About Us

Disciples of Christ Springfield, IL

First Christian Church

About Us

Phone: 217-528-3407

Fax: 217-753-4562

E-mail: fcc-spfld@att.net

Springfield First Christian Church is located in downtown Springfield, Illinois, at 700 South 6th Street, the southeastern corner of 6th and Cook Streets. There is much more to First Christian Church than our beautiful building and rich history. Why are we so proud of our heritage & legacy? We will use this About Us page to provide that answer. The About Us page is comprised of four components:

· A brief First Christian Church history

· A brief Disciples denomination history

· A discussion of Disciples’ beliefs, and

· A discussion of the official Disciples’ symbol

First Christian Church has been providing a Christian witness to the city of Springfield for over 170 years. Emphasizing Jesus’ call to unity and reconciliation, the ministries of First Christian Church strive to build community in the midst of diversity. Ours is a Biblical faith and communion-centered, as the Lord’s Supper (open to all who profess Christ) and preaching are celebrated weekly in our traditional worship.

First Christian Church is one of the nearly 4,000 congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a Protestant denomination founded in the early 1800’s. Disciples’ congregations have been leaders in the ecumenical movement, which have sought a unity that embraces the diversity of all individuals who believe in Jesus Christ. Moreover, the ministries of the laity and a commitment to servant-hood have both been essential to us as Disciples. (More about this will follow!)

We at First Christian Church are committed to the spiritual growth of all individuals, even as we seek to make a difference in our neighborhoods and wider community. First Christian Church is affiliated with the General Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and the Illinois-Wisconsin Region of the Christian Church.

The building that we currently occupy is the fourth building used by our congregation. Construction began on it in 1911. The architecture was inspired by the Kirk of Melrose Abbey near Edinburgh, Scotland. Through a program of continuing maintenance and a supportive congregation, the building has aged extremely well. The building is fully climate-controlled, boasts well-equipped office facilities, and has a modern nursery. Our kitchen and Fellowship Hall facilities can accommodate large dinners and receptions. First Christian Church is handicapped-accessible and provides abundant parking.

(Click to review First Christian Church’s use of facility policy.)

Our congregation is mission-oriented and God seeking. Our members come to us from many different backgrounds; however, we have one thing in common—we all love the Lord!

First Christian Church is one of the oldest congregations in the city. It was founded in 1833, only three years after the first Springfield church was founded. Since its beginning it has been a part of the denomination known as Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Disciples churches trace their roots and beliefs back to a movement of the early 19th century in what were then the American frontier states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This movement sought to unify all Christians by returning to an emphasis on the essentials of Christianity typified by the church of the New Testament Scriptures.

The earliest church leaders included Thomas and Alexander Campbell, father and son Presbyterian clergy, who came from Scotland to the American frontier; and Barton W. Stone, a native born American frontiersman who also ordained in the Presbyterian church. These men and others found freedom in what was then the American West to express their own ideas and beliefs about the essentials of Christianity and to differ from certain church doctrines. Although they sought unity of all Christians and originally had no intention of beginning another denomination, they, in fact, began what became a major protestant religion in the United States.

Disciple churches practice a congregational form of government. The church calls its own ministers, owns its own property, determines its own policies, and elects its own leaders. Officers include trustees, elders, deacons, and other officers serving various terms along with a Moderator who is elected yearly to be the head of the congregation and chairman of the Church Council.

The congregation determines its own membership requirements. We practice baptism by immersion of believers upon confession of faith, but accept transfer of membership by any Christian from another denomination and recognize previous baptism, whether or not by immersion.

Some of the historic slogans associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are the following:

“Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.”

“In essentials unity, in opinions liberty, in all things charity.”

“No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no law but love, no name but the divine.”

A more difficult question than what you might think!

What is now The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) began, as stated in the previous section, with a movement on the American frontier in the early 1800s. At the time, there were few churches and the people who lived around them did not have much choice about the church they would attend. This brought people of many Christian faiths and traditions together. With such a variety of religious beliefs, practices, and traditions coming together, our earliest leaders quickly rejected the use of creeds which is simply a formal statement of religious belief. They discovered, and many have learned since, that trying to state precisely a religious belief is a very tedious task, causing division and exclusion.

The preamble to a document known as “The Design” is the nearest we come to a creed. It is very short on hard and fast rules, but long on our affirmation of the goodness of God that we know through Jesus Christ.

