60th Annual Pepperdine University Bible Lectures
Malibu, California
April 30, 2003
Victor Knowles, Teacher

ANALYZE THIS!
Why Conservative Christian Churches/Churches of Christ
Were the Second Fastest Growing Church in America
From 1990-2000

THE HEADLINE in the September 18, 2002 issue of the New York Times read, “Conservative Churches Grew Fastest in 1990’s, Report Says.” The article, written by Laurie Goodstein, was based on a study conducted by Glenmary Research Center and sponsored by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Goodstein noted that because the Census Bureau does not ask about religion, some scholars regard this study (first done in 1971) as “the most comprehensive assessment available of the changes in American religious affiliation.” She further noted that the study was based on self-reporting by religious groups, a method that the study’s authors acknowledge is imprecise because some religious groups have been known to inflate their numbers.

Goodstein wrote: “The study, ‘Religious Congregations and Membership: 2000,’ found that the fastest-growing religious denomination in the last 10 years was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which enlists thousands of young Mormon missionaries to recruit door to door and boosted its membership in the United States by 19.3 percent to a total of 4.2 million since the last survey in 1990.

“The denominations that recorded the next highest growth were the conservative Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, with 18.6 percent; the Assemblies of God, a major Pentecostal denomination, with 18.5 percent; and the Roman Catholic Church, with 16.2 percent.”

Ken Sanchagrin, director of the Glenmary Research Center and a professor and chairman of the department of sociology at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, NC, said, “I was astounded to see that by and large the growing churches are those that we ordinarily call conservative. And when I looked at those that were declining, most were moderate or liberal churches. And the more liberal the denomination, by most people’s definition, the more they were losing.” Churches that lost the highest percentage of members were the Presbyterian Church USA (11.6 percent) and the United Church of Christ (14.8 percent). The Catholic Church remains the nation’s largest, with more than 62 mission adherents, about 25 percent of the population.

The Times article concluded that “socially conservative churches that demand high commitment from their members grew faster than other religious denominations.”

It is significant that when noting the growth of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, the Times writer preceded the group’s name with the word “conservative.” Sometimes we (I am affiliated with this group) are known as the “independent” Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. This term has been used to distinguish us from The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) from whom we achieved our “independence” from the Disciples in 1926-1927 when we formed the North American Christian Convention (independent of the old International Convention and the perceived liberalness of the Disciples).

To a lesser degree we have sometimes been called the “instrumental” Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. This term is sometimes used to distinguish us, obviously, from the non-instrumental or a cappella Churches of Christ. Many of our congregations north of the Mason-Dixon line still use the term “Church of Christ” (though few, if any, would add the word “Instrumental” to their name on their signs or in the Yellow Pages).

Our 2002 “Directory of the Ministry: A Yearbook of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ” (44^th edition, July 2002) states that it is “a directory of congregations, agencies, and personnel choosing to be identified with a fellowship presently known as Christian Churches and Churches of Christ and historically referred to as the ‘Restoration Movement’ led in its earliest American expressions by Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, and Walter Scott, among others. Congregations in this fellowship have generally chosen not to be identified with the denomination corporately known as The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and have chosen not to make the use of musical instruments in church meetings a test of fellowship.”

The newer appellation “conservative” is one that most of us would heartily embrace. The Directory of the Ministry further states: “Members of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ believe in the deity and Lordship of Jesus Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, and the autonomy of local congregations. Following the basic principles of the ‘Restoration Movement,’ they accept and teach believer’s baptism (immersion) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins; they assemble for worship on the first day of the week, making the observance of the Lord’s Supper a focal point in such worship. They seek the unity of all believers on the basis of faith in and obedience to Christ as the divine Son of God and the acceptance of the New Testament as their all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. Their position in the religious world has been expressed in such time-honored slogans as these: ‘Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent’: ‘In essentials, unity, in opinions, liberty, and in all things, love’: and ‘No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no plea but the gospel, and no name but the divine.’”

When the news broke that conservative Christian Churches and Churches of Christ were the second-fastest growing church (we neither accept or use the term “denomination”) in America in the last decade, it was greeted with a brief and measured response in the November 3, 2002 Christian Standard. Editor Sam Stone (now retired) wrote, “This significant study confirms what many observers had long felt: Christian churches and churches of Christ are enjoying strong growth. At the same time, the study serves to underline the great challenge before us. As we move on into the 21^st century, the Great Commission must remain our central concern. The familiar words, ‘Go into all the world,’ are still the ‘marching orders’ for all who would follow Jesus.”

