The churches of Christ (non-institutional)

The Churches of Christ (non-institutional) is a way of defining a distinct fellowship within the Church of Christ (non-instrumental) who do not agree with the establishment of any church or para-church organizations above or in conjunction with the local congregation. Their belief in this area is based upon a strict intepretation of the New Testament which contends that there is no example of nor warrant for such institutions contained therein, and hence they must be rejected as extraneous and sinful additions. Most churches of this group also reject the eating of meals within a church building as contrary to the purpose of such a structure; a few reject the idea of a "church building" altogether and meet in homes, or, in a few instances, rented halls, but this belief is not typical.

In general, most non-institutional churches reject many of the more mainstream practices because of a belief that funds in the church treasury should be used only for those purposes specifically taught in the Bible, such as helping poor church members, evangelism, and the teaching and worship activity of the church. They believe other good works should be funded by private means. Thus, support of an orphanage out of the church treasury is deemed to be forbidden, but adoption by a Christian family is highly encouraged; benevolent financial support for the poor is limited only to those who are members of the church, while members are encouraged to seek out and help privately those in need; using church funds to build a kitchen and eating facility is considered unscriptural, while members are encouraged to spend time together in eating and other activities using their own finances.

This movement accepts the term "non-institutional", although it is unlikely that it will be officially designated as such on a sign, letterhead, or other distinctive "official" document; it rejects the epithet "anti" with which it was labeled by "mainstream" Churches of Christ in the 1950s and 1960s, and likewise the similar term, "non-cooperation movement". It considers itself to be the genuine and legitimate heir to the Restoration Movement (referred to by some, but not generally members of these churches, as the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement) of the 19th century and all other groups descended from it to be apostatsized.

Many within the movement refer to themselves as "conservative" churches of Christ and mainstream churches as "liberal," which leads to some confusion as the mainstream churches use these terms to refer to two separate strands within the mainstream group. Many in the non-institutional groups are unaware of any division in the mainstream groups, considering them all to be "liberal." Meanwhile, many in the mainstream groups are unaware of the reason for, or even the existence of, the non-institutional groups.

This fellowship is estimated by researchers to account for perhaps 15% of the members of Churches of Christ in the United States and for slightly more than that percentage of congregations, as the congregations of this fellowship tend, on average, to be somewhat smaller than is typical of "mainstream" Churches of Christ. The degree to which they fellowship and interact with other congregations of the Churches of Christ varies greatly by area from none at all to considerable. Many of its preachers are trained at Florida College - but since there are no formal degree requirements for the job of an evangelist, they are trained in a variety of ways. Florida College also provides more general higher education. Of course, some of the stricter members disagree with the whole concept of a church-related college based on the argument related above, and others with the entire concept of a paid congregational minister, derided by some as a mere "located preacher" as opposed to a true "evangelist".

The exact definition of this fellowship is open to interpetation. Some would include within it all segements of the churches of Christ who reject "institutions". This would include smaller and even stricter groups such as the "non-Sunday School" fellowship, who believe that there is no scriptural warrant for separate meetings of a congregation based on age or gender even for such an otherwise-noble purpose such as Bible study, and the "one-cup" group, which insists that the "fruit of the vine" segment of the Lord's Supper should be served from one chalice shared by all, a viewpoint which they hold in common with many of the liturgical churches with which they share little else. Others would restrict the definition of "non-institutional" to just the churches that reject institutions but accept Sunday School and multiple containers in communion, feeling that the others are separate movements based on separate issues.