The End of a Movement?

For those readers who are familiar with the background of the contributors of this journal, you know that we are all part of the Restoration Movement. All three of us have been educated at Stone-Campbell schools. We all agree with and support the principles of the Movement to some measure.

Though each church affiliated with the Restoration Movement maintains autonomy and does not answer to a governing body, all of the churches still gather together at an annual convention call the North American Christian Convention (NACC for short). Basically the convention is a gathering of Christians from across the country (and world at times). No decisions are made. No edicts are handed out. It is just like-minded Christians coming together to worship, learn, and fellowship. Growing up I attended every year to compete with other teenagers in Bible Bowl. I have not gone lately, though my parents and sister continue to make the effort.

However, the convention has fallen on hard financial times lately as the attendance continues to decline. One could attribute this decline to various factors – the downward economic trends, the cost of gas, the rising cost of putting on the program, etc. And though those factors affect the older generation of attendees, I believe the problem lies in the absence of the generations that are ages 40 and under. Few Christian Church believers in this age group know about or feel compelled to support the convention. As a result, I foresee the convention going under within the next 15 years as the older generation dies out and is not replaced by new believers.

Another diminishing resource of the Restoration Movement is the “Christian Standard.” This weekly magazine is filled with articles, lessons, meditations, and news relating to the movement. Like the convention, I believe you would be hard pressed to find many people under the age of 40 regularly reading and taking an interest in the magazine. I only read it when a topic is especially intriguing. I don’t know their financial status, but I believe this magazine along with “The Lookout” could be defunct within a few years.

A few years back, a group of scholars from the movement attempted to increase the scholarship level of the Restoration Movement by publishing “The Stone-Campbell Journal.” The journal contained quality work, but again, I don’t know how they are fairing. I tend to think not as good as they could be.

Finally, though many newer churches and church plants are staffed by men and women from the Restoration Movement, fewer and fewer churches are celebrating this heritage. Even the names “Christian Church” and “Church of Christ” are being traded for “Community Church” or just a simple name like “Lighthouse Church”. I don’t have a problem with the name change, but these are just observations about the distancing from the tradition from which these churches draw their present practices.

The point of all of these observations is simple – I see the “Restoration Movement” ending within the next few years as a new generation of Christians seeks more ecumenical and post-modern approaches to “church”. Though I do not see this evolution as a bad thing, I do know that if the new movement does not replace the old with comparable practices, they will suffer. Hopefully the publications will be replaced with blogs, websites, and other means of communicating between Christians. Hopefully the convention will be replaced with other gatherings of like-minded individuals who are seeking unity. Whatever happens, as long as Christians are attempting to restore the church to the New Testament model, than perhaps the Movement will never die.