International Christian Churches - History

History

On November 12, 2001, Kip McKean wrote that he had decided to take a sabbatical from his role as the leader of the International Church of Christ. He issued the following statement:

"During these days Elena and I have been coming to grips with the need to address some serious shortcomings in our marriage and family. After much counsel with the Gempels and Bairds and other World Sector Leaders as well as hours of prayer, we have decided it is God's will for us to take a sabbatical and to delegate, for a time, our day-to-day ministry responsibilities so that we can focus on our marriage and family.". McKean had stepped other evangelists down from leadership positions for "Family problems", yet was having a difficult time applying the same standards to himself. Therefore strong action was required from his central leadership team to bring Kip to resign his position. Many of Kip's friends and the top leaders were deeply concerned about the repetitive relational sins observed by many in the life of McKean. The International Church of Christ dismantled the system of centralized leadership in favor of congregational co-operation. The details of the co-operation plan are available for download. The ICOC labeled Kip as “divisive.” They also wrote a letter detailing the areas of concern. During Kip's time of crisis many of his closest friends abandoned him and his wife, Elena, during this time Kip wrote Revolution Through Restoration.

On November 6, 2002, Kip McKean resigned his World Missions Evangelist leadership position with the International Church of Christ. He cited family problems and apologized for his own arrogance. McKean indicated that his sins "have weakened and embittered many in our churches," and "these sins have surfaced in my family as well as the church."

In 2003, Kip McKean was invited to lead the struggling Portland International Church of Christ. The Portland church had been severely weakened as the International Church of Christ had dismantled its central leadership and turned toward a more mainline theology. Both Kip and the Portland church had been through recent times of crisis, but Kip was successful in rebuilding the Portland church and he began to reestablish his influence in the ICOC.

As Kip began to produce dynamic results at the Portland congregation, the congregation was approaching 600 in attendance, he began to go on the offensive against many of the other congregations of the ICOC. In one such situation at the World Missions Jubilee in 2004, Kip asserted that if a congregation was not growing numerically then it was lukewarm, and if it was lukewarm then its leader was a false prophet. He began calling the "remnant" of the true disciples out of the ICOC congregations and alluded to the re-planting of new congregations. He was attempting to restore the theology and centralized structure that the ICOC had started dismantling just a few years earlier. Many congregational leaders throughout the ICOC saw Kip's comments as disrespectful, divisive, worldly, and selfish. He was accused of "unwholesome talk" (see brothers letter to McKean). and called to repent of these specific alienating sins:
• Pride, Arrogance and Anger
They informed Kip that his actions must stop or unity with him would be impossible. In September 2006 Kip McKean was disfellowshipped, and made the decision to break all ties with the International Church of Christ and start the International Christian Church under his new “Sold out Discipling Movement”, which would be headquartered in Portland.

If someone was dissatisfied with their current congregation and contacted Kip, he would invite them to visit the Portland church, encouraging them to "call out a remnant" from their former congregation. This movement has taken hold in more than 30 cities throughout the world so far. More plantings are scheduled for the future, in what is called "The Crown of Thorns Project". The Crown of Thorns Project so called because the cities in which the planting will take place form a jagged circle,a crown of thorns. The cities are Cairo, Chennai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Moscow, Mexico City, Paris, Santiago, São Paulo, and Sydney.

In April 2007, Kip McKean and his wife left the Portland International Christian Church to plant the City of Angels International Christian Church in Los Angeles. Kip and his wife were accompanied by 40 other leaders from the Portland congregation.