The Christian Churches and Churches of Christ

Denomination·Founded 1927 CE·No membership roll exists and none can, since there is no body to keep one. The Christian Standard directory listed about 5,200 congregations at its last compilation, down from nearly 6,800 six years earlier, and a new count was under way as of late 2024. Estimates of adherents commonly run above a million and are not from an audited source.

Judaism → Christianity → Catholicism → Protestantism → The Christian Churches and Churches of Christ

Branch

Core Tenets

2 — a sample of the center, never the sum Part of Belief →
The shared center — held across the tradition
There is nothing to join. No general assembly, no roll, no charter, no officers over the congregations. A church is one of these churches because it says it is and because other such churches recognise it — which means the boundary is maintained by a magazine, a convention and a set of colleges rather than by any authority. Go deeper — context →
Held by most — broad, but not universal
The instrument is a matter of expedience; the pattern is not. This is the position between the two siblings: the organ and the missionary agency are permitted because Scripture does not forbid them, while immersion for the forgiveness of sins, weekly communion and congregational elders are not negotiable because Scripture shows them. Go deeper — context →
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