[vi] emerging then, emerging now: Barton Stone and the post-restorationists

08Aug08

Kester Smith: keeping Austin theologically weird, in a very good way, of course

In line with Barton Stone, Post-Restorationist church planters, along with their communities, have experienced tension within their initial heritage—some to a lesser degree than others. For Greg Newton of Disciples’ Fellowship (Birmingham, AL), his Church of Christ identity changed while in the mission field as a church planter in Tanzania. It came as a realization that he did not want to export an American ecclesiology and thoughtlessly impose it upon foreign cultures. This gave way to an incarnational ecclesiology that was more in tune with the Tanzanian culture than with a bygone American religious subculture. Upon his return to work with American churches, Newton realized that the things he had learned in Africa were just as applicable to the church in America. But he notes, “I felt like I came up against a wall that wouldn’t move with the things I was talking about. The institution was pretty well set and firm.” Yet in 2003, a Christian community was birthed that was in many ways willing to move in new directions concerning the mission of God in the Birmingham area. “It’s wasn’t a ‘We’re leaving and we’re angry and we’re never coming back’ kind of thing. It was just, ‘We’re just not going to be exclusive. We appreciate what we’ve received, but we’re not necessarily going to wear the name [Church of Christ] because it’s baggage among other things.”

Growing up in Chicago, Kester Smith of Immanuel Austin (Austin, TX), never had the distinct Church of Christ identity that he later encountered in college at Abilene Christian University (Abilene, TX). Smith then saw that his heritage had in some ways been sidetracked from Stone and Campbell’s vision for unity and peace in the Church. He began to internally wrestle with his tradition, at one point asking, “Do I want to make a career of fighting these fights—is this really what I wanted to get into ministry for?” Smith notes that Restorationists often feel a sense of concern for his moving beyond the Churches of Christ. “People say, ‘Don’t you feel like you sort of deny your heritage?’ And really, we’re trying to say, ‘No, we want to embrace a 2000 year old history, not just a 200 year old history.’”

For Jared Looney of Bronx Fellowship (Bronx, NY), when the core church planting team came to New York City in 2001, it wasn’t so much about remaining within or leaving his heritage, but being faithful to the mission of Jesus—something Stone was certainly keen on doing. “We said at the very beginning, ‘We are going to be committed to theological and missiological responsibilities for the people of New York City, and not to traditions that would in any way hold us back from those responsibilities.” In Churches of Christ, as Greg Newton had also experienced, mission had become at times subservient to heritage—to the detriment of the heritage itself. Looney, in a doctoral class conversation with other simple church planters, agreed with another student articulating that one’s church background in America can actually inhibit the mission of God in urban contexts. If pushed to choose between heritage or the mission of God, Post-Restorationists seem to lean toward the missio dei.

Within the Churches of Christ tradition, there is room for tension and critical reflection upon the tradition itself, as modeled by one of its very founders in Barton Stone. Of course, this is a pedigree that can be traced through a genealogy of numerous Christian reformers, and even back to the Christ himself. Jesus, as witnessed in the gospels, both embraced and deconstructed religion in a paradoxical way that takes the form of religion lightly, but takes the heart of religion quite seriously. In Stone’s life, this “lightness” toward the form of religion was witnessed in “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.” Here Greg Newton finds a kindred spirit with Stone towards his heritage. “I can resonate with the way they sarcastically pronounced death upon this thing [the Presbytery]. That tells me a lot about how and what they were thinking—I can envision doing very similar things.”

Just as Stone after years of tension became “Post-Presbyterian,” these church planters have in different ways taken the path of Post-Restorationism. Kester Smith (IA) notes that this new path “really didn’t feel like a huge shift because it wasn’t something I had a heightened awareness of growing up. Christian had a distinctive and definitive feel for me.” Of course, this “Christian alone” impulse squarely aligns with Stone and will be considered below. But what is clear among the Post-Restorationist communities is a healthy, almost non-reactionary journey that is more toward than away from in terms of a vision of God’s kingdom. Newton (DF) notes, “If we were reacting against anything, it was in not being a country club.” In some sense, Stone was against similar affinity groups in the sense of what he saw as creedal fellowship tests. Yet his chief aim was to move toward unity in the church, and bringing more churches of this kind into being.

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Tags: barton stone, bronx fellowship, church planting, disciples fellowship, Greg Newton, immanuel austin, Jared Looney, Kester Smith, missio dei, missional, post-restorationist, restoration movement, stone-campbell movement