Leaven Leaven

Volume 2 Issue 3 The Restoration Ideal Article 7

1-1-1993

Churches of Christ: Past, Present, and Future Churches of Christ: Past, Present, and Future

Mac Lynn

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Lynn, Mac (1992) "Churches of Christ: Past, Present, and Future," Leaven: Vol. 2 : Iss. 3 , Article 7. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol2/iss3/7

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The Restoration Ideal 25

CHURCHES OF CHRIST:Past,Present,And Future

The PastNineteenth century rural America became the

setting for a movement that aimed at reclaiming theideal church. The Restoration Movement arose whenthe secular frontier became receptive to revivalismand Protestant believers disdained their petty dif-ferences. By advocating that Christ is the sole creedand the NewTestament is the authoritative blueprintfor the church, reformers launched an effort designedto produce a replica of the idealized church of thefirst century.

Before the Movement could mature, its partici-pants parted company because they could not agreeon their common task or on methodology. The moreconservative reformers tended toward exclusive-ness from denominational fellowships because, tothem, faithfulness to God couldbe measured only bythe degree that perceived biblical mandates werebeing subscribed. Those mandates would be recog-nizable where the "silence" ofScripture is observedand when biblical material (principally, the NewTestament) is subjected to a "pattern" based ondirect command, apostolic example, and necessaryinference. Special attention was given to the me-chanics of conversion, church polity, and worship.Naturally, human conduct was important, but the

Mac Lynn serves as the Chairman of the BibleDepartment for David Lipscomb University.

By Mac Lynn

emphasis was on outward forms. The more liberalelement, on the other hand, tended toward affinitywith the denominations while continuing to call forscriptural beliefs and practices. To them, tenets ofthe faith were not closely defined by first century"patterns." Differences notwithstanding, theMovement followed a reasoned course as opposed toan experiential one.

Disputes related to the Civil War, a missionarysociety, instrumental music, and critical biblicalscholarship led eventually to a clearly recognizeddivision. Soon after the turn of the twentieth cen-tury, two distinct camps of believers were recog-nized. Those whowere less concerned about patternsestablished by scriptural silence now used instru-ments of music in worship and favored church co-operation through para-church structures. Theyoutnumbered their opponents seven to one.

Between 1925 and 1968 another split occurredin the instrumental fellowship. This division centeredover a dispute of"restoration ism," exasperated overa struggle for power in the missionary society. Thus,three major fellowships have grown out of thenineteenth century Restoration Movement: theChurches of Christ, the Christian Churches/Churches ofChrist, and Christian Church (Disciplesof Christ).

The PresentDuring the twentieth century, a cappella

Churches ofChrist have increased in every region ofthe United States and in many quarters ofthe world.

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Growth has been most significant in the strongholdof the Middle South and in areas affected by migra-tion fed by the Great Depression, World War II, andeconomic expansion. Due to the geographic dimen-sions of division, a cappella congregations in the

Duringrecent years, somecongregations havetended to be less con-

cerned about traditional is-sues. They show more con-cern for freedom in worshipand less exclusiveness fromdenominational bodies

Middle South reflect a much longer history. MiddleSouth congregations tend tohave oldermemberships,with multi-generation roots and strong loyalty toplace and customs.

Churches comprised ofmigrants generally reflecttraditional values and customary ways of conduct-ing church activities. Regions with heavy Old Southmigrants have been less successful in attracting thediverse national population than have churches inother regions, such as the Northeast.

In some ways, the Mississippi River has been adividing line for Churches of Christ. East-Westsectionalism has influenced some practices andoutlooks. Perhaps the most noticeable difference inatmosphere and procedure is in the concept of theroles of elders and preachers. Older Middle Southcongregations tend toward strong decision-makingelders and repetitive preaching. Others are comfort-able with open style leadership, the "ministry sys-tem," and a stronger creative leadership role for thepreacher. Whenever inter-church uproars occur,accusations are more likely to be aimed at a large,urban, progressive white church where the preacherhas a high profile. Attacks are addressed against acongregation through the person ofits localpreacher,who symbolizes the church's posture.

During the past decade, there has been a slightadvance in the number ofcongregations, adherents,and members. However, twenty-one states haveregistered losses in at least one category. The loserswere generally in the Middle South, the OhioValley,

and the Midwest.The majority of Churches of Christ are suffi-

ciently alike in teaching and practice that full fel-lowship exists between them. In a church bodywhich counts over 13,000 congregations with1,284,000 members in the U.S., one-fourth of thechurches (but a smaller percentage ofmembers) aredistinguished by some uniqueness in teaching andpractice. Ninety-one percent of them cluster intothree main fellowship groups, designated Non-In-stitutional, Non-class, and One Cup.

During recent years, some congregations havetended to be less concerned about traditional issues.They show more concern for freedom in worship andless exclusiveness from denominational bodies.

Of the 1,200 congregations which have a pre-dominantly black membership, only a few areidentified with the "non-mainstream" ideas notedabove. Although there are differences between blackand white churches (e.g., in the concept of the min-istry), these differences have not impaired rela-tionships. Black and white churches simply co-exist.

Differences over interpretation and scripturalapplication continue to cause waves of after-shock.Contention about the located preacher, Bible classes,communion containers, institutionalism,premillennialism, and the disciplining ministry haveproduced the greatest disruptions during the twen-tieth century.

