Kip McKean

Early life and family

McKean was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He married Havana-born Elena Garcia-Bengochea on December 11, 1976. Bengochea is a Women's Ministry Leader in the City of Angels International Christian Church. They have three children, Olivia, Sean and Eric.

Early work

McKean was baptized in 1972 while a freshman at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His mentor, Charles H. "Chuck" Lucas, was the evangelist of the 14th Street Church of Christ at the time.

In 1976, McKean was hired as campus minister for the Heritage Chapel Church of Christ, located at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.

Lexington Church of Christ and Boston Movement

McKean moved to the Boston area in 1979 and began working with "would-be disciples" in the Lexington Church of Christ. He asked them to "redefine their commitment to Christ," and introduced the use of discipling partners. The congregation grew rapidly, and was renamed the Boston Church of Christ. In the early 1980s, the focus of the movement moved to Boston, Massachusetts where McKean and the Boston Church of Christ became prominently associated with the trend. With the national leadership located in Boston, during the 1980s it commonly became known as the "Boston movement."

The International Churches of Christ

In the mid-1980s, McKean became leader of both Boston and Crossroads Movements, eventually splitting from mainstream Churches of Christ, to become the International Church of Christ (ICOC).

The movement was first recognized as an independent religious group in 1992 when John Vaughn, a church growth specialist at Fuller Theological Seminary, listed them as a separate entity. Time magazine ran a full-page story on the movement in 1992 calling them "one of the world's fastest-growing and most innovative bands of Bible thumpers" that had grown into "a global empire of 103 congregations from California to Cairo with total Sunday attendance of 50,000", and which also raised concerns about authoritarian leadership, pressure placed on members, and whether the group should be considered a cult.

A formal break was made from the mainline Churches of Christ in 1993 when the movement organized under the name "International Churches of Christ." This new designation formalized a division that was already in existence between those involved with the Crossroads/Boston Movement and "mainline" Churches of Christ.

In 1990, the McKeans moved to Los Angeles to lead the Los Angeles International Church of Christ, where they presided through the 1990s.

Resignation from the International Churches of Christ

Beginning in the late 1990s, McKean's moral authority as the leader of the movement came into question. Expectations for continued numerical growth and the pressure to sacrifice financially to support missionary efforts took its toll. Added to this was the loss of local leaders to new planting projects. In some areas, decreases in membership began to occur. At the same time, realization was growing that the accumulated cost of his leadership style and associated advantages were outweighing the cost. In 2001, McKean was asked by a group of long-standing elders in the ICoC to take a sabbatical from overall leadership of the ICOC. On 12 November 2001, McKean wrote that he had decided to take a sabbatical from his role as the leader of the International Churches of Christ. He issued the following statement:

In November 2002, McKean announced his resignations from his roles as World Missions Evangelist and leader of the world sector leaders. He cited family problems, apologized for his own arrogance and said that his sins "have weakened and embittered many in our churches", and "these sins have surfaced in my family as well as the church." A year earlier one of his children had left the church. Referring to this event, McKean said:

His resignation was acknowledged by a short letter from the elders the following day. Later in 2002 the remaining central leadership was dissolved at the 2002 Los Angeles Unity Meeting.

After a period leading an ICOC congregation in Portland, Oregon, he started a new movement separated from the ICOC. This movement was named International Christian Church by him. The period following McKean's resignation from leadership and departure was followed by a number of changes in the ICoC. Some changes were initiated from the ICoC leaders themselves and others forced through members who brought to light underlying concerns and discontent with the ICoC's leadership.

International Christian Church

On 15 October 2006, McKean published in the Portland Church Bulletin the first of a three-part series entitled, "Partners in the Gospel." Though the names "Portland Movement" and "Sold-Out Discipling Movement" had been used for over a year, these three articles were the first formal announcement of the birth of the International Christian Church. It was only after this October 2006 date that any church affiliated with the Portland Church changed their name to ICC.

Since 2006, the congregations under McKean's leadership have been called the International Christian Church.

In April 2007, McKean and his wife Elena left the Portland International Christian Church to plant the City of Angels International Christian Church in Los Angeles. McKean and his wife were accompanied by 40 other leaders from the Portland ICC.

The International Christian Church has 38 congregations in 20 countries.

Author

McKean has written a short book entitled Go Make Disciples: The Dream. He has also written First Principles Study Series and Second Principles: Survey of the Old Testament.