british churches of christ

As promised, after a week of frequent Internet outages (gotta love Atlanta!) and a week of vacation, here is the fruit of some Internet browsing into the British Churches of Christ, which I was introduced to in the tasty new Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement.

Anyway, here are a few links:

The United Reformed Church -- In 1981, the majority of British Churches of Christ merged with other groups to form a united body of churches. From the URC website:

In October 1997 the United Reformed Church celebrated its 25th anniversary. Formed in 1972 by the union of the Congregational Church in England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church of England, the United Reformed Church has continued to express its deep commitment to the visible unity of the whole Church. In 1981 it entered into union with the Re-formed Churches of Christ and in the year 2000 with the Congregational Union of Scotland.

A small group of congregations declined to enter the merger. These churches are known as the Fellowship of Churches of Christ (no website available).

There were several influential figures among the British churches whose names are scarcely known in America. Some of them can be found here. Perhaps the most well known of these is J.B. Rotherham, who is widely acclaimed for his Emphasized Bible and his writings on Holy Communion, which are, unfortunately, out of print.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, missionaries from British Churches of Christ made their way to Australia and New Zealand.

Churches of Christ in Australia

Associated Churches of Christ (NZ)

Last, but not least, the umbrella organization that attempts to maintain lines of communication between these groups and their American brethren in churches of Christ, Independent Christian Churches and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is:

The World Convention of Churches of Christ