First Christian Church

 "The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a community of believers who through baptism into Jesus Christ are bound by covenant to God and one another. Disciples draw their inspiration from Scripture and the Holy Spirit, celebrating around the Lord's Table the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Christ. They proclaim the Good News of salvation and claim as their particular mission the quest for Christian unity. While stressing freedom and diversity under God, they believe unity and mission are inseparable, and witness and serve among the whole human family in the interest of peace, justice, mercy, and kindness." - Dr. Kenneth  Teegarden, General  Minister and President, 1973-1985 , Regional Minister for the Southwest 1969-1973

  About the Chalice - Symbol of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

     The red chalice, bearing the “X-shaped” cross of St. Andrew was adopted as the symbol of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) by the denomination's General assembly in 1971 and is a trademark registered with the United States Patent Office. Care must be taken to maintain the dimensions of the chalice when using it in enlarged or diminished formats.

     The chalice symbolizes the centrality of the Lord's Supper to Disciples life. The St. Andrew's Cross, the national cross of Scotland, focuses attention on the Scotch Presbyterian roots of the church. Thomas and Alexander Campbell both studied in Scotland and were Presbyterians. St. Andrew has been identified with the laity and evangelism, prominent emphases of the Disciples over the years.

     The red color of the chalice signifies vitality, spirit and sacrifice.

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Characteristic Beliefs and Practices of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

     It is no simple task to summarize what members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) believe. In his book "We Call Ourselves Disciples," General Minister and President Emeritus Dr. Kenneth Teegarden explains:

"Disciples always have opposed... the use of creeds to exclude persons from the church. It was (the) use of creeds as ‘tests of fellowship' that the Disciples' founding fathers fingered as the major cause of division among Christians... (So) unlike most other churches, we Disciples do not have an official doctrinal statement we can refer to when someone asks, ‘What does the Christian Church believe?"

     For many years, The Christian Evangelist, a forerunner of our present journal, The Disciple, carried a maxim in its masthead:  ‘In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.' It expresses the cherished conviction that liberty should be allowed in the nonessential areas into which most creedal statements roam.

     A widely-known slogan among Disciples claims,  “No Creed but Christ.” That conviction is borne out in the manner in which persons come to be a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In his book, Dr. Teegarden goes on to say:

"Standing before a congregation of Disciples to confess faith in Jesus Christ and become part of the church, a person is asked only one question. It is usually phrased, ‘Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and do you accept him as your personal Savior?' The person who responds, ‘I do,' might have recently completed a church membership course. If so, the instruction will not have been to transmit a system of doctrines. In fact, a person who is comfortable with a dogmatic approach would be disappointed in the Christian Church.

     We Disciples have beliefs and practices in common with all sorts of Christians. These apparent similarities sometimes are superficial, sometimes fundamental. We baptize by immersion, so we look like Baptists. We have Communion every Sunday, so we look a bit like Roman Catholics. We stress the ministry of the laity, so we look a little like Quakers. Our congregations call their pastors rather than accepting assigned ministers, so in that respect we look like Presbyterians. We rely heavily on preaching and teaching, so we look somewhat like Methodists. We have congregational government, so we look a lot like the United Church of Christ."

     While Disciples honor no human-made creed, the preamble to a document called The Design for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) poetically and prayerfully expresses our shared affirmations in this way:

As members of the Christian Church, we confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world.

In Christ's name and by his grace we accept our mission of witness and service to all people.

We rejoice in God, maker of heaven and earth, and in the covenant of love which binds us to God and to one another.

Through baptism into Christ we enter into newness of life and are made one with the whole people of God.

In the communion of the Holy Spirit we are joined together in discipleship and in obedience to Christ.

At the table of the lord we celebrate with thanksgiving the saving acts and presence of Christ.

Within the universal church we receive the gift of ministry and the light of scripture.

In the bond of Christian faith we yield ourselves to God that we may serve the One whose kingdom has no end.

Blessing, glory and honor be to God forever. Amen.

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Baptism

“Through baptism into Christ we enter into newness of life and are made one with the whole people of God.”  -from the Preamble of the Design for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

     Baptism in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) takes water – plenty of water. Disciples practice “baptism by immersion” because it mirrors New Testament practice. In addition, Disciples see the use of the specific form of baptism, immersion, as powerfully symbolic. It recalls Jesus' own baptism; it acts out dying with Christ and emerging to new life; it is a “putting on” of Christ. The person being baptized experiences the firm support of the community -- of the Body of Christ -- in the arms and hands of the minister, feels the plunge of commitment, and bursts into new life with the sound and feel of rushing water. At the conclusion of a Disciples baptism, the congregation most often is asked to pledge support of the newly-baptized person in her or his faith journey.