(A “snapshot” of today’s Christian Churches/Churches of Christ appeared in the December 1, 2002 Christian Standard. It revealed about 5,500 local churches with a total membership of more than 1.4 million; 40 colleges and seminaries, mostly Bible colleges, which educate and train preachers, teachers, and missionaries (more than 10,000 students are enrolled); 1,000 foreign missionaries serving on 6 continents; and about 1,000 other agencies (benevolence, church camps, children’s and nursing homes, radio and TV programs, evangelistic ministries, publishing houses, and others.)

So much for the introductory material. Now for the analysis. What are the observable reasons for the growth of the conservative Christian Churches/Churches of Christ in America during the last decade? Drawing from a variety of sources, here are 10 observations.

WHY CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES/CHURCHES OF CHRIST ARE GROWING.

1. Conservatism. I may have already belabored this point in the introductory material. We are conservative to the core. We do not deny or debate things such as the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of Christ, or the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit. One preacher said, “I believe in the Bible from Genesis clear through the maps!” Liberal highbrows raise our eyebrows. Ralph Kinney Bennett, longtime senior editor with Reader’s Digest, is an elder in one of our churches. In his article “Why I Am a Member of the Christian Church” (Christian Standard, Dec. 1, 2002) he stated, “If I had to describe in one phrase the whole body of what the Campbells sought, it would be ‘get to the point.’…Why am I a member of the church of Christ? Because I believe independent Christian churches…get to the point.” Joe S. Ellis adds a note of warning, however, in “Healthy Churches Are Growing Churches” (Christian Standard, Mar. 2, 2003): “Yet far too often churches have failed to recognize that their practice must be as authentic as their doctrine. If non-Christians decide against Christianity or turn away from the church, it is, more often than not, because of the way churches operate rather than what they believe…Churches must be genuine in both matters of faith and function. It is ironic when churches can be so meticulous about what they teach and so irresponsible in the way they behave.”
   
2. Commitment from members. The Glenmary report noted that conservative churches that demand high commitment from their members are the fastest-growing churches. That is true among Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, especially among the newer, larger, growing churches. The days of joining up and fading in are going out. For example, Southern Acres Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky (www.southernacres.com), where Wally Rendel serves as Senior Minister, has a “365 Days of Purpose” program to encourage Bible study, Scripture memorization, fellowship, and prayer. Members are encouraged to make seven commitments: (1) Hear a sermon every week (in person or on tape). (2) Attend a small group or Bible fellowship every week. (3) Memorize a verse of Scripture each week. (4) Have a daily quiet time to read a Bible-based devotion and pray. (5) Use the church’s prayer listed (updated regularly on the Web) at least one day a week. (6) Bring at least three guests to church during 2003. (7) Park at a distance from the main campus for Sunday services, leaving the close spots for visitors. A total of 525 (out of 1,032 who attend) have done so. Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, has a similar program called “Great Expectations.”
   
3. Loyalty to our heritage. Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky (Bob Russell, Senior Minister), recently celebrated their 40^th anniversary. They began in 1962 with 100 people and are now the second or third largest church in America—of any kind.* The August 18, 2002 Christian Standard said of them: “Rather than distancing herself from her Restoration Movement roots as she grew larger, the congregation has enhanced those ties. Leaders explain to newcomers that the church is composed of people who do not claim to be the only Christians, but want to be Christians only. Speaking the truth in love, they have worked for unity while standing for the all-authoritative truth of Scripture as their only rule of faith and practice.” The time has never been riper for our Restoration plea. At last years NACC in Columbus, Ohio, we had an “outside” speaker come in and give us “an outsider’s view of the Restoration Movement.” The speaker, Jim Garlow (author and minister with Skyline Wesleyan Church in LaMesa, California), said, “There is a richness in your heritage that I think is fascinating, especially in light of the postdenominational era in which we live. A whole lot of ‘post-moderns,’ the Gen-X generation, would be fascinated with the language of Campbell.” Garlow spoke of his grandparents, who were members of an independent Christian church. “I wish they would have invited me to church just once…so I would have known earlier the heritage that they shared…Keep reaching out to enrich people like me at a more proactive level than what you have in the past…I know I’m not a part of the independent Christian church in a formal sense, but if you’ll let me, I’ll be a closet Campbellite!”
   
