FreeinChrist
24th July 2007, 11:53 AM
This wiki is for the NCBC-RM forum to set up rules.
Welcome to the No Creed But Christ - Restoration Movement forum. This is the place to discuss issues and topics related to Restoration Movement churches.
A definition of the Restoration Movement is found here:
http://www.christianforums.com/t2931...-movement.html (http://www.christianforums.com/t2931162-what-is-the-restoration-movement.html)
It states:
Quote:
The Restoration Movement is the name for a loosely affiliated group of churches that sought to unify all Christians by following the Biblical model of the Church as closely as possible, while allowing as much diversity as possible around issues not explicitly described in the Bible. The Restoration Movement churches have been especially wary of rituals, written creeds, and governing hierarchies. The Restoration Movement makes no claim to being the continuation of the original Christian church.
In the 20th Century, the Restoration Movement has developed in a variety of directions. Some churches have moved away from the founders' view of the New Testament as a pattern for contemporary worship and Church practice -- for these churches, the focus on Christian unity has led them to adopt practices more typical of other Protestant churches. Others continue to strive to restore their worship and practices to what they believe was practiced in the first century church.
The key beliefs of the Restoration Movement that set its congregations apart from other evangelical Protestant churches are:
1) "No Creed but Christ." The phrase "No Creed But Christ" means that no Restoration Movement congregation will require a believer to read, memorize, sign, recite, affirm, pledge, or in any way have anything to do with a written creed as a litmus test for fellowship, baptism or communion, nor will a seeker or non-believer be expected to learn a creed in order to continue learning or attending. Many, if not most, RM congregations have a written "Statement of Beliefs." Such as statement is for information only, and is not a standard to which one must agree in order to have fellowship.
2) "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." In essence, this means that congregations affiliated with the Restoration Movement reject chatechisms and the like, and base their beliefs only on Scripture.
3) "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love." Believers affiliated with the Restoration Movement will not exclude other Christians from fellowship based on differing beliefs on "non-essential" doctrines. Restoration Movement believers will show love to believers with whom they may disagree.
4) We are "Christians only." Restoration Movement believers do not find unity in an organizational system, or attachment, allegiance to a specific church leader, or adherence to a specific theological system. Therefore we name ourselves only "Christians."
5) "The priesthood of all believers." We believe that all believers are "priests" and can access God through prayer without a human intermediary.
6) Emphasis on the New Testament as the practical source for Christian life and worship. We believe that the laws of the Old Testament were given to the Israelites, and that the laws of worship were not intended for the Gentile church. Therefore, we do not use examples of worship and church order from the Old Testament to order our own worship and churches.
The main practices of the Restoration Movement are as follows:
A) Local control of congregations. Any and all decisions that affect a congregation, such as hiring, transfer or termination of staff; budget allocations; building projects; etc. are made by that congregation. No congregation is accountable to any governing hierarchy.
B) Lord's Supper every Sunday. We celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday. Any baptized believer is welcome to participate.
C) Believer's baptism by immersion. Only those who choose to be baptised are baptised (we do not baptise infants or children who are too young to understand the decision). We baptise by full immersion in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
D) Beauty through simplicity. Most Restoration Movement churches are rather austere, rejecting such things as candles, artwork, or stained glass windows, and are decorated quite simply.
Restoration Movement churches go by several styles of names. The most common type of name is the combination of a geographical place, for example a city or a street, and the words "Christian Church" or "Church of Christ." For example, if you're in Kalamazoo and you drive by Kalamazoo Christian Church, you can be 99% it's a Restoration Movement congregation.
There are some Restoration Movement congregations that practice non-instrumental worship. They almost exclusively use the name "Church of Christ" (as opposed to "Christian Church"). However, not all congregations that use the term "Church of Christ" are non-instrumental.
For more on the founding and the history of the Restoration Movement, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone-Campbell_Movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone-Campbell_Movement).
For a thorough treatment of the five branches of the Restoration Movement and the divisions (some minor, some major) between them, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciples_of_Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciples_of_Christ.).
Forum specific rules
1. To be considered a RM member, one must attend or be associated with a RM church.
2. Only RM members can debate in the main forum. NonRm members can post fellowship posts or ask questions. Debate is defined as:
A formal or informal discussion of opposing viewpoints.
3. A subforum will be created called "Questions about the Restoration Movement". In this forum, nonRM member may discuss and debate the answers given.
