Need info on Church of Christ for a novel I'm writing!

[bluerose]

Whoa! Thanks to all who’ve posted! This is great!

So far, I think I’ve developed a reasonably authentic character. My real-life inspiration attends a very small church (a cinder-block building that probably doesn’t even hit 1,000 sq. ft. inside) from what I’ve seen on surreptitious drive-bys and the members seem very conservative (his family–nine kids, remember–doesn’t even have TV… but they have watched almost every new movie that’s come out and don’t seem particularly dead-set against Harry Potter, which it seems they’ve all read. Dad is a Stealth pilot and Mom homeschools all the kids–and even delivered the last one at home herself! Quite a few paradoxes, if you ask me!)

My character meets the protagonist while he’s away at college–therefore, he doesn’t have the buffer of family to discourage him from pursuing the young lady (and she is, of course, attractive–isn’t all “forbidden fruit”?) He does, however, attend a church there where the Pastor is an old family friend and is not only intent on pushing my character into becoming a pastor himself, he is also pushing his granddaughter at him as a romantic interest as well!

Needless to say, I am saving all these posts for future reference! Forget sequel, I may need to write a trilogy!

God bless you all!

BlueRose

 

[tkdnick]

bluerose:

Thanks for the vote of confidence!:tiphat:

Uh, lessee… 10% plus 50% equals 60%… of nothing, so far. Yeah, that sounds fair!

BlueRose

You got yourself a deal !!!

 

[jamesclaude]

My father married a devout Church of Christ lady after my ( Presbyterian ) mom died. They live in my home town in Northeast Texas, near Tyler. I have attended their services, and found them to be very sincere, yet very boring and uninspiring. Approximately 250 attend in a very modern, yet plain ( read “ugly” , but comfortable ) auditorium ( it could hardly be called a “sanctuary” - there’s a stage with no altar or table ) Everyone sings a capella ( very well AND in tune, I might add ) after a songleader blows the note on a pitch pipe. There is singing, reading of Scripture and prayer before the communion - which is passed around in round trays: small square hard crackers, and “shot glasses” of grape juice. The sermon doesn’t seem to be very theologically well thought out, but the emotional and heartwarming aspects of it seem to satisfy those assembled. Prayers are not written, and are made up as one goes along ( LOTS of use of the word “just” - e.g. " Lord, we just want to come before you and just praise your name and just give you thanks…etc. " this part drives me a bit crazy, because now I count how many “justs” are used rather than actually praying - it makes me appreciate the Book of Common Prayer and liturgical worship more than ever ) And yes - I know that I oughtta be spanked for counting the “justs”…

On the social pecking order in a Southern town, Church of Christ rates pretty low on the ladder - Presbyterians and Episcopalians usually are the Daugher of the American Revolution bluebloods, next are the United Methodists and Disciples of Christ ( vulgarly described as " Baptists who wear robes and can read ) The Baptists are next, having the most members in town, as well as the largest and most numerous church buildings.
Everything else washes out : Church of Christ, Pentecostal, Assembly of God, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of God, etc - NONE of these will be found at the local country club. The local Roman Catholic church was mostly folks with non-Scots-Irish or non-English origin names - I really don’t know how to include it in the mix. Now it is largely Hispanic and still viewed as a mostly foreign peculiarity. I have had to try VERY hard to rid myself of not only racist, but anti-catholic bigotry since moving away…

The one aspect that is a BIG DEAL and is generally discussed ( I heard it ALL the time while growing up ) is that " Church of Christ believes that they’re the ONLY ones going to Heaven" I asked a C of C girl I dated in high school flat out if this was indeed true. She said "the older folks believe it , no one says it out loud, but the younger folks mostly know better " That’s the biggest thing I remember thinking about them before my dad married into it - it really irked my Baptist friends, and they tended to discuss that topic more than anyone else. ( I’m Episcopalian ) Oh - another odd thing - we joke about Eastern Hills Church of Christ dismissing their service earlier than all of the other churches - so that they can get to the local restaurants faster and not have to mingle with the “heathens” from other sects for too long - I truly don’t know if that’s as much a family joke, or it its widely held anywhere else. They DO seem to socially avoid other people who aren’t C of C. My dad recently celebrated his 75th birthday - my brother and I were informed that ALL of his best friends would be there. We looked from the dark yard into the large plate glass windows of our childhood home to see NOT ONE familiar face in the room (other than family members) - we soon learned that they were all members of Eastern Hills C of C. NONE of my dad’s lifelong friends were present! I hope that this helps, and isn’t too late for your book…

 

[Nicky]

If you are writing a novel and the Church of Christ plays any major part in your book, you really need to do some lengthy research on your own.

