism is performed at the age of accountability.

The Lord's Table is the central focus of worship in the Christian Church, explaining the use of a chalice as the church's official logo. Since one of the goals of the Disciples of Christ is to foster Christian unity, communion is open to all Christians. The Christian Church practices communion weekly.

Worship Service - Christian Church services are similar to those of other mainline Protestant churches. There is singing of hymns, responsive readings, recitation of the Lord's Prayer, Scripture readings, a sermon, an offering, communion service, and a recessional hymn.

To learn more about Disciples of Christ beliefs, visit the official Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Website.

(Information in this article is compiled and summarized from the following sources: disciples.org, religioustolerance.org, bremertondisciples.org, Religions of America, edited by Leo Rosten)

http://christianity.about.com/od/Disciples-Of-Christ/a/Disciples-Of-Christ-Beliefs.htm

[John81]

Is what's put forth here fairly accurate?

We have several fairly large Christian Churches in our area. They are very popular churches.

Some of the things in the article I had not heard before while others didn't seem to fit with the Christian Church I'm most familiar with.

What do you know of the Christian Church, their beliefs and practices...or anything else?

[mkrishna]

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2011‎ ‎8‎:‎18‎:‎22‎, John81 said:

Is what's put forth here fairly accurate?

We have several fairly large Christian Churches in our area. They are very popular churches.

Some of the things in the article I had not heard before while others didn't seem to fit with the Christian Church I'm most familiar with.

What do you know of the Christian Church, their beliefs and practices...or anything else?

The disciples of Christ and Christian Church separated from each other years ago. The disciples of Christ are liberal, while the Christian church is conservative. The Christian church has doctrines similar to the church of Christ in regards to Baptism, salvation, etc. They believe water baptism is part of the salvation process. Both have their roots in the restoration movement.

[Invicta]

I haven't heard  of them. I don't think there are any around here, but then I didn't know there was a WWCoG in the area till one turned up at our Easter service about five years ago having received one of our leaflets.  He was quite regular at one time and then moved away but still come to our seniors lunch once a week although it involves a bus journey of over 1½ hours.

[Ukulelemike]

EDITED AWAY

[Genevanpreacher]

In Southeast Indiana where I live the 'Church of Christ' use to call themselves  the 'Christian Church'. So in my talkings with various one's over the years (about 28 now) they all answer the same thing when asked about the value of baptism (immersion). They believe a believer comes in contact with the actual blood of Christ in the act of baptism and get their sins washed away when immersed. I have heard Christian Churches out of Indianapolis that say different in their preaching, which sounds Baptist in doctrine. But around here they are noticeably living lost lifestyles.

[John81]

The local Christian Church has varying beliefs/views on salvation depending upon who their current pastor happens to be. Some of their pastors stress the NEED for baptism in order to be saved, some believe baptism is a necessary part of salvation but don't push it strongly, a few either don't preach the necessity of baptism for salvation or they don't believe it's necessary.

Unfortunately there are several, many in fact, people around here (sadly, many who have already passed on) which have been led astray into believing since they agreed to be baptized at that church they are good with God and going to heaven when they die. Their hope is in the words of Christian Church teaching that being baptized assures them of salvation and heaven. In this teaching Christ is secondary, if considered much at all by those who get baptized.

[Critical Mass]

I believe they are similar to the Untied Methodist except in baptism and are also very liberal because they don't have any theological boundaries or standards. Basically anyone can join as long as they say "Jesus is Lord".  As mentioned above they were part of the Restoration Movement which basically means, "We are the true church of God here to restore the gospel and everyone else are apostates". A lot of American cults popped up at this time like Mormonism, Millerites and Seventh Day Adventism and they were competing with men like Lorenzo Dow, Peter Cartwright and Charles Finney during the Second Awakening in America.

Ronald Reagan was a Disciple of Christ before switching to Presbyterian (the Disciples of Christ came out of Presbyterianism).

Edited December 4, 2015 by Critical Mass

[Ukulelemike]