My ICOC

My ICOC
Certainly various other people have offered their perspective on the history and significance of International Churches of Christ-- the ICOC. I don't really seek to duplicate their more detailed efforts, but I think it is important to offer my perspective on this topic as well-- so here it is.

History
The ICOC has its roots in the traditional churches of Christ, one of the groups that resulted from the "Restoration Movement" in the United States in the early 1800's. This Restoration Movement was characterized by an appeal to remove denominational distinctions among missionaries in the frontier areas of the United States at that time.

There are several characteristics of this movement, and each is made more significant when you consider the historical circumstances that gave birth to it. Foremost among these was to be "Christians Only." There was a significant distaste for the notions of a "Presbyterian Christian" and a "Baptist Christian" and the like. The forces behind the movement held that the Bible only knew of "Christians." From this, it followed that the Scriptures (and the Scriptures only) would be the only binding authority for the church, and the notion of calling "Bible things by Bible names." It also appealed to the congregational authority of the church, that churches should be self-governing and have the right and responsibility of self-determination, in contrast to the denominational structure of the day.

This Restoration Movement grew quite a bit in the 1800's and early 1900's. Sadly, it splintered over the issues of co-operation between churches and instrumental music in the early 1900's. Each of these issues came down to a fundamental question of Biblical authority and interpretation: If the Bible doesn't forbid something, does it allow it? Today, the churches of Christ are the branch of this movement that answered "no" to the question above. Answering "yes" to that same question were the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

In the 1950's the Churches of Christ were the fastest growing movement in the United States. One of the features of the churches of Christ of this era was the "bible chair" program that established campus ministries for students from families associated with the movement.

The Crossroads Era
The growth and dynamism of the churches of Christ of the 1950's stagnated in the following decades. In the late 1960's the 14th Street church of Christ in Gainesville, Florida (later renamed the Crossroads Church of Christ), spearheaded by Chuck Lucas, launched an evangelistic campus ministry at the University of Florida. The movement was built upon the individual being completely devoted to God and characterized by tight relationships within the church and an evangelistic thrust to the campus of the University of Florida. In time, Crossroads would train scores of campus ministers and send them to start similar campus ministries around the United States.

As these ministries grew, division in each of the churches also grew. Because of their complexity, it is hard to do justice to the disputes that took place in this article (other than to say that there was right and wrong on both sides), but suffice it to say that church splits took place all over the churches of Christ as a result of the spread of the Crossroads influence.

The Beginning of the ICOC
Those churches that split either sought to retain their traditional, pre-Crossroads pattern or to spread the "Crossroads approach" throughout the entire congregation. These "neo-Crossroads" churches maintained their relationships with one another. With the demise of Chuck Lucas as the leader of the movement (he was fired by Crossroads in the mid-1980's for unspecified sins), the more influential men who had been trained by him inherited the mantle of leadership. Chief among these were Tom Brown in San Francisco, California, Sam Laing in Atlanta, Georgia, and Kip McKean in Boston, Massachusetts. All of these men had been involved in outstanding campus ministries since the early or mid 1970's. Brown was in Boulder, Colorado, Laing was Lucas' right hand man in Gainesville for many years, and McKean in Charleston, Illinois. In time these men moved to the other cities above as a result of the conflict within the campus ministries of which they had been a part.

Kip McKean eventually rose to the position of leader of this grass-roots movement simply because the other leaders looked to him and the Boston church, where he moved after leaving Charleston. The churches in Atlanta (Laing) and San Francisco (Brown), as well as some of the other leading churches in the movement, all watched as the Boston church did the things that they longed to do. Boston had its entire congregation united under the call of "total commitment" and grew rapidly. It planted churches in other major cities, and drew the attention of all the churches within the "movement." In time many of these Crossroads-trained people moved to Boston to learn what was going on there and to tighten their relationships with other leaders, so they would be able to go out from Boston and start churches in other cities with the same plan. The "Boston Movement" became the name of what was left of the Crossroads-influenced churches (with a few exceptions).

In time, Kip McKean moved to Los Angeles to make that the "flagship" church of the movement. To avoid confusion with the traditional churches of Christ, the name "International churches of Christ" was used by outside church growth analysts, and was adopted as the more or less formal name of the movement in the early 1990's.

The Movement Today
When I consider the ICOC today, and what is so special about it, there are several things. First, there is a move to genuinely follow the Scriptures without being weighed down and burdened with traditional perspectives or approaches. This is not to say that traditional beliefs or proven methods of exegesis and Biblical study have been discarded, because the Bible clearly teaches traditional morality and Christian doctrine. But it does mean that discipleship to Jesus, as defined by the Bible, is for us today.

Always Searching
Yet there is a move to not remain static, as though the church has once for all been restored (past tense) and all that needs to be done now is "go with the flow." As noble as the goals of the early Restoration Movement were, the fact is it is exceedingly difficult to completely get away from our own religious traditions and move towards a "Bible Only" perspective. We need to search the Scriptures continuously to find what God intends for his people without being blinded by our own traditions or traditional viewpoints. This spirit is part of what makes the ICOC so exciting for me.

Through the course of these studies, sometimes we find a greater appreciation for other religious movements either past or present, at other times we come across solutions that have not been seen before because of a tradition bound mindset. Either way, we seek to get to the bottom of Biblical Christianity and make is practical for our lives today.

Evangelistic Thrust
Ever since my own first days of faith, I have wanted to help others have what I have in terms of faith in God and a realization of His love and care for all of us. The ICOC has continued to focus on the notion of "making disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-19) as the mission of the church. Though we are constantly searching for better ways to accomplish the goals of ministry and escape incorrect or burdensome religious tradition, the basic gospel of Jesus and salvation through him is well known and needs to be brought to people in the world today.

Problems are Opportunities
In pursuing these goals, I believe that God (through the Scriptures ) gives the church a lot of freedom in many areas. So in the ICOC we consider the needs and create plans to meet those needs. Sometimes the solution works, but problems are bound to occur from time to time as well. In searching for the best way to do the things we seek to do, there are "dead ends" and other faux pas along the way. As we mature as individuals and as a movement, sometimes the old solutions to problems don't meet the needs today, and we need to pursue new solutions. Being willing to try something new is commendable, but when that new thing doesn't work out as we expected we need to abandon it and keep searching for what does work.

The Goal
Whatever the plan, the goal is the same: presenting everyone perfect in Christ (Colossians 1:28). If you're interested in that goal, I think the ICOC is the place for you. We aren't perfect (and never will be in the flesh), but that is what we are aiming for.