Church, Christian (Disciples of Christ)

CHRISTIAN CHURCH DISCIPLES OF CHRIST -  The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States in the Reformed tradition.  It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or as The Disciples. The Christian Church was a charter participant in the formation of the World Council of Churches(WCC) and of the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches), and it continues to be engaged in ecumenical conversations.

As an integral part of worship in most Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregations members celebrate the Lord's Supper. Most congregations also sing hymns, read from the Old and New Testaments of Christian Scripture, hear the word of God proclaimed through sermon or other medium and extend an invitation to become Christ's Disciples. As a congregational church, each congregation determines the nature of its worship, study, Christian service, and witness to the world. Through the observance of communion, individuals are invited to acknowledge their faults and sins, to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to remember their baptism, and to give thanks for God's redeeming love. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) believes that it is in the local congregations where people come, find, and know God as they gather in Christ's name. Because Disciples believe that the invitation to the table comes from Jesus Christ, communion is open to all who confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, regardless of their denominational affiliation.

For most Disciples, communion is understood as the symbolic presence of Jesus within the gathered community. Most Disciple congregations practice believer's baptism in the form of immersion, believing it to be the form used in the New Testament. The experiences of yielding to Christ in being buried with him in the waters of baptism and rising to a new life, have profound meaning for the church.