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Christian Conventions

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Christian Conventions is a name used for official purposes in various countries by a non-denominational Christian Restorationist church. Distinguishing features of the church are a homeless, itinerant ministry, and fellowship-style worship gatherings in the homes of adherents. The church has no official headquarters.

Name of church

As a nondenominational church that remains strictly unaffiliated with other religious groups, one of the church's definitional policies is the disclaiming of any denominational title, name, or formal identification. Members often identify themselves as "Christians", "the saints", or "the friends". It has sometimes been legally necessary in some countries for the church to be formally registered as a denomination, in order to send missionaries to that country. The church claims it is not an incorporated organization, but they did incorporate in Alberta Canada,(Alberta Society of Christian Assemblies), which incorporation has since been rescinded. The official name in the United States is: Christian Conventions
Representing Assemblies of Christians
Assuming this Name Only

Terminology

The following are some of the common terms used by the group, and a definition of each in the sense most commonly intended and understood by members of the group. bishop, elder, deacon - a leader of a church as defined below. Normally the male head of the house in which the church meets. church - generally, a small, local congregation that meets in a home; can refer to a larger group of believers or to the group as a whole. Not used to refer to a building except when referring to church buildings of other denominations or speaking metaphorically. Used colloquially when talking to strangers to refer to one's Sunday/Wednesday activity, ie "I'll be at church until midday." field - a geographical region to which a workers has been assigned (similar to "parish"). friend, saint - convert, adherent, member. Collectively "the friends", or "the saints". Friends are also said to be "professing". meeting - any formal gathering of friends, whether for Sunday morning worship, mid-week bible study (usually Wednesdays), annual special meetings or conventions, or other meetings called for special purposes, such as elders' or workers' meetings. mission - larger meetings called by workers in a field, usually held at a public venue such as a school or scout hall. Missions are held in series, lasting several months, and local members generally attend them in addition to their regular Sunday morning meeting and the Wednesday night meeting. This is the primary venue for evangelism, to which members are encouraged to invite strangers along. Sometimes these meetings are advertised in local newspapers, and/or with leaflet drops etc. The head workers and workers devise a plan of missions and notify local elders, who in turn notify members. profess, professing - to make or to be making or have made a public declaration of faith in the fellowship. Members are those who "are professing", and vice versa. worker, servant - minister, missionary, preacher.

Church organization

The group has based its organizational structure generally on the concept that there are two "callings". Members commonly refer to these two classes as "workers" and "friends".

Head Worker or Overseer

A head worker is a senior male worker who is given an overall authority for a geographic region, such as a state or a country. Also, senior male workers are appointed by fellow head workers to supervise the group's work within a designated geographical boundary which may includes a country or several states.

Workers

The workers are supervised by one or more head workers within each region. Workers are the church's missionaries and ministers. The option of entering the ministry is theoretically open to every baptised member, although it has been over 40 years since married people were accepted into the ministry. When a church member feels "called" to enter the work, they go to the head worker within their state or territory. New workers may not engage in any formal religious training (i.e. theological schools or university). Workers generally work in pairs, a senior worker with a junior assistant. This arrangement allows the younger workers to learn from the older workers' experience. A new worker usually formally begins his or her ministry by speaking at a Convention or Special Meeting.} Workers travel within their head worker-appointed fields, hold public gospel meetings, and from these gospel meetings seek to gain converts. The workers organize such converts into their home meetings; appoint homes in which their people meet for worship; and appoint elders (also called "bishops") and deacons responsible for leading the meetings, normally the head of the house in which the church meets. As new converts are most commonly known to one or more members of the church, they ordinarily join the meeting of members to whom they are geographically and socially close. A new convert will be introduced to the leader of his or her nearest local meeting. Workers officiate at the funerals of members. In Australia, Canada and the U.S., the workers are not registered marriage celebrants, but give sermons and prayers at members' weddings if requested to do so.

Elders

An elder is a man who leads an individual house-meeting. Elders are appointed by men workers in their field or adjacent field with approval of the head worker.

Friends

Occasionally, the workers will 'test' a meeting of the friends and any who have been called to "profess" are given opportunity to indicate this to the fellowship, generally by standing for a few moments while a hymn is sung. } The main purpose of the saints is seen to be "lights" in their individual communities by being a good example within their community.

