Kingfisher Church of Christ
Kingfisher, Oklahoma.
1. Who are these people? As with everything related to the Bible, there are long answers and short answers! We'll attempt to satisfy both routes.
In short - we are a Bible believing church that has no creed but the Bible, no head but the Lord Jesus Himself and no limitations on membership other than the one's God Himself imposed when He adds one to His church.
Churches of Christ - Who Are These People? is an excellent and fairly short article that does a great job describing who we are and what we believe. (We have copies of this article at our building.) Many of your questions might be addressed here, and is an excellent first place to look if you really are seeking who we are.
(These other questions and answers are full of religious "jargon". I prefer straight talk, but some are looking for the info below. Feel free to contact us for some friendly talk about a wonderful book - the Bible - and a great God!)
2. Which denomination are you? We traditionally identify with the term "churches of Christ" from Romans 16:16. Overall, though, we think of ourselves as simply Christians. Division in the church is not identified as acceptable in the scriptures. The scriptures teach that there is "one body" (Ephesians 4:4-6.) We don't see a justification of the terms "Catholic", "Baptist", "Nazarene", "Lutheran" or any other man-made name or division for the church. The New Testament seems awfully clear in its teaching that individual congregations with their own leaders were to believe and teach the same things. It might seem strange to some, but we maintain that it can, and does, work today even in a postmodern world.
3. Who started your church? God the Father started His church through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18, Acts 2:47, Colossians 1:18, 1 Timothy 3:15.) The organization of the church became a form of reality in Acts chapter 2. We maintain that this is the only church that exists, and the only one we want to be a part of. Christ's church has experienced its ups and downs over the last 2 centuries, with doctrinal deviations taking man-made denominations further from Biblical truth. We believe the church that Christ established has probably existed in one unspoiled form (albeit very, very small at times) from the days of the New Testament. In the USA, there were several religious movements during the frontier days of the late 1700's through the 1800's. It was out of this time period - which some commonly call the American restoration movement - that the idea of returning to the New Testament pattern blossomed in our nation. Some prominent names from that era were Thomas & Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone. While they were important leaders and speakers, they merely fanned an American flame that God started.
4. Do you guys really think you are the only ones going to heaven? This one is commonly used derisively toward members of churches of Christ. A better question to the denominational might be "Why don't you???" The important question here is whether or not one is "in Christ" as the New Testament affirms again and again. The method of being in Christ seems to follow a pattern: hearing the Word of God, believing with all your heart that it is true, confessing freely the name of Jesus Christ by affirming your belief in Him as the Son of God, being baptized for the remission of your sins and living faithfully to God the rest of one's days. The examples of conversions in the New Testament (especially the book of Acts) display the marks of every point of this pattern. Baptism for the remission of sins is falling out of vogue in the denominational world. Based on the heavy emphasis it receives in the scriptures...why? Is there one example in Acts of a "prayer of conversion"? Is there such a thing in the New Testament church as an un-baptized Christian? Does the conversion of the criminal on the cross by Christ Himself - before the implementation of the church - supercede the host of baptisms and teaching on the subject (including Jesus' own words in Mark 16:16?)
It is ultimately God's grace that saves us, however, and all the points of that pattern point to God's grace. Only those who obey the will of God receive God's grace, and we make our stand at obeying God's Will as the scriptures define obedience. It's not necessarily about a name over a door - it IS about full obedience to plain Biblical truth. Anyone can do it...but many are choosing not to!
5. Why no instruments? It isn't because we can't afford a piano! It is a simple concept really - there aren't any New Testament examples of their use in the worship of the church. While you do find instrumental use in the Old Testament, the worship and teachings of Jesus, Peter, Paul and others are not only silent concerning instruments - singing with their hearts was the only mention of music in the worship of the New Testament churches. Since we worship as the church under the new covenant of Christ...we take the example of singing as binding and exclusive of instrumental use. For what it's worth - acappella singing (acappella literally meaning "in the method/tradition of the church") was the standard of Christian worship for about 6 centuries, and is still practiced by a large number of protestant worshippers even today.
6. Are you conservative or liberal? (The author sighs deeply.) We really wish it hadn't come to this in our brotherhood, but it is important enough to give some information for anyone who is looking. The short and most honest reply...somewhat conservative. Our congregation is not ashamed at all to have "Church of Christ" as our name, heritage and fellowship. Our views on a-cappella worship, baptism by immersion for remission of sins, male spiritual leadership as defined by the scriptures and overall New Testament structure in both the assembly and home would be far from classified as "liberal" by anyone inside or outside churches of Christ. Having said all of that we object to name calling or battles between the extremes. Perhaps everyone wants to be considered "middle of the road", but we honestly strive to be exactly that. For any other issue on which you would like some clarification, send us an e-mail and we'd be happy to answer your questions.
There are certainly more questions about us and churches of Christ that many would ask. Please feel free to contact us here for further questions, clarifications, etc. We will answer your questions as clearly and truthfully as we can. Please be respectful and courteous in your correspondence, as we will endeavor to do the same.
© 2004 Kingfisher Church of Christ All Rights Reserved.