I’m a member of the church, and much of what is written here doesn’t really describe how it has been for me. It seems then that my description of it would be received with some disbelief by others.

I’d recommend visiting different congregations of different sizes and locations. That would range from some of the small, relatively rigid congregations that appear to be described here, to the larger ones. Also, visit some universities, such as Pepperdine, Abeline Christian, Lipscomb, Harding, etc. Read a book or two by, say, Max Lucado or Rubel Shelly and read some of the various magazines. Most importantly, get to know a good cross-section of the people.

If I was to write a novel and needed information on the Catholic church, it seems reasonable I’d ask more people than just Martin Luther about it.

Nick

 

[bluerose]

Well, Nick, why don’t you give me YOUR experiences also?

As stated in a previous message, for various reasons, actually going places to do research is problematic. I live twenty-five miles from the nearest town, work full-time, home-school four kids, and and already have to drive 100 miles a day on the days my son and nephew have TKD classes.

That said, I have to agree with jamesclaude about the "clannish"ness of the CoC folks I do know. As I said, my character is loosely based on a young man who attended our TKD classes and got to be good friends with my husband (they’re both instructors). His family, of course, attends any social event the school holds (for instance, our awards banquet just last night), but they tend to keep to themselves, and rarely mingle with any other folks, whether students or students’ families. Not that they’re rude or anything, in fact, I quite admire how dedicated they seem to each other, how warm and courteous they are when someone approaches them and how well-behaved their children are. He (our friend) does seem open to friendship with others, but only in the context of the martial arts. Socially, we hardly ever see him, unless it’s related to the TKD school.

And truly the Church of Christ ITSELF doesn’t play a crucial role in the story… the main point is the protagonist finding herself caring deeply for a young man who does not share her faith and having to deal with the repercussions from, not just his family and friends, but her family’s ideas about what she should do with her life and how they react to the news of her involvement with a non-Catholic (for the record, in case anyone is wondering, I’m not painting all the Cathoics in the book with gold halos, either. Some of them really stretch the definition of Christian, which is one of my main points: you can’t judge an entire church by the faults of some–or many–of its members.)

I hope this makes sense and I welcome any insights you or anyone else would care to share.

BlueRose

 

[Nicky]

Ok, Blue Rose. I appreciate your explanation of what you’re trying to do. I will think it over and try to recall what my experience has been like. Hopefully it will be useful to you.

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. If I were writing a novel and one of the characters were Roman Catholic, or part of any other identifiable group, it seems it would be real tough to capture the essence without many, if not most saying I presented an innacurate view.

However, I’ll come up with a summary of my experiences and I hope it will help.

Nick

 

[bluerose]

Sorry I went AWOL there for a while… had to get our new woodstove installed this past weekend and just in time for the snow that got dumped on us this morning!

. If I were writing a novel and one of the characters were Roman Catholic, or part of any other identifiable group, it seems it would be real tough to capture the essence without many, if not most saying I presented an innacurate view.

I guarantee, Nick, if I were to use any ten randomly selected “real life” Roman Catholics as characters in this book, I would be accused of presenting an innacurate view of my own church! Sad, but true.

That having been said, I greatly appreciate all the views I have been given about the CoC. I actually have a great deal of admiration for the people I do know who belong to this church and I am not looking to “bash” anyone. Therefore I do appreciate any insights you can give me!

Thanks! Gotta go stoke the fire! Snowing again!

BlueRose

 

[TNT]

To BlueRose:
The Churches of Christ receive their name from reference to ROM 16:16…
“The churches of Christ salute you”.
They believe that all praxy must be positively in Scripture…direct or by logical inference.

