International Churches of Christ

"ICOC" redirects here. For the international treaty, see International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

The "International Churches of Christ" is generally unaffiliated with other churches that employ "Church" and "Christ" in their name. For these, see Church of Christ (disambiguation).

International Churches of Christ
An International Church of Christ Worship Service
Classification	Christian restorationist, Christian fundamentalism
Orientation	New Testament, Evangelical
Polity	Congregationalist
Associations	Co-operating Churches of Christ
Region	global (159 nations)
Founder	Kip McKean Resigned in 2001
Separations	Kip McKean's movement "International Christian Churches"
Congregations	543 (2005)
Members	95,751 (2005)

The International Churches of Christ (typically abbreviated to ICOC) is a body of co-operating non-denominational, religiously conservative, and racially integrated Christian congregations, an offshoot from the Mainline Churches of Christ. This group is known for and has a long history of showing charity to the poor. Nearly 2.5 million poor people are served each year through the ICOC volunteers and benevolent partner HOPE Worldwide

The ICOC regards the New Testament of the Bible as the supreme authority on doctrine, ecclesiastical structure, and moral beliefs. They acknowledge the Old Testament as historically accurate and divinely inspired, and its principles as true and beneficial, but hold that its laws are not binding under the new covenant in Christ unless otherwise taught in the New Testament. Through holding that their doctrine is based on the Bible alone, and not on creeds and traditions, they claim the distinction of being "non-denominational". Members of the International Churches of Christ generally emphasize their intent to simply be part of the original church established by Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, which became evident on the Day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2. They believe that anyone who follows the plan of salvation as laid out in the scriptures is saved by the grace of God.

Once the fastest-growing Christian movement in the United States, membership growth slowed during the late 1990s. McKean was removed from Leadership in 2002 and Henry Kreite's letter of 2003 sparked internal reform and restructuring. Even so, the ICOC still boasts nearly 100,000 members in 160 nations around the world. At the International leadership Conference held in Miami, Florida, the developments over the past few years were explained by Michael Taliaferro "over the past thirty years we've had our highs and we have had our lows, we've had our victories and we've had our defeats. We have dropped the hierarchy in favour of co-operation, we've gone from uniformity to unity." A new leadership structure based on "service teams" now provides global leadership. The ICOC has dramatically changed the way it operates (Post McKean) and is seeing the fruits of those changes played out in more growth, greater unity and stronger families.

Unofficial News about the International churches of Christ

Sometimes called the Boston Movement because of its early ties to the Boston Church of Christ, it is a "remarkable but controversial" restorationist Church which branched from the mainline Churches of Christ in the late 1980s under the leadership of Kip McKean. Many of its members have nothing but praise for the church and the ways it has helped heal broken relationships, escape addictions and find a relationship with Jesus. But the church has not been without its critics. Its assertive recruitment methods, high level of control (during the McKean era of the 1980s and 1990s) allegedly exercised by leadership over members through "discipling" partnerships, and rejection of certain doctrines of some other churches have caused some researchers, observers, and ex-members to label the organization a cult in the broader sense of "extreme devotion to a set of beliefs." Historically church officials have been unapologetic for their energetic evangelism, and devotion to God, believing this to be the duty of all true Christians, but have renounced any allegations of impropriety as unfounded, A Singapore High Court Ruling however has ruled in favor of the church stating it is "not a cult", and that "it is a stretch of the imagination to think otherwise"

History

Origins

A video chronicling the "first forty years" of the International Churches of Christ has recently been published and can be viewed on Vimeo at this link. The roots of the International Churches of Christ lay in the American Restoration movement of the nineteenth-century. This movement seeks a return to first-century Christianity in holding the Bible as the source of church authority. However by the 1860s, some felt that the movement had become polluted by the institution of missionary societies and use of musical instruments in church. A schism developed, and the Mainline adopted a sub-theology separate from the Churches of Christ in 1906 with some 160,000 adherents, growing to 1.2 million by the end of the century.

The a cappella Churches of Christ membership numbers approximately 2,000,000 in over 40,000 individual congregations worldwide.

In 1967, Chuck Lucas — evangelist of the 14th Street Church of Christ in Gainesville, Florida (later renamed the Crossroads Church of Christ) — instituted a new project known as Campus Advance (based on principles borrowed from the Campus Crusade and the Shepherding Movement). Centered on the University of Florida, this program called for a strong evangelical outreach and an intimate religious atmosphere in the form of soul talks and prayer partners. Soul talks were held in student residences and involved prayer and sharing overseen by a leader who delegated authority over group members. Prayer partners referred to the practice of pairing a new Christian with an older guide for personal assistance and direction. Both procedures led to "in-depth involvement of each member in one another's lives", and critics accused Lucas of fostering cultism.

Genesis

The Evangelization Proclamation, issued in 1994, pledged that the ICOC would establish a church in every major country within six years.

In 1972 (the fifth year of the Campus Advance program), the 14th Street Church of Christ (renamed the Crossroads Church) recruited a young freshman at the University of Florida named Thomas 'Kip' McKean. The son of an admiral, McKean was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is purportedly named after his ancestor Thomas McKean (a signer of the Declaration of Independence). McKean completed his degree program while training at Crossroads and afterward served as campus minister at several other mainline Churches of Christ locations. In 1979 he was offered the position of pulpit and campus minister at a struggling Boston-area congregation called the Lexington Church of Christ. Under McKean's leadership the church — renamed to 'Boston Church of Christ' — witnessed rapid growth from 30 members at the time of his arrival to 3,000 in just about 7 years.

