One summer, while working security, I saw a young woman walking out of the apartment complex holding a Bible. We struck up a conversation. She was headed to a Disciples of Christ church. On account of my Church of Christ background, I was instantly curious.
The two denominations had originally been part of the same movement. They began dividing after the American Civil War, mostly along the lines of north and south. Like most northern churches, the Disciples of Christ were more liberal, both theologically and politically. The southern Churches of Christ were more conservative.
The young woman invited me to come out one Sunday. I took her up on the offer. It would be my first time visiting a church outside the Churches of Christ.
I had expected the Disciples of Christ to differ only slightly from the Churches of Christ. I knew, for example, that they used instruments and had missionary societies. These were the main doctrinally contentious issues in the late 1800s that eventually caused the split. It hadn't occurred to me that the churches had evolved since.
I stepped in to hear a pipe organ playing. While I wasn't opposed to instrumental music any more, I didn't care for the organ. The church had a female minister who shared the ministry with her husband. I was slightly unnerved by their being a female minister. The Churches of Christ teach that women are not supposed to teach or hold leadership in the church.
If this had been all that had happened, I would have left the church an unchanged man. But it wasn't. During the service, the church read about 2 whole chapters of scripture. I'd never experienced anything like it. Our churches read a few verses in support of the sermon. This church read scripture for it's own sake.
The whole experience was a slap in the face to my Church of Christ upbringing. I'd been taught that our churches were the only ones that read the Bible. If that was true, why were they reading so much more of it in their services than we were? Why were they reading it for its own sake when we weren't? I admired the practice and was curious what others I might be missing out on. I began to question my beliefs about other churches. My faith in Church of Christ rhetoric had suffered a significant blow. It would not recover.
The two denominations had originally been part of the same movement. They began dividing after the American Civil War, mostly along the lines of north and south. Like most northern churches, the Disciples of Christ were more liberal, both theologically and politically. The southern Churches of Christ were more conservative.
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I had expected the Disciples of Christ to differ only slightly from the Churches of Christ. I knew, for example, that they used instruments and had missionary societies. These were the main doctrinally contentious issues in the late 1800s that eventually caused the split. It hadn't occurred to me that the churches had evolved since.
I stepped in to hear a pipe organ playing. While I wasn't opposed to instrumental music any more, I didn't care for the organ. The church had a female minister who shared the ministry with her husband. I was slightly unnerved by their being a female minister. The Churches of Christ teach that women are not supposed to teach or hold leadership in the church.
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| Like the Churches of Christ, the Disciples have their Communion Table Front and Center |
The whole experience was a slap in the face to my Church of Christ upbringing. I'd been taught that our churches were the only ones that read the Bible. If that was true, why were they reading so much more of it in their services than we were? Why were they reading it for its own sake when we weren't? I admired the practice and was curious what others I might be missing out on. I began to question my beliefs about other churches. My faith in Church of Christ rhetoric had suffered a significant blow. It would not recover.
Funny is: There were used music instrument in the Old Testament but not in the New Testament.
ReplyDeleteNow I am curious
ReplyDelete:-)
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