Possible Sticky: What is the Restoration Movement?

[woman.at.the.well]

Glad to be of some help! Feel free to ask anything else you may think of and if I don't know it, I'll try and find out!

Thank you so much for your Christlike character. Your openness and willingness to discuss the beliefs of the RM without being all nasty and defensive is truly a testament to a New Creature in Christ.

I will definitely come back when a question arises and look forward to your responses.

Bless you brother!

 

[Frame1520]

Thank you so much for your Christlike character. Your openness and willingness to discuss the beliefs of the RM without being all nasty and defensive is truly a testament to a New Creature in Christ.

I will definitely come back when a question arises and look forward to your responses.

Bless you brother!

Thanks, and have a blessed Good Friday & Resurrection Sunday! Christ is risen!

 

[woman.at.the.well]

Thanks, and have a blessed Good Friday & Resurrection Sunday! Christ is risen!

He is indeed risen!

PRAISE GOD! GLORY! HALLELUJAH! AMEN!

Frame: I pray you and your family have a blessed Easter day and weekend.

 

[MrJim]

Thanks for the link to "Chrisian Restoration"--this looks very interesting.

 

[Frame1520]

Thanks for the link to "Chrisian Restoration"--this looks very interesting.

Sure, no problem!

 

[woman.at.the.well]

You might go to this website: http://www.thecra.org/restherald.htm
They have a lot of useful stuff, from biblical scholars who are far more experienced and well versed than I am. It's a publication written by ministers, professors, and ton's of people from the RM. Hope this helps SOME!

I am finally taking a look at this website and am finding it very informative Frame1520! Thank you again for this info. Matter of fact I might post some of it on another thread in RM where someone was asking why CoCs claim to be non-denom, etc.

 

[Frame1520]

I am finally taking a look at this website and am finding it very informative Frame1520! Thank you again for this info. Matter of fact I might post some of it on another thread in RM where someone was asking why CoCs claim to be non-denom, etc.

People love to ask that. A lot of people will "claim" RM is a denomination. Obviously, if they know anything at all or have studied it to any degree, they would know that's not true. There are in fact, a few Baptist universities that teach the church of Christ, and RM for that matter, to bea heresy. In any event, if people would take a look at the facts, then they would clearly recognize what the RM is about.

 

[GK]

That word "denomination" is a funny thing. Here at CF, we have to use it in a way that is different from how the RM, AoG, or Baptists use it. We use it in the more general "people who share beliefs and culture" sort of way, where RM, AoG, and Baptist members tend to use it in the more specific, "Rules, regulations, and a centralized government" sort of way.

RM isn't a denomination, and yet it does have its own culture. There are "heritage schools." There are a few doctrinal issues that are pretty much held by all. Out here, at least, RM churches have their own state gathering with their own leadership, even if that leadership has no explicit authority over the churches.

 

[constance]

Let's not forget that the Disciples of Christ are an official denomination. However, the thing that makes the DoC different from other denominations (like Methodists, for example) is that the local churches are autonomous.

Constance

 

[christianmomof3]

would my church fit in the restoration movement? Here is a website that explains it some http://localchurches.org/beliefs/index.html
I have met with this church for 15 years and have found it to be biblically sound and full of Christ.

 

[constance]

would my church fit in the restoration movement? Here is a website that explains it some http://localchurches.org/beliefs/index.html
I have met with this church for 15 years and have found it to be biblically sound and full of Christ.

The Restoration Movement began in America in the early 1800s.

The Local Churches began in China in the 1920s. A similar concept (for example, one church per town) but I think that there are a lot of differences.

Constance

 

[HeyHomie]

would my church fit in the restoration movement?

From what I've read, no. RM congregations self-identify, and nothing in the website mentions the RM at all.

 

[woman.at.the.well]

People love to ask that. A lot of people will "claim" RM is a denomination. Obviously, if they know anything at all or have studied it to any degree, they would know that's not true. There are in fact, a few Baptist universities that teach the church of Christ, and RM for that matter, to bea heresy. In any event, if people would take a look at the facts, then they would clearly recognize what the RM is about.

Thank you again Frame! Your guidance is much appreciated!

 

[SteelDisciple]

The term "Restoration Movement" refers to a collection of individual congregations without any centralized governing heirarchy, but who share similar core beliefs.

The goal of the Restoration Movement is to return to Biblical Christianity as practiced in the First Century. This means doing away with things that the leaders of the Restoration Movement thought were, at worst, un-Biblical, and at best, un-necessary. These things include, but are not limited to, rituals, written creeds, and governing heirarchies. Please note that the Restoration Movement makes no claim to being the continuation of the original Christian church. Rather, we strive to restore our worship and practices to what we believe was practiced in the first century church.

The key beliefs of the Restoration Movement that set its congregations apart from other evangelical Protestant churches are:

1) "No Creed but Christ." Acceptance of or adherence to a written creed is not necessary for fellowship, church membership, or participation in church practices. No Restoration Movement congregation has any written creeds.