4. Only RM members can vote for those applying as a moderator of the RM forum.
5. Only Restoration Movement members or moderators of the forum are able to alter the Wiki.
Welcome to the No Creed But Christ - Restoration Movement forum. This is the place to discuss issues and topics related to Restoration Movement churches.
A definition of the Restoration Movement is found here:
http://www.christianforums.com/t2931...-movement.html (http://www.christianforums.com/t2931162-what-is-the-restoration-movement.html)
It states:
Quote:
The Restoration Movement is the name for a loosely affiliated group of churches that sought to unify all Christians by following the Biblical model of the Church as closely as possible, while allowing as much diversity as possible around issues not explicitly described in the Bible. The Restoration Movement churches have been especially wary of rituals, written creeds, and governing hierarchies. The Restoration Movement makes no claim to being the continuation of the original Christian church.
In the 20th Century, the Restoration Movement has developed in a variety of directions. Some churches have moved away from the founders' view of the New Testament as a pattern for contemporary worship and Church practice -- for these churches, the focus on Christian unity has led them to adopt practices more typical of other Protestant churches. Others continue to strive to restore their worship and practices to what they believe was practiced in the first century church.
The key beliefs of the Restoration Movement that set its congregations apart from other evangelical Protestant churches are:
1) "No Creed but Christ." The phrase "No Creed But Christ" means that no Restoration Movement congregation will require a believer to read, memorize, sign, recite, affirm, pledge, or in any way have anything to do with a written creed as a litmus test for fellowship, baptism or communion, nor will a seeker or non-believer be expected to learn a creed in order to continue learning or attending. Many, if not most, RM congregations have a written "Statement of Beliefs." Such as statement is for information only, and is not a standard to which one must agree in order to have fellowship.
2) "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." In essence, this means that congregations affiliated with the Restoration Movement reject chatechisms and the like, and base their beliefs only on Scripture.
3) "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love." Believers affiliated with the Restoration Movement will not exclude other Christians from fellowship based on differing beliefs on "non-essential" doctrines. Restoration Movement believers will show love to believers with whom they may disagree.
4) We are "Christians only." Restoration Movement believers do not find unity in an organizational system, or attachment, allegiance to a specific church leader, or adherence to a specific theological system. Therefore we name ourselves only "Christians."
5) "The priesthood of all believers." We believe that all believers are "priests" and can access God through prayer without a human intermediary.
6) Emphasis on the New Testament as the practical source for Christian life and worship. We believe that the laws of the Old Testament were given to the Israelites, and that the laws of worship were not intended for the Gentile church. Therefore, we do not use examples of worship and church order from the Old Testament to order our own worship and churches.
The main practices of the Restoration Movement are as follows:
A) Local control of congregations. Any and all decisions that affect a congregation, such as hiring, transfer or termination of staff; budget allocations; building projects; etc. are made by that congregation. No congregation is accountable to any governing hierarchy.
B) Lord's Supper every Sunday. We celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday. Any baptized believer is welcome to participate.
C) Believer's baptism by immersion. Only those who choose to be baptised are baptised (we do not baptise infants or children who are too young to understand the decision). We baptise by full immersion in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
D) Beauty through simplicity. Most Restoration Movement churches are rather austere, rejecting such things as candles, artwork, or stained glass windows, and are decorated quite simply.
Restoration Movement churches go by several styles of names. The most common type of name is the combination of a geographical place, for example a city or a street, and the words "Christian Church" or "Church of Christ." For example, if you're in Kalamazoo and you drive by Kalamazoo Christian Church, you can be 99% it's a Restoration Movement congregation.
There are some Restoration Movement congregations that practice non-instrumental worship. They almost exclusively use the name "Church of Christ" (as opposed to "Christian Church"). However, not all congregations that use the term "Church of Christ" are non-instrumental.
For more on the founding and the history of the Restoration Movement, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone-Campbell_Movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone-Campbell_Movement).
For a thorough treatment of the five branches of the Restoration Movement and the divisions (some minor, some major) between them, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciples_of_Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciples_of_Christ.).
Forum specific rules
1. To be considered a RM member, one must attend or be associated with a RM church.
2. Only RM members can debate in the main forum. NonRm members can post fellowship posts or ask questions. Debate is defined as:
A formal or informal discussion of opposing viewpoints.
3. A subforum will be created called "Questions about the Restoration Movement". In this forum, nonRM member may discuss and debate the answers given.
4. Only RM members can vote for those applying as a moderator of the RM forum.
5. Only Restoration Movement members or moderators of the forum are able to alter the Wiki.