| Our Heritage |
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Who Are We? The South Brooke Church of Christ is a community of believers identified with a tradition generally known as the Stone-Campbell Movement or the Restoration Movement. While it has European roots, it began as a viable movement in America in the early 19th century. Its mission was “to unite the Christians in all the sects” by means of a restoration of primitive Christianity. There were two frontier movements – each with a passion for the unity of all believers – one led by Barton W. Stone and the other by Alexander Campbell. These two movements merged in 1832, forming a religious community that eventually identified itself as Disciples of Christ, Churches of Christ, and Christian Churches. Numbering about 25,000 in a few hundred churches in 1832, there are now some seven (7) million members in approximately 25,000 congregations. Churches of Christ – with over 3,000,000 members worldwide in 13,000 congregations – are part of this tradition. While Churches of Christ are generally Protestant in doctrine – such as believing in the divinity of Christ, the priesthood of all believers, and the inspiration of the Bible – they are unique in that they are part of a movement “born and bred with a passion for Christian unity,” as our earliest historian expressed it. This means that we not only reject sectarianism, but that we seek unity and fellowship with all those who accept Jesus as Lord and obey him according to their understanding. Our founding pioneers believed they had discovered Biblical principles that would make Christian unity both desirable and practicable, enabling all believers to be one in Christ in spite of difference. These principles centered in making the basic truths of the Christian faith – the core gospel – the basis of unity and fellowship. They expressed this principle in a simple axiom: “In essentials, unity; in opinions and methods, liberty; in all things, love.” Still another axiom –“We are Christians only, but not the only Christians” – was their way of saying that by laying aside all sectarian names and looking to Christ alone we can realize our Lord’s prayer that His church be one. As heirs of such a rich heritage, South Brooke Church of Christ, along with all other Churches of Christ, can view our mission and destiny as threefold:
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