I asked one of my dear relatives (by marriage) WHO were all the churches saluting? The Church of Rome. So, then do you still salute the Church of Rome? If not when did Paul say to stop it? Had a good laugh. They are very good people, but quite intolerant of Cath or Baptist.

catholicism.org/pages/stauffer.htm
is a site of a guy who left and why.
I enjoy interacting with them on religion. If there is a “good” protestant denomination, I would choose them.
Denomination is also an anathema word to them. They are Christians of the restored church. Period.

They hold to NO original sin affects on mankind, therefore, no infant baptism, but a “christening” is ok as it dedicates a child to God. In order to need baptism, you have to be able to sin on your own. They criscross original sin with actual sin. All have an Immaculate Conception, not just Mary, who definitely had children in the same tabernacle as God Himself used.

They are iconoclastic. Yet some of the strict ones will wear a cross around the neck. I bought one for a young (17) relative who is a strict member, at her request as a Christmas gift. Christmas is purely a secular holiday. Many will not celebrate it at all.

She stays often with us over the summer, and our house is loaded with religious art.
At first she would take down all the pictures from her bedroom. Over the years I convinced her that it is just “Scripture in picture”.
She reminds us that it’s probably OK if we avoid the temptation to worship them.

This girl better convert the guy, else I won’t buy the 50 copies I plan to.
BTW, all the previous posts are accurate from my experience and study and attendence at their bible studies on Wed nites 7pm.
For evangelizing it’s Church Fathers on the Real Presence which has so much Scriptural support.

That snow you got is now coming in to us as BIG BLACK thunderheads.
Tom

 

[bluerose]

This girl better convert the guy,

Well, of course!

, else I won’t buy the 50 copies I plan to.

Oh, Tom, I’m going to hold you to that… and if I don’t, then I know tkdnick will, since he’s already called chipsies on 60%!

Thanks for the information, too… I didn’t know they thought of Christmas as a secular holiday. Interesting. I know our friends (my character’s model) do celebrate Christmas (with 9 kids, what do you expect???)

BTW, I had to go back (thanks to all these posts) and delete the word “denomination” a few times. How would they make reference to their… what? Faith? Beliefs? As in to say, “Can you respect my faith-beliefs-creed-etc. even if you never come to embrace it (them)?”

I may have to line up some proofreaders from among my many groupies here!

BlueRose

 

[TNT]

bluerose:

Well, of course!

Oh, Tom, I’m going to hold you to that… and if I don’t, then I know tkdnick will, since he’s already called chipsies on 60%!
BlueRose

I’m very rich, so no problem. The problem is that I’m stingy. But I keep my promises!

I didn’t know they thought of Christmas as a secular holiday. Interesting. I know our friends (my character’s model) do celebrate Christmas (with 9 kids, what do you expect???)

The lonliest building in town will be the COC building on Christmas morning.

How would they make reference to their… what? Faith? Beliefs? As in to say, “Can you respect my faith-beliefs-creed-etc. even if you never come to embrace it (them)?”

Their mottos:
“We are simply Christian”
“We have no creed but the Bible”
"What is the distinctive plea of the church of Christ?
It is primarily a plea for religious unity based upon the Bible. "

This is a good site to peruse, but there are 100’s of others.
bebaptized.org/Who.htm

Maybe NICKY will give us some pointers.

I may have to line up some proofreaders from among my many groupies here!

I’m ready when you are. and good luck.
Interesting, I have a folder on my computer called “COC-my Book”. I am interested in writing a book addressing the book "Why I am a Member of the Chruch of Christ"

They are very scholarly in reading the bible. I believe for that reason, they brush very close to the Catholic Church. Except for Maryology which is a no no.
There is a forum on this site about some experiences with COC:
It is:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=15494&highlight=campaign

 

[flameburns623]

Blue Rose:

Given the diversity of responses you are getting–including my own–I caution you that to some extent you are getting reports from the five blind men confronting the elephant. As last I knew, the Churches of Christ are some five to seven millions, with several thousands of churches worldwide. The independent Christian Churches and the Disciples of Christ–related ‘denominations’–remember that the restorationists tend to deny they are a ‘denomination’–are approaximately the same size. Figure there are some twenty millions of people associated in some fashion with some variation of restorationism. I grew up a restorationist in independent Christian Churches, and had some contact wit the Churches of Christ as recently as four years ago. (For about 18 months I attended a Church of Christ which has modelled itself after the ‘seeker-sensitive’ mega-churches–something I didn’t go into much detail about because it is extremely a-typical of Churches of Christ and I know there is only just so much you can squeeze into a novel).