2) "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." In essence, this means that congregations affiliated with the Restoration Movement reject chatechisms and the like, and base their beliefs only on Scripture.

3) "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love." Believers affiliated with the Restoration Movement will not exclude other Christians from fellowship based on differing beliefs on "non-essential" doctrines. Restoration Movement believers will show love to believers with whom they may disagree.

4) "We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only." Restoration Movement believers do not claim to be the only Christians, and we accept other believers who profess to believe in Jesus Christ as our brothers and sisters. However, we do not attach any other name to ourselves other than "Christian."

5) "The priesthood of all believers." We believe that all believers are "priests" and can access God through prayer without a human intermediary.

The main practices of the Restoration Movement are as follows:

A) Local control of congregations. Any and all decisions that affect a congregation, such as hiring, transfer or termination of staff; budget allocations; building projects; etc. are made by that congregation. No congregation is accountable to any governing heirarchy.

B) Lord's Supper every Sunday. We celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday. Any baptized believer is welcome to participate.

C) Believer's baptism by immersion. Only those who choose to baptised are baptised (we do not baptise infants or children who are too young to understand the decision). We baptise by full immersion.

D) Beauty through simplicity. Most Restoration Movement churches are rather austere, rejecting such things as candles, artwork, or stained glass windows, and are decorated quite simply.

Restoration Movement churches go by several styles of names. The most common type of name is the combination of a geographical place, for example a city or a street, and the words "Christian Church" or "Church of Christ." For example, if you're in Kalamazoo and you drive by Kalamazoo Christian Church, you can be 99% it's a Restoration Movement congregation.

There are some Restoration Movement congregations that practice non-instrumental worship. They almost exclusively use the name "Church of Christ" (as opposed to "Christian Church"). However, not all congregations that use the term "Church of Christ" are non-instrumental.

For more on the founding and the history of the Restoration Movement, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone-Campbell_Movement.

For a thorough treatment of the five branches of the Restoration Movement and the divisions (some minor, some major) between them, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciples_of_Christ.

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That's my proposed sticky to explain the Restoration Movement to any seekers or lurkers. Please feel free to offer additions, deletions, corrections or clarifications as you see fit.

I think all of that sounds nice. Except for the no artwork. Some of the most profound expressions of people's faith have been through art and poetry.

 

[constance]

The "no artwork" comment is probably a little more severe than necessary. For example, many RM churches have banners (you know, the ones with verses, etc), flowers, embroideries, and MANY older RM churches have stained glass windows. A lot of them use candles too.

Constance

 

[HeyHomie]

By "artwork," I mean, you know, artwork. Paintings, sculptures, ornamentation, all that.

Anyway, the point is moot. The "possible sticky" has become the Official sticky.

 

[constance]

Can you point me to a policy where it says that a sticky in error should not be modified?

 

[GK]

By "artwork," I mean, you know, artwork. Paintings, sculptures, ornamentation, all that.

Anyway, the point is moot. The "possible sticky" has become the Official sticky.

For heeding the call and writing it out, you are the official Keeper of the Sticky. You should be able to edit the sticky at any time. Moderators can edit it, as well. If changes need to be made, go ahead and make them.

 

[SoulFly51]

Please add these two links to the sticky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_christ

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Christian_Church

 

[constance]

I was a little surprised that this thread had been stickified - maybe I had missed the notice.

It would be good to include a link to the Restoration Texts web page at:
http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/subs/texts.html

I still request that the links to wikipedia.org would be changed to links to CF Wiki - I would be happy to help facilitate the creation of any necessary CF Wikis. I don't like either the DoC or the CoC wikipedia entry (due to mention of cults on both).

In addition, this paragraph does not take into account the fact that not all Restoration Movement churches are trying to restore primitive worship. Obviously, the Disciples of Christ have moved away from this model, and so have a fair number of independent CCs and CoCs. I've given a suggestion below.

The goal of the Restoration Movement is to return to Biblical Christianity as practiced in the First Century. This means doing away with things that the leaders of the Restoration Movement thought were, at worst, un-Biblical, and at best, un-necessary. These things include, but are not limited to,

The Restoration Movement is the name for a loosely affiliated group of churches that sought to unify all Christians by following the Biblical model of the Church as closely as possible, while allowing as much diversity as possible around issues not explicitly described in the Bible. The Restoration Movement churches have been especially wary of rituals, written creeds, and governing heirarchies. The Restoration Movement makes no claim to being the continuation of the original Christian church.

In the 20th Century, the Restoration Movement has developed in a variety of directions. Some churches have moved away from the founders' view of the New Testament as a pattern for contemporary worship and Church practice -- for these churches, the focus on Christian unity has led them to adopt practices more typical of other Protestant churches. Others continue to strive to restore their worship and practices to what they believe was practiced in the first century church.

Constance