Hello all:
What I’m currently reading and viewing:
Post Modern Christian - the Blog of Gabe Peterson.
Christ Journey Church, Fort Worth, TX.
Mission Alive, a church planting ministry.
Christ Journey Adventures - the blog of Chris and Heidi Chappotin.
That’s more than enough links and things to look at in one post…
I was checking out Gabe Peterson’s blog when I found reference to a church plant that he had just visited. I checked out the link to the church website, and I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of church I had found.
I saw pictures of a baptism, and pictures of the Lord’s Supper being taken. I also saw pictures of electric guitars inside the church.
I also saw that the majority of the staff were graduates of Abeline Christian University, but that one had graduated from a Baptist college and another from an Assemblies of God school…
So then, I wondered, was this group affiliated with the churches of Christ, or the Independent Christian Churches? Or was this church completely independent and separate from any type of Christian fellowship?
I remembered that Gabe had mentioned that this church was planted by Mission Alive, a group he had interned with…so I checked out Mission Alive and after a little digging found that it affiliates itself with churches of Christ… and then found its information page on Christ Journey, which states that Christ Journey is a church of Christ.
The information page goes on to say:
“This church is firmly rooted in the Stone-Campbell heritage. To heighten their effectiveness, both Chris and Heidi are beginning a Masters in Christian Ministry degree through Abilene Christian University by taking a few courses each year. They believe in the priesthood of all believers and implement this practice in their churches. They believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are central to a Christian worldview. As believers, they worship God who sent Christ to die for us as remembered in the Lord’s Supper and understand that baptism is our participation in his death, burial, and resurrection.
Chris and Heidi have been married eight years. When they were married, Heidi became a Chappotin but did not cease being a Toole. She is, although of a new generation, very close to her parents, uncles and aunts, and grandparents. Likewise, Christ Journey has no desire to give up her relationship with her spiritual parents, uncles and aunts, and grandparents in the faith.”
Those are interesting quotes. Its very obvious that Mission Alive wants to let every one know that this church is a church of Christ….
Also in the article are references to a church of Christ which has financially supported this new church plant.
So…. questions I have for this post:
Can a church be instrumental and still be affiliated with the churches of Christ? Or, is this church more affiliated with independent Christian churches and churches of Christ? Or, should it be if it is not?
How does the use of instruments of music affect fellowship for this congregation with others? I would assume that the independent Christian churches would greet this congregation with open arms…. but what about churches of Christ?
Do other congregations know that Christ Journey uses instruments in worship?
I notice that while Mission Alive goes out if its way to paint Christ Journey as a church of Christ, there is no mention of this affiliation on the Christ Journey website. Was this an oversight, or was this done intentionally? If so, why?
DISCLAIMERS:
Okay, before the mud starts flying…a few statements I have to make:
I’m not attacking Christ Journey’s use of instrumental music. There are previous posts that I have written where you can read about my views of instrumental music.
I’m not very interested in having an argument about whether or not the use instrumental music is sinful or not. That being said, I’m not going to declare that off-topic…. I’m just letting you all know that that is not my intention for this post.
What I want to know is how this point of doctrine affects this congregations relationship with other churches. I’m interested in the dynamics of the fellowship that this church shares with others.
Lastly, I want to mention how moving it was to read about the accomplishments that this congregation has achieved so far. I hope that their good work continues.
Now…all of that being said, I hope that we can have a discussion on these issues. If you have an opinion on the questions I asked above, I want to hear them…so please, comment. I look forward to a good discussion.
-Clarke