going to the church of christ

We went to a local congregation of the Churches of Christ tonight here in Lincoln. It was wonderful, but it was also a bittersweet event.

I spent 44 years in the Churches of Christ. I ministered in them for 20 years, with two degrees. These came from some of the most conservative colleges in the Churches of Christ.

The problem is that makes me a rogue. I left and became something else.

In the Church of Christ, they are the sole sphere of God’s influence. Everybody outside of the Church of Christ, no one is a true Christian. A lot of it comes down to doctrine. Acappella music is mandated, the point of salvation is at baptism, and weekly communion is also mandatory. If any of these is broached, the person becomes, if still a Christian (and there is much debate over that), then an erring Christian.

Lots of stuff could be written about all this, but that is not what I am doing right now.
Some observations on the whole thing.

1. The informality was really striking. A guy got up and had some announcements and told us that we would be singing tonight. Then the minister got up and led some songs from an PowerPoint.

2. The people were very friendly. Extremely so. Almost everyone introduced themselves to us and asked us where we were from.

3. The songs that had the harmony in the them were in shape notes. They are almost uniquely used in the Church of Christ. They come from the old Sacred Harp hymnals and were designed for sight-reading. No one can sight-read better than members of the Church of Christ. Those shape notes help a lot.

4. On that note, the harmony was beautiful. One does not hear harmony like in a Church of Christ. I had the chance to sing bass and still remembered how to do it.

5. Churches of Christ usually sing songs that can be sung in four-part harmony since acappella music is so important. Most of these are older Stamps Baxter style songs. But tonight the church sang some newer ones.
Now, granted, they were songs from the 70’s that had been put out in CD’s in harmony. But still, it is an interesting move.

6. Having the Lord’s Supper at every Sunday is part of the Church of Christ credo. Because it is so vital, church polity demands that it be offered at every service. On Sunday nights, it is offered to anyone who didn’t have a chance to take it that morning. Kind of odd, and I always felt so, since it shows that if we haven’t taken it and Jesus comes again, we will be lost. So two people raised their hands and it was administered to them.

7. One jarring thing was that the little girl in front of me played with puppets the whole time and talked. It tended to break the otherwise good feeling.

It was a good evening and I am glad we went. At one point in the singing, I almost began to cry. I suppose that sometimes the things that I left are so strong. There were a lot of things about the Church of Christ that I didn’t like – the mandating of things that are opinions – but there were many things I liked.

In the Church of Christ, I really liked the singing, the harmony, the love of music, the obvious love of music together.

There was also a fellowship that is missing in so many other denominations. People stayed and talked and were happy. So many in other churches are so quick to leave. The fellowship was good and real.

It was a good evening, but it made me sad. I loved and love the Church of Christ and always will. Unfortunately, it left me. I never wanted to leave it, but was finally forced. When the core beliefs do not match, it is not ethical to continue taking money for preaching.

But it was still a good night.