McKean believed that an important measure of a church's value was its growth and outreach to people far from God, and that the Churches of Christ and other ecclesiastic institutions were too lethargic in this area. Chronicler Russell Paden explains:

While [McKean and his followers] would probably concede that there are false religions that experience growth, they would contend that a true church of God must be experiencing growth.

Once among the fastest-growing religious movements in the country, expansion of the mainline Churches of Christ had stagnated by 1970. The ICOC sought to reverse this.

Expansion

At the start of the 1980s, the International churches of Christ established a "vision for the world", which required the planting of 'pillar churches' in key metropolitan centers to spread the Christian faith globally. Those pillar churches would in turn plant churches in the neighbouring regions and thus facilitate the expansion of the gospel. With this in mind, they oversaw the establishment of sister churches in Chicago and London in 1982, and in New York one year later. Then Johannesburg was planted in 1986 as the first ICOC church in Africa. (There are now ICOC churches in nearly every country in Africa)

The Boston church sent mission teams to Chicago and London in 1981, and New York shortly thereafter. The term "International Churches of Christ" was applied to the movement by the Mainline Churches of Christ during the 1980s, as it was characterized both by ICOC church plantings and 'reconstructions' of the mainline in the United States and elsewhere. The movement took on a more centralized structure after Kip McKean assumed leadership of the Los Angeles church in the late 1980s. In 2000, the ICOC announced the completion of its six-year initiative to establish a church in every country with a population over 100,000. Two years later, membership peaked at 135,046 in more than 540 congregations across the globe. The Los Angeles church rapidly evolved into a "superchurch" that attracted thousands of members.

The Chicago Church of Christ Campus Ministry Conference

Boston and New York remained the two key centers, each boasting an average Sunday morning attendance of over 5,000 parishioners.

From 2003 to 2007 the ICOC planted 98 new churches around the world

Largest Congregations

The largest ICOC congregation is the Los Angeles International Church of Christ, founded in 1989. The church has 5,300 members, a Sunday attendance of 7,700 and had 1,200 people baptized in 2009-2010. Lead evangelist Bruce Williams said this at the 20th anniversary service "the church is stronger, healthier and more unified than it has ever been since its planting in 1989. But beyond this, our fellowship is filled with a renewed spirit of love, joy, peace and hope."

The New York City Church finished 2011 with a surge of 103 baptisms and restorations in the last 100 days, their membership now tops 2500 congregants.

The Chicago church began with just 30 members and now has over 2000 members, meets in seven locations with an attendance north of 3000

The largest churches outside the US are:

The Johannesburg Church of Christ Choir

Africa:

• The Johannesburg Church of Christ - 1190 members
• The Nairobi Christian Church - 1450 members
• The Lagos International church of Christ - 1695 Members.
• The Abidjan Church of Christ - 1754 members.

The church in Jakarta, Indonesia (the most populous Muslim nation in the world)

Asia Pacific:

• The Hong Kong Church of Christ - 1829 members.
• Bangalore Church of Christ - 993 members.
• Jakarta Church of Christ - 1236 members.
• Metro Manila Church of Christ - 2370 members.
• Singapore Christian Church - 1014 Members.

The Church in Singapore

Eurasia:

• Moscow Church of Christ - 1573 members.
• Kiev Church of Christ - 1962 members.

Latin America:

• Mexico City Church of Christ - 3747 members.
• São Paulo Church of Christ - 1419 members.

Church organization and services

The International Church of Christ (ICOC) is a fellowship of congregations who are bonded by the cross of Christ. We make our best efforts to love God and each other. We believe that the Bible is the word of God and is a marvelous guide for daily living. We appreciate the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ and are eager to share this good news with others.

Congregational leadership

Church government is congregational, rather than denominational. Elders in some cases, or where there are not elders, evangelists, with the assistance of leading men of the congregation, are seen as the spiritual leaders of the congregation. Deacons also play a role in serving and overseeing aspects of the church. Teachers deepen the bible knowledge of the congregation. As seen in Ephesians 4 there are a plurality of leaders serving the congregations according to the spiritual gift set.

Evangelist

The evangelist, also known as preacher, or minister, prepares and delivers sermons, teaches Bible classes, performs weddings, and sometimes performs baptisms. The baptismal rite, however, is not restricted to ministers. This position is typically paid, to allow the evangelist to disentangle himself from secular employment and focus on serving the congregation and leadership responsibilities. For most congregations the evangelist leads the local church in much the same way as most church pastors. He is often assisted by groups of men that have been elected by the local congregation or appointed by the evangelist. In many cases, church elders from what were formally regarded as 'pillar churches' act as advisers to the smaller congregations.

Congregational Co-operation

Church leadership is congregational rather than denominational. The International Churches of Christ have no formally recognized headquarters, or hierarchical church government. Rather, the congregations are a network with each congregation participating in various means of service and fellowship with other congregations. The 32 Regional families of churches co-operate in evangelism and benevolence projects to see the gospel and compassion of Christ spread to their area of the world.

