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The label "non-institutional" refers to a distinct fellowship within the Churches of Christ who do not agree with the support of para-church organizations (colleges, orphans' homes, organized mission efforts, etc.) by local congregations. They contend that the New Testament includes no authority for churches' support of such institutions. Instead they feel that it is a responsibility and duty of the individual to assist those in need. These local churches became separated from "mainline" (pro-institutional) churches of Christ because of these viewpoints, developing into a distinct segment of congregations by the 1960s. Whether a congregation supports the "sponsoring church" custom is one way to distinguish between the "non-institutional" and "mainstream" congregations. The congregations that advocate financial support or the pooling of resources for the benefit of other entities or organized external evangelical efforts are sometimes called "sponsoring churches" and identified as "mainstream." This non-organized fellowship of non-institutional congregations is estimated at about 120,000 members, accounting for around 9% of the members of Churches of Christ in the United States and for about 15% of congregations. The degree to which members of a congregation associate and interact with members of other Churches of Christ varies greatly by area, from none at all to a considerable degree. Its preachers are trained in a variety of ways. Some study at Florida College, which has no formal ties to any church, and a faculty and student body who are largely associated with the non-institutional churches of Christ. Most of the preachers are mentored by a more experienced preacher or may be self-trained. No formal degree requirements are needed for an individual to be employed as a preacher in the churches of Christ. These congregations generally accept the description "non-institutional", although they do not officially identify as such on signs, letterhead, or other official documents; they reject the epithet "anti" with which they were labeled by some in the larger mainstream Churches of Christ in the 1950s and 1960s, and likewise the similar term, "non-cooperation movement". They identify as part of the original church started by Christ. The 19th century Restoration Movement resulted in an increase in the number of U.S. members. Many outside of these churches sometimes conflate them with other Churches of Christ having similar roots, which serve the Lord's Supper using a single cup, and/or which refrain from having divided, age-distinct Bible classes. In addition, another small group within the Church of Christ is known as the "mutual edification" congregations. They do not use paid preachers, but encourage members of the congregation to speak and lead the worship activities. While the one-cup, non-class, and mutual edification congregations are almost always non-institutional, they became independent from the mainstream well before the main 1950 division among congregations over institutions.〔 ==Common beliefs== Because churches of Christ are autonomous with no central governing body, doctrine may vary between congregations. In general, these churches subscribe to the more conservative positions associated with churches of Christ in matters of authority, organization, and worship. Most congregations in this number can be differentiated from mainstream churches by their strict adherence to the principle of congregational autonomy and by a differentiation of the role of the individual Christian and the congregation. As a result, they oppose the following practices that became widespread in other churches of Christ during the mid-twentieth century, namely: * Support from the church treasury for institutions such as Bible colleges or orphans' homes. Members of non-institutional churches note a distinction between the work assigned to the individual Christian and that assigned to the local congregation collectively (citing passages such as ). While individuals are charged to "do good to all men," (), they believe that churches are explicitly assigned a limited number of duties (usually defined as evangelism, edification, and benevolence). They oppose a church giving its collective funds to an outside institution or setting up another under its control to do work which they believe the apostles assigned to the individual. For example, while they would refuse to give church funds to an orphans' home or soup kitchen, non-institutional churches would encourage individual members to help such causes. * Churches pooling resources to perform work under the oversight of a single congregation or outside institution. Critics opposed to this practice say such cooperation did not exist in the first century churches and violates the autonomy of the local congregation. They note that the New Testament writings recorded that congregations sometimes sent aid to each other, but they say this practice was always from a single congregation to a single congregation for the benefit of members of the latter. No other arrangement for transfer of funds between churches appears in the New Testament. Thus, members of a non-institutional church would not authorize giving church funds to a missionary society or undertake a "sponsoring church" arrangement. A non-institutional church may send money to an individual preacher, as there are New Testament examples of this (; ; ). * Church relief for non-Christians (some members define this term as those persons outside the church of Christ, according to Acts 2:47), especially as an evangelism tool. Critics of such aid say that every New Testament example of support of needy individuals by churches was of support of fellow Christians. They encourage individual members to seek out and personally help any persons in need, but say the church should provide support only to those it recognizes as faithful and needy Christians, per the New Testament examples. They reject "the liberality of your contribution unto them and unto all" as an example, claiming that "all" means "all saints" rather than "all people". * A church kitchen or "fellowship hall," as well as other forms of church-sponsored social activity. Distinguishing between the work of the church and that of individuals, members of non-institutional churches hold that social activity was an individual practice. They believe there is no example in the New Testament of church funds being used to build a kitchen and eating facility, or to finance social activities. They encourage members to develop social activities with personal funds. In addition, they say the language of forbids the eating of a common meal as a work of the church. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The churches of Christ (non-institutional)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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