Saints,
Some of the stances of the Church of Christ are now troublesome but their beginnings was a wonderful revival that brought the Church much closer to the apostolic original.
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Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices, based on the New Testament. They consider only the Bible authoritative for doctrinal beliefs, rather than any human councils. At the heart of these principles is the ideal of being New Testament congregations as originally established by the authority of Christ. Historically, Churches of Christ in the United States were recognized as a distinct religious body by the U.S. Religious Census of 1906. Prior to that, the tags Church of Christ, Christian Church, and Disciples of Christ all referred to the same undenominational churches. Leaders such as Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, and Barton W. Stone used these various biblical names to describe a combined effort of similar movements that eventually came together. They were active in American frontier settlements and cities. Those leaders and others had declared their independence from various denominations, seeking a fresh start to restore the doctrines and practices of the New Testament church, abandoning humanly devised creeds which they saw as a source of division among Christians.
Around the time of the American Civil War, branches developed within Churches of Christ between those who used musical instruments in worship and those who chose to sing a cappella. Prior to the Civil War, all congregations in this movement practiced a cappella worship and afterward about half of these churches began using instruments. The "a cappella churches" continued to worship this way because the use of instruments in church worship is not mentioned in the New Testament and because the early church practiced worship this way for several centuries (hence the term "a cappella" which literally means "as the church"). The branch of this movement with the instrumental worship tradition is usually referred to as "Christian Church," although some are also known as "Church of Christ." Many within these two traditions consider both to belong to the same fellowship, although they have the different worship practices regarding church music.
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Members of the church of Christ do not conceive of themselves as a new church started near the beginning of the 19th century. Rather, the whole movement is designed to reproduce in contemporary times the church originally established on Pentecost, A.D. 30. The strength of the appeal lies in the restoration of Christ's original church.
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Alexander Campbell said the goal was to "[c]all Bible things by Bible names," which became an early slogan of the Restorationist Movement.[28]:688 These congregations generally avoid names that associate the church with a particular man (other than Christ) or a particular doctrine or theological point of view (e.g., Lutheran, Wesleyan, Reformed).[4][26] They believe that Christ established only one church, and that the use of denominational names serves to foster division among Christians.[11]:23,24[25][29][30][31][32] Thomas Campbell expressed an ideal of unity in his Declaration and Address: "The church of Jesus Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one."[28]:688
Other terms have been recognized as scriptural, based on their use in the New Testament: "church of God", "church of the Lord", "churches of Christ", "church of the first-born", "church of the living God", "the house of God", and "the people of God".[25][33] While recognized as scriptural, terms such as Church of God and Christian Church are avoided to avoid confusion or identification with other groups that use those designations.[25][26][34] As a practical matter, use of a common term is seen as a way to help individual Christians find congregations with a similar approach to the scriptures.[25][35] Members understand that a scriptural name can be used in a "denominational" or "sectarian" way.[25]:83–94,134–136[26]:31[33] Trying to use the term "Church of Christ" exclusively has been criticized as identifying a denomination.[25]:83–94,134–136[26]:31[33] Many congregations and individuals do not capitalize the word "church" in the phrases "church of Christ" and "churches of Christ".[36]:382[37] This is based on the understanding that the term "church of Christ" is used in the New Testament as a descriptive phrase, indicating that the church belongs to Christ, rather than as a proper name.[25]:91
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_of_Christ
