First Christian Church is part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) movement that originated in Appalachia at the beginning of the 19th Century. We’re one of the few church movements who have their origins in the United States. It’s a complicated history, but basically we’re an off-shoot of the Presbyterian Church. People were reading the Bible, taking it at face value, and asking the question – why do we believe that a church structure is the only one telling us the “correct” way to follow Jesus? Our particular brand of grassroots church was born. The original plan was to do away with denominations entirely and simply be “Christian” and “Disciples of Christ.” Ironically, in the subsequent century, we became yet another denomination. But, we stay true to our roots in a few really important ways.
Whereas other churches say that a pope, bishop, council, creed, or elder has the final say over what it means to follow Jesus, we say that there must be room for the work of the Spirit to lead each of us by our own individual consciences. We say that we are true to the New Testament – that the Bible alone is the foundational model for what church is meant to be – and so we shy away from creeds that so often becomes ritualized or exclusionary. We have Communion every week, because when people were following Jesus, it’s how they learned. And Jesus, at the Last Supper, told us to do it.
So, the next time you’re having lunch with a Lutheran, Baptist, or one of the many other flavors of Christian out there, and they ask you about what FCC is all about, you can tell them, “We have Communion every week,” yes. But you could also say, “we believe in no creed but Christ.” Or, even, that we are a church that trusts in the liberty of conscience, the leading of the Spirit within us, which means that we don’t all have to believe exactly the same thing. It’s up to each of us to read the Scriptures, to pray, and to be led by Christ. And Jesus always has more to teach.
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