The label "non-institutional" refers to a distinct fellowship within the Churches of Christ who do not agree with the support of parachurch organizations (colleges, orphans' homes, organized mission efforts, etc.) by local congregations. They contend that the New Testament includes no authority for churches' support of such institutions. Instead they feel that it is a responsibility and duty of the individual members to assist those in need. Similarly, most non-institutional congregations also oppose the use of church facilities for non-church activities (such as fellowship dinners or recreation); as such, they oppose the construction of "fellowship halls", gymnasiums, and similar structures. The belief is that, although such activities may be beneficial, they are not a proper function of a local congregation.
These local churches became separated from "mainline" (pro-institutional) churches of Christ because of these viewpoints, developing into a distinct segment of congregations by the 1960s. Whether a congregation supports the "sponsoring church" custom is one way to distinguish between the "non-institutional" and "mainstream" congregations. The congregations that advocate financial support or the pooling of resources for the benefit of other entities or organized external evangelical efforts are sometimes called "sponsoring churches" and identified as "mainstream."
Membership This fellowship of non-institutional congregations, which intentionally forgoes any para-congregational organizational structure, is estimated at 120,000 members, accounting for around 9% of the members of Churches of Christ in the United States and for about 15% of congregations.
Identification These congregations generally accept the description "non-institutional", although they do not officially identify as such on signs, letterhead, or other official documents; some consider pejorative the epithet "anti" with which they have been called by some in the usually larger mainstream Churches of Christ since the 1950s and 1960s, and likewise the similar term, "non-cooperative". Both groups identify as belonging to the original church started by Christ. The 19th-century Restoration Movement resulted in an increase in the number of U.S. members.
While the one-cup, non-class, and mutual edification congregations are almost always non-institutional, they became independent from the mainstream well before the broader 1950s division among congregations over institutions.
Common beliefs Individual churches of Christ are autonomous congregations (without hierarchical central governance, nondenominational), so doctrinal positions vary between congregations. Examples include whether or not to 'corporately' sponsor a youth outing or have auxiliary facilities like a study room or kitchen on church grounds. In general, these churches subscribe to the more conservative positions associated with churches of Christ in matters of authority, organization, and worship. Most congregations in this number can be differentiated from mainstream churches by a differentiation of the role of the individual Christian and the congregation.
As a result, they oppose the following practices that became widespread in other churches of Christ during the mid-twentieth century, namely:
Support from the church treasury for institutions such as Bible colleges or orphans' homes. Members of non-institutional churches note a distinction between the work assigned to the individual Christian and that assigned to the local congregation collectively (citing passages such as ). While individuals are charged to "do good to all men," (), they believe that churches are explicitly assigned a limited number of duties (usually defined as evangelism, edification, and benevolence, the latter generally being limited to only members of a specific congregation, their family members, and/or missionaries supported by the congregation). They oppose a church giving its collective funds to an outside institution or setting up another under its control to do work which they believe the apostles assigned to the individual. For example, while they would refuse to give church funds to an orphans' home or soup kitchen, non-institutional churches would encourage individual members to help such causes. Churches pooling resources to perform work under the oversight of a single congregation or outside institution. Critics opposed to this practice say such cooperation did not exist in the first century churches and violates the autonomy of the local congregation. They note that the New Testament writings recorded that congregations sometimes sent aid to each other, but they say this practice was always from a single congregation to a single congregation for the benefit of members of the latter. No other arrangement for transfer of funds between churches appears in the New Testament. Thus, members of a non-institutional church would not authorize giving church funds to a missionary society or undertake a "sponsoring church" arrangement. A non-institutional church may send money to an individual preacher, as there are New Testament examples of this (; ; ). Church relief for non-Christians (some members define this term as those persons outside the church of Christ), especially as an evangelism tool. Critics of such aid say that every New Testament example of support of needy individuals by churches was of support of fellow Christians. They encourage individual members to seek out and personally help any persons in need, but say the church should provide support only to those it recognizes as faithful and needy Christians, per the New Testament examples. They do not consider "the liberality of your contribution unto them and unto all" to be an example, believing that "all" means "all saints" as opposed to "all people". A church kitchen or "fellowship hall," as well as other forms of church-sponsored social activity. Distinguishing between the work of the church and that of individuals, members of non-institutional churches hold that social activity was an individual practice. They believe there is no example in the New Testament of church funds being used to build a kitchen and eating facility, or to finance social activities. They encourage members to develop social activities with personal funds. In addition, they say the language of forbids the eating of a common meal as a work of the church.
