The Atlanta Church of Christ Becomes a Denomination
Recently I noticed this announcement on the website of the Atlanta Church of Christ in Atlanta, GA: “In December of 2006, the Atlanta Church of Christ completed a 2 year transformation from a single legal entity to an association of Congregations.” The resultant organization is nothing more than a manmade denomination.
Is it unfair to describe this decision as the establishment of a new denomination? Consider their own description of how this association works.
The association was not formed for the purpose of leading these new congregations, but instead as a facilitating group designed for serving individual congregations (and their members) whenever joint cooperation between the congregations can be best accomplished through a common organization. For example, the Atlanta Church of Christ association owns and maintains the church's camp property, the "Swamp," and the member congregations pay the debt on the property through the association. This is the most efficient manner for the congregations to jointly own and manage such a large and complicated endeavor. The association also enables member congregations, if they desire, to purchase group health benefits for their employees at discounted group rates, distribute funds to missionaries and churches in third world countries, obtain administrative and accounting services for their local congregations as needed, and coordinate joint worship, benevolence and other religious activities, as directed by the member congregations.
Being a "member" of the Atlanta Church of Christ now means that you are a member of one of the sister congregations comprising the Atlanta Church of Christ association. To be a member of the association, a congregation must be a church corporation comprised of former members of the Atlanta Church of Christ. The congregation must also sign an association agreement, agreeing to pay its fair share of the outstanding camp loan. Each member congregation is represented in the association by an individual selected by the congregation and that person serves on the association's board of directors. (http://www.atlantachurch.org)
Once a group decides they will no longer require Bible authority for all that they do, departures from the scripture will advance unchecked. Apostasy does not happen overnight. It occurs gradually, by small steps, through seemingly insignificant compromises to accept that which was once rejected for conscience’s sake. When we feel free to do God’s work in the way that seems best to us, there is nothing to stop us from abandoning God’s plan entirely.
After the nation of Israel divided into two kingdoms, Jeroboam feared that the people would reunite and he would lose his throne (1Ki. 12:26-33). He devised a plan to provide a more convenient and appealing way to worship God within the borders of his own land. No longer would it be necessary to journey all the way to Jerusalem, as the law prescribed. Now the northern Israelites could worship near their own homes, with their own shrines, at their own times. Sounds helpful and harmless, right? But the Lord described Jeroboam’s actions as sin. His new religion did not honor Jehovah, because it did not honor Jehovah’s revealed will. Once the law had been compromised there was no turning back. Jeroboam’s compromises paved the way for the Baal worship that came later.
The Atlanta Church of Christ’s new association is very different than local churches in the New Testament. Churches in the New Testament did not “sign an association agreement” or agree to pay for another group’s “outstanding camp loan.” There was no board of directors to manage the interaction of local congregations in the first century. The local church’s government existed solely at the local level (Ac. 14:23; Php. 1:1). The elders’ oversight was limited to the flock among them (Ac. 20:28; 1Pe. 5:1-4). Each church purposed, planned and executed its own work (2Co. 8:8-11; Ac. 11:27-30); it did not “distribute funds to missionaries and churches” through a separate organization.
The Atlanta Church of Christ is now composed of six congregations in the Atlanta Metro area, including one that identifies itself as Faith Fellowship Christian Church. Once the principle of Bible authority has been surrendered, men are free to do as they please and falsely claim they are doing it in the name of God. The Atlanta Church of Christ is just another denomination. If there is a difference, please tell me what it is. -JME