If you have spent any time looking into churches of Christ, you have probably run into a fair question: is the church of Christ a denomination? It deserves a plain answer. Members of churches of Christ do not consider themselves a denomination. The goal is not to be one more branch among many. It is to be the same church you read about in the New Testament: people who belong to Christ and follow His Word. That answer needs some unpacking, because the word denomination means different things to different people.
What Does “Denomination” Mean?
The word denomination comes from a root that simply means “to name.”
People use it in at least two ways.
In a broad sense, it can describe any identifiable religious group. In that loose sense, an outside observer or a dictionary may list churches of Christ alongside other groups simply as a way of classifying them.
In a more specific sense, a denomination is one branch of the larger religious world, distinguished by its own name, traditions, doctrines, history, or organizational identity.
It is usually this second meaning that members of churches of Christ have in mind when they say they are not a denomination. They do not see themselves as one branch among many competing branches of Christianity.
Why Churches of Christ Do Not Consider Themselves a Denomination
Churches of Christ are not trying to be different for its own sake. The reasons they do not see themselves as a denomination grow directly out of what the New Testament teaches about the church.
The Desire is to Be Simply Christians
The aim is not to start a new church or to join an existing branch of Christianity. It is to be Christians and nothing more. The earliest believers were simply called “Christians” () or “disciples” (), and those terms sufficed. When division began to form in the church at Corinth, with people lining up behind human leaders and party names, Paul did not treat it as a harmless difference of opinion. He pleaded with them “that there be no divisions among you” and asked pointedly, “Is Christ divided?” (, ). Churches of Christ take that concern seriously. The desire is to belong to Christ alone, to follow the teaching of the New Testament, and to avoid the divisions that come from rallying around men instead of Christ.
Each Congregation is Autonomous and Independent
Because Christ is the head of the church, no earthly organization stands above a local congregation. To be autonomous means to be self-governing. To be independent means not to be controlled by an outside organization.
Each congregation of the Lord’s people in the New Testament was exactly that. There was no headquarters, no denominational convention, and no governing board ruling over local churches from a distance. Instead, each congregation was overseen by its own elders, also called shepherds or overseers, who were appointed from among that local group. When Paul and Barnabas established churches, they “appointed elders in every church” (), and those men cared for the flock that was among them (; ).
Churches of Christ follow that same arrangement today. Decker Prairie Church of Christ answers to no earthly office in another city, and it has authority over no other congregation. Local elders oversee the congregation where they serve, while Christ remains the head of every congregation. The only tie that binds faithful congregations together is a shared submission to Christ and His Word.
Christ Alone is the Head of the Church
In a denomination, final authority usually rests somewhere on earth, whether in a single leader, a synod, a convention, or a board. The New Testament places that authority in only one individual: Christ. God “gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body” (), and Paul writes that “He is the head of the body, the church” (). There is no pope, president, or earthly council over the church of Christ, because the church already has a head, and His name is Jesus. Local congregations submit to Him by submitting to His Word.
The Bible is Our Only Authority
Denominations are often defined and held together by a creed book, a manual, a catechism, or a book of discipline. Churches of Christ have none of these, and that is on purpose. The conviction is that Scripture is complete and sufficient on its own. Paul told Timothy that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” and is able to make the man of God “complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (). If the Bible can equip a Christian for every good work, then no human creed needs to be added to it, and nothing should be taken away from it ().
So the Bible is the only guide for what churches of Christ teach, how they worship, and how they live. Where the Scriptures speak, we try to speak; where they are silent, we try to be content with silence.
Is the Church of Christ Catholic or Protestant?
People who are sorting out the religious landscape often ask a related question: “Is the Church of Christ Catholic or Protestant?” The honest answer is neither. Protestantism began in the 1500s as an effort to protest and reform the Roman Catholic Church. Those reformers had real concerns, but their starting point was an existing institution they hoped to correct.
Churches of Christ start from a different place. The goal is not to reform or protest any later church, but to go back to the church as it existed in the New Testament (33 AD), before the divisions of later centuries ever formed. A congregation that simply follows the New Testament is neither Catholic nor Protestant. It is aiming to be what Christians were before either of those labels existed.