You need to realize however that my contact with the Churches of Christ occurred in small-town middle-America, and in military towns in the deep South. Someone’s experience of the Church of Christ in a large urban area, close to a CofC-sponsored college or university, might be very different. CofC churches in the upper northeastern USA or in California would be different. Churches of Christ in Black neighborhoods would be different in many ways. I know that there is an extremely strict branch of the Church of Christ in the Philippines, one which is virulently anti-Catholic and very fundamentalist. There are growing CofC missions in African and Latin America; in fact, most growth in fundamentalist churches of any stripe tends to be in ‘Third World’ Latin or Asian countries.

The differences I noted above are NOT so much theological or even the distinctive practices of the CofC. They would involve such matters as the choices of songs sung, the degree of ecumenism or lack thereof that is observed, the strictness of personal lifestyles, the evangelical fervor. White, middle-class congregations prefer a more staid and reverent style of worship and their ‘outreach’ is more likely to be geared to soup kitchens, clothing for the poor, etcetera. They will talk readily about their faith to someone if an opportunity presentis itself–and they will be pretty knowledgeable about it compared to many Roman Catholics–but they won’t wear their faith on their sleeve contnuously.

Lower-class minority churches would more likely have a high level of emotional energy (no ‘slaying in the Spirit’ or speaking in tongues, which the CofC rejects, but just a heckuva lot of fervor and zeal). They are likely to be ‘evangelical’ in the sense that they stand on streetcorners and pass out tracts, corner people at work or at school and try to engage them in conversations about faith issues, carry huge Bibles and hope someone asks about their faith.

You really SHOULD consider attending one or more CofC and/or related Protestant churches and perhaps dropping by a CofC or other restorationist Bible college or other institution. Without some first-hand experience, parts of your novel will lack a ring of authenticity.

 

[flameburns623]

bluerose:

I didn’t know they thought of Christmas as a secular holiday. Interesting. I know our friends (my character’s model) do celebrate Christmas (with 9 kids, what do you expect???)

This is an example of a misunderstanding. An individual pastor–or even some tendency among more-conservative CofC members–may treat Christmas as a ‘secular holiday’ but it isn’t a universal concept. Most CofC that I know of have a great many events centered around both Christmas and Easter, which are just about the only ‘liturgical feasts’ they recognize. Of course, a CofC pastor may at times debunk the ‘pagan’ elements of Christmas (Christmas trees, Santa Claus, materialism and selfishness, etcetera) but they do not strictly forbid such things: they simply stress that such elements should not be the centerpiece of the holiday, and that Christians should take care to not allow any part of the holiday supplant the religious nature of the holiday.

BTW, I had to go back (thanks to all these posts) and delete the word “denomination” a few times. How would they make reference to their… what? Faith? Beliefs? As in to say, “Can you respect my faith-beliefs-creed-etc. even if you never come to embrace it (them)?”

They call themselves simply “Christians”. They insist that Christianity is not a denomination, a creed, a religion. (The word “religion” is an epithet among many Protestants: it suggests hypocrisy, shallowness, Phariseeism. Most Protestants contrast Christianity with “religion” as in ‘Christianity is where religion ends and Jesus begins’). The CofC doesn’t think they are the ‘only’ Christians, but they think that they are Christians ‘only’. They are not identified with some aspect of the Christian faith–as in ‘universality’ among the Catholics, or ‘nationality’ among the Anglicans or the Greek Orthodox. Nor with some individual founder such as Martin Luther or John Wesley. Nor with some particular practices or discipline, such as Methodism (so-called because it’s members practiced ‘methodical Christianity’) or the Baptists (so called because they practice adult baptism only). The CofC, like other Restorationists, are ‘Christians only’.