The role of women in the church

Women are accepted both in the church ministry and also to full participation in church worship. Female workers routinely hold public gospel meetings, and female members take part in prayers, testimonies, singing, and communion. Female workers or friends do not lead meetings when a male worker or friend is present who is qualified for the same role.

Meetings (Present order of worship)

Gospel meeting

Individuals in the community are invited to attend gospel meetings by the friends. Occasionally printed invitations are handed out on doorsteps or friends may go door-to-door inviting people to meetings. Meetings are usually held by two workers and are in a rented public hall or school or a private home of one of the friends. No religious ornamentation is used. The order of these services is usually as follows:

One or two hymns is sung, often accompanied by keyboard.
One of the workers prays.
Another hymn is sung.
One of the workers (the youngest usually speaks first) preaches to the congregation until close to the end of the first half hour of the service.
Another hymn is sung. The audience is often invited to stand while singing, as a rest from sitting.
The other worker preaches to the congregation until near the end of the meeting.
Another hymn is sung.
One of the workers closes the service with a prayer.
Words of dismissal (in some places benedictions), thanking the audience for attending and inviting them to come again.

In places where the church is well-established, workers may conduct two or more gospel meetings a week in the same public building for an extended period of months. In other areas, workers may conduct gospel meetings for several nights of the week and move to new towns more frequently. This more mobile example of the church's evangelistic practices is the rule in countries like France, Germany, India, and the African and Asian countries.

Sunday fellowship meeting

The Sunday morning meeting, often called a "fellowship meeting," is usually held in the home of the elder, who guides the proceedings and performs sacramental duties. The number of people in each meeting can be as few as two or as many as will comfortably fit in the meeting area of the house. This varies depending on the number of local members; however, twenty may be an average. The church group often consists of several individuals and families. The order of the meeting is usually as follows:

silence is observed before the meeting commences and while the members enter the meeting room
the congregation sings one or two hymns
prayer: in turn, all professing members make a short, spontaneous, audible prayer
another hymn is sung
testimony: in turn, all professing members speak about a Bible passage of their choosing that they have enjoyed, and its application to their daily living; or they may relate a personal experience, and a lesson they have learned thereby.
communion: one member (male or female) makes a short prayer of consecration for the bread; the elder passes the bread around the room, and all baptized members partake. The cup is shared in the same manner. The communion meal in performed in silence in order to promote reflection.
a final hymn is sung, usually with the theme of Christ's death, resurrection, and coming again
the elder carries the bread and cup out of the room
greetings: members generally greet each other (in Western countries, usually with a handshake) and brief conversation before departing the meeting house.

New members generally join a church or meeting nearest them, or one at which they know one or more members. Meeting membership is guided by the local workers in consultation with the elders of the meeting(s). The makeup of the fellowship meeting congregation is ordinarily formed on the basis of geographic proximity, although demographic mix is balanced as far as is reasonably attainable. Meetings which have grown too large, or where the elder has had to move house, may be split; meetings which have grown too small, usually due to attrition of older members, may be amalgamated. However the membership of a meeting may remain unchanged for years or decades.

Bible study meeting

Each local church holds Bible study meetings once or twice each week. (In Australia, usually Wednesday nights.) These also take place in private homes and are led by an elder or deacon. The topic of study may be a biblical passage, person, subject, or theme. The topic (also called "subject") may be taken from a scheduled list, or pre-agreed in a previous meeting. The order of the meeting is identical to that of the Sunday morning meeting, with the exception that the leavened bread and grape juice is not kept. In turn, each professing member shares his or her thoughts, findings, and practical insights regarding the subject. Preparing for a meeting is usually preceded with meditation and prayer by each member in his or her private room at home.

Special meeting

Special meetings are larger, day-long worship events. In rural areas, they may include only one church; in urban centres they may include many churches from a large city or region. Special meetings consist of two two-hour-long services, one held in the morning and the other early in the afternoon, and sometimes a third, hour-long meeting just before supper. These services include public preaching by a number of workers, some of whom are visitors from other regions. Congregants participate in prayer and testimony periods, and in the singing of hymns. The time of year at which special meetings are held varies around the world and depends on local factors such as climate, public holidays, and availability of suitable facilities.