History The diversity among autonomous congregations makes it difficult to document their history, either individually or as a group of common interest. Most activity is either the action of an individual congregation (and thus local in scope) or the activity of individuals separate from churches (and thus technically not an act of the churches as institutions). Their activities have been noted through issues that bring about debate and division. Non-institutional churches have faced two major issues in the past century: institutionalism and marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
Division over institutionalism The lack of denominational infrastructure leaves a vacuum for inter-congregational discourse among Churches of Christ, one that often has been filled by publications and extra-church institutions such as colleges. These organizations, though overseen and run by members of Churches of Christ, were usually considered the work of individual Christians separate from the churches themselves. Among "brotherhood papers" in the mid-twentieth century, the Gospel Advocate and Firm Foundation were the oldest and most influential. Among colleges, the largest were Abilene Christian College, Pepperdine, Freed-Hardeman College, David Lipscomb College, and Harding College.
Prior to World War II, the practice of local church support for outside institutions (mostly colleges) was uncommon in churches of Christ, but not unheard of. Such arrangements tended to be kept quiet, and the Bible colleges loosely associated with churches of Christ always denied they lobbied churches for money. These denials helped to defuse dissension over the issue, as most objectors were loath to interfere with church autonomy.
First rumblings In the 1930s, however, some men began actively promoting church funding of Bible colleges. The most prominent of these was G. C. Brewer, who throughout the decade engaged in a running debate with various people on the issue. He had begun advancing his theories in a speech at the 1931 Abilene Christian College Lectures. In 1933, he had written a series of articles in the Gospel Advocate arguing that churches should support educational institutions and charities from their treasuries. He continued this line of argumentation throughout the decade.
Finally, Brewer's unscripted remarks in support of church funding for colleges at the 1938 Abilene Christian College lectures provoked great controversy. Several writers, such as Foy E. Wallace, Jr. and W. W. Otey, wrote and spoke in opposition to Brewer; Otey's 1938 article in Firm Foundation included statements from leaders of colleges that they "regretted" Brewer's statements. Publicly, Brewer's position received little support; privately, however, prominent men such as B. C. Goodpasture, N. B. Hardeman, and Robert M. Alexander agreed with the proposition, though most were noncommital when asked specifically about their position. World War II largely suspended the debate, as the question of pacifism took center stage in "brotherhood papers." However, division had not been prevented, only postponed.
The aftermath of World War II After the conclusion of World War II, several factors worked together to bring the institutional question back to the foreground.
First, many of the previous generation of perceived leaders (such as Daniel Sommer, J. D. Tant, Joe Warlick, and F. B. Srygley) had died, leaving others with different beliefs and dispositions to take their place. The most notable of these was Goodpasture, who had ascended to be editor of the Gospel Advocate in 1939; he is generally regarded as the most influential figure among Churches of Christ at this time.
Also, the Depression and war had led to lower enrollment at many Bible colleges; this in turn caused many of the colleges to postpone expansion and even maintenance. However, the G.I. Bill brought with it an influx of enrollment at these colleges. Bible colleges thus found themselves in need of immediate funds to renovate and expand to meet a swelling demand.
Finally, evangelism in Europe became possible after the war. However, the expense involved was considerable. As a result, some congregations and individuals began experimenting with various methods of congregational cooperation. The most notable of these was the "sponsoring church" arrangement, where one congregation oversees a project using resources pooled from other congregations. The best-known of these efforts was the Herald of Truth, a nationwide radio program begun by the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, in 1952.
Controversy and division erupt The issue of church support for institutions arose anew quickly after the war. Many of those who had been silent before now saw much to gain by raising the issue. No longer was it a mere hypothetical question, but one where a strict interpretation of congregational independence and separation of the individual and the church would, in their estimation, lead to lost opportunities.