Distinctively Disciples

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is the largest mainline Protestant denomination to be born in America. As our country began to grow beyond its infancy and childhood beginnings, this denomination accompanied and reinforced the ideologies of our nation's founding mothers and fathers.  Dr. Mark Toulouse, author of the book entitled Joined in Discipleship, writes:  The Disciples movement translated the cultural obsession with freedom into a religious declaration of the right of all common people to think through the claims of religion for themselves [p.32]. 

Moreover, he writes:  Prior to the war [The American Revolutionary War], Christians exercised their right to religious freedom whenever they attended the church of their choice.  After the war, the notion of religious freedom itself took an individual turn.  It came to mean that individuals possessed the right to ignore traditional and institutional authority in religious matters.  This remained true even when that authority rested in the long-respected practices of the church of their choice.  Religious freedom came to mean "power" should be surrendered to the people.

This idea of individual religous freedom, as well as other key convictions that define the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), remains true today.  Distinctively Disciples is a four week sermon series that exams basic principles of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). 

September 7th     Biblical Interpretation:  Where Do You Draw the Line?

September 14th   Sacraments: God's Rite to Make it Right