A Background Review Of The Tempe United Church Of Christ

By Elizabeth Edwards


The foundation upon which the Church of Christians was formed is known as the Protestant Christian Denomination. Tempe United Church of Christ rapid development has been noticed through the establishment of over five thousand different churches that host several millions of congregants across the world. It greatly considers upholding human rights and interfaith efforts.

Two Protestant Churches merged up to form the unit and these are the Evangelical and Reformed temple and the General Council of that Congregational Christian Churches. This merge up attracted close to two million new members. Four years after the coalition, the denomination went ahead and came up with its own constitution and the laws to follow across all the constituent churches.

The denomination has not restricted certain forms of worship and therefore each of the churches is allowed to have their ways of worship anytime. There are however some similar beliefs across the different churches such as the requirement for every individual to practice evangelism. Furthermore, the belief that the old Bible teachings directly relate to our daily lives is also shared amongst all.

Aside from the Bible, the other form of literature in the denomination offers freedom in all walks and thinking of congregants. The body recognizes Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior as that lead within the whole organization. On top of that it agrees that there are two forms of sacraments, The Communion and Baptism and also acknowledges the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The requirement to always be in unity and unite others all across is one of the major beliefs held closely by the denomination. This has been portrayed by its involvement in the bringing together of nine different denominations that are present in America. In addition, it has involved itself in a worldwide council that is mandated to create common theological views.

Recently, the institution worked in conjunction with the United temple of Canada to find ways of working together in works of missions, ministry and worship. Through this agreement the bodies were able to share the sacraments and the congregants could be preached to by ministers from both sides. More so, the institution has worked together with religions such as the Muslim family.

The denomination has set one basic unit that is referred to as the local church or commonly termed as the congregation. Each of the churches is given the freedom to come up with their own ways of governing the congregation. It is for this reason that some churches are governed by several individual boards within it whereas others are governed by one central council within the unit.

The congregants within the body have acquired a great deal of freedom of worship due to the already set standards. The institution has however faced some criticisms in matters of political views, theological differences and social issues. Some of these social issues that have been matters of concern include the favoritism of same sex marriage by the body and allowing of campaigns in their mass services.




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