Over 540 churches in 137 countries representing over 90% of the membership in the International Churches of Christ family have committed to the Plan for United Cooperation. The annual Delegates Conference held before a regional conference in various parts of the world give an opportunity for the Delegates to meet members of the churches on all continents.

Between 15 000 and 20 000 people are expected at the ICOC Discipleship Conference being held in San Antonio in July 2012 This will be the largest gathering in the history of the ICOC.

A recent development in Congregational Co-operation has been the introduction the "One Year Challenge" for many of the thousands of graduating University students to take a year off and go and serve the poor in 3rd world countries and help strengthen churches in sometimes hard to evangelize areas.

HOPE Worldwide

The ICOC directly administers or partners with over a dozen organizations. Some function as appendages of the church, others are entirely unrelated in their mission and activities. Of these, the largest and most well-known is HOPE worldwide, a charitable foundation started by members of the ICOC, which serves as the primary beneficiary of the church's charitable donations for the poor (though it is funded through other sources as well). Founded in London in 1986, HOPE worldwide moved to a global scale the following year. It sponsored the largest ever blood drives to be held in Brazil and Mexico in 1994, and opened an orphanage in Hong Kong the same year. Two hospitals in Cambodia are run by HOPEww and ICOC doctors, volunteers and staff. An AIDS clinic in Abidjan. The SHEILD program in South Africa is taking an active role in protecting families devastated by the HiV virus.

HOPE worldwide is an international charity that delivers community-based services to the poor and needy. Today the organization operates on every inhabited continent and serves more than 2,5 million people each year.

In the past, HOPE worldwide's fundraising methodology has been a point of controversy. Monies raised by members of local ICOC congregations (i.e., the members serving as volunteers for the organization) have been classified as "unrestricted" funds - meaning they can be used to pay for administrative costs. While this practice is legal, and while it puts the organization in a better position to solicit larger amounts of "restricted" funds from corporate sponsors, the problem arises in that, in the culture of the ICOC (as it was in the past), members of the ICOC congregations were encouraged by the congregations' leaders to volunteer for the organization's charitable and fundraising functions; they were expected to show up and serve at such activities. Furthermore, as mentioned in the previously-referenced document, members were often not told that the funds they raised would be going strictly towards administrative expenses. This second error was later admitted to and corrected by HOPE worldwide leaders.

Chemical Recovery Ministry

The goal of the Chemical Recovery Ministry is to help the addict have a hope and a future.

Other affiliated organizations

The following companies and institutions are informally operated or managed by the ICOC:

• Athens Institute of Ministry
• Discipleship Publishers International (DPI) — begun 1992 as the publishing ministry of the Boston Church of Christ but never the official publishing arm of the ICOC; Christian writing and audio teaching
• Baltic Nordic Missions Alliance
• European Bible School
• Florida Missions Council
• Illumination Publishers International (IPI) — Christian writing and audio teaching
• International Missions Society, Inc. (IMS)
• KNN/Disciples Today.net, a production of Kingdom News Network (KNN) — non-profit religious corporation in Illinois
• Taiwan Mission Adventure
• Discipleship Publications International — publishing ministry begun by the Boston Church of Christ in 1992, but never the official publishing arm of the ICOC. Now a separate non-profit organization; primarily prints spiritual literature

Institutional Description

Self-identification

Members hold to the biblical and historical belief that the church was founded by Jesus Christ, and that its doctrines and practices were established long before these other traditions, movements, structures, councils, et cetera. Members also do not typically consider themselves to be members of a denomination, but prefer to simply be known as Christians (in contrast to, for example, a Catholic Christian, a Presbyterian Christian, a Baptist Christian, et cetera.), with no other religious title needed or preferred. Thus, a collective group of Christians is a church of Christ. However they prefer to refer to one another as Disciples. (This stems from the New Testament where followers of Christ were called Disciples before Christians.)

Belief and practice

The ICOC teaches that:

GOD: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

1. Our eternal purpose is to know God and to glorify him as God, and let our life shine so others will see God. Our devotion and ultimate loyalties are to the Father, who is over all and in all and through all; to Jesus the Son, who has been declared both Lord and Christ; and to the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and empowers us to overcome the workings of the sinful nature (Acts 2:22-36, Romans 8:12-28).

2. The cornerstone of our faith is our belief in Jesus Christ. Everything we hold dear in our faith originates from his words and his way of life (John 3:16, John 12:47-48, 1 John 2:5-6).

3. The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is sharp, powerful, effective, challenging, exposing, and encouraging when it is revered, studied, preached, taught, and obeyed because it is from our Creator and therefore relevant for all generations. (1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 4:1-5, Hebrews 4:12-13)

GOSPEL: the work of God

4. Our salvation totally depends on the work of God, prompted by his own mercy and grace, not our good deeds. That work redeems those who hear, believe and obey the Gospel message through baptism into Christ through their faith in God’s power and continue to remain faithful unto death. (Romans 2:7, Acts 2:22- 37, Ephesians 2:8-10, Colossians 2:12, Hebrews 10:32-39, James 1:12).

