The International Churches of Christ

Movement·Founded 1979 CE·About 112,000 members in roughly 700 congregations across 147 or 148 nations, on the movement's own March 2024 reporting; its own site gives 107,000 in 767 congregations for a slightly different date. Membership peaked at about 135,000 in 2002 and fell after the 2003 crisis. All figures are self-reported and there is no independent audit.

Judaism → Christianity → Catholicism → Protestantism → The Restoration Movement (Churches of Christ) → The International Churches of Christ

Disciples Today — the ICOC's own siteThe recordMinistryWatch — reporting on the abuse litigation

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Overview Belief 3How to Live 1Practice 1Stories & Scripture 1Community 1 You × The International Churches of Christ Discussion
Story of The International Churches of Christ

Honest to God — thirty-nine pages that took the movement apart.

In February 2003 Henry Kriete, an ICOC leader in London, circulated a document describing financial mismanagement, dishonest statistical reporting, legalism and authoritarian discipling. Within weeks forty-two ministry leaders at the Los Angeles headquarters issued a public apology for arrogance, legalism and abusive discipling, and the central structure dissolved.

Add to My Beliefs →
Where it is toldHenry Kriete, Honest to God, February 2003, and the apologies that followed
Who appearsHenry Kriete; the Los Angeles leadership; Kip McKean
What it teachesThat a movement built on accountability was brought down by a member exercising it
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

Honest to God: Revolution Through Repentance and Freedom in Christ, circulated by Henry Kriete in February 2003, is the pivotal document in the movement's history. Kriete was a long-standing leader in the London church, not a hostile outsider, and the letter's force came from that: it used the movement's own language of repentance and accountability against its leadership. It described legalism, arrogance, financial mismanagement, statistical dishonesty and abusive discipling. It spread through the movement within days. On 20 February 2003 forty-two ministry leaders at the Los Angeles church, the movement's headquarters congregation, issued a public apology admitting arrogance, legalism, authoritarian discipling and improper teaching, and the central hierarchy stopped functioning shortly afterwards. Tens of thousands of members left over the following years.

The same ground, other faiths

claims that share this one's ideas
The past gets a vote, not a veto. Reconstructionist Judaism · core tenet Go deeper →
We do not curse our teachers. The Assyrian Church of the East · precept Go deeper →
There is nothing to join. The Christian Churches and Churches of Christ · core tenet Go deeper →
Nothing supernatural is claimed, by anyone, at any point. The Satanic Temple · core tenet Go deeper →
Satsang — the singing evening. Hinduism · rite Go deeper →
The fourfold sangha. Buddhism · community Go deeper →

The conversation

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The International Churches of Christ's Stories & Scripture roomback up one layer Propose a change to this passageone button — it routes to the review pool

Numbers count Panfaith activity only — never real-world adherence.

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