Region 21 nations | Origin 2006
Portland, Oregon | |
Classification Christian, Restorationist, Christian Fundamentalism Orientation Bible, Restorationist, Discipleship Associations MERCYworldwide, UpSideDown21, Discipleship Media, International College of Christian Ministries Founder Kip McKean & Elena McKean | ||
The International Christian Church (ICC) is a conservative fundamentalist Christian denomination. One of their foundational beliefs is that they are required to evangelize the whole world in one generation. Beginning in 2006 with 800 members as a split from the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), nine years later the ICC released figures of a worldwide membership of approximately 3000.
Contents
History
The International Christian Church, which refers to itself as the "Sold-out Discipling Movement" (SODM) was formed in 2006 by Kip McKean after his dismissal from the International Churches of Christ (ICOC). McKean sent out a mission team to begin a new congregation in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2006 and then led a team to Los Angeles in 2007 to start the City of Angels ICC..
In August 2008, the Portland International Christian Church, the founding church of the ICC, made the decision to break ties with McKean and the ICC. The church chose to realign itself with the ICOC family of churches. Four other churches, initially listed with the Portland Movement, followed Portland's lead and disassociated themselves from the International Christian Churches. Not only churches are distancing themselves from the SODM, members themselves leave in large numbers. As one of the ICC Evangelists wrote:
The International Christian Church is currently banned from the campus of Boston's Northeastern University.
Beliefs and practices
Each new member is taught the foundation of the Bible through a series of studies that emphasize a personal relationship with God, the necessity of discipleship within the christian life, and the importance of being involved in a christian community. The church also takes each member through classes about baptism and repentance of sin. Additionally these classes are offered annually to the church as a whole to teach members how to conduct them within their individual communities.
The general practice of the church is to publish a weekly "Good News email" which discusses the people joining the church. Websites themed "Why I left the ICC" have sprung up to provide another perspective of all the people leaving the church. The International Churches of Christ disfellowshipped McKean due to similar complaints of unbiblical leadership practices.
The ICC emphasizes that Jesus' church in the Bible was persecuted, and therefore, members should not be concerned when outsiders refer to the ICC as a cult or with other emotionally-charged terminology. In fact, the ICC teaches that having detractors is great evidence that they are effectively imitating the teachings and practices of the church of the first century. Victor Gonzalez, having been a part of the ICC since its inception, disagrees. He was dismissed from the church for disagreeing with some church practices. He describes having been "physically manhandled" by top leaders when he attended the ICC's annual leadership conference. The ICC leadership say that he was not happy because he was not chosen to be a World Sector Leader.
Each member is expected to give 10% of their income to the church. Additionally there are three "Special Contributions" during the year which each member is expected to give 25x his normal weekly contribution.
Relationship with other Churches
According to Michael Taliaferro, leaders of the ICC misrepresent the beliefs of the ICOC and also paint a misleading picture, often calling it "dead and dying", despite the ICOC growing by over 15 000 members in the last few years.
McKean has repeatedly admitted that he has struggled with bitterness in his heart towards some of the leaders of the ICOC, which comes out in his speaking and descriptions of the ICOC.
McKean also states that "most ICOC churches changed their names to align with the CoC", whereas only 5 of the 650 churches actually did so. Additionally the ICC has classes at the annual leadership Jubilee, where members are trained and instructed how to reach out to and "harvest" people away from their "former fellowship". They try to boost their growth by "drawing disciples away" from current ICOC congregations.
The church justifies its tactics to recruit from existing churches of disciples by using "remnant theology". This is an Old Testament concept describing Israelites who had not fallen into idolatry and abandoned their faith. This theology is applied to New Testament disciples who are in churches not under McKean's leadership. This same "Remnant Theology" has been used by many groups to make the group feel unique and justify exclusivism. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, has put a lot of emphasis on the remnant theme.
Further tenets of the church:
The full outline of basic beliefs are available for study in the church's published doctrinal guide, called "First Principles."
Meetings and ministries
The ICC has several main meetings: Sunday worship, and the Global Leadership Conference (GLC), as well as the Spanish-language Latin ministry (Ministerio Latino).
Sunday worship services are held every week with singing, prayer, communion, contribution for ministry expenses, contribution for benevolence, sermon, announcements, and fellowship. Once or more times a year there is another contribution, the "Special Contribution," which is typically a multiple of 15-21 times the regular weekly contribution. This "Special Contribution" is taken up to fund missions and additional ministry expenses. Great emphasis is placed on each member reaching his or her goals of regular and sacrificial financial giving.
The International College of Christian Ministry (ICCM) is a university affiliated with the ICC. The California Bureau of Postsecondary Education approved the founding of the ICCM, and the university received “Verification of Exempt Status” which allows the ICCM to grant Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate Degrees in Ministry according to their own Biblical doctrines and standards in various ministry tracks.
The Global Leadership Conference (GLC) is an annual conference for members in leadership roles or those who aspire to leadership within the church.
The World Missions Jubilee is a semi-annual conference of all of the congregations from around the world and all members are strongly encouraged to attend. Heavy fundraising usually takes place leading up to this conference to help pay for the many conference expenses as well as ministry compensation and expenses.
Ministerio Latino is Spanish for "Latin ministry" and are Spanish-speaking groups within some ICC churches.
Associations
The ICC runs and helps fund several organizations.
MERCY Worldwide
Founded in 2008 and based on HOPE Worldwide, Maximizing Efforts for Relief Care and Youth (MERCY), is the benevolent arm of the church and organizes charitable events. Currently Nick & Denise Bordieri serve as Executive Director and Executive Vice President. Some of the events run by MERCY include: an international toy drive and a blood drive across the US in partnership with the Red Cross. MERCY Worldwide recently acquired the Workforce Developer Network of Chicago, a network of over 35 agencies throughout Chicago that works to find jobs for people with mental disabilities.
Discipleship Media
Discipleship Media (DM) is the nascent publishing arm of the ICC and currently publishes "First Principles" church booklets written by church founder Kip McKean.
Good News Network
The Good News Network (GNN) is the film-making arm of the ICC, and has produced the short film, Eyes Wide Open and Respect.