Our History

Churches of Christ - Who Are These People?

   Who are the Churches of Christ and where do they fit in the stream of Christian history? When we talk about origins, we like to trace our beginnings to the New Testament and the church Jesus promised to build which was established on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. We believe that the NT alone should provide us with our rule of faith and practice, and that is where we go for our authority. We don't answer to any creed or council or denominational headquarters. We are committed to striving to the best of our ability to be simply New Testament Christians.

   But when it comes to our specific place in Christendom, we didn't spring out of the dirt. We have a history. We are the offspring of a movement that started in America around 1800, where a group of churches broke away from mainline Protestantism to form what they intended as a unity movement. They also viewed themselves as a reform movement, and our favorite phrase to describe it is the "Restoration Movement." It was a movement away from denominationalism with the idea of restoring New Testament Christianity and being "Christians only." This movement swept through the country over the next century and became one of the fastest growing religious movements in America for a time, having been born during the heady climate of freedom and independence that was prevalent in America's early days. Some of the prominent early leaders were men like Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone.

   In the decade following the Civil War, the Restoration movement divided and became two main branches, one (predominantly northern) called Disciples of Christ, and the other (mostly southern) called Churches of Christ. The Disciples became a formally organized denomination and became theologically quite liberal. They experienced another split in the early 20th century with their more conservative branch becoming known as Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. The Disciples of Christ still exist today, but in greatly reduced numbers. The ICC/CC have experience a lot of growth, especially in the past two decades, and are today one of the fastest growing churches in America.

   The mostly southern Churches of Christ struggled for a while in the post-Civil War days, but eventually began to flourish and grow to the point that they became the largest of the three branches. There has been a lot of discussion and effort directed toward unity between the Churches of Christ and the Independent Christian Churches in the last decade since there are very few differences between the two.

What is the history of the GracePointe Church of Christ?

The  GracePointe church had its beginning from the Southern branch of the movement. But we have always been open completely to fellowship with our ICC/CC brothers and sisters and quite a few of our members today are from that branch. Churches of Christ and Independent Christian Churches exist all over the world. We are theologically conservative and our core beliefs listed below will reveal that we share a lot in common with the majority of conservative bible believers.

   Despite the fact that each congregation is independent and autonomous, there is a lot of commonality among us. Most places you go, if you visit you'll find the worship style similar, with an emphasis on simplicity, not a lot of formal ritual or liturgy. Most Churches of Christ use "acapella" singing, (meaning without instruments). All Churches of Christ have a communion service every Sunday and practice believer's baptism by immersion. There is a strong emphasis on Bible study.

   Although there are Churches of Christ in every state and many foreign countries, Churches of Christ have traditionally been strongest in numbers in the South, especially in Tennessee and Texas, and in California. Thus, there has always been interest in starting new congregations in areas where fewer Churches of Christ exist, especially in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

The  GracePointe Church was started as a cooperative effort between the Austin Street Church of Christ in Garland, TX and the Camp Hill Church of Christ in the mid 1970's. The church originally met in Middletown, and eventually bought the land we're presently on around 1979. The church originally met in a farmhouse at its present location and has gradually built up its facilities as it has continued to grow.  The church officially changed its name to GracePointe Church of Christ in 2010.

Rt 230 Church Family - 1986