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Note: Each individual church bears the name of its home city plus "Church of Christ." Hence, the International Church of Christ in London is named the London Church of Christ. These are not to be confused with congregations of the mainline "church of Christ" or "Disciples of Christ" denominations.
The International Churches of Christ grew from the Churches of Christdenomination and its restoration tradition. Restorationism held that Christians must turn to the root of their faith and be Christians first and foremost.(9) The most distinctive andcontrovesial of ICC's beliefs is an adherence to"discipling" or "shepherding." In ICC context, discipling is a hierarchical system of teaching and obeyance in which it is the church member's duty to recruit and lead people in ICC doctrine.(10) Each newconvert to ICC is assigned one or more "disciplers," whose role is to teach scripture according to ICC interpretation and to ensure that new members make everyday decisions which reflect ICC standards and values. Such decisions include where to live, who to associate with, and who to date or marry.(11) Disciples are to do God's work by bringing more people into the Boston community so that they and others may be saved. This belief in proselytizing derives from Jesus' words to Simon and Andrew in Mark 1:17: " Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."(12)
The ICC belief in discipling gives way to belief in a hierarchical structure which places McKean above all other church members. Disciplers are discipled by more experienced lay-leaders, who are in turn discipled by pastors of churches. The pastor/evangelist has immense power over church members. McKean expressed the ICC position in this way: " The only time you don't obey [your pastor] is if he violates scripture or violates your conscience. But, other than that, in all opinion areas, you...obey!" (13) Churches themselves are likewise controlled by a pyramidal structure. "Community churches" submit to "small city churches" which submit to "pillar churches" which submit to the International Churches of Christ Headquarters in Los Angeles under the direction of McKean himself.(14)
Like the Church of Christ from which it splintered, the ICC preaches that one must have a water baptism ("baptismalregeneration") and be conscious of its implication of submission to God in order to be saved from eternal damnation (based on John 3:5). ICC also believes that only those baptisms performed in their "true" churches are valid. Thus, all people who fail to be baptized in an ICC church must go to hell.(15) This engenders a separatist mentality among ICC church members: many new converts are warned that they must sever ties with family members, friends, and dating partners who refuse to have ICC baptisms.(16)
To References - Beliefs Section
The International Churches of Christ has recently been accused of being, in the popular conception of the word, a "cult." The group's detractors say that ICC practices very intimidating recruitment and teaching techniques, especially on vulnerable college students. In fact, the American Family Foundation reports that ICC "disciplers" have been banned from atleast 20 college campuses, including American University, Boston College, Smith College, and University of Southern California.(17) An example of one of ICC's outspoken critics is The Rev. Robert Thornburg, Dean of Boston University's Marsh Chapel. He tells the Washington Post that at the peak of ICC's recruiting, about 100 BU students a year joined the group, and that most of those ended up leaving school.(18) Rev. Thornburg also reports to the Chronicle of Higher Education the ICC is "the most destructive religious group I have ever seen." (19) One practice for which ICC is harshly derided is its compilation and distribution of "Sin Lists." New members are told that they must confess all the sins of their lives to their disciplers. Without the members' knowledge, these confessions may be written down and circulated among evangelists.(20) Much of the vehemence against ICC comes from former members. For example, a George Washington Medical School student speaks for other former-members saying, "We feel like we've been spiritually raped." (21) Church officials say that two memebers leave ICC for every one that joins.(22) These firgures may help account for the sheer volume of anti-ICC material found throughout media. Another reason for anti-ICC sentiments may be the group's ideological distance from society's religious standards; from a sociological perspective, it may be said that ICC is in high tension with its environment. ICC evangelist Jack Armstrong describes the position of ICC very well in saying: "we are a very, very different church than what's already established out there. Whenever you see something different of course you're going to get that label that it's a cult." (23)
To References - Current Issues andControversies Section
SHADRACH'S FURNACE, The InternationalChurches of
Christ and the Mainline Church of Christ
This framed site contains many articles and studies on ICC, some of which were used in
researchfor this site. Pieces range from scholarly articles to vehement anti-ICC pieces
to ICC documents. Russel Paden's piece ("From the Churches of Christ to the
Boston Movement: A Comparative Study") is especially noteworthy. This site is
agreat source of thorough, well-researched information (none of which, I should note,
actively attempts to support ICC).
http://www.du.edu/~sullyatt/icc/
The Discipling Dilemma
This site houses all 206 pages of Flavil R. Yeakley's
The Discipling Dilemma
, accessible by chapter. It is an in-depth exploration of a ICC's roots, growth,
theology, and more. Note that this is an entire book; there are much better sites for
obtaining concise material.
http://www.vcnet.com/measures/tdd.01.html
Index of/Exc/Groups/Bostor-CC
This site contains several in-depths articles on ICC. It also contains issues of
Close to the Edge
, an anti-ICC publication produced by Triumphing Over London Cults(TOLC). TOLC is an
organization of former members of the London Church of Christ, and their perspective is an
interesting one to hear.
http://www.mtd.com/exc/Groups/Boston-CC/
Watchman Expositor Profile
This site is a concise explanation of ICC's background and growth, as well as a
summary of the grievances which the anti-cult community has against ICC. This is a
good site at which to gain a rudimentary understanding of the group.
http://rampages.onramp.net/~watchman/bostnpro.htm
International Churches of Christ
This vigorously anti-ICC site is not very thorough. However, it does provide a good
introdution to ICC's beliefs. It has links to various sites that are morein-depth.
http://www.intlcc.com/
Boston Church of Christ
This site provides a concise overview of ICC's history, doctrine, and practice, and
explains the scriptural basis for some of ICC's beliefs. The site was written by a
pastor, and one of its unique elements is a scriptural assault the ICC; the writer
provides and interprets Bible verses which counter ICC doctrine and practices.
http://munkora.cs.mu.oz.au/~schuller/html/boston.html
Contact Info:
Created by Justin Cooke,
International Churches of Christ
530 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1750
Los Angeles, CA 90010
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
Spring Term, 1997
University of Virginia
Lats modified: 04/23/01