REL 485 Dr. Tim Miller 24 Oct. 1994

What modern religious movement has been met without some sort of controversy? When Christianity was a mere fledgling, its adherents were thrown into the mouths of hungry lions. When the Protestants came along, they were sometimes executed in large numbers. A modern example is David Koresh and his followers.

There is nothing different for the Boston Church of Christ (also known as the International Church of Christ or the Boston Movement). They are frequently accused of cultic practices such as brainwashing. They have a long list of disgruntled ex-members. They have even been forbidden to meet on some college campuses. Controversy has not escaped them.

There are many things which are controversial about the Boston Movement. To cover all the controversial matters of this movement would take volumes. This paper will summarize the controversial aspects of the group, specifically focusing on its history, practices, and doctrine.

Controversial History

The controversial history of the Boston Movement began in the early 1800s with the disillusionment of four Presbyterian ministers -- Barton Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, and Walter Scott. These men wanted to unify Christianity and abolish the schisms between denominations. They preached for closer relations of Christians, the Bible as a basis for faith, open communion, and the autonomy of individual churches. Their movement, which was united in 1832, was called the "Restoration Movement" as they were also attempting to restore the church as presented in the New Testament. The movement continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century until, after the Civil War, when the movement divided into the Churches of Christ and the Disciples (who are now known as the Disciples of Christ) over controversy about conservatism verses liberality.[1] The Boston Church of Christ, came from the more conservative side of this split (the Churches of Christ).[2]

The Boston Movement got its start in 1967 at a small church in Gainesville Florida when they hired Chuck Lucas to minister to the University of Florida campus. Lucas started up the Multiplying Ministries program for the campus and the church. This program included setting up students with an elder person to pray and challenge them as well as extensive proselytizing. This small church quickly grew and became known as the Crossroad's Church of Christ.[3]

One of Lucas' "disciples" was a student named Kip McKean. After graduating from Florida around 1979, McKean started to travel throughout the country, teaching others about the Multiplying Ministries movement. After a while, McKean received an invitation from a Church of Christ in Lexington, MA to help revitalize their church. McKean accepted their offer and started the Multiplying Ministries program in their church. This was highly successful -- the little, dying church in Lexington soon outgrew its building. The church then moved to Boston and renamed itself "the Boston Church of Christ."[4]

The Crossroads Church of Christ, back in Florida, continued to grow -- but not as fast as the church in Boston. Finally, in 1987, the Boston church told other congregations in the movement that they should fall under the authority of Boston. The elders of Crossroads did not like this because it contradicted ideas on which the original Churches of Christ were founded (the autonomy of individual churches), so they broke off from the Boston church.[5]

Since then, both Chuck Lucas and the Crossroads Church of Christ have apologized for taking the Multiplying Ministries program too far and denounced the Boston Movement for continuing to do so.[6]

Controversial Practices

The most controversial aspect of the Boston Movement is its methods in making "disciples." They see this important in response to Jesus' Great Commission as found in Matthew 28:19,20 to "make disciples of all nations."

The controversy over movement's methods of making disciples starts with their recruitment methods. The recruitment process proceeds as follows:

"A member of the church invites a classmate, fellow living group member, or a stranger walking down the hall to a Bible talk. The Bible talk, designed for invited guests, covers some basic principles of Christianity, free from theological discourse or difficult doctrines to understand or accept. The members of the Bible talk immediately befriend the prospective convert and invite him to other activities. As the prospective convert becomes more and more familiar with the church members, they encourage him to be more open with his thoughts and feelings and to study the Bible with one of the church members assigned to be his discipling partner.[7]"

This "Bible talk" creates controversy in that some allege is misleading. The talks, being "free from theological discourse or difficult doctrines," frustrates one campus minister in dealing with the Boston Movement, "As they begin coming to the group and the Bible studies, they should know that they are expected to become baptized in a certain way and that confessions of their sins are needed to remain members,... I think it all ties back in with deceptive recruitment."[8]

The quick befriending of visitors to their "Bible talks" leads to accusations of "hooking" and "love-bombing." "Hooking" is when someone searches for another person's interests, hobbies, and other personal information for the purpose of flattering them. This is done to attract them to the group, rather than for a sincere interest. "Love- bombing" is where a visitor is inundated by flattery and friendliness in order to produce the feeling that the group will fulfill many of their needs and desires.[9]

The Rev. Jim Musser, a Church of Christ minister, who is not affiliated with the Boston Movement, was the chair of a mediation panel discussing conflicts with the Boston Movement on his campus. He says the movement tries to build a relationship with a visitor, making them feel like the "most important person". The closer one gets to members of the group, the further one gets from other potential friends thus leading to isolation.[10] This put the visitor in a "double bind," "They want to maintain their new relationships, but they may not want to go along with some of the other things, and they have to choose."[11] Once a member is assigned a "discipling partner" they are led through a series of Bible studies called the "First Principles." At first glance, these Bible studies appear to be just like any other conservative, evangelical Christian Bible study. However, eventually the disciple comes to "the Cross" study.

Prior to "the Cross," a member is led through the "Sins of the Galatians" Bible study. The disciple is told to read Galatians 5:19-21 and then, "Make a sin list -- be specific -- it's for yourself so you can see the sin and have the heart of the sinful woman."[12,13] Then, the disciple is referred to other "sin lists" of the New Testament[14] and told, "It will hurt, but you will heal and feel better."[15]

For "the Cross" study, the disciple listens to the crucifixion account of Jesus from Matthew 26:14-27:54. As the discipler reads this account, the disciple is associated with the actions of Judas and Peter's betrayals of Jesus by being asked to say, "I am Judas -- I am Peter."[16]

As the study continues, the disciple is asked whether Jesus wanted to die on the cross. After reading the account of Jesus praying in the Gethsemane, the discipler says, "He begs God to let him not go through with it -- he was under so much stress he sweat blood. He did die -- for you."[17,18]

Next, comes the description of the crucifixion. As well as reading this, the discipler adds "theatrics," a descriptive medical account to the story, and personalizes it for the disciple. As the discipler reads from the disciple's sin list, they include various "theatrics." These "theatrics" include such things as the discipler punching their own hand while repeating, "You punched him in his face. You taunted him. You whipped him."[19] The discipler looks for the disciple to "be broken" by the study: "All you have to do is be broken and ask forgiveness."[20] The Bible study says, "If cut, then fine, if not there is something wrong." The response of the study refers to 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 and says to "Repent -- turn to God with godly sorrow."[21]

The emotional effect which comes from "the Cross" study is large and well documented. A university newspaper accounted the response of one ex-member: "On Friday, Wimmer [the disciple] and Terrin Pabst [her discipler] sat on the hill facing Memorial Stadium.

Pabst told her that the lesson that day would be rough and then began to talk about the crucifixion. She vividly described Christ's death and began acting out the roles of the crucifiers and Christ himself. With each imaginary pound of the nail, Pabst said, 'This is for you, Cynthia. This is for your sexual immorality; this is for your pride.'[22]"

Damon Pabst, the husband of Wimmer's discipler, claimed that "some mistakes were made in her recruiting but that the procedures and lessons of the group were justified by the Bible."[23] Another student newspaper tells a similar story: