COMMUNITY CHURCHES

Common name for independent local congregations with no formal denominational affiliation. Their growing number and influence are a typical phenomenon of American democracy in the field of religion. While the term community church goes back to the 19th century, systematic grouping of such bodies is a recent development. The guiding principles of the Council of Community Churches (1950) faithfully reflect the spirit of its member churches and may be taken as representative of the individual congregations.

History and Program. The Council of Community Churches was organized at Lake Forest, Ill., on Aug. 17, 1950, in a merger of the National and Biennial Councils of Community Churches. Through the merger, the scope of membership was extended to likeminded religious bodies throughout the world. Its voting membership of several hundred congregations is only the nucleus of many times the number of churches that share its ideals and with which the council is in associated fellowship. At its national headquarters, the council maintains business offices from which a full-time minister-at-large directs a national program of services along lines determined by the churches through their council. Among other services, the council publishes a monthly periodical, the Christian Community, the Pastor's Journal for clergy, and other publications from the Community Church Press.

Objectives and Principles. As outlined in its constitution, the Council of Community Churches is a fellowship that seeks to realize Christian unity in local, national, and world relations. Believing that communities require united churches, the council is committed to Christian unity, and works toward a united church "as comprehensive as the spirit and teachings of Christ and as inclusive as the love of God." It welcomes all congregations that seek to make the church an instrument for discovering and putting into practice the will of God in community life.

On invitation, the council helps communities without any church to form one all-inclusive church that is free to provide all Christian forms of religious expression. In the same way the council assists overchurched communities to federate and combine into one community-centered congregation. Accordingly, community churches arise in different ways, and the council is ready to promote their establishment. When a disaffected minister in one of the traditional churches severs relations with the parent body, or a congregation is unsympathetic with the teaching of its pastor, or the residents of some locality find themselves too varied in religious outlook to organize a denominational parish, the council takes action and supports the community venture along strictly nonsectarian lines.

The cardinal principle of community-church policy is that an individual speaks only for himself. To move beyond that point is to make him liable to the charge of encroachment on religious liberty. Community churches are regularly described as "of the people, for the people, and by the people." Pastors in these congregations believe themselves commissioned to fulfill a particular task, that of reinterpreting the Gospels for Christians who no longer find denominational Protestantism satisfying to their needs. Liberty of thought and expression are encouraged, yet generally within a framework that is remarkably close to the Inner Light theories of George fox and the Quakers (see friends, religious society of). Unlike the Unitarians, community churches place considerable emphasis on faith in Christ and acceptance of His teaching; but, like the Unitarians, they favor a personal approach to Christianity with no semblance of authoritarian creeds or prescribed forms of worship.

Bibliography: f. s. mead, s. s. hill, and c. d. atwood, Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 11th ed (Nashville 2001).

[j. a. hardon/eds.]