5. Our earthly mission involves every member’s participation in the Great Commission to “Seek and save what was lost,” in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to all parts of the world. As we go about this mission, our testimony must be consistent with a Christ-like life of doing good deeds and supporting and encouraging other Christians and churches around the world. In imitation of Jesus’ mission, we are committed to remembering the poor by demonstrating compassion to those who suffer by regularly doing whatever we can to lessen their burdens and supporting group benevolent efforts through international agencies such as HOPE worldwide and others. (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 10:37-38, Colossians 3:1-6, Luke 19:10, Galatians 2:10, James 1:27).

6. Our motivation to love God, love each other and love the lost is prompted by God’s love for us, demonstrated in its greatest form by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on a cross for our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:14-21, 1 John 3:16, Luke 10:27).

The INDIVIDUAL Response: As disciples of Jesus, we surrender our lives to his Lordship. We rejoice in our adoption as God’s children, and each accepts the call to be holy and follow the example of Jesus.

7. Our conversion begins with belief in Jesus as God’s Son, and in his death and resurrection from the dead. Subsequent steps must include unmistakable repentance of sin, embracing discipleship, and confession that “Jesus is Lord.” Finally, we become Christians at the miracle of rebirth with our immersion in water for the forgiveness of our sins and the promise that God will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. (John 20:31, Luke 14:25-33, Acts 2:38-41, Romans 10:9, Titus 3:3-5)

8. Our personal discipleship to Christ begins with our total commitment to the Father, who is over all and through all and in all. It involves an understanding of and a commitment to his terms of surrender to his Lordship, a daily decision to deny self and persevere to the very end. (Luke 9:23ff; 14:33, Romans 2:7, Galatians 6:9).

9. Our holiness in daily living is a command from God. From baptism we are called to be set apart from the world and the ways of the world (sanctified) and live as saints of God (Ephesians 1:1, Ephesians 2:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 John 2:15-17). With holiness in mind, the romantic and marriage relationships of Christians are to be pursued with only those who “belong to the Lord” as defined by Scriptures (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, 1 Corinthians 7:39).

THE CHURCH COMMUNITY:

10. Our membership in each congregation constitutes baptized disciples, men and women who have pledged to live their lives as saints of God in the holiness he requires. Our members agree to strive to be devoted, not only to their Maker, but to the body life of the church. This includes making wholehearted efforts, for example, to attend each applicable meeting of the body, and pursuing joyful, watchful, challenging, and encouraging “one another” relationships in which we spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Acts 2:42, Romans 12:10, Hebrews 3:12-13; 10:24-25).

11. Our community worship includes our devotion to God’s Word, prayer, fellowship, and the Lord’s Supper as a weekly sharing in the presence of Christ as a sacred event—breaking the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine together. As a community imitating the first century disciples, we give a willing sacrifice to God as a fragrant offering and a sign of our thankfulness. Since everything we enjoy in life is a gift from God, we agree to cheerfully and sacrificially contribute of our finances to the church so that the ministry of Jesus will advance throughout our communities and around the world (Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 10:17-34, 1 Corinthians 9:7- 14, Philippians 4:14-19).

12. We believe in the church supporting women as they serve a vital ministry role in evangelizing, baptizing, teaching, counseling, and training other women. In addition, we recognize the value and significant influence that all sisters can have in the lives of the brothers (1 Corinthians 9:5, Titus 2:3-4, Acts 18:24-26, Romans 16:1-15).

13. The decision-making responsibilities of established congregations belong to the individual congregation. We are also resolved to pursue and maintain our congregation’s links with other congregations and individual Christians—soliciting, giving and receiving input and godly influence from those outside our local congregation (1 Peter 5:5).

14. Our communication within the church and outside of our brotherhood should always be genuine, respectful and never deliberately antagonistic. We affirm the authority of exemplary leadership—including the twin shepherding responsibilities to build up the church according to her needs and discipline the church in order to protect her. (1 Peter 2:17).

15. Mature conflict resolution is a priority to our churches and may sometimes require help from outside our own congregation. We agree to obey the scriptures that insist on godly conflict resolution, renouncing gossip and slander (1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 6:1-8, Philemon).

• People are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus.
• Every individual Christian is called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Like the Mainline Churches of Christ, the ICOC recognizes the Bible as the sole source of authority for the church and believes that the current denominational divisions are inconsistent with Christ's intent. The ICOC, in order to unify congregations, taught that there should only be one church in each City. That church may have multiple satellite congregations or regions but they should form one church. Christians ought to be united Both organizations teach the necessity of baptism by immersion, and both reject infant baptism, teaching that baptism is for believers. The ICOC teaches that only those "baptized as a disciple" will receive salvation.

The ICOC does not affirm some of the perpetuity of spiritual gifts, original sin, the perseverance of saints, predestination; it does acknowledge incarnation, atonement, eternal conscious punishment, and amillennialism. Its view on Ephesians 2:8–9, is straight forward, people are saved by the grace of God in order to do good works which were prepared in advance for them to do.

A recent development has been the introduction the "One Year Challenge" for many of the thousands of graduating University students to take a year off and go and serve the poor in 3rd world countries and help strengthen churches in other parts of the world.

Discipling Relationships

The Discipling relationships are based on the following scriptures; Ecclesiates 4:9–12; Proverbs 11:25; Proberbs 27:17; Hebrews 10:25; James 5:16 and the numerous examples found in scripture. Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Jeaus and the early disciples, Paul and Timothy.

