Peter Rollins

My faith has been formed within a tradition of churches known as the Churches of Christ - not to be confused with the United Churches of Christ or the Christian Churches of Christ. No, we are a pretty unique group. We are definitely "conservative" but not evangelical (though we look more and more like we are). We, like the Anabaptists before us are a dissenting movement, so we have a penchant for the cynical and a strong "what-we're-not" theology. We were birthed through Presbyterian dissenters a few hundred years ago. We are thoroughly autonomous, but even in lacking any central governing or organizing structure, we are amazingly homogeneous (don't read that as a good quality - it is perhaps our greatest asset, and, at the same time, our most understood trait from within).

We are led by local elders and our ministers have a less significant role in the affairs of the church than in most denominations. Doctrinally, our members can be find all across the board - this is a good thing, and is making living peacefully together more and more difficult.

This clip from Rollins is great and highlights the challenges that are before our group - as well as others. Churches of Christ went astray several decades insisting on doctrinal consistency, and, as Rollins illustrates, that world is a facade. What a challenge!

Doctrinally