Chapter 16: every tradition · Christianity

Churches of Christ

A church of Christ of the a cappella fellowship: an autonomous congregation with "no headquarters" and no creed but the Bible, seeking to do "only what the New Testament authorizes". Every Lord's Day the assembly sings without instruments, led by a song leader, prays, hears the sermon, shares the Lord's Supper of unleavened bread and grape juice passed through the pews, and gives as each has prospered; the sermon ends with the invitation, and believers are immersed "for the remission of their sins", at once. Elders, married men with faithful children, oversee the congregation and hire its minister, who isn't called Reverend; men lead all of the assembly. There's no wider body to belong to, pay, or leave. The fellowship is about 10,100 congregations, most of them small (a 2026 estimate).

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Christianity
Its words	congregation, church building, auditorium; the minister leads the assembly; the sermon; Sunday; the Bible
Worship	word focus, reserved, low formality (0.33 of 1); seated on pews
Music	organ forbidden; gospel organ forbidden; piano forbidden; choir discouraged; band forbidden; brass forbidden; handbells forbidden; chant discouraged; song leader expected; recorded forbidden
The room's sound	no strong preference
Its year	western; minimal observance; fasts none
Leans	conservative on moral questions, conservative on economic ones
Polity	independent; leaders come by call; property local
Leaders	plural leader, full time, trained by college; marriage any
Belonging	high commitment, pastoral discipline, admitted by board; exclusive
Giving	tithing not emphasised; collected by plate, online
Way of life	alcohol abstinence, dress church clothes, sabbath observed

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Sunday	10:30 am	Lord's Day assembly	the minister	expected
Sunday	6:00 pm	Lord's Day assembly	the minister	optional
Wednesday	7:00 pm	Prayer meeting and Bible study	the minister	expected

Leader: a minister. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply minister stands in ($800 a month) for a little less.
Communion (every week), passed among the people: nothing needs to be placed to serve it. People receive from age 11; anyone younger who comes forward is blessed instead.
Baptism: needs a baptistry or an immersion font, built and installed; until there is one, those wanting baptism wait.
Lay helpers at each service: Required: 2 communion servers (at communion); Expected: a Scripture reader.

Rites

Gospel Meeting (yearly, +0.025 to those there): A week of nightly preaching by a visiting evangelist, with an invitation at the close of each sermon for those who want to be baptized.

Baptism, confirmation, and joining

Baptized elsewhere: it recognizes only its own. Someone so baptized is received at a service after about 1 week (a week from another of its churches).
Not baptized (or baptized where it doesn't recognize it): a candidate who is baptized and received at the same service.
Joining age: children baptized as believers are members at once.
The church's children are baptized as believers at about 12, most within a year or two of it.
Kinds of belonging: members (may hold office); received by its board.
What it means: being baptized, confirmed, or received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home each Christmas Eve and Easter for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the contribution, by a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
Fundraisers: none: it's kept by what its people give.
Owed above: nothing: it has no wider body.

The minister, the staff, and who decides

How the minister comes: advertised and called: the elders decides by consensus.
Paid: full time; housed or given an allowance, as you set.
Candidates: three apply; trained at college (a little less skilled; they ask 95%); men; most married.
Tenure: settled for about 6 years, then may be called elsewhere.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Lay leader (unpaid; from the members; cares for 60)
- Bivocational minister ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Minister ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate minister ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Congregation secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
Its boards: the elders (deciding, over everything).
Renovations: The elders decides by consensus.
New construction: The elders decides by consensus.
Calling a leader: The elders decides by consensus.
Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Choir.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers: none: it's kept by what its people give.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Another congregation, Dance classes, Parties and receptions.
Outreach: invitation Sunday, a home Bible study, a revival, planting a new congregation (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A petition for cushions, The bells, again.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A Masonic funeral, A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required BaptistryBeliever's baptism by immersion needs a baptistry: a tank large enough for an adult, with plumbing to fill and drain it.
required Communion tableThe Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
required PulpitPreaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
forbidden Brass band standsThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
forbidden Drum kitThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
forbidden Hammond organThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
forbidden Handbell tableThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
forbidden IconThis tradition holds that images of God and the saints have no place in worship.
forbidden Upright pianoThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
forbidden Pipe organThis tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
forbidden StatueThis tradition holds that statues have no place in worship.
expected Communion traysThe bread and cup are carried to the pews in trays and passed along the rows.
discouraged BannerBanners are not part of this tradition's worship space.
discouraged Choir stallsThis tradition's worship has no choir.
discouraged CrucifixThis tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
discouraged Flag of the churchThis tradition doesn't fly a flag in worship.
discouraged Flaming chaliceThe flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
discouraged Painting of ChristPictures of Christ are not part of this tradition's worship space.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.052; Modern synagogue +0.034; Gurdwara +0.028; Japanese temple +0.016; Islamic +0.01; Shinto shrine +0.01; Chinese temple +0.004; Dravidian temple -0.002; Nagara temple -0.002; Thai temple -0.002; Jain marble -0.008; Gothic -0.014.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: it keeps the church year: paraments and the season's decor are worth up to ±0.013.
The sermon lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the minister's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
Communion: each communion service runs longer; a slow one costs 0.05 for every 10 minutes the service runs over (0.2 at most).