Modern disciples

Disciples are student-followers of Jesus Christ.

Practices

Sunday Worship

Prior to the building’s demolition in 1998, the Massachusetts congregation held Sunday services in the Boston Garden stadium.

Sunday morning prayer involves singing, praying, preaching, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. One unique element in ICOC tradition is the lack of established church buildings. Congregations meet in rented spaces: hotel conference rooms, schools, public auditoriums, conference centers, small stadiums, or rented halls, depending on the number of parishioners; the location may vary from month to month. Though the church is not static, neither is it "ad hoc" — the leased locale is often furnished with an elaborate stage and sound-system. Parishioners are proud of these unrooted tabernacles, negatively referring to traditional churches as "religious". "From an organizational standpoint, it's a great idea", observes Boston University Chaplain Bob Thornburg. "They put very little money into buildings…You put your money into people who get more people."

This practice of not owning buildings changed when the Tokyo Church of Christ became the first ICOC church to build its own church building. This building was designed by the Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. This became an example for other ICOC churches to follow suit.

Bible Talks

Bible Talk small groups of disciples that meet usually once a week. They can meet almost anywhere, including college dormitories, restaurants, and members' houses. Bible Talks, or 'Family Groups', are designed so that disciples can read the Bible together and build relationships with others in the church. All are encouraged to invite guests as a way for the guest to be introduced to the Church in a more informal setting.The Bible Talk is very similar to the "cell group" or "small group" structure found in many churches to facilitate close relationships amongst members.

'Discipling'

The practice of discipling is one of the central elements of the ICOC methodology. Members believe that this practice is based upon and encouraged by biblical passages.

I believe it is biblical for us to imitate the relationship Jesus had with the apostles and the relationships they had with one another. For example, the apostles had a student/teacher or younger brother/older brother relationship with Jesus. They also had adult/adult relationships with each other. Jesus paired the apostles for the mission. (Matthew 10) Both types of relationships are essential to lead people to maturity. Another text that demonstrates the student/teacher relationship is in Titus 2 where the older women are to train the younger women.
— Kip McKean

One of the most criticized aspects of discipling in the early years was the degree of control that older members exhibited in their "discipling" relationships. The older members were charged with monitoring the spiritual growth and mentoring the younger members. Some members say the partnership was more like having a good friend than anything else. The practice has been labelled by detractors as "dictatorial" because the discipler may also give input on the secular daily activities of others and give advice about life issues they may be facing. A new member is often coerced into making a "list of sins" to their discipler, who will question and challenge them over this list. Changes have been made to this practice in recent years to reflect the growing maturity of this body of believers.

"The Spirit Watch", a website that heavily criticizes Catholics, Mother Theresa, Mormons, the ICOC and many others and is run by supporters of the 'Church of God' makes these claims. "In 1994 For every three people who joined the church, two left. In 1994, while the church grew by 40 000 members about 20,000 people left the Movement. Members are encouraged not to date people who are not Christians and to seek advice before going steady or marrying, members are encouraged to have a discipler to whom they can confess their sins, get advice and encouragement. Members may be advised to limit relationships with people who are leading them back to a sinful, no-christian lifestyle. These are just examples that show the lack of freedom with which people are able to join and leave the movement.

Political Hierarchy

The leader of each congregation is referred to as an Evangelist, or Elders if the congregation has qualified men. Larger churches may have an Assistant Evangelist.

Since each city has a single church, its membership may be large and geographically disperse; if so, it was divided into regions and then sectors of perhaps a few small suburban communities, overseen by Region Leaders and Sector Leaders (known collectively as Zone Leaders).

This governing system attracted criticism as overly-authoritarian, but the ICOC denies this charge. "It’s not a dictatorship," said Al Baird, former ICOC spokesperson; "It’s a theocracy, with God on top."

This distinct structure, which defined the International Church of Christ's polity for most of its existence, may no longer accurately represent its actual functioning: in the years following McKean's resignation, the central leadership was shaken and largely disbanded, and local churches have become increasingly autonomous. Most no longer report to the Los Angeles headquarters, and some have ceased to collect Special Missions Contribution for the central administration. Local opinion of Kip McKean varies, with some congregations still (unofficially) supporting him and others condemning the man and his past influence on the organization, often with veracity.

Plans

This family of churches have formulated a "20/20" Vision Plan to plant churches in the cities of the world where they do not have churches by the year 2020. They plan to build and strengthen those churches through a "best practices" approach to ministry. Oversee and support those churches through strong regional relationships and discipling. Train their ministers and congregations through the newly formed "Disciple Bible Academy" being rolled out across the world and provide global co-ordination and co-operation through "Service Teams" that specialize in "Campus Ministry", "Youth & Family Ministry" and other specialized ministries.

Reform

In 1990, Kip McKean moved from Boston to head the Los Angeles Church of Christ. Los Angeles quickly became the new central authority for the growing movement. Currently, the total membership of International Churches of Christ is around 96,000.