Convention

Conventions are usually held on rural properties owned by individual members. In some regions, convention centres or other facilities are rented for the purpose. In 2005, over 440 conventions were held in over 100 countries. Attendance at a Convention gathering may range from twenty to over 2000. In North America, the members stay on location or in nearby hotels. In Europe accommodation may be similar, or may be in schools, church camps and other available boarding places. In Australia, many convention sites have space for dormitory and tent accommodation. A Convention usually lasts for four days, starting on a Wednesday evening, and continuing through to the following Sunday afternoon. There are usually three scheduled meetings each day. Two-hour-long morning and afternoon meetings include personal prayer and testimony periods. In the first one-hour evening meeting, workers visiting from foreign countries relate their experiences. The remaining evening meetings are gospel services. The bread and grape juice are taken at Convention in Australia, Congo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and some other African countries. In Australia Conventions have a major social component. Members are nominated or volunteer to help prepare and serve communal meals, which are taken together. A short hymn is sung before each meal, then eating commences. There is much conversation over these meals, and usually an hour or two is allowed before the next gospel service commences. Members' children play together, and members who played together as children renew old friendships. Among the young unmarried members, Conventions are very much considered an opportunity to seek out prospective spouses.

Baptism

Often, a baptism is held during the Convention. Workers and friends gather at the nearest suitable river or lake. The baptism ceremony is led by a senior brother worker. A brief sermon is given, a prayer is offered on behalf of the baptismal candidates, and a hymn is sung. Candidates are immersed.

Hymnal

The first hymnal printed exclusively by and for the church was printed circa 1904 and entitled "The Go-Preacher's Hymn Book." It included 125 hymns, a few of which were written by members of the group, while most were inclusions from the Faith Mission hymnbook, "Songs of Victory." The present hymnal, entitled "Hymns Old and New," was first published in 1919 and has had subsequent editions in 1928, 1951, and 1987. It is published by R.L. Allan & Son, Glasgow, Scotland. R. L. Allen was the original publisher of the Faith Mission hymnal, "Songs of Victory" (original edition, 1898). The most recent edition of "Hymns Old and New" (1987) contains 412 hymns, 110 (26%) of which were written by non-members of the group. Most of the words were written by Workers or friends, while most of the melodies were written by non-members. Many of the workers and friends have been prolific hymn writers, some of the most prolific being Sam Jones, Sandy Scott, James Jardine, Elma Wiebe Milton, Gladys Porteous, and Mabel Pryor.

Distinguishing doctrines and practices

The church holds a number of doctrines and practices by which it is distinguished from many other sects and denominations:

The ministry is homeless, perpetually travelling, and receives their income through voluntary financial support from the friends. The workers reject the commercialization of organized churches and instead prefer private, voluntary donations from members. They believe that Jesus' instructions to his apostles in Matthew 10 - such as going from village to village, preaching in pairs, taking minimal worldly possessions, and relying on the hospitality and generosity of the villagers - are still the best pattern for Christian ministry today.
Church buildings are seen as an unnecessary addition to biblical Christianity. The group conducts their fellowship meetings in the homes of believers. Annual national or state-wide conventions (depending on the country) are held on privately-owned property whose owners make their buildings — often a farm - available for this purpose.
The church, marked by conservative views in other areas of religious conviction and morality, appears among liberal "progressive" Christianity in regards to the role of women in the church. Women workers were first commissioned to preach in 1900, and have equal authority to male workers, including the authority to preach, teach, establish meetings, discipline members and organise gospel meetings. However, they can not rise to the position of head worker, and do not lead meetings when a male worker is present.

