Renewing God's People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ

by Gary Holloway, Douglas A. Foster

From the 'Did Churches of Christ really begin as a unity movement? Why didn't I know that?' 'You mean we used to be called Disciples of Christ? I thought that was just another denomination.' 'Churches of Christ today believe and practice the same things we have from the beginning, don't we?' Statements like these by members of Churches of Christ reflect a serious lack of knowledge of our past and an increasing desire by many to know more of their heritage. This desire has led us to believe there is a need for a brief account of the history of Churches of Christ. This book hopes to serve newcomers and even long-time members of the church by giving them insights into our heritage. It also is an introduction to this significant group of churches for those unfamiliar with its place in American Christianity.

Genres: History

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[MrHooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Previously I had read: "Discovering Our Roots: The Ancestry of Churches of Christ" hoping to learn more about the Stone/Campbell movement and the formation of the "Church of Christ" However it only briefly mentioned it. Finally I found this book with covered it in great detail and was a very easy read. It was so interesting I couldn't put it down and read it in just two days. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a member of the Church of Christ to understand how the church was formed, how it's belief system was influenced and how understanding our history can help us grow.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief and very interesting overview of the history of the churches of Christ. Thankfully there were other book suggestions at the end of each chapter so I can do a deeper dive later on. It went off the rails a bit right at the end insisting that the church needed to focus on social justice in the future…. Uh, no.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! As a Church of Christ member, I highly recommend this concise history of the movement. The authors trace our origins (as a movement towards Christian unity!) from the 1800s until today. I especially enjoyed their description of how Stone and Campbell put their differences aside for the good of the church.

[Joel Persell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you belong to a church associated with the Stone-Campbell “Restoration Movement” in America, or are simply curious about our history, please read this book. I could not recommend it more, especially for those among our congregations in the Churches of Christ (institutional or non-institutional), Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ), and independent Christian Churches. We need to remember our heritage if we want to understand ourselves better in relation to the broader Christian world around us. Many of us do not know how or why the different branches of our movement came about, or that there even are different branches to begin with.

The book is well written, easy to read, and full of incredibly valuable information and insights into our history in the Churches of Christ in America. I pray we can continue to work towards the greater Christian unity our forefathers had in mind when they dropped their various denominational identities and merged together in fellowship under the one Lord, Christ Jesus.

[Devon Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of the Churches of Christ. The book helped me to understand some of the teachings I grew up learning in the Church of Christ that bugged me. Sayings such as: “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” The fact that we took the silence of the Bible to mean that God condemns it seems off to me. I felt that we were a little too exclusive on who we call our brothers and sisters; I do not believe that we are the only Christians, but Christians only. I pray that we can overcome these issues. This book answered a lot of questions I had for a long time, and overall very enlightening. I highly recommend this book.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valuable introduction to the Restorationist movement. Attempting to seek unity by eschewing denominations and returning to the NT church, the movement encountered the silence of God on many matters of church life, interpreted that silence in various ways, and came to many different conclusions as a result. This caused the movement to mirror the journey into denominations of the church history that they sought to avoid, leading to a greater recognition of the role of interpretation and theology in church life, in addition to mere obedience, and a growing appreciation for other Christian traditions.

[Bill Hooten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foster and Holloway have done a really good job of surveying the history of the churches of Christ, a branch of the Stone-Campbell movement. This is the third short survey like this I have read in the last couple of weeks, and all of them come from different perspectives, and with different strengths and weaknesses. The first two I read were written in the 1960's, this edition Foster and Holloway was published in 2006 -- so they have another 30-35 years of perspective to offer. For those interested in this movement, you would find this book interesting.

[Brenda H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Too many times we have been content with restoring the structure of the church and have neglected the weightier matters of justice, Mercy, and faithfulness." This concise look at our church history shows what our founders original intentions were and how we are continuing to strive toward the Christian unity they once dreamt of. We still have work to do!

[Matthew Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to CoC history.

[Walter Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what it says it is. A short, concise history of the churches of Christ in the 19th and 20th centuries. Holloway and Foster do a great job summarizing a large amount of history to hit the high points while also being thorough. The book is designed in a way that it would work well in a church class setting, but it also reads well straight through. I would recommend it as a good starting place if you want to teach a class on restoration movement history or if you are looking to start studying the history of this movement yourself.

[Jennifer V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

About the 2006 edition: Good general history of the Church of Christ side of the Restoration Movement that challenges the readers to rethink "doctrines" that have been culturally influenced. However, there are some disadvantages. Its brief overview of the Early Church to the Protestant Reformation classically blames political government only rather than church leaders for the church's direction. It also doesn't admit the likelihood that the time gap between the First Century Church and the present requires a different outlook on the Second Coming but instead criticizes the movement's founders for holding "different" views.

[David Lasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, concise history of the Churches of Christ. Especially appreciated Holloway and Foster's ability to draw meaningful connections between the restoration movements and today. I also was rather challenged by their vision for the future. Well worth the read.