4. A passion for evangelism. In his article “Christian Churches Are Growing Churches—So What?” (Christian Standard, March 2, 2003), Dick Alexander noted, “Many of the staff leaders, including almost all of the preachers, are graduates of our Bible colleges or seminaries. Those institutions have for decades instilled in their students a passion for evangelism. The ‘want to’ has always been there. In the late 1980s and through the ‘90s, growing churches recaptured a ‘how to’ that better engaged the culture…the first-century church was more mission driven than theology driven. That’s also part of our DNA. While some denominations debated theological and social issues, this fellowship was focused on reaching lost people, with results that have now been confirmed. Garlow adds: You are a movement. You’re ongoing…I do not know of any other movement in the history of Christianity (certainly not in the American culture) that sprang out of an unusual form of recruitment—the debates…Where did the debates pull people from? Other churches…Somehow you have turned the corner—from merely getting people from other churches (as you did in the mid-1800s) to truly evangelizing the lost. Some of your megachurches are profoundly skilled in doing exactly what the original call of God is: to get the gospel out and present Jesus in such a compelling fashion that people will respond.”
   
5. Nondenominational status. Alexander continues: “We have also benefited greatly from being nondenominational…that ideology (is) far more attractive today than sectarianism…” The day of the denomination is dead. Like 7-Up, the “unCola,” Christian Churches/Churches of Christ are recognized as the “Undenomination.” While Garlow’s admonition at the NACC for us to not be afraid of using the word “denomination” to describe ourselves was received rather coolly, the audience warmed up when he said: “You, as Restorationists, bring to the table a real clarion call for unity. You really challenge us to bring down the barriers. You bring a clarion call to return to the purity and pristine beauty of the Word, and let the Word speak on how we ‘do’ church.” Bob Russell has said, “God is using our simple, nondenominational plea to reach people. What Alexander Campbell, Thomas Campbell, Barton W. Stone and others dreamed of we are experiencing right not!…An official from the Navigators asked me what was going on in our movement. He said, ‘All over America, I am seeing more vibrancy in the Christian church than any other movement.’ It is not just large churches; great things are happening in smaller churches, with new-church plants, in parachurch organizations, Bible colleges, and mission work” (“Six Reasons Why We Need the NACC! Christian Standard, April 27, 2003).
   
6. Attempting new strategies. Alexander contends that “innovation” is actually a good thing. “Free from the constraints of hierarchy and ingrown denominational programming, churches in this fellowship have attempted new strategies tailored to their communities. Our leaders have attended seminars and visited effective churches of many Christian groups and brought back ‘best practices,’ without sacrificing biblical convictions…This is a day to applaud innovation. Our churches have figured out some good methodologies, and need to figure out more. Not all that is new is good—some is ill-advised and theologically shallow. But other innovations are Spirit-inspired and life-giving.”
   
7. Contemporary worship. A “huge factor” in growth, according to Alexander, has been “the shift to more contemporary worship styles.” This, of course, has its negatives as well. “The downside of this change has been the disenfranchising of many dedicated, longtime church members unable to adopt foreign music and worship styles. This is painful, but the upside has been reaching unchurched people and bringing them into a vital relationship with God that would never have happened for most in a more traditional worship setting. Again, our nondenominationalism, with its lack of prescribed worship form, facilitated innovation and growth.” The aforementioned and esteemed Ralph Kinney Bennett adds these thoughts: “Visit many Christian churches and you will find great variety in the way God is worshiped. But it is variety within limits. I’ve been to services I found a bit too ‘contemporary’ for my taste, and to others that were a tad too restrained. But I may generally depend upon certain things—the vivid preaching of sound doctrine (our churches are preaching churches), the precious comfort of the Lord’s table, prayer, and praise through song.”
   