In early 2001, some of the World Sector Leaders (regional evangelists directing geographic areas of churches) began to question the effectiveness of the present leadership structure as well as the qualifications of Kip and Elena McKean to continue in their global leadership role. By September, the issue had reached a head in which the majority of World Sector Leaders agreed that significant changes were necessary. In November 2001, the McKeans announced that they were stepping down from leading the Los Angeles Church of Christ in order to take a sabbatical for an unspecified amount of time in order to focus on "marriage and family issues". All of the McKeans' adult children had disassociated themselves from the movement and though this was not the only issue for the sabbatical, it was a visible 'thorn' in Kip McKean's side.

At this time, the International Churches of Christ administration, under the leadership of Andy Fleming (a former missionary to Scandinavia and the Soviet Union), began to formulate a plan for a massive reduction in the overhead of the worldwide organization. The goal of this administrative plan was to refocus the resources of the local congregations on building up their own ministries as well as guaranteeing continued goodwill in future missions contributions. By the end of 2002, the overhead had been reduced by 67%, and Fleming resigned as the Chairman of the Board.

Many of McKean's friends and closest work colleagues observed a number of unrepentant sins in his life, after multiple confrontations a letter was drafted by numerous evangelists around the world calling for his repentance. Cited below are extracts from that letter:

"In love, united as your brothers, we stand by these statements from the Brothers’ Letter to Kip McKean that call for your repentance of these specific alienating sins:

• “Pride, Arrogance and Anger” – You have recently said, “I can fix any church.” And “You don’t understand. I am the star.” This kind of pride fits with your not responding to the 65 brothers from around the world. In light of the gravity of the situation, we are very disappointed that you chose not to respond. While we acknowledge that each of us is nothing but a servant of Christ, our combined testimony is exactly the church discipline the Scriptures prescribe (Matthew 18:15-17).

• “Disrespect, Gossip, Slander and Condemnation Towards Churches and Disciples” – It is hard to overstate this point: you continue to rewrite the history of our churches in a simplistic, misleading and self-advancing way. Since 2003, you have refused to take a significant part of the blame for the parts of our church-building that burned up as hay and straw in the firestorm that went through our movement in the last few years (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)... But it cannot be said straightforwardly enough that many, if not most, of the current weaknesses in the very churches you condemn can be traced to the domino effect of your own short-term, short-sighted and shortcut leadership dynamic of the 1990s while you were leading the Los Angeles International Church of Christ and were the Missions Evangelist for the ICOC. Because of your unrepented sins, you were asked to resign from both of those roles.

• “Ungodly Ethics” and “Hatred, Discord, Jealousy, Selfish Ambition, Dissensions, Factions and Envy” (Galatians 5:19– 21) - In the response, you attempt to justify divisive means by appealing to the fact that Jesus’ teachings often caused division. Preaching the truth of the gospel indeed causes divisions between those who choose to be disciples of Christ and those who reject Christ. But causing division amongst fellow Christians is wrong! Disciples who use divisive tactics cause ungodly division."

- Brothers letter to McKean.

McKean refused to respond to these corrections and the rebuke from his closest friends and went on to form his own church, now called the International Christian Church.

McKean's Resignation

In November 2002, the McKeans announced their resignations from their roles as World Mission Evangelist, Women's Ministry Leader and Leader of the World Sector Leaders. The World Sector Leaders also announced the disintegration of their leadership group with the suggestion that a new representative leadership group including evangelists, elders and teachers, be formed with an initial meeting in May 2003. McKean himself attributes the resignation to his daughter's decision to leave the ICOC, which "along with my leadership sins of arrogance, and not protecting the weak, caused uncertainty in my leadership among the World Sector Leaders." Later in 2002 the remaining central leadership was officially dissolved at the 2002 'Los Angeles Unity Meeting'.

At the beginning of 2001 as a college student in Boston, the oldest of the McKeans’ children began to question her faith and ultimately decided to leave the church. This event, alongside a pattern of relational sins evident in her parents, caused uncertainty in McKeans’ leadership among many of the World Sector Leaders, as well as among the Kingdom Elders and Kingdom Teachers. In September 2001, the World Sector Leaders “encouraged” the McKeans to go on sabbatical.

Aftermath

In 2004, Kip McKean made an effort to again assert his leadership over the ICOC at a World Missions Jubilee in Portland, the majority of ICOC church leaders rejected the efforts due to mistrust in Kip's leadership. McKean had demonstrated a pattern of unrepentant leadership and relational sins that had surfaced in both his family life and in many of his relationships with his closest friends. He had stepped down other senior leaders for "family problems" but was having a difficult time applying those same standards to himself. This lack of humility and integrity had left many of his close friends disillusioned and mistrusting of McKeans leadership. In that same year, McKean's divisive tactics came to a head. After letters detailing his needed repentance were ignored, McKean and those complicit with his sins were disfellowshipped. In 2007 he moved to Los Angeles to start a new movement calling themselves the International Christian Churches (ICC) Kip McKean Starts The International Christian Churches</ref> to distinguish it from the ICOC.

What followed was a period of increased sovereignty among local churches, Many in leadership positions issued public apologies for their lack of gentleness and participation in overly authoritative leadership practices and some resigned or were asked to leave. By 2004, Boston, Atlanta, and New York had lost a number of their members, and a small number of congregations severed their ties with the ICOC.

