No. Churches of Christ are independent congregations of Christians who follow the Bible alone. There is no human founder, no headquarters, no secret teaching, and no one controlling your money, your family, or your right to leave. But we don’t mind the question, and we won’t answer it defensively. It deserves a real test, and we’ll give you one.
Maybe a family member used the word. Maybe you read it online. Either way, you shouldn’t take our word for it any more than theirs. Here’s how to check.
What Actually Makes A Cult A Cult
People who study cults and help families recover from them point to the same marks over and over:
- A human leader whose word cannot be questioned.
- Teachings you can only get inside the group.
- Control over members’ lives: money, marriage, friendships, what you may read.
- Punishment, shame, or shunning for doubting or leaving.
- New revelations added on top of the Bible.
That list is the test. Hold any church up to it, including ours.
Run The Test On Us
Who is our head? Not a man. The Bible says God “gave him as head over all things to the church” (), speaking of Christ. There is no founder we follow, no president, no council that hands down rulings. Each congregation answers to Christ through His word.
Where do our teachings come from? A book you can buy in any store and read on any phone. Nothing is reserved for insiders. In fact, the Bible praises people who fact-checked an apostle: the Bereans were called noble because they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (). We want you to do exactly that to everything we teach.
Can you question things? You’re commanded to. “Test everything; hold fast what is good” (). A sermon in a church of Christ expects you to have your Bible open, checking.
Can you leave? Yes. The door you walked in through works in both directions. No contracts, no dues, no one assigned to pressure you. We’d be sad to see you go, and someone may check on you because they care, but your life remains your own.
Then Why Do People Say It?
Fair question, and the honest answer is: we look different. We sing without instruments. We observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. We teach that baptism is essential to salvation, and we take the Bible seriously enough to change our lives around it. In a casual religious culture, seriousness can be mistaken for extremism. But different isn’t the same as dangerous. Our goal is simply to be the kind of Christians the New Testament describes, nothing more and nothing added.
One more honest admission: every congregation is made of people, and people can get bossy. If you ever find control where there should be teaching, that’s a failure of the design, not the design itself. The Bible tells elders to lead by example, “not domineering over those in your charge” (). Any congregation worth your time will welcome your hardest questions.
Keep Studying
Don’t settle for a label, ours or anyone else’s. Open the New Testament, read what the first churches believed and practiced, and compare it with what you see. Take your time and test everything. Truth doesn’t mind being examined.
Come See For Yourself
You don’t have to figure all of this out alone. The Church of Christ at South Bumby would love to study the Bible with you or simply have you visit — no pressure, no spotlight, no obligation.
Plan your visit: https://bumby.org/plan-your-visit — let us know you’re coming and we’ll save you the awkwardness of walking in cold.
Want to know what the Bible says about being saved? Start here: https://bumby.org/plan-of-salvation/.
When we meet:
• Sunday: Bible Class 9:30 am · Worship 10:30 am
• Wednesday: Bible Class 7:00 pm
