Restoration& Independent Christian Churches& Church of Christ& Disciples of Christ& ICOC22 Apr 2006 08:26 pm
Hello all:
I thought y’all might find this interesting.
-Clarke
RSS feed for comments on this post. | TrackBack URI
Hello all:
I thought y’all might find this interesting.
-Clarke
RSS feed for comments on this post. | TrackBack URI
April 23rd, 2006 at 2:40
Pretty much what I expected, we are only a blurp on the radar screen of Christians in America. you would be surprised (or maybe not) of how many folks have never heard of the Restoration Movement churches.
April 23rd, 2006 at 3:43
JP,
Restoration what? Aren’t they the people who take old cars and make them look new? (I am being facetious.)
As a part of ICOC congregations from 1988, I did not know what the Restoration (or Stone-Campbell) movement was until 2003.(Shame on me for not asking the question about our history before.)
I do believe a lack of unity limits our outreach. Internal struggles and debates over subjects which outsiders would consider ridiculous do not help people perceive God in a true light.
John 13:35
By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Holman)
Sincerely,
Phil
April 23rd, 2006 at 3:59
On page 55 of thisCensus reportthere is a list of denominations / religious beliefs and the number of self identified adherents. The churces of Christ saw quite a jump in coverts from 1990 to 2000. (from 1,769,000 to 2,593,000.)
Sincerely,
Phil
April 23rd, 2006 at 5:17
One more stat and then I’ll leave it alone…
Who attends church the most?
Sincerely,
Phil Spadaro
April 23rd, 2006 at 9:34
“Who attends the church the most?”
That is a pretty good percentage. I wonder what precentage of that 68% is that of members in the legalistic churches in our sect that view it as sin if they do not come to church on any given sunday.
April 23rd, 2006 at 20:54
Hello all:
What struck me on this map is too things. First, it comes from a website that is not Restoration Movement oriented, and yet it lumps us all together instead of having one for COC, one for Disciples, etc.
The second is it surprised me that there are parts of Oregon (where I live) that are yellow. Oregon is the most “unchurched” state in the Union. People don’t know much of anything about the Churches of Christ here…but, we “have less baggage” here because the majority of the population doesn’t even have a clue who were are or what our history is.
-Clarke
April 24th, 2006 at 9:36
I think the restoration is a completed act, not an ongoing effort
April 24th, 2006 at 11:27
JP,
I am curious how church plantings are doing in South Jersey. I remember a church of Christ in Cape May Court House but not much else. (I as converted in New Brunswick, but grew up in Cape May County and attended high school in Vineland).
It seems like the Pitman church of Christ you attend has quite a vision for South Jersey.
Sincerely,
Phil Spadaro
April 24th, 2006 at 12:27
I was not suprised to see no data reported for churches of christ in my county. It seems more and more the churches are wanting to hide or mask their identity.
and my post above is not correct….I meant to say “I think many people believe the restoration is a completed act”. I do not think it is, so I think I offended myself.
April 24th, 2006 at 14:09
Its hard for me to look at California…(esp. as a minister here)
Thanks for posting this!
b blessed
russ
April 24th, 2006 at 15:00
Very interesting map.
I’m not sure I buy it entirely however. According to
http://www.adherents.com/adh_dem.html
there are about 3.5 million of us (coC + Disciples + indep’s). That’s more than 1% of the US population. I don’t think this map reflects that.
Also very interesting that we are most likely to go to church every week.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:51
Hey Phil,
The Pitman church is a wonderful church, growing at a decent pace and in fact we are building a brand new building to facilitate such growth. The church in Cape May is a small church with approx 50-60 members (give or take) The ex-minister John Reimels has left there and in now on staff at Pitman. Other then Pitman, churches Of Christ are unknown in this area.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:22
Tech,
That reminds me of the joke about the COC member who was found on a deserted island. He had built 2 church buildings. When he was asked why there were 2 he replied, “I built the first one and attended there but there was no one there that I could agree with.”
April 28th, 2006 at 8:40
While Michigan looks relatively empty, I see that as a challenge rather than a rebuke. The Rochester Church of Christ has 1200+/- members and is planning to establish 4 off-site new works in the next 24 months (by God’s help and blessing). As Pitman (a fantastic group of people, by the way) and Rochester shows, it CAN be done in the north. And have I mentioned that a old and nearly dead African American congregation of the COC in Detroit revitalized a few years ago and has about 1000 in worship now? Remember the lesson of Elijah, if you ARE the only one, your job is bigger. Let’s get to it and rejoice along the way.
May 5th, 2006 at 12:33
I am not that surprised to see yellow in Oregon for this is where the DoC (well they CLAIM to be His disciples) are headquartered.
Erik
May 5th, 2006 at 15:48
Erik:
I’m guessing you are talking about the International Churches of Christ, who was/is headed by Kip McKean…the Disciples of Christ are in Indianapolis.
Kip is at the Portland International Church of Christ.
-Clarke