The line of dialogue you are proposing would be awkward: the CofC’er would want to speak of himslefrself as a Christian in such a way that he does not deny that the Catholic is also Christian. He might ask, “Could we be able to attend separate worship services, I in the Church of Christ and you in the Catholic Church?” Or “Would we be able to disagree agreeably and still respect each other as Christians?” Remember that in all but the strictest sectarian groups, Protestants EXPECT to have differences of opinion over what are called ‘peripheral doctrines’ The ‘core’ doctrines are summarized in various historic creeds and confessions–not just the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed but some of the reformational creeds as well. Peripheral doctrine is anything not explictly addressed by the historic creeds and confessions. While the CofC rejects creedalism, they will make the same distinctions between ‘core’ and ‘peripheral’ doctrine. A CofC church which practices footwashing (a rare practice) will not necessarily refuse to fellowship with those CofC churches which don’t see this as obligatory. CofC churches which have one cup and one loaf for communion don’t necessarily break fellowship with those who use the little ‘medicine cups’ for communion and buy comercially-prepared communion wafers which look a bit like oyster crackers. There are little differences in eschatology and a few other doctrinal issues as well.

Hope this helps!

 

[Hlebear]

It is interesting to see the diversity of the responses to this thread. Then again, that is the nature of this church. There is no central “governing” body for all churches by this name. While most of these churches keep the same doctrines, there is some variation depending on the beliefs of the elders and to a lesser degree the preacher. I’ve seen splits over (fellowshipping with non-COC members in ecumenism, wearing scarves for women while praying, and whether or not canidates for elders can have been married twice even if their first wife died as scriptures say husband of one wife. Before converting to Catholicism, I was a member of the Church of Christ for 26 years. The CoC where I live in Oklahoma is nondenominational, very strict, anti-musical instrument. Most of the information on this thread was similar to my own experience with a few differences.

No child was ever baptised or christened period. I was taught baptism was only for adults.

The minister or preacher was never was called a pastor. Simply brother or Mr. I was taught that these names were not found in the Bible. This was also often linked to “call no man father.”

No crosses would be present period. They are considered idols in the church. Even one on a necklace was wrong.

Grape Juice only. Never wine. It is considered a sin, and they don’t believe Jesus ever drank alcoholic beverages.

We did celebrate Christmas, but not as a religious holiday. Just Santa Claus. Also, Easter is not celebrated any special way.

Although I came from a very strict traditional COC upbringing, the congrgations in my area were not composed of mainly older adults. Lots and Lots of young people.

Just a few notes in your book. Marriage to a Church of Christ Christian is highly stressed. Find a believing girl/ guy. If not a believer, they should convert to your religion. For a CoC to seriously date a Catholic, it would almost be unthinkable. They are very anti-catholic.

For your book, in services they almost always added “Lord Willing” in the closing announcements when inviting people back Sunday Evening,

 

[TNT]

This site gives a good overview of beliefs and practices as well as variations.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Christ
You’ll just have to decide on which flavor of this group you will focus on.

 

[flameburns623]

Excuse me for using Hlebear to compare/contrast practices and experiences. He and I would not have been far from each other geographically yet his experience in the Churches of Christ is rather different than mine.

No child was ever baptised or christened period. I was taught baptism was only for adults.

Yup. But there is some minor debate among CofC churches as to whether or not to accept as full members those who were baptised as infants in other denominations. Most CofC churches do NOT and insist that such converts be re-baptised.

The minister or preacher was never was called a pastor. Simply brother or Mr. I was taught that these names were not found in the Bible. This was also often linked to “call no man father.”

I have known both practices. In one case, “Brother Ed”, the pastor for some 20 years, was replaced by “Pastor Bob”.

No crosses would be present period. They are considered idols in the church. Even one on a necklace was wrong.

The Churches of Christ I have seen and attended had large crosses on the exteriors of their churches and one prominently displayed above the pulpit and baptistry.

Grape Juice only. Never wine. It is considered a sin, and they don’t believe Jesus ever drank alcoholic beverages.

In fact they don’t believe that God instituted the use of fermented wine in the Old Testament. Only ‘new wine’ was permitted, and the claim is made repeatedly that the ancients used the same word for juice and for wine, and distinguished ‘juice’ from wine by calling it ‘new wine’. “The Spirit-Filled Bible” (although not a CofC publication) makes this argument rather clearly. The belief is that Jews began using fermented wine as they apostatized from true worship of God.

We did celebrate Christmas, but not as a religious holiday. Just Santa Claus. Also, Easter is not celebrated any special way.

