Brief Historical Background
Our roots are in the Christian Church/Churches of Christ known as the Stone-Campbell movement, which began during the Second Great Awakening in America (1790-1840). At the heart of the movement was the hope of unity and peace among all Christians regardless of denominational tradition, and also the aim to live out a simple expression of the Christian faith. The Christian Church began, in part, as an "open table" movement, which is a reference to the communion table and the practice of allowing all to participate.
Distinctive Traits
No Christian Church is alike, and they all have their own feel, but you will find that all of them share three traits:
Weekly Communion
Also known as the Eucharist or the Mass or the Lord's Supper, communion is the practice of receiving the bread and the wine (juice) as part of worship. This sacrament works to remind us of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and is inspired by the story of Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples, and was a practice of the earliest Christian communities. We use the ancient liturgy from the Book Of Common Prayer to guide us through communion every Sunday, benefitting from its focus on the grace and mercy of Jesus over all people.
Baptism
With exception of a small number of church traditions, all churches baptize people in a variety of ways. In most Christian Churches, baptism is done by immersion (fully under water), as this appears to have been the practice of the ancient church. Baptism in this way symbolizes a kind of death (drowning) and resurrection (being brought back up out of the water), an image that one writer of the New Testament used as well, saying, "Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in a newness of life." (Romans 6:4) We do not require people to be re-baptized if the mode of their baptism was different, such as, child baptism or being sprinkled as an adult - to be baptized is someone's choice. If someone wishes to be re-baptized and to do so by immersion, we will, of course, help make that happen.
In-House Leadership
Different than churches who are overseen by a denominational body and headquarters, Christian Churches are locally led by in-house pastors who work alongside a volunteer body of leaders known as "elders." Other traditions have different names for this same kind of volunteer leadership body, such as Vestry (Episcopal) or Session (Presbyterian). In our church the pastors are the paid staff, overseeing the day-to-day functions of the church, and our elders are in place to work with the pastors to ensure that our church remains healthy and effective. In a technical sense, this makes the Christian Church non-denominational, though this term is hard to nail down. In a way, yes, but we also see ourselves part of a broader fellowship of churches across the country and the world. We have shared annual conferences, church planting organizations, a network of college campus ministries, mission and justice organizations, and we have many colleges, universities, and also seminaries.
"We will, that this body die, be dissolved,
and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large;
for there is but one body, and one spirit, even as we
are called in one hope of our calling."
- Last Will & Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, 1804
STONE-CAMPBELL BOOKS
