Church of Christ

The term Church of Christ may refer to:

  • One of several New Testament designations for a local band of people following the teachings of Jesus, whom they believed to be the Christ; only the plural form is found in the NT (e.g., Romans 16:16)
  • the entire body of Christians throughout the world, regardless of denomination or tradition, i.e. the Christian Church or Christendom
  • a body of Christians who continue to use only the New Testament as the source for Christian doctrine and practice and who consider themselves to be part of the original church (in contrast to Orthodox Christianity, Catholic Christianity, or Protestant Christianity.)
  • the Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic churches (primarily used by members of these churches)
  • Church bodies influenced by the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement:
    • Restoration Movement groups originating in Scotland and the U.S.
      • Churches of Christ
        • Churches of Christ and Sponsoring church (Churches of Christ)
        • The churches of Christ (non-institutional), an identifiable subgroup within the churches of Christ
      • Christian churches and churches of Christ
      • Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
    • Non-US Restoration Movement groups
      • Churches of Christ in Australia
      • Evangelical Christian Church in Canada
    • Other historically related groups
      • Christian Connexion
      • Christadelphians
      • Churches of Christ in Christian Union
  • Denominations with a shared heritage in the Latter Day Saint movement, which include:
    • Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), the original name of the first Latter Day Saint church, founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr.
    • Church of Christ (Temple Lot), a Latter Day Saint denomination based in Independence, Missouri
    • Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, which broke away from the Temple Lot church in 1929
    • Church of Christ at Halley's Bluff, which broke away from the Temple Lot church in 1932
    • Church of Christ (Whitmerite), an extinct Latter Day Saint denomination
    • Church of Christ (Brewsterite), an extinct Latter Day Saint denomination
    • Church of Christ (Parrishite), an extinct Latter Day Saint denomination
    • Latter Day Church of Christ, a Mormon fundamentalist denomination based in Utah
    • And other denominations called the Church of Jesus Christ
  • United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States amalgamated from four congregationalist groups in 1957 (See also Christian Connexion.)
  • United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands, the largest religious group in the Marshall Islands
  • Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as Christian Science
  • Church of Christ in Congo, the administrative and spiritual union of denominations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Iglesia ni Cristo (Filipino translation for "Church of Christ"), an independent church originating in the Philippines
  • Church of Christ, Instrumental, also known as the Kelleyites, a Baptist denomination in Arkansas
  • United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the largest Protestant group in the Philippines
  • Church of Christ in Thailand, the largest Protestant Church in Thailand.

Famous quotes containing the words church of, church and/or christ:

    “If Jesus, or his likeness, should now visit the earth, what church of the many which now go by his name would he enter? Or, if tempted by curiosity, he should incline to look into all, which do you think would not shut the door in his face?... It seems to me ... that as one who loved peace, taught industry, equality, union, and love, one towards another, Jesus were he alive at this day, would recommend you to come out of your churches of faith, and to gather into schools of knowledge.”
    —Frances Wright (1795–1852)

    “Eddie Felson: Church of the Good Hustler.
    Charlie: Looks more like a morgue to me. Those tables are the slabs they lay the stiffs on.
    Eddie Felson: I’ll be alive when I get out, Charlie.”
    —Sydney Carroll, U.S. screenwriter, and Robert Rossen. Eddie Felson (Paul Newman)

    “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...”
    —Bible: New Testament, Ephesians 5:21-25.