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

20Aug08

Horace the Restorationist spews forth his vitriol.

Just as Stone would confidently constitute a church with just a few, Newton (DF) has found value in smaller numbers. “I’m not sure that big is better. A lot of us came out of big and we just reveled in the small once we came out of the big. Small is relational, and we’ve been able to share a meal together from the very beginning.” Ken Haynes of DF agrees with Newton, noting that another mark of simplicity is the church’s “relational structure.” For DF, there is no hierarchical polity, and as Ken Gunnells (DF) puts it, “We’re simple in that there’s very little structure. Greg and Mark (student minister) are seen as ‘reluctant’ leaders.” Gunnells further notes that at DF, “No one needs permission to do something…Things grow and die as needed.” Newton echoes Gunnells’ former remark, saying he resonates with the Restorationist ideals: “the priesthood of all believers, and a disdain for titles—just plain, simple people.” Simply Christians, Newton would no doubt agree.

Jared Looney and fellow church planter Ben Cheek work in New York City with house churches, an expression of church that is perhaps the clearest mark of simplicity. For Looney, this mode of what he calls oikos (Gk. “house”) allows the gospel to get into the “cracks and crevices” of the Bronx. “Comparable to a liquid, the Gospel is able to flow into lives through other lives because it is not limited to the imposition of a rigid structure,” says Looney. It should also be mentioned that none of the Post-Restorationist communities represented are big on membership and head counting. DF intentionally has no membership. In some sense, this kind of simplicity is cultivated over and against the control strategies of the modern church which sought to quantify and clearly determine who is “in” and who is “out.” Simplicity takes on several dimensions in Post-Restorationist churches, all of which serve to proclaim the gospel.

Connected to simplicity, discipleship is central to the mission of the Post-Restorationists, just as it was in Stone’s life. In all the communities mentioned, discipleship happens in non-programmatic ways that naturally flow out of the simple, relational structures of the respective churches. Smith (IA) admits, “We want to make disciples and not just believers, and we understood that discipleship was going to take place in houses, and not so much at a worship gathering.” At IA, there is a recognition that “absolutely everyone, without exception…needs to be discipled to follow Jesus.” Melissa Jerkins (IA) echoes Smith: “We feel that spiritual formation happens more easily in the house church environment, and if people can only come to one event per week, we want it to be the house churches.” Further, tightly knit groups of 2 and 3 are formed naturally at IA, fostering discipleship outside the ordinary gatherings. For DF, intentional discipleship takes on as many modes as there are relationships, for so much of discipleship is simply being with others, something DF does well. This happens through weekly shared meals, daily morning lauds, student prayer breakfasts, women’s Salad/Suppers, numerous prayer groups, intergenerational classes, and the like. In the spirit of Stone, Post-Restorationists pursue discipleship in serious but also natural and healthy ways.

Further likened to Stone, Post-Restorationists are exploring what it means to participate and live into kingdom of God— for them a reality that unquestionably extends far beyond the walls of the church. Newton (DF) notes that in the Churches of Christ tradition, “the church and the kingdom were seen as synonymous…but the kingdom is something different. The kingdom is what God is doing, and the church is more about how we’re responding to what God is doing.” Haynes (DF) has found the journey with his community to be a refreshing one, with the freedom to explore this kingdom of God.

It has been so rich to swim in the larger pool of the Christian community. I feel like I am attempting to practice non-sectarian Christianity that honors Restoration Movement sensibilities…while guarding against a naïve ahistoricity by embracing more of Christian history than my Restoration tribe has tended to do.”

A turn of phrase coined by DF is often spoken lightly but carries a weighty meaning: “You are now free to move about the kingdom.”

A kingdom theology informs the conversations at IA, as well. “We talk a lot more about inbreaking than outreach,” notes Smith. He adds, “Our mission statement at Immanuel is ‘Bringing people to Jesus and being Jesus to people.’ We believe that Christ came to put His world to rights, to redeem His creation, to bring about the kingdom. We believe that we exist as citizens of that kingdom, and are redeemed as a part of that creation.” Ben Cheek, who heads up a network of church planters in the New York City Area (MetroSoul), admits, “A kingdom theology very much informs what we do at MetroSoul, because we’re not looking for church control.” With Cheek, there is resonation with Barton Stone’s apocalypticism in terms of living under the direct rule of God. “If there was one way I am closer to Stone than to Campbell, that would be it.” Interestingly, Cheek comes from a family tied to Barton Stone and his followers that runs five generations deep. It seems a Stoneite DNA has been preserved in Cheek’s ministry to Queens, NY.

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Tags: post-restorationist, barton stone, restoration movement, stone-campbell movement, missional, kingdom of God, disciples fellowship