As members of the Christian Church, we confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world. In Christ’s name and by his grace we accept our mission of witness and service to all people.

We rejoice in God, maker of heaven and earth, and in the covenant of love which binds us to God and to one another. Through baptism into Christ we enter into newness of life and are made one with the whole people of God. In the communion of the Holy Spirit we are joined together in discipleship and in obedience to Christ. At the table of the Lord, we, with thanksgiving, celebrate the saving acts and presence of Christ.

Within the universal church we receive the gift of ministry and the light of scripture. In the bonds of Christian faith we yield ourselves to God that we may serve the One whose kingdom has no end. Blessing, glory and honor be to God forever.

Again, at the expense of being redundant, it is difficult to be specific about Disciple beliefs since we stress freedom and diversity—but most Disciples do share these basic beliefs:

· The Bible is a guide for Christian living and faith and truly reveals God’s purpose in the world: to free us from sin through Christ. Each person is free to explore and interpret the Scriptures according to his or her own experience.

· Through the teachings and grace of Jesus Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, God is revealed in many ways.

· Christ is the Child of God, part of God’s own divinity; the Son of Man and Woman, living on earth as human, our Savior, with us always.

· Public Confession of belief in Christ and repentance of sins; acceptance of Jesus into our lives.

· Open communion and the unity of all Christians in love of Christ. Doctrines and human differences should not be allowed to divide believers from each other.

· Inclusive Ministry in the life and work of the church. All members are “ministers” - entitled to interpret the Scriptures and perform many church functions.

· The Ordinances of the Gospels are:

1. Baptism, an act by which a believer enters into the church universal and

2. Communion, the heart of worship.

The red chalice, bearing the “X-shaped” cross of St. Andrew was adopted as a symbol of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) by the denomination’s General Assembly in 1971. It is a trademark registered with the United States Patent Office.

The chalice symbolizes the centrality of the Lord’s Supper to Disciples’ life. The St. Andrew’s Cross, the national cross of Scotland, focuses attention on the Scotch Presbyterian roots of the church. (Thomas and Alexander Campbell both studied in Scotland and were Presbyterians.) St. Andrew has been identified with the laity and evangelism, something Disciples have emphasized throughout their existence.

The red color of the chalice signifies vitality, spirit, and sacrifice.

Communion has formed the life of Disciples since Barton W. Stone and Thomas Campbell. In many frontier cabins little groups of Disciples, sometimes only an isolated family, would reverently break bread and bless the cup on the Lord’s Day. Still in our own time our congregations observe “this sacred hour” with unfailing faithfulness.

A Lord’s Supper open to Christians of all persuasions has been a characteristic of the church from its beginning in the early 1800s as a movement to restore Christian unity in a bitterly sectarian age. Our new theology has rightly recovered an understanding of the cup as representing Christian self-giving for the world.

· The chalice tells of human dependence. Without drink, no human being can long survive.

· The chalice signifies the sharing of joy with overtones of celebration and festivity in the Eucharistic symbol.

· In biblical faith the chalice represents a vivid encounter with God. It does not imply withdrawal from the world, but rather a meeting with the living God through those elemental realities of life in the world—a loaf and a cup. At a common table, where human beings meet with one another to take their daily bread and talk of their everyday concerns, there the concern of God is centered.

· The chalice focuses all time—past, present and future—on the eternal purpose of God. It calls us to remembrance. It assures us of the divine presence.

· The chalice signifies self-giving love in identification with human need. The very life of Jesus Christ is given, his blood poured out for many. When we take the cup to our lips, we join ourselves to our Lord’s act of self-giving.

· The chalice signifies the covenant of love which binds us to God and one another. The solemn renewal of our allegiance to Christ in drinking from this cup echoes his renewal of faithfulness in offering it to us. A congregation of Christians is a company of believers formed by covenant into a church. “This cup,” said Jesus, “is the new covenant in my blood.”

You are invited to become a part of this continuing heritage! Now that you know more about Springfield First Christian Church and our denomination, please come and worship with us! You will understand why we are so excited about our Savior! We are an open and welcoming community of faith. Our loving congregation and beautiful facility validates that our congregation loves the Lord. You are welcome to share the surrounding beauty of His creation. You may encounter a life-changing experience.

We have an abundance of parking space. We provide a modern nursery for your small children. We offer transportation to and from services. We are a handicapped-accessible facility.

God Bless you!