Churches ofChrist have emerged form frontierAmerica as the champion ofan ecclesiology dictatedby a pattern deduced from Scripture. While thecutting edge for the Disciples became increasinglymodern critical thinking and ecumenism, Churchesof Christ turned toward refinement of doctrinalpurity. As the second century of the RestorationMovement draws to a close, the distinctive postureofmany mainstream a cappella Churches of Christhas become less clear. A shift in religious interestsover the passing years has rendered the originalthrust of the Churches ofChrist ineffective in evan-gelism since prime target Protestants have simplylost interest in discussing historic doctrine. Unableto adjust adequately to new settings brought aboutby urbanization and immigration, the churches havetended to withdraw form the unfamiliar environ-ment.

Simultaneously, the upward economic and so-cial mobility of the members of Churches of Christhas created a comfortable setting for fulfilling reli-gious rituals. Singing, to a large extent, is rural incharacter, with greater attention given to Stamps-Baxter music than to other forms. A noticeablechange has taken place in the content and delivery

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of sermons and in the educational programs in themore "progressive" churches. With little experiencein moving across cultural lines, Churches ofChristin America remain middle class, Anglo, and English-speaking. Consequently, while service times havechanged over the past forty years, only recently hasthere been movement to change how those servicesare conducted.

Among the minor fellowship groups, Non-in-stitutional churches continue a commitment topatternism. Views may vary along a soft or hardline, but they agree that the common foe is "institu-tionalism." Not only is institutionalism consideredwrong, it is viewed generally as a point of departurefor all sorts of error-eating in the church building,soft preaching, the social gospel, and modernism.Worship services and activities have seen little changesince the 1950s.

Premillennial churches are experiencing ten-sion over trends toward "modernism." Many oftheirconstituency are going to the Christian Church,where more fellowship between the two bodies istaking place. Unquestionably, a major problemwhich the millennial churches are facing is stagna-tion.

Within the Non-class fellowship, the more con-servative hold onto traditional issues, where thereexists considerable tension over the use of a locatedpreacher. However, the less rigid and youngerpreachers know that the class issue is dead. Weakeropposition to instrumental music is developing. Di-vorced persons are generally accepted. Three sub-sets appear to exist among the Non-class brethren:those who either use or permit the use of a locatedpreacher, those whowill not fellowship a church thatuses a located preacher, and those who oppose thelocated preacher but hold some tenets ofmillennialism.

One Cup churches appear to be the most stable.Isolationism shows no signs of breaking down.Neither is there movement among them tofellowshipother one-cup groups which differ over the use ofwine or over who breaks the bread. They all opposethe use of a "located" preacher.

Mutual Edification groups are diminishing. Theyare torn over the question of exclusiveness. Whenopinion leader Carl Ketcherside opted for a moreopen stance toward other members of the Restora-tion family, some churches followed, but not all.Some groups possess a very benevolent spirit, butthis is not sufficient to lead to strong evangelisticoutreach.

A strong characteristic of the opinion leadersamong the churches has been an insistence uponrightness of doctrine, an insistence which has led to

The Restoration Ideal 27

parties and exclusiveness. The perennial issuefacing the church is not the authority of Scripturebut how the Scriptures are to be interpreted fortoday's world. There is a growing disregard forpatternism and increasing interest in experientialfaith. Issues poised to challenge a cappella ChurchesofChrist during the next decade include the woman'srole, hermeneutics, and the question of identity andmission.

The FutureAs one looks to the future, one is inclined to

predict what one wants to see. Noone, ofcourse, hasa clear view ofthe future. One can only project alonglines of trends or contingencies, i.e., if this, thenthat.

If the church continues on its present course,one should expect the closing ofa considerable num-ber ofcongregations, especially in the Middle South,Arkansas, the Upper Midwest, and Texas due to adiminishing younger population, and due to thedecay of rural communities, inner city neighbor-hoods, and economically depressed areas. Churcheswill continue to move to suburbia, leaving a vacuumin the central cities and forgetting the poorer seg-ments of society and the newer immigrants. Manycongregations will grow smaller in numbers. Sing-ingwill continue to decline in spirit and in life. thosechurches which are creating alternative worshipservices will experience increased tensions; somewill divide amidst charges of ,'heresy" and counter-charges of "deadness."

If the new generation of leaders sports a newagenda, the church's direction could be significantlydifferent. If that leadership is well-informed bibli-cally, the church will possess the possibility forworship and action closely based on the Scriptures.The quest is more likely to be for an experientialrelationship with God than for dogmatics. To besure, the church ofthe future generation will reflectboth the mind of its leadership and of the dominantChristian groupings.

If a significant number of churches were todecide to take the inner city and new immigrantpopulations seriously, the portrait of the churchwould be quite different. The body would be morerepresentative of society as a whole. It would bedealing more with people who face the threat ofcriminal activity, drug abuse, and open sexual pro-miscuity. Anglo leadership style and worship formswould acquiesce and a fellowship with more varietywould emerge.

If congregations wander toward a non-descript"community" identity, they may enjoy the success ofgrowth, but they may run out of substance.

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. If the younger generation continues to exitat the present pace or at an accelerated pace, aleadership crisis will develop which willmake changeeven more difficult and will mean in some instancesthe dissolving of the eldership in favor of some otherform of governance. The church that is left will beolder and will become more isolated from the peopleit should be reaching.

If the charismatic movement gets a hearing,worship and language will change dramatically, aswill congregational authority.

Leaders (principally, the elders) will main-tain an environment that is either conductive orrepulsive to spiritual growth, evangelism, worship,and fellowship. The environment will be set withone of two attitudes: (1) one that aims at producinga relationship with God through a given degree ofconformity to perceived biblical mandates or (2) onethat aims at producing conformity as a consequenceof a relationship with God. May God help us all toseek him and his kingdom above all else.

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