Membership and geographic spread

Some areas that have larger concentrations of church members include Northwestern and North Central USA, Western Canada, Northern Ireland, British Islands,Barbados, New Zealand, parts of Australia, Northern Peru, Nuevo León state in Mexico, South Africa and Río Grande do Sul state in Brazil. Some areas where the church has grown rapidly in recent years include the Ukraine and other parts of the former Soviet Union, Romania, Benin (West Africa), Madagascar, southern India, the Philippines, South Korea, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. One of the interesting aspects of the church is the spread and diversity of the social network. Today, the global congregation can't be easily classified into a socio-economic category, although this may be possible at the regional level, especially earlier in the history of the church. Many of the more wealthy members in Western countries travel frequently and visit members in other countries. As a result, there is a well developed social network amongst the members, which penetrates into some quite obscure (to a Western viewpoint) locations. There are known to be at least one congregation of practising members residing in more than 100 countries, including the following (incomplete list): Antigua, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Curacao, Czech Rep., Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Greece, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saint Helena, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe Since the 1970s (and possibly, long before this), missionaries of the church have been present at some point in many countries where Christianity or Protestantism is not common, even where proselytizing is not allowed. These include but are not limited to: Cambodia, China, Cuba, Taiwan, Ecuador, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Romania, Ukraine. Underground or clandestine churches are known to operate in Islamic countries.

Origins and History

The present movement coalesced in Ireland in the late 1890s under the leadership of Scottish evangelist William Irvine (1863-1947), John Kelly, John Long and others. Irvine and Kelly had previously been associated with the Faith Mission. Members of the movement have been fairly explicit in not maintaining an official history, rejecting any form of liturgy, and in many cases, even destroying correspondence and written records. Partly this behaviour is an exigency of an itinerant lifestyle; partly a response to centring the movement on Biblical teaching with a strong bias to oral exposition. These characteristics make it difficult to form a history with any accuracy and certainly there exists no church sanctioned historical archive or records. For the interested reader, Cornelius Jaenen has documented the growth of the movement in Ireland in the late 1890s. The workers' efforts in Ireland are also documented in newspaper articles of the time, occasional written testimonies of early workers, photographs of workers and excerpts from the Bright Words monthly publication. William Irvine was excommunicated from the movement in 1917. His literal views of eschatological prophecy and belief that the world was about to end following the First World War were considered by other leaders to be disruptive to the fellowship. Irvine and a small group of loyal followers become known as the Message People, The Witnesses (not to be confused with the unrelated Jehovah's Witnesses), or Irvinites (not to be confused with the unrelated Irvingites). Irvine declared himself a prophet and continued to urge his followers to prepare for the end of the world. Another division occurred in 1928 when the worker Edward Cooney (well-known for preaching on Hyde Park Corner) left the movement. Cooney believed strongly in the original itinerant ministry, in reviving the miracle powers of the Apostolic Age, and he rejected the appointment of head workers to geographic regions and the Living Witness Doctrine. A handful of Cooney's loyal supporters separated to join Cooney in his own sect. Because of Cooney's prominence in the early growth of the movement, some onlookers had labeled the entire group as Cooneyites. In later years this came to apply only to the small group that separated along with Cooney.

George Walker's letter of 1942

In 1942, during the Second World War, George Walker, then the head worker in the Eastern United States, was asked by the Office of the Director of Selective Service in Washington, D.C. to submit a statement "outlining... certain facts regarding the foundation, belief and activities of the Church...for the purpose of enabling the Local Draft Boards to correctly classify Ministers of this Church throughout the United States who are subject to the Selective Service Laws." The statement, which was widely circulated among believers in the United States at that time, read in part:

...during the closing years of the last century and the first years of this century a number of people in the British Isles and in America were exercised in heart and mind, through their study of the Scriptures, in regard to the methods of preaching and worship in the several churches of which they were then members. They were deeply concerned about spiritual things, and became fully convinced that there should be a return to the methods and purposes taught and carried out by Christ and His first disciples. This conviction led to frequent earnest conversations and studies on the subject, which in turn led to religious meetings, and in due time a number of these people went forth to devote their lives to the preaching of the Gospel according to the teaching and example of Christ as given in the New Testament, i.e., "two by two" and without salary or making appeals for financial assistance, putting implicit trust in God and His promise that as they "sought first the Kingdom of God" their natural needs of food and raiment "would be added to them".

As a result of this step, many people expressed their desire to be in fellowship with such preachers and this led to regular gatherings together of small assemblies in homes for worship and study of God’s word. The reason for meeting in homes was primarily because it is scriptural, the Christians during the first centuries of the Christian era met regularly for worship in homes, which fact is also borne out and supported by church history. Thus after serious consideration, the leaders were confident that in their efforts to follow the early Christians they should form church gatherings in homes....