     Disciples typically are baptized when they can express as a personal choice their desire to become part of the Body of Christ. Disciples call the practice “believer's baptism.” As the believer is immersed, he or she is baptized in the name of the Trinity. It is customary for the minister to use the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

    Most Disciples today recognize other forms of baptism as valid. A person baptized in another Christian tradition wishing to join a Disciples congregation is simply asked: “Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and proclaim him Lord and Savior of your life?” The person who answers, “I do,” is welcomed into the congregation. (Top)

Infant Dedication

     Infant dedication is a common Disciples tradition. A baby is brought into the environment of a loving church where parents and congregation pledge themselves to nurture the child in the love of Christ. An infant so dedicated “confirms” that dedication with a faith-response usually during the early teenage years, about the same time when many Disciples are baptized.

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The Lord's Supper

By Colbert S. Cartwright

“At the table of the Lord we celebrate with thanksgiving the saving acts and presence of Christ”                                                       -from the Preamble of the Design for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

     Sharing in the Lord's Supper is at the heart of what members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) do when they gather for worship. Generally each week there will be the singing of hymns, prayers, the reading of scripture, and a sermon. But without the Lord's Supper (or communion, as it is often called), worship would be incomplete. A marked characteristic of Disciples is an emphasis upon the importance of the Lord's Supper as a basic part of weekly worship.

     The Disciples movement, stemming from impatience with sectarian church divisions on the American frontier in the early 1800s, from its beginning sought to stress the fundamental place of the Lord's Supper in worship and to observe it each Lord's Day.

     The early leaders sought to cut through the many layers of tradition which separated various church bodies from one another by recovering the essential faith and practices of the early church as seen in the New Testament. In regard to the Lord's Supper, two scripture passages caught their attention. In Acts 2:42, following the account of the birth of the church at Pentecost, the writer says that “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The  “apostles' teaching” was regarded as being the equivalent of a sermon from scripture and “the breaking of bread” as an expression for sharing in the Lord's Supper. In Acts 20:7 the writer was regarded as referring to the custom of gathering each Sunday for the Lord's Supper when commenting, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread...”

     Modern-day Disciples, though less interested in arguing from proof-texts, still call attention to the earliest recorded traditions of the church which clearly indicate that the sermon and the Lord's Supper were integral to Sunday worship. The observance of the Lord's Supper reaches back to the upper room where Jesus met with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. At that moment, before he was taken prisoner, tried, and nailed to a cross, Jesus sought through vivid imagery and dramatic action to express the meaning of his life and the events in which he was involved. What he said and did is recorded in the first three Gospels as well as in the Apostle Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. Paul writes:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,  “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (I Corinthians 11:23-26)

    Today, among Disciples congregations, a communion table will be found in the sanctuary located in a prominent place, indicating the importance of the Lord's Supper in their worship. Often across the front edge of the table are the words “Do This in Remembrance of Me,” calling attention to the unique purpose of this particular table.

    The remembrance is one of action. “Do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus commands. Communion is not simply a guided meditation of the mind. The congregation acts out the high drama of Christ's meaning for Christians.

     The remembrance has the aura of the victory -- God has won over every human foe. In this sense it is a joyous celebration of the redeeming power of God.

     Within the Disciples of Christ it is customary to say that Christ is the host at the communion table. It is the Lord's Supper, and we come at his invitation. Therefore no other person has the right to offer that invitation or to bar anyone from sharing in it. Christians of any persuasion are free to share in the Lord's Supper. This is in keeping with the Disciples' concern for the unity of the church.

     Ultimately worshipers discover that the Lord's Supper is not so much something they do as it is something that God does for them. Through these actions God's love is expressed; here God speaks and acts afresh in human lives. Each time believers share in the Lord's Supper they open up a fresh opportunity for the Lord to be made known to them.

     We celebrate the love of God experienced in Christ Jesus and know that nothing in all the world can ever separate us from that love; and ultimately we celebrate with thanksgiving every loving act of God.

For more information,  please contact the First Christian Church.  

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