Church of Christ, Instrumental

Last updated

The Church of Christ, Instrumental, also known as Kelleyites, are a baptistic body of Christians based in central Arkansas.

Contents

Names

In the only book written about this group they are called the Church of Christ, Instrumental or Kelleyites. Elder E. J. Lambert, a Primitive Baptist minister who was raised among this body, and whose father was a minister of the Church of Christ, Instrumental, in his autobiography consistently refers to them as the Church of Christ (Kelly Division of Missionary Baptists). [1] They are referred to as Kelleyites in official documents of the Works Progress Administration in the 1940s. [2]

History

The Kelleyites owe their name and origin to Samuel Kelley. Kelley was born in 1817 in what is now Pike County, Arkansas, but in early adulthood he moved to Illinois. In Illinois, he first connected himself to the Methodists, but later joined the Baptists and was ordained by them in 1838. Shortly after this he returned to Arkansas. A difference in practice between the Baptists with whom he was connected in Illinois and the Baptists in Arkansas was evidently a contributing factor to the rise of the Kelley division of the missionary Baptist church. Among other things, the Baptists in Illinois received Samuel Kelley on his Methodist baptism, which was foreign to the practice of Arkansas Baptists. [3]

Kelley was a prominent and successful citizen by the standards of his day. He lived in Pike County and later in Howard County. He was elected to at least one term in the State Legislature. His church was a member of the Red River Baptist Association. In 1856, Kelley was invited to preach at the meeting of the Caddo River Baptist Association. In this sermon, he preached the doctrine of apostasy, or falling from grace. The next morning the Caddo River Association passed resolutions against Elder Kelley, his doctrine of apostasy, the fact he had not been baptized by a Baptist, and also withdrew fellowship from the Red River Association. The next year the Red River Association excluded Samuel Kelley and his followers. Kelley evidently preached between 1857 and 1870 wherever he could. In 1870, Kelley convinced the Philippi Baptist Church to adopt open communion and change their name to the Philippi Church of Christ. The only change to "Church of Christ" would simply mean dropping the Baptist name from the common practice of that day (i.e., Philippi Baptist Church of Christ becomes Philippi Church of Christ). This church withdrew from the Caddo River Association that year, and the Caddo River Association also withdrew from them. This can be considered the official date of the division of the Kelleyites from the Baptists (although persons such as Elder Lambert still considered them to be Missionary Baptists). [4] Other churches were organized and existing churches adopted the doctrine and practice of the Kelleyites, and this movement grew for a time. Later the movement would decline, and now (2003) survives with 5 churches - 4 in Hot Spring County, Arkansas and 1 in Clark County, Arkansas. Membership is estimated at 400 in the 5 congregations. Perhaps the ecumenical nature of the church's doctrine, rather than lack of evangelization, has led to the decline in churches and membership. [5]

Doctrine and practice

After their separation from the Caddo River and Red River Associations, the Kelleyites formed The Council of the Church of Christ. This council is fashioned on the order of a Baptist association and meets annually. Rules are similar and they preserve the autonomy of the local church. The council has no authority to act on local church matters, nor even to advise unless the church asks them to do so. [6]

The major differences doctrinally between the Kelleyites and the missionary Baptists of Arkansas at the time of division was that the Kelleyites held final apostasy (or falling from grace), open communion, and alien baptism. [7] The Kelleyite theology is somewhat of a mixture of old time Methodist and Baptist doctrine. [8] They are similar in doctrine and practice to the Free Will Baptists, but have evidently never had any connection with them. [9] In addition to baptism and the Lord's supper, they also hold feet washing as an ordinance. This is an issue that would separate them from most present-day missionary Baptists in Arkansas, but would have been of little consequence in the mid-19th century. The church has three offices: pastor, elder, and deacon. [10] The Kelleyites preserve their links to the Baptists by using the Sunday School literature of the American Baptist Association. [11]

The church doctrine is ecumenical in nature, but article 14 (adopted in 1952) of their constitution states, "No minister, except regular ordained ministers of the Church of Christ, shall be permitted to preach or conduct services in any individual church without special permission from the pastor and members of that particular church. (Exceptions being made for funerals.)" This article reveals an interest in self-preservation - though they desire fellowship with other Christians, they also seek to preserve what they feel in their unique heritage. [12]

The churches often label their church signs as Church of Christ, Instrumental to differentiate them from the Churches of Christ (non-instrumental) movement of Alexander Campbell and others.

Notes

  1. ↑ Elbert J. Lambert, Tried in the Furnace, 1981, pp. 15, 20, 26, et al.
  2. ↑ Work Projects Administration, Historical Records Survey Church Inventory, Forms 70, 75, 86, 89, 1941
  3. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, p. 13ff.
  4. ↑ Elbert J. Lambert, Tried in the Furnace, op. cit.
  5. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, p. 43
  6. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, p. 25ff.
  7. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, pp. 17-18, 35-36
  8. ↑ Pioneer Faith, History and Archives Committee of the State Association of Missionary Baptist Churches of Arkansas, 1994, p. 398
  9. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, p. 22
  10. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, pp. 39-42
  11. ↑ Pioneer Faith, History and Archives Committee of the State Association of Missionary Baptist Churches of Arkansas, p. 411
  12. ↑ Willard D. Hughes, Welcome, Church of Christ - Instrumental: A Study of the Kelleyites, 1977, p. 31

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arminianism</span> Protestant theological movement

Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance (1610), a theological statement submitted to the States General of the Netherlands. This expressed an attempt to moderate the doctrines of Calvinism related to its interpretation of predestination.