Overall the changes made in the past few years are seen in a positive light. While there are always pendulum swings and over-reactions when organizations make internal changes the ICOC has been through a period of change and emerged stronger. Recently the evangelists committee reported on the progress being made: "The Evangelists Committee is encouraged by the continued progress that God is producing in our worldwide fellowship of churches. More souls are being saved and our geographic regions are getting stronger, healthier, and more functionally dynamic. The American churches just completed their first American Leadership Conference hosted by the Boston Church. The ALC was a tremendous success, addressing the growth needs of our churches through workshops broken down by size. Douglas Arthur and the entire Boston leadership are to be commended for this inspirational conference. The committee is also encouraged by the response to our upcoming 2012 World Discipleship Summit in San Antonio, Texas July 5–8, 2012. Already over 11 000 have registered. The Summit will host 8 conferences going on at the same time. Each evening we will all come together for worship services of between 15,000 and 20,000. These will be the largest worship services in the history of our fellowship."

The International churches of Christ are now a family of churches who have affirmed the "co-operation agreement" (see www.icocco-op.org) and who are committed to brotherhood, partnership and unity between disciples and churches. At the end of 2009, the ICOC has about 92,524 members in 574 churches in 145 countries.

File:BibleAcademyWeb.jpg

Disciple Bible Academies that are being rolled out across the world

A recent development has been the creation of the "Disciple Bible Academy" which is being rolled out worldwide to help improve the education of ICOC ministers. The first session in Johannesburg, South Africa was launched in 2011

Another program has been the "Disciple Adventure Program" where people of all ages can go and serve 3rd world churches or hard to evangelise nations for 3 months to a year.

Criticism

Some of the practices of the International Churches of Christ have drawn criticism from school officials,college and university campuses, members' families, former members and, in some cases, former leaders. The primary sources of complaint are the high expectations that is, the high commitment expected of members in terms righteous living, although to be fair, every convert goes through sessions of Bible studies where the beliefs and practices of the church are explained in detail before anyone can place membership or join the church. The expectations of time and money, (There are both a Sunday service and a midweek bible study and members are asked to tithe to support the work of the church) are clearly explained upfront. One of the doctrines of the International Churches of Christ has been the "One True Church" doctrine (recognizing repentant disciples who are baptized as part of the one universal church). The International Churches of Christ teaches that a person is saved by grace through a personal faith and the power of God at the point of repentance and baptism by immersion, and that once baptized, you are added to God's heavenly kingdom, and to the church here on earth. They believe that anyone, anywhere in any church that follows the plan of salvation as laid out in the bible is saved.

The International Churches of Christ have received it's fair share of criticism over the years. A major criticism is that it is cult-like, and uses various scare tactics and mind control tactics to ensure conformity. Members of student age aare often ecouraged to leave their home to live with other members who will disciple and mentor them. Those that want to leave are told they will go to hell if they choose this path . Rick A Ross has been a vocal and staunch critic. Critics such a Ross and others have gone as far as to label the church a cult. Although a the Singapore High Court has ruled that those claims are absurd. An extract from that ruling is cited below:

"32.It is apparent that these characteristics listed by Mr Cheong are those associated with the more notorious dangerous, violent and destructive cults that surface in the media from time to time in a dramatic way, such as those led to the Jonestown and Waco tragedies. As we know the facts, the CCC (Central Christian Church, the ICOC Congregation in Singapore) of course, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be equated with such groups. One can say straight away that CCC is not a commune of half-crazed people living in isolation from the world at large worshipping and kissing the foot of some self-appointed messiah or prophet. Most of its members carry on with their full time jobs just like members of other churches. Its members do not give up their assets to a commune, and its leaders do not live in riches on the backs of its members. It is not a secret organisation run by persons with an agenda which is kept secret from its members. People are welcome to join its meetings and services. In fact it actively tries to get people to attend these meetings and services so that they can see if they wish to join. They are made fully aware of what being a member would involve. People are never deceived or tricked or trapped into joining it. Furthermore, although a member is dissuaded from leaving, if he is bent on leaving, he will not be stopped from doing so. In fact, in the short history of the CCC here in Singapore, the people who have left the group far outnumber the existing members. There has been a constant turnover of members. It certainly does not harass or intimidate ex-members."

Media sources from Christianity Today (an evangelical periodical) to town newspapers to popular magazines (such as Rolling Stone) have included articles about members and by former members. There have been TV exposés such as "Believe It or Else" on ABC's 20/20, on 10/15/1993. Criticism has also come from inside the church; for example, Henry Kriete of the London Church of Christ has said during the McKean era of the 1980s and 1990s that his leadership style resulted in the London church:

• As ‘lead evangelists’, we have forced our administrators to ‘get in line’ or be ‘loyal to us’ – as plans and programs and pet projects are railroaded through.

• Administrators have admitted to deceit in the name of compliance.

• We have demanded monetary sacrifice from our members, but comparatively, it appears we have demanded little from ourselves. (Members and leaders are encouraged to tithe off of their income)

Since the 2003 breakup of the centralized leadership; congregations have made many reforms, (see "reform" section). Some current members admit that alleged criticisms did happen prior to 2003, but maintain that such practices have since been reformed or discontinued.

A few local churches have become autonomous after the recent disbandment of the old central leadership, and today it is difficult to make any generalizations about the organization collectively.