Very different from my experience as noted earlier. I can recollect Christmas cantatas, Christmas plays, manger displays, food drives and gift drives for the poor, evergreens and Christmas displays, sermons on the Nativity, etcetera. And for Easter there were events for children such as egg hunts.Sermons on the death of Christ and it’s meaning.

Although I came from a very strict traditional COC upbringing, the congrgations in my area were not composed of mainly older adults. Lots and Lots of young people.

I recollect a lot of concern that young people weren’t staying active in the church, that there weren’t enough couples with young kids joining, etcetera. The CofC seemed to be a ‘graying’ church in many places, except for the ‘seeker-sensitive’ congregation I mentioned earlier.

Just a few notes in your book. Marriage to a Church of Christ Christian is highly stressed. Find a believing girl/ guy. If not a believer, they should convert to your religion. For a CoC to seriously date a Catholic, it would almost be unthinkable. They are very anti-catholic.

I don’t think they are especially anti-Catholic. No more than anti-Calvinist or anti-denominationalism or anti-pretribulationism. They disliked the easy-believism of Billy Graham crusades: while they were respectful of Graham himself most of the time, they felt that the crusades didn’t do enough to follow up with the converts. They tended to be reluctant to buy into contemporary Evangelical fads. And mixed marriages were very common. Every congregation had at least a couple of them.

For your book, in services they almost always added “Lord Willing” in the closing announcements when inviting people back Sunday Evening,

That’s true, though I hadn’t thought of it till it was mentioned. Again: this is just a difference in perceptions and of individual experiences.

 

[bluerose]

So far all the responses I’ve had are most helpful.

flameburns–you’ve probably not heard of my hometown, but this is about as small town as you can get… and the nearest city (25 miles away) boasts about 30,000 (and that includes the nearby Air Force base).

When we visited our friend (I’ll call him Sam) when he went away to college, he introduced us to some friends who attend his church. We went to lunch and when we said grace (rather, his friend led grace and we just followed along) we automatically made the sign of the cross. I could have sworn Sam cringed. Not because he was particularly offended by it–he knows we’re Catholic and aside from an occasional invitation to a special Bible study his church is having, he doesn’t seem to be too intent on converting us–but I think he expected his friend to start evangelizing. As it was, Sam’s friend cleared his throat and said, “So ya’ll born and raised Catholic?” My husband and I responded “Yes, sir!” in such a manner that I suppose discouraged him a bit. Nothing else was said until later on when talking about our families and my husband told Sam’s friend his younger brother and his wife just had Baby No.10. Sam’s friend raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh, he’s a REAL good Catholic then!” My husband, who sometimes suffers from “foot-in-mouth” disease, blurted out, “Well, he’s only one ahead of Sam’s family!” Sam looked like he wanted to slide under the table when his friend gave him a look and said, “Yeah, we’ve kind of wondered about Sam’s family.” Somehow we managed to find something else to talk about, but right there, at the same table, I found the “proto-types” for some of the characters in my novel (Sam’s friend ends up as the pastor.)

As I said before, I have found most of these posts to be in agreement with the CoC folks I do know. And as I alluded to before, I’m sure I could describe the usual Sunday Mass at three different parishes and someone unfamiliar with the Catholic faith would probably be convinced that they were NOT all Catholic!

Some questions (and yes, I know the answers will vary):

• Would the CoC be considered “Evangelical” or “Fundamentalist”? Not that THEY would consider themselves as such. Or is there such a distinction?

*Do they believe (as some do) that all Catholics are going to hell unless they “turn away from Satan’s deception and accept Christ as their personal Savior”? (I lifted that quote from a tract my aunt once left at our house when she was “church-hopping”–I forget which church it was!)

Thank you and keep the responses coming.

BlueRose

 

[tkdnick]

Oh, Tom, I’m going to hold you to that… and if I don’t, then I know tkdnick will, since he’s already called chipsies on 60%!

I only want 60% of the story about the young Catholic martial arts dude.

 

[Servant1]

bluerose:

My protagonist is a young Catholic girl who, while attending a Catholic girls’ boarding school, meets a young man who happens to belong to the Church of Christ. …but can anyone fill me in on a typical (if there is one) Sunday CoC service? Any particular terms they use (an acquaintance, who happens to be CoC and is the model for my protagonist’s love interest, always words his invitations like, “I’d like to invite you to worship with us” rather than “Would you like to come to our services?” You get the idea.) What about Wednesday night Bible study? And how does the congregation react to visitors… in particular, Catholic visitors? Do they give a warm welcome, ambush their hapless visitor, pretend they don’t see him or her, what? And are there any particular beliefs they hold that would seem extremely bizarre to Catholics?