8. The rise of the megachurch. Each year the Christian Standard lists the megachurches in our fellowship (Christian Churches/Churches of Christ that average more than 1,000 in attendance each Sunday). The March 2, 2003 edition listed 88 such congregations. Since we are an “independent” fellowship and reporting is not required (as it is with listing in the Directory of the Ministry), the figures are not complete. Those in the know say there are more than 100 such churches. Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, led the list with an average attendance of 16,993. They also reported 1,171 baptisms and 1,067 transfers. Others include: Southland Christian, Lexington, KY (7,980), Christ’s Church of the Valley, Peoria, AZ (7,000), Central Christian, Henderson, NV (6,852), Crossroads Christian, Corona, CA (5,322), and Shepherd of the Hills, Porter Ranch, CA (5,000). Thirty-four of the eighty-eighty listed churches average more than 2,000 in attendance. Dick Alexander notes, “While the growth of our megachurches has been evident, there also are many churches under 1,000 in attendance that are doing well.”
   
9. New church plants. I do not have the latest figures available but it is an established fact that Christian Churches/Churches of Christ as a fellowship are a leader in domestic church planting. Often these new church plants are several years in the planning before the actual “launching”—and when they are launched, it is a multiple staff effort with hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have been contacted, taught, and discipled. They have the advantage of starting fresh with primarily unchurched people, free from stifling traditions and denominationalism. Many of these new church plants have as their goal starting other new churches in their area.
   
10. World mission emphasis. Some studies have revealed that we have perhaps as two to three times as many churches overseas as we do in America (about 5,500). This did not happen overnight or by accident. Thousands of Bible college students—and thousands of interested church members—flock to the National Missionary Convention each year. Thousands of young people are making short-term mission trips sponsored by agencies like Ozark Christian College and Christ in Youth in Joplin, Missouri. I recently visited the work of Mid-India Christian Mission and Central Indian Christian Mission in Damoh, India. These two missions alone have established more than 400 churches and converted some 100,000 people to Christ—in one of the most resistant areas of the world. (I also visited the home of Donald McGavran, a passionate advocate of the Restoration Movement and its principles.) Nearly every church in the fellowship supports at least one mission through “direct support.” Some are “living links” to many missionaries. Chris DeWelt, director of missions at Ozark Christian College, has set a goal to raise up 100 new missionaries.

So what do we learn from the growth of the conservative Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in the last decade? Dick Alexander offers a candid assessment. “Are there dangers in our growth? The most obvious land mine is pride. Being the ‘fastest growing’ is heady stuff! It would serve us well to be reminded that the Mormons, whom many consider a cult, grew faster than our fellowship. Islam grew faster, too.

“…The value of the Glenmary study for us is to confirm that some of our churches have found methodology that can be effective in turning around a 50-year slide in American church participation. It offers affirmation and hope.

“Beyond that, we would do well to forget the ‘fastest-growing’ label. Comparison is a tool of the devil. And individual churches that adopt a ‘sixth-largest’ or ‘second-fastest’ label set themselves up for a fall. We should thank God some things are going well, learn from the successes, and then forget rankings and head with urgency to the future.”

Alexander brought up a number of other issues to consider:

• Will a higher head count be the only measure of a church (producing breadth without depth and foreshadowing collapse)?
• Are we sure we’re reaching the lost? Some churches may just be gathering up dissatisfied members from other churches.
• Will we engage the emerging culture? “Will our large auditoriums become, within a few decades, the equivalent of European cathedrals—relics of a former era of faith?”
• While many churches are growing, most are not. Will these stagnant churches find the faith and conviction to do whatever it takes to reach the lost?

He closed on a cautiously optimistic note: “These are challenging times to be alive—arguably the most exciting since the first century for the people of God. We have tremendous cause for thanksgiving, having seen confirmation in the Glenmary research of what we’d suspected all along, that we have many growing churches. But there could be more. Has there ever been a time that was at once more desperate and more hopeful?

“…We can see what doesn’t work; the landscape in America is strewn with failed churches—too many of them in our own fellowship. If we will pursue the leading of the Spirit, the coming decades have the potential to be the best in our fellowship in a century and a half. May His church grow!”

* For those wanting to learn more about Southeast Christian Church and their amazing growth I recommend When GOD Builds a CHURCH by Bob Russell (Howard Publishing, 2000).

VICTOR KNOWLES is founder and executive director of POEM (Peace on Earth Ministries), Joplin, MO. He also serves as editor of ONE BODY and THE KNOWLESLETTER. You may correspond with him at POEM, P.O. Box 275, Joplin, MO 64802 or vicknowles@aol.com or www.poeministries.org.

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