Vol. 8, No. 5, 1991

Boston Church of Christ

Craig Branch

The Boston Church of Christ is a major new splinter group from what is known as the mainline and conservative Church of Christ.

The central church and its associated churches known as pillar and planting churches has been known by various terms such as Crossroads Church of Christ, Crossroads Movement, Multiplying Ministries, Discipling Movement and the Boston Movement (The Discipling Dilemma, Flavil Yeakly, p. 5; What Does the Boston Movement Teach, Jerry Jones, p. 5).

A study of what has been called the "Restoration Period" (early 19th century) reveals an interesting history and succession of splinter groups (Dictionary of Christianity in America, ed. Reid, Linder, Shelley, Stont, p. 1005).

Even before the Mormon church's "restoration of the church," a Scottish Presbyterian minister immigrated to America and settled in western Pennsylvania in 1807.

Wearied by the division in Christian churches he parted with the Presbytery and formed a independent association in 1811 (Campbellism: Its History and Heresies, Bob Ross, pp. 16-19).

Thomas Campbell was soon joined by his son Alexander and later by Walter Scott another Scottish Presbyterian, who in 1827 was the primary developer of the still heretical doctrine of baptismal regeneration (Ibid, pp. 41-51).

Independent of the Campbells and Scott, Barton W. Stone, also a Presbyterian minister in Kentucky, experienced a revival in his church and area in 1801.

By 1804, Stone and several colleagues separated themselves from the Presbyterian Church and formed a new group simply taking the name "Christians," and "Christian Church" (Ibid, pp. 56-60).

Stone and the Campbells found each other and with similar doctrinal thrusts, merged in 1832 (Ibid, p. 60).

The new denomination, sometimes called Disciples of Christ, other times, the Christian Church or Church of Christ, experienced rapid growth usually at the expense of the other churches in the area.

By 1860 they had become the sixth largest church in America numbering about 192,000 (Dictionary of Christianity in America, p. 1007).

They were controversial and aggressive, often debating with other church leaders especially focusing on the need to be baptized "for the remission of sins in order to be saved," requiring the absence of instrumental music from worship, the necessity of the Lord's Supper or communion every Sunday and other legalisms. They were known by their fierce independence and for disdaining any formal creeds. In fact, Barton Stone did not accept that the Holy Spirit was part of the Trinity, believing that it was the "energy of God" (A Handbook for Today's Disciples, Duane Cummings, p. 25).

The fragmentation began in 1859 when some churches began using instruments in their worship service. In the late 19th century, liberalism and the "higher criticism" view of the Bible began undermining the authority of scripture which affected most denominations including the Churches of Christ.

In 1906 the U.S. Census Bureau listed three separate groups - the Disciples of Christ or Christian Church, the Church of Christ Independent, and the Church of Christ non-instrumental (Dictionary of Christianity in America, p. 1007).

In response to the liberalism which affected the Diciples of Christ the most, the North American Christian Convention was formed in 1927. This was the main body of converative Churches of Christ. Today, because of the many legalisms and lack of creeds or confessions, there exist many divisions among what are known as Churches of Christ.

The best figures which estimate their numbers indicate that the non-instrumental churches have about two million members while the independent and Disciples of Christ have about one million each (Ibid, p. 1008).

But even with the many divisions, the conservative Churches of Christ (mainline and anti's) do share certain Bible colleges and maintain loose connections.

The Boston Church of Christ or Boston Movement represents the newest and most significant splinter group from the Churches of Christ. Even most Churches of Christ consider them to be a cult.

Chuck Lucas began work with the 14th Street Church of Christ (COC) in Gainsville, Florida in 1967. He utilized aggressive evangelism and close accountability discipleship and experienced great growth success.

The name of the church was later changed to the Crossroads Church of Christ (The Discipling Movement, Maurice Barnett, p. 2).

A University of Flordia student, Kip McKean was converted and trained by Lucas and later went into the ministry and began to start discipling ministries in several locations.

Controversy followed McKean as he caused several congregations to split because of his aggressive and demanding tactics (Ibid, pp. 5-6).

In 1975, McKean and his wife Elena moved to Lexington, MA, a suburb of Boston and began a work there. Today they meet in the Boston Gardens and after 10 years of existence, church officials claim a worldwide membership of 25,000 (Los Angeles Times, 8/4/90, p. F16).

College towns have been the major focus of the Boston Movement. They have planted churches all over the U.S. and in several foreign countries.

Because of their legalism, twisting of scripture, exclusivism, and their use of the well known mind-control methodologies of other destructive cults, they are recognized as a cult by the orthodox Christian community as well as by the psychological and psychiatric community who specialize in the destructive cult phenomena.

The Cult Awareness Network, collects the many newspapers, magazines, and personal accounts of the large number of psychological casualties generated by the Boston Movement.

For specific information on the history and doctrinal errors of the Boston Movement, contact a Watchman Fellowship office.