Who We Are

What is the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)?

We are a major mainline Protestant denomination which began in the early 1800's in the United States in an effort to bring many parts of the divided Church together at the Lord's Table and in Christian fellowship. The Disciples have continued their efforts to this day to bring churches together for dialogue and mutual mission. The use of "Christian Church" as a name for congregations is an attempt to emphasize that which we have in common rather than our differences. We are the oldest and largest protestant church founded in the United States of America.

What Do We Believe?

• We confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and proclaim Him Lord and Savior of the world.
• We not only celebrate communion every week, we invite all Christians to the table. The table is set for more than just our denomination, but for the church as a whole.
• We baptize by immersion, following the practice of the early church, yet we recognize all forms of baptism, regardless of one's age of baptism or the method of baptism.
• We include both women and men in the leadership of the church, both as ordained clergy and as involved laity. We also value the involvement of children and youth within our church.
• We ground our faith in the Bible, yet we allow the freedom to ask questions and compare the Biblical stories to our own life experience. We're a thinking church. We encourage interpretation, and we're willing to admit we don't have all the answers as we continue to search and learn.
• We value "unity in diversity." We don't all think alike or act alike, but we are united as one through our trust in God through Jesus Christ.
• We ground ourselves in prayer. Alexander Campbell, an early leader within our denomination, said that prayer is "the Christian's breath. Without it, (the Christian) cannot live or be happy a single day."

Our Identity

We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.
- Disciples of Christ identity statement

Our Vision

To be a faithful, growing church that demonstrates true community, deep Christian spirituality and a passion for justice.
- Micah 6:8

Our Mission

To be and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, witnessing, loving and serving from our doorsteps “to the ends of the earth.”
–Acts 1:8

The Four Priorities of the Church

At the 2001 General Assembly, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) adopted the 2020 Vision, which contained four priorities that will guide the Church through the first two decades of the 21st century. The Four Priorities are:

• Becoming a Pro-reconciling/Anti-racist church
• Formation of 1,000 new congregations by 2020
• Transformation of 1,000 current congregations by 2020
• Leadership development necessary to realize these new and renewed congregations
  
  

Communion and Baptism

Symbols and practices of unity

 

Communion

For I have received of the Lord what I have also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup also after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. --I Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)

The Lord's Supper or Communion is celebrated in weekly worship. It is open to all who are followers of Jesus Christ. The practice of Holy Communion has become the central element of worship within the Disciples tradition.

Disciples' observance of the Lord's Supper echoes the Passover feast, when Jesus shared bread and wine with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the living Christ is met and received in the sharing of the bread and the cup, representative of the body and blood of Jesus. The presence of the living Lord is affirmed and he is proclaimed to be the dominant power in our lives.

Baptism

Peter said to them," Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." -- Acts 2:38 (NRSV)

Just as the baptism represents the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it symbolizes the death and burial of the old self of the repentant believer, and the joyous birth of a brand new being in Christ. Those who founded the Disciples movement taught baptism by immersion as the accepted form.

From "Word to the Church on Baptism," Commission on Theology, 1987
Baptism is a public act by which the church proclaims God’s grace, as revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, through the use of a visible sign of God’s gracious initiative and the human individual’s response in faith. With other Christians we affirm that baptism is at once a divine gift and a human response…

The meaning of baptism is grounded in God’s redemptive action in Christ, it incorporates the believer in the community in the body of Christ, and it anticipates life in the coming age when the powers of the old world will be overcome, and the purposes of God will triumph.