If Churches of Christ are Independent, Why Do So Many Share the Same Name?
The widespread use of the name “church of Christ” can make it appear that congregations are connected through a larger organization. They are not. The name is not a brand assigned by a headquarters or a denomination. It is a description drawn from Scripture. When Paul sent greetings near the end of his letter to Rome, he wrote, “The churches of Christ greet you” (). The phrase simply means churches that belong to Christ.
The New Testament uses other descriptions as well, including the church of God and the body of Christ. These are not competing names for different groups. They are descriptions that emphasize different truths about the same church. The church belongs to God. The church belongs to Christ. The church is the body of Christ.
Congregations that have never met, share no earthly organization, and answer to no common headquarters often look similar. The reason is not coordination. It is a shared commitment to the same source. When people read the same New Testament and seek to follow the same pattern, similarities should not be surprising. Shared convictions come from a shared source, not from central control.
What About Restoring the New Testament Church?
The goal of churches of Christ is not to start something new, but to return to the church described in the New Testament. That is what is meant by restoration. The aim is to follow the pattern the apostles left, setting aside the additions and traditions that gathered over the centuries.
This is why churches of Christ do not look back to a human founder or a starting date in recent history. People sometimes ask where the church of Christ came from, expecting to hear the name of a religious leader or the date a new movement began. The answer points in a different direction. The desire is not to trace the church to a modern founder, but to Christ Himself and to the church He built ().
The goal is restoration in that sense: not the launch of another movement, but a steady effort to be the church described on the pages of Scripture, nothing more and nothing less.
Did Churches of Christ Begin with Stone and Campbell?
Sometimes the names of Barton Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell come up in this conversation. In the early 1800s, these men, along with many others, called believers to step away from denominational division and human creeds and to return to the Bible alone. That effort is often called the Stone-Campbell movement, and it is fair to say that churches of Christ today were shaped in part by that plea. But it would be a mistake to read it as the moment the church began.
The men involved did not claim to be starting a new church. They were giving public, organized voice to a desire that was already present in many places: the simple wish to lay aside what had been added by men and to follow the New Testament as the early Christians did. That desire did not originate with them. The plea of the 1800s was one notable expression of a conviction that Christians have returned to again and again throughout history.
This is why churches of Christ do not trace their roots to Stone, to Campbell, or to any human founder or movement. Their roots are in the New Testament itself, in the church that Jesus built and the apostles established (; Acts 2). The seed that produces the church is the word of God (), and wherever that seed is planted and followed faithfully, it produces the same thing it produced in the first century: Christians, and the church that belongs to Christ.
If Stone and Campbell had never lived, the same New Testament would still call people back to that same church today. The aim was never to follow these men. It was, and is, to follow Christ and His Word.
So, is the Church of Christ a Denomination?
Here is the question again, with the groundwork in place. If denomination is used in the loosest possible sense, simply as a label for any religious group, then some people and some dictionaries will answer yes and put churches of Christ on the list. Members of churches of Christ understand why. But in the sense that matters most, the answer is no, and the reasons are consistent:
- There is no earthly headquarters.
- There is no denominational hierarchy or convention.
- There is no creed book or human manual of doctrine.
- Each congregation is autonomous, overseen by its own elders.
- Christ alone is the head of the church.
For those reasons, churches of Christ do not see themselves as a denomination. The desire is to be simply the church you can read about in the New Testament, belonging to Christ, guided by His Word, and open to anyone who wants to follow Him.
Find Real Purpose by Serving God, Family, and Others
If these convictions resonate with you, we would be glad to have you visit. At the Decker Prairie Church of Christ, you will find a church home where families grow together around what truly matters, where the truth is taught straight from God’s Word, and where you are met with an invitation, not a sales pitch. You are welcome to read more about what we believe and to see, from Scripture, how to become a Christian. When you are ready, you can plan your visit, and we will be glad to meet you.
We would encourage you to do what the New Testament itself invites: open the Bible, compare what you hear with what God has said, and follow His Word wherever it leads. The real purpose you have been looking for is found in serving God, family, and others, and you do not have to figure it out alone.
Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