How each sermon lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Fire & Brimstone+0.08
Marriage as God Designed+0.06
Sanctity of Life+0.06
The Last Days+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Obedience & Discipline+0.04
Personal Holiness+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
Spiritual Warfare+0.04
The Authority of Scripture+0.04
The Great Commission+0.04
Biblical Stories+0.015
Blessed Are the Peacemakers+0.015
Called by Name+0.015
Doubt & Faith+0.015
Eternal Life & Resurrection+0.015
Grace & Forgiveness+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Joy in All Things+0.015
Love One Another+0.015
Sabbath Rest+0.015
Saints & Witnesses+0.015
Servant Leadership+0.015
Songs of the Psalms+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Church Year+0.015
The Life of Prayer+0.015
The Parables of Jesus+0.015
Care for Creation-0.05
Healing for All-0.05
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
The Prophets' Call-0.05
Wealth & Poverty-0.05
Welcome the Stranger-0.05
Women Who Led-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075
Social Justice Call-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	-0.333
Choir stalls	-0.667	discouraged This tradition's worship has no choir.
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	+0.333
Liturgical furniture
Altar	-0.333
Baptismal font	-0.333
Baptistry	no fit	required Believer's baptism by immersion needs a baptistry: a tank large enough for an adult, with plumbing to fill and drain it.
Bishop's chair	-0.333
Brass eagle lectern	-0.333
Columbarium niches	-0.333
Communion rail	-0.333
Communion station	no fit
Communion table	no fit	required The Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
Communion trays	no fit	expected The bread and cup are carried to the pews in trays and passed along the rows.
Confessional screen	no fit
Coptic cross	0
Epitaphios	-1
Flaming chalice	-1	discouraged The flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
Foot-washing basins	no fit
Haikal screen	-1
Iconostasis	-1
Immersion font	-0.333
Lectern	no fit
Litany desk	-0.333
Mercy seat	no fit
Octagonal stone font	-0.333
Paraments	no fit
Pulpit	no fit	required Preaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
Readers' desks	no fit
Rood screen	-1
Sanctuary lamp	-0.333
Tabernacle	-0.333
Three-bar cross	0
Thurible and stand	no fit
Music
Brass band stands	-1	forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
Chanter's stand	-0.667
Drum kit	-0.333	forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
Handbell table	-1	forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
Pipe organ	-0.667	forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
Sound system	-0.333
Upright piano	-1	forbidden This tradition's worship is sung without instruments.
Decor
Advent wreath	no fit
Banner	-1	discouraged Banners are not part of this tradition's worship space.
Christmas Eve candles	no fit
Cross	0
Crucifix	-1	discouraged This tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
Easter lilies	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Flag of the church	-1	discouraged This tradition doesn't fly a flag in worship.
Great dome	-0.333
Icon	-1	forbidden This tradition holds that images of God and the saints have no place in worship.
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Painting of Christ	-1	discouraged Pictures of Christ are not part of this tradition's worship space.
Paschal candle	no fit
Plain spire	no fit
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	-0.333
Statue	-1	forbidden This tradition holds that statues have no place in worship.
Steeple and bells	-0.333
Votive candle stand	no fit
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Pillar	-0.333
Prie-dieu	-0.333
Projection screen	+0.333
Vestment cabinet	-0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Lychgate	-0.333
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit
Standing cross	no fit

Sources

Spring Church of Christ (Spring, TX), About Us (link)
Southaven church of Christ, What we believe (link)
Trussville Church of Christ (AL), What to expect (link)
Greater Portland church of Christ (ME) (link)
La Vista church of Christ, questions and answers (link)
Executable Outlines, Shepherds of the Flock: The Qualifications (link)
The Christian Chronicle, Why counting the sheep is so difficult (2026) (link)
The Christian Chronicle, Christ in Christmas? Churches of Christ and the holiday season (2005) (link)
Jason Gann, No Church Yard Sales (Tennessee Bible College, 2019) (link)
The Christian Chronicle, Hearing a call, seeking a voice (link)
The Christian Chronicle, on drinking (2019) (link)