One church

The ICOC’s stance on being a part of “the one true church” has been one of much controversy and confusion both inside and outside of the ICOC. While the ICOC has never had an official doctrine on the subject, one has often been assumed from the doctrines it does hold.

Specifically, the ICOC holds that the bible teaches the existence of a single universal church. One implication of this doctrine is that, while Christians may separate themselves into different, disunified churches (as opposed to just geographically separated congregations), it is not actually biblical to do so, and so such separations are not likely to take place between groups of Christians being obedient to the Bible. As Jesus prayed for the unity of his true followers in Acts 17 the division seen in the Christian world is wrong.. And so there is controversy over who exactly is part of "the universal church" and who is not. The ICOC believes that anyone who follows the plan of salvation as laid out in the scriptures is added by God to his "One Universal Church".

The ICOC sees God at work in many congregations around the world who are not necessarily affiliated with the ICOC. Christian Churches, Churches of Christ and other biblically sound churches have faithful disciples and Christians in them.

High commitment expectations for members

The ICOC teaches that every member needs to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. These teachings are based on the following scriptures, Acts 2:42–47, Luke 14:25–27 and Mark 10:17–22. Members are expected to come to the church services on Sunday and "Midweek" services (typically on Wednesdays), as well as join a Bible Discussion Group.

Personality changes

Researcher Flavil Yeakley has documented that ICOC members' perceptions of their interests and personalities suggest a shift towards personality type 'ESFJ' (one of sixteen possible types) once joining the church. The researcher cautions that the method used does not prove an actual personality shift so much as the participant's perception that such a shift should take place. McKean has suggested that this simply indicates Jesus was of this personality type. Yeakley argues that one cannot apply a personality test to divinity; God, having no psychological weaknesses, would have full strength in all dimensions of personality.

Cultural, philosophical and doctrinal changes

Since late 2002/early 2003, some of the International Churches of Christ have gone in different directions. Some have chosen to stay with the distinctive International Churches of Christ characteristics and practices, whereas some have pursued reformation. Results of each course of action vary from church to church; many are thriving having chosen to make important changes, while others who have swung to very liberal theology continue to stagnate.

As of 2005 there are three (sometimes overlapping) groups within the International Churches of Christ. There are those who have held firmly to what has traditionally distinguished the International Churches of Christ: discipling, Bible Talks (small groups), baptism and evangelism. Other churches are gravitating toward Evangelicalism and Protestantism.

The Circle City Church (formerly the Indianapolis Church of Christ) is now an independent and non-denominational congregation, but has made several overtures to open dialog with the now largely independent congregations of the International Churches of Christ, including the Indianapolis International Church of Christ congregation.

ICOC and Churches of Christ relations

As part of the cultural, philosophical and doctrinal changes within the former International Churches of Christ (pre-2002), efforts are being made by some Progressive International Churches of Christ members to also reconcile with mainstream Churches of Christ and Christian churches and churches of Christ. In March 2004, Abilene Christian University (affiliated with the mainline Churches of Christ) held the "Faithful Conversations" dialog between members of the Church of Christ and International Churches of Christ. Those involved were able to apologize and initiate an environment conducive to building bridges. A few leaders of the Church of Christ apologized for use of the word "cult" in reference to the International Churches of Christ. The International Churches of Christ leaders apologized for alienating the Churches of Christ and implying they were not Christians. Although a better atmosphere for cooperation and understanding was generated, there are still fundamental differences within the fellowship. Early 2005 saw a second set of dialogs with greater promise for both sides helping one another.

Harding University (affiliated with the mainline Churches of Christ) is contemplating a distance learning program geared toward those ministers who were trained in the International Churches of Christ.

ICOC plan for United Cooperation

The most recent development is the Plan for United Co-operation for the International Churches of Christ. Solicitations for governing structures and methods of inter-congregational relationships were requested by November 1, 2005, with the goal of completing a final proposal by February 1, 2006.

As of May 15, 2006 a total of 343 Churches agreed to and committed to the Plan for United Cooperation.

As of 2011 500 churches representing over 90% of the ICOC had affirmed the co-operation plan.

Recently the "Evangelists Service team" formulated a "2020 vision plan", that all the thirty or so regional families of churches have a plan to evangelise their geographic area of the world. The plan encompasses the need to strengthen existing small churches and plant new churches.

Yet, attitudes vary from church to church as to how much authority, if any at all, the new leadership structure should possess. It seems only a small band of churches welcome the old style back, while many prefer, and wait, for a "new improved" version that could provide an overall vision for this group of churches. According to www.icocinfo.org, an independent International Churches of Christ survey group, the membership of International Churches of Christ in 2005 is 92,474, which declined 12.5% from 2004.

Plan for United Cooperation document

Within the ICOC, over 90% of the churches have signed up for the "co-operation agreement" as a way of co-ordinating the 500+ churches efforts for global missions, serving the poor and maintaining unity. This plan is in no way connected to the churches deciding to follow Kip McKean's teachings."

External links

• Disciples Today Website
• ICOC Hot News website
• ICOC Co-operation Plan official website
• HOPE worldwide official website

See also

• Early Christianity
• First Christian Church
• Restorationism (Christian primitivism)