In the year 1903 Ministers of this Christian body began their labors in the United States and in the year 1904 in Canada. In these and subsequent years through the preaching of the Gospel, assemblies were formed in homes as already described. In the year 1906 the first annual conventions were held in North America, and from this beginning the number of Ministers in North America has grown to over nine hundred - about equally divided between men and women; the assemblies for regular worship to over three thousand; and the annual conventions to over one hundred.

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Criticisms against the church

The church has been the subject of much controversy from its earliest days. Many posters, pamphlets, books and websites have been published criticizing various aspects of the church. This form of publication began in the earliest years of the movement and continues to this day. During the early days in Ireland, most of the criticism was due to the strong preaching of the idea that all of the existing Christian denominations had corrupted Christianity in various ways; that the new sect was the restoration of the original Christian ideal or community; and that thus only those in the new group were spiritually "saved." This teaching was strongly opposed and rebutted by many. Some members and ex-members believe that the movement had a singular beginning with William Irvine in 1897. Today, critics allege that since the founding of the group, the "real story" of the founding and subsequent history of the group has been ignored and misrepresented. It is alleged that the workers have for the most part allowed and encouraged their listeners to believe that the ministry that they represent has existed in a continuous line since the time of Christ. To what extent this "deception" has taken place, to what extent it has been deliberate, and to what extent it is valid is perhaps impossible to measure. The counterargument has been raised that, even were all members of a church that operated "according to the words of Christ" to have died out at a given point in history, if a new church that adhered to the same interpretation of the principles were later created, it could claim to be a successor of the first church, or the first church recreated. Members and workers believe they have little use for their church's history, beyond mere curiosity. The matter of church discipline is also sometimes criticized. Some members have been excommunicated as a result of the ministry's reluctance to discuss the disparity between positions on the history of the movement, or entertain any position other than the "official dogma". In these cases, such an experience is often the final motivation for leaving this faith. Questioning of doctrine is often construed as a lack of faith, often termed "falling out". In many parts of the world, however, there is considerable leeway afforded to differences in personal convictions regarding both doctrine and practice, and this seems to be a growing trend. The main stream beliefs and practice of worship remain however the same. Some people – including many ex-members – allege that the church has continuously and actively silenced opposing or dissenting views in the church. It is claimed by these people that those with power within the church have practised excommunication to silence dissenting voices or questions about the church's doctrine and history and that there has been strong denial of any teaching that acknowledges preachers of any other faith or message. The existence of such controlling behaviour in the church is said to be supported by the group's teaching that the workers are the only true servants of God and the professing people are the only true saints. In this way, members are encouraged to believe they alone are the exclusive family of God (Rom 9). The roles of men and women in the church are raised as an issue that troubles many ex-members. Women have restrictions in the way they dress and style their hair. Men are also asked to dress modestly, but have much more freedom in their appearance. Although there are male and female workers former members allege that female workers are not granted equal roles in the leadership at meetings, conventions, and other gatherings. Some members disagree with this and claim that in some areas of the world excommunication is unheard of. They believe opponents like to unrealistically emphasize exclusivist tendencies, and they claim most present members recognize that exclusivist teaching is steadily diminishing. This is a matter so heavily clouded by opinion and subjective interpretation that it would be almost impossible to ascertain an objective truth. A controversy in Alberta, Canada, in the late 1990s resulted in the excommunication of between 25 and 30 members in 1999 alone, according to "The Lying Truth" website. This is a very small number of dissenting people in comparison with the worldwide number of members (see also the numbers under the heading "Conventions").[2]. The full number of excommunicated members is not known. No register of members in good standing or members excommunicated is kept. In some areas colloquial terms used for excommunication are put out and stand down. In other areas, these terms would not be recognized at all. The former term means the members is blocked from congregational meetings and may be unwelcome at other services, whereas the latter means the member is temporarily requested to stay silent (not participate) at congregational meetings. These are not the same as lose out, which is attributed to those who no longer profess or attend meetings; they are said to have "lost out" because they have heard the word of God and rejected it. An excommunicated member who sincerely wished to rejoin the church, having ceased the activity that led to his or her excommunication, may or may not be allowed to do so. Geographical distance and time from the original scandal may affect this. Without an example, the question is uncertain.