If anyone has information, I would appreciate your help. Either post in the forum or PM me if you prefer.BlueRose

I grew up there, Rose. I’ll give it a shot.

Sunday:
Sunday school starts with age groups going to appropriate classes. Teachers are men or women. May teach on a topic of choice, or may use one of various curricula. One of the most popular in use in my time was published by Gospel Advocate company in Nashville. Basically looked at some scripture, asked class members to full in the blank, which causes them to HAVE to read the scripture of the story being studied. Rather boring to me. Attendance is taken of Sunday School toward end of class.

Bell rings. Everybody leaves class, may be a short break, then “church” or worship service starts (perhaps 15 minutes - always time for some jokes, various other rebellious acts of children, and time for adults to smoke).

Though they claim to be anti-liturgical, or not having a set order of worship, they DO. Like where I went: A hymn (ALWAYS acapella - no instruments of music!), a prayer, two hymns, sermon - always concluding with an invitation, then communion if no responses to invitation. Communion administered as matzoh wafers and individual cups of Welch’s grape juice. Essentially closed communion, for baptized adult members of CofC, After communion (sometimes perhaps before) a communion-related hymn. Communion often referred to as “The Lord’s Supper.” Afterwards a closing hymn, closing prayer, and that was it. Pretty much set every Sunday, although most all CofC folks would vehemently deny that anything about their worship involved ritual.

Invitation was for adults who decided they wanted to be baptized (adults, or those who had reached “age of reason” only), or who had “wandered from their first love” and wanted prayers to be “restored” to good fellowship with God and his Church. Often reported in next weeks bulletins as x number of baptisms and y number of restorations last week.

Where I went to church, they were so afraid of being seen by others to have anything in common with other denominations (of course, CofC was NOT a denomination - but all the others were!), they would abhor singing a seasonal hymn during a season. For example, one Easter Sunday, I asked the song leader for the day if we could sing “Up From the GRave He Arose.” Was denied flatly: “We can sing it almost any other day but today!” ALso - Easter sermons tended to focus of crucifixion and suffering, not resurrection. (I’ve alwats had trouble with Christians stuck on the Good Friday side of Easter!)

Wednesday nights and more to follow.

 

[Servant1]

At whatever age the other members of the congregation seemed to feel it appropriate, they, and/or the preacher (who is NEVER called “the Rev”, and never called “pastor” - he is the preacher, minister or, if they’re really high church, the Evangelist) would approach some young person felt to be in the need and ask them if they didn’t feel it was time for them to consider “obeying the Gospel.” That was and is the great CofC euphemism for walking down the aisle to get baptized - by immersion only. They never said, “We think it’s time you got baptized.” It was always a passive-aggressive urging to “obey the Gospel.”

CofC has, until very recent years, always held that they were not a denomination. They were/are The Church of Christ. One of the most popular tracts in the ubiquitous tract rack in my childhood was one entitled “Neither Catholic, Protestant, nor Jew.” Explained why neither apellation fit the CofC. A FEW of them these days now recognize and admit that they ARE a denomination. A VERY few of them (often castigated and ostracized as extreme liberals) even admit that for all intent and purposes their “preachers” ARE clergy. I’ve known one who would even refer to clergy of other denominations as “brother clergy.” An attitude admitting that others could be of Christ is generally taken as very liberal.

Absolutely abhorred titles, but used non-titles like titles… preacher often not called by first name, but as BROTHER Smith. His wife was SISTER Smith. Can you see the fondness for euphemism as they try to avoid that which they ultimately cannot avoid if intellectually honest?

Recreational dancing was essentially verboten, although many did it - especially the kids. Smoking like a chimney - OK. Even a little snort of alcohol - SCANDAL!!

More to come after a while - gotta do some work.

 

[bluerose]

I only want 60% of the story about the young Catholic martial arts dude.

One and the same… he’s just not Catholic YET (and quit making me give the whole story away already!)

BlueRose