Congregational polity, or congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous". Its first articulation in writing is the Cambridge Platform of 1648 in New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Great Awakening</span> Protestant religious revival in the early 19th-century United States

The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the late 18th to early 19th century in the United States. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching and sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a key part of the movement and attracted hundreds of converts to new Protestant denominations. The Methodist Church used circuit riders to reach people in frontier locations.

In Mormonism, the restoration refers to a return of the authentic priesthood power, spiritual gifts, ordinances, living prophets and revelation of the primitive Church of Christ after a long period of apostasy. While in some contexts the term may also refer to the early history of Mormonism, in other contexts the term is used in a way to include the time that has elapsed from the church's earliest beginnings until the present day. Especially in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "the restoration" is often used also as a term to encompass the corpus of religious messages from its general leaders down to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restoration Movement</span> Christian movement seeking church reformation and unification

The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840) of the early 19th century. The pioneers of this movement were seeking to reform the church from within and sought "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament."

The American Baptist Association (ABA) is an Independent Baptist Christian denomination in the United States. The headquarters is in Texarkana, Texas. The principal founder was Ben M. Bogard, a pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. ABA headquarters, including its bookstore and publishing house, Bogard Press, is based in Texarkana, Texas.

Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists are part of a larger sub-group of Baptists that is commonly referred to as "anti-mission" Baptists. This sub-group includes the Duck River and Kindred Baptists, Old Regular Baptists, some Regular Baptists and some United Baptists. Only a minuscule minority of Primitive Baptists adhere to the Two-Seed doctrine. The primary centers of Two-Seedism were in Northern Alabama, Arkansas, Eastern Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. As of 2002, five churches or congregations of this faith and order still existed in Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

The Old Regular Baptist denomination is one of the oldest in Appalachia with roots in both the Regular and Separate Baptists of the American Colonies and the Particular Baptist of Great Britain. This group has seen a marked decline in its membership during the last two decades. Part of the decline may be attributable to orthodox biblical interpretations like a dress code where men must wear long pants, not shorts, and women must wear long dresses. Other such interpretations include women not being allowed to cut their hair or speak publicly on church business, although women can frequently shout while praising. Members who do not comply with the strict dress code and norms face being "churched", i.e., being kicked out of the congregation and possibly shunned. The Old Regular Baptist Faith and order with her many branches and factions still remains the dominant Faith in some rural Central Appalachian Counties along or near the Kentucky Virginia border. In most churches, the congregation maintains a collection of photographs of deceased members.

Though the annual meeting of this group is denominated The General Association of The Baptists, they are most widely known as the Kindred Associations of Baptists. Other names associated with these churches are the Baptist Church of Christ, The Baptists, and Separate Baptists. The primary location of the churches is middle Tennessee and northern Alabama. Members from this association form the largest body of Baptists in Moore County, Tennessee.

The Baptist Churches of New Zealand is a Baptist Christian denomination in New Zealand. Its headquarters are in Auckland, and it is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoniram Judson</span> American missionary (1788–1850)

Adoniram Judson was an American Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who worked in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was sent from North America to preach in Burma. His mission and work with Luther Rice led to the formation of the first Baptist association in America to support missionaries.

The Holiness Baptist Association is a holiness body of Christians with Baptist historical roots.

Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Sr. was an American Holiness–Pentecostal pastor and minister. He was the founder and first Senior Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, based in Memphis, Tennessee. It developed into what is today the largest Holiness Pentecostal church denomination and one of the largest predominantly African-American Christian denominations in the United States.

Landmarkism, sometimes called Baptist bride theology, is a Baptist ecclesiology that emerged in the mid-19th century in the American South. It upholds the perpetuity theory of Baptist origins, which asserts an unbroken continuity and exclusive legitimacy of the Baptist movement since the apostolic period. Landmarkists hold a firm belief in the exclusive validity of Baptist churches and view non-Baptist liturgical forms and practices as invalid. This perspective caused significant controversy and division within the Baptist community, leading to intense debates and numerous schisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clear Creek Baptist Bible College</span>

Clear Creek Baptist Bible College (CCBBC) is a private Baptist Bible college in Pineville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention. CCBBC provides a Bible-based education focusing on Christian service. The college is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association for Biblical Higher Education. CCBBC was founded by Lloyd Caswell Kelly in 1926.

The Bible Missionary Church, founded in 1955, is a Christian denomination in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition aligned with the Conservative Holiness Movement. It is headquartered in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Parker (Baptist)</span> American leader in the Primitive Baptist Church

Daniel Parker was an American minister in the Primitive Baptist Church in the Southern United States and the founder of numerous churches including Pilgrim Primitive Baptist Church at Elkhart, Texas, the location of the Parker family cemetery. As an elder, Parker led a group who separated from that church and formed the Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists. Parker is one of the earliest documented proponents of the doctrine of Serpent Seed among Protestant Christianity.

The expression "one true church" refers to an ecclesiological position asserting that Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission solely to a particular visible Christian institutional church—what is commonly called a denomination. This view is maintained by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, the Churches of Christ, and the Lutheran churches, as well as certain Baptists. Each of them maintains that their own specific institutional church (denomination) exclusively represents the one and only original church. The claim to the title of the "one true church" relates to the first of the Four Marks of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed: "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church". As such, it also relates to claims of both catholicity and apostolic succession: asserting inheritance of the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority and responsibility that Jesus Christ gave to the apostles.

Doss Nathan Jackson was a Baptist pastor from the United States who was fundamental in the founding of the North American Baptist Association. He was a debater and conference speaker, publisher and a prolific writer of Christian literature and theological works including Studies in Baptist Doctrine and History.

Richard Wright was an English Unitarian minister, and the itinerant missionary of the Unitarian Fund, a missionary society established in 1806.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.