The Restoration Movement (Churches of Christ)

Denomination·Founded 1809 CE·About 1,113,362 members in roughly 11,790 congregations in the United States, from the directory maintained since 1973 by 21st Century Christian and now the Church Research Council. Both figures have fallen every year since the 1990s. Substantial churches also exist in Nigeria, Ghana, India and Brazil, counted separately and not reliably.

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Rite of The Restoration Movement (Churches of Christ)

The Lord's Supper every Sunday, passed down the pew.

Acts 20:7 says the disciples came together on the first day of the week to break bread, and the movement reads that as a standing command. No ordained person is needed: the bread and cup are served by men of the congregation, with a few sentences and a prayer.

⏱ Weekly — the Lord's Supper every Sunday without exception◌ The whole congregation, served in the pews
Add to My Beliefs →
What happensUnleavened bread and the cup passed down the rows by men of the congregation, with a short scriptural comment and prayers; no minister is required to preside
What it needsNothing but bread, the cup, and the first day of the week
What it aims atThat the practice of Acts 20:7 be kept literally and weekly
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this rite is held

Weekly communion is the practice visitors notice first, and its logic is characteristic: Acts 20:7 records the disciples meeting on the first day of the week to break bread, that is an apostolic example, and apostolic examples bind. It is served by members rather than clergy — the movement's objection to a priesthood is thoroughgoing — with a short scriptural comment and two prayers, one for the bread and one for the cup, and the trays are passed hand to hand along the rows. In most congregations the trays are then taken to anyone who did not receive them, and a collection follows immediately, on the authority of 1 Corinthians 16:2. The whole thing takes about ten minutes and happens every week without exception, including at funerals and weddings that fall on a Sunday.

The same ground, other faiths

rites that share this one's ideas
The Eucharist. Christianity Go deeper →
The Mass. Catholicism Go deeper →
The liturgy is heaven on earth. Eastern Orthodoxy · core tenet Go deeper →
Word and sacrament. Lutheranism Go deeper →
The sacrament meeting. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Go deeper →
The Holy Qurbana. The Church of the East Go deeper →

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The Restoration Movement (Churches of Christ)'s Practice roomback up one layer Propose a change to this riteone button — it routes to the review pool

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