To make it even more confusing for the outsider, here in the U.S.A. we have an assorted variety of "Christian" churches. Some are at the liberal end of the spectrum such as the Disciples of Christ and some are at the other end of the spectrum, believing in salvation by faith in water immersion in their church (brand) only. In my locality we have rapidly diminishing Disciples of Christ churches and equally rapid diminishing Churches of Christ. As for the ICOC, I am unaware that they are active here.
Another name for their original iteration was the 'Boston Movement.' They were always fairly rare outside of major cities. The ethos was to marry Restorationist doctrine with the discipleship methods of the JWs or even perhaps Christian Science. Naturally, this made the Boston Movement a magnet for abusive narcissists. They operated on the boundaries of cultishness.
It seems quite peculiar to me as to how such a movement could have originated in Boston. I understand Boston (and Harvard's) connection with Unitarianism and, less so, with Universalism. Christian Science's connection to Boston seems to have been much less with the general ethos than with the particular personality of Mrs. Eddy. If Mrs. White had lived in Boston I think it quite like that the SDA might have originated there.
Yes, beginning in the early years of the last century there was a marked increase of unusual religious (what we would now call New Age) gurus ranging from the relatively benign such as Gustav Stickley and the Roycrofters (a separate group from Stickley) in New York state, to folks like Aimee Semple MacPherson in the California region. California seems to be a magnet for these types of groups.
yes, it is, and I lived in a magnet area. Sonoma County. Sebastopol,ca they like all things alternative, they are fleeing the repressiveness of traditional religion and it's culture, and are looking for something else to replace it.
The problem, of course, is that the grass is far from greener on the other side of the fence.
Boston ended up being its largest congregation. The actual movement started in a Church of Christ in Gainesville, Florida in the late 70s. One young man from the Gainesville church, Kip McKean, took the position of lead elder at the Church of Christ in Lexington, MA on the condition that every member agreed to be 'totally committed'. He then introduced the aggressive evangelism tactics and discipling that would mark the group, variously known as the "Crossroads Movement" (after the Gainesville church) and the "Boston Movement".
