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Discover the Disciples! Welcome to First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), Athens, Georgia. We are pleased that you are
visiting with us. We are a congregation of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, a mainline
Protestant denomination of some 800,000 members. Originating in frontier
America, the “Disciples” grew out of an effort to unite all
Christians through a restoration of the New Testament Church.
Two concepts have marked and shaped the life of the Christian
Church from the beginning: we believe the oneness of the Church is
essential to God’s mission to the world, and the sole authority for
the Church’s life is the Bible, with primary emphasis on the New
Testament as the source of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
As a congregation of the Christian Church, we are autonomous. We
call our own ministers, hold title to the property, and determine how
all money is spent. Some of the important ideas which shape us as a people of God
are:
~A biblical approach
to life and issues in which scripture is the basis for our
beliefs and practices, and the Bible is taken very seriously but not
bound by literalism.
~A worship
which involves people rather than placing them as spectators in the
pews.
~Preaching
which is intellectually stimulating yet very practical and applicable to
daily living.
~A willingness not only to tolerate but to welcome
and celebrate differences of opinion about faith.
~An ecumenical faith
that celebrates the validity and uniqueness of our brothers and sisters
in Christ in other denominations.
~The practice of believers’ baptism by immersion, and the
recognition of the validity of other forms of baptism.
~A
congregational structure in which men and women share in
leadership roles.
~A
strong sense of Christian community in which consensus is
in the person of Christ, not in conformity of creed or doctrine.
~A sense
of ministry which is rightfully the obligation and
privilege of every Christian.
~A weekly
celebration of Holy Communion as instituted by Jesus Christ and
observed by the New Testament Church.
~An emphasis
on Christian living which accents the grace of God, versus
a harsh, legalistic, prescriptive approach. |
