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:''This article is about a particular church. For an article about the original followers of Christ, see Apostle (Christian).'' The Followers of Christ is a Christian denomination based in the U.S. state of Oregon. The church has attracted controversy for its practices of faith healing and of shunning members who violate church doctrine, including those who seek medical care. According to authorities in Oregon and other places where church members are found, numerous children have suffered premature deaths from treatable causes due to their parents' refusal to seek medical care; a former Oregon state medical examiner claims the infant mortality rate within the Followers of Christ community is 26 times that of the general population.〔(Jurors explain their 'not guilty' verdict in faith healing trial ), July 27, 2009〕〔 Church members and others have argued that parents should have the right to select whatever methods of healing they deem appropriate for their children and that public policy, which requires use of conventional medicine over faith healing, constitutes a violation of freedom of religion. == History == The Followers of Christ church was founded in Chanute, Kansas by Marion Reece (sometimes spelled Riess), rooted in Holiness and Pentecostal traditions. The church moved to Ringwood, Oklahoma in the 1890s, where leadership passed to Elder Morris, who is the father of the current Oklahoma leader, Marion Morris.〔 During the 1920s, Charlie Smith (the founder's brother-in-law) and George White began missions in California and Idaho. George White's nephew Walter White became a minister in the church. Walter moved to Oregon City, Oregon in the 1940s, after a dispute with other ministers. White and his congregation built a house of worship on Molalla Avenue in Oregon City, then a largely rural timber and farming community, now a suburb of Portland. He was a fiery speaker and maintained tight control over his congregation.〔 White died in 1969, and the church has functioned without a minister since that time. The elders associated with White had also died by the early 1990s, and the leaderless Oregon community became more isolated and inward-focused, and ceased recruitment of new members.〔 Only children of existing followers are admitted to join their worship services. Members who were deemed too worldly were expelled and shunned, as were those who disagreed with their interpretation of scriptures.〔 Estimates of the Oregon church's membership in 2008 ranged from 1,200〔 to 1,500. The Followers of Christ also have congregations in Oklahoma, Idaho〔 and California, and local communities operate independently of Followers of Christ churches in other areas.〔 The Oregon City congregation owns a church building, as well as a cemetery in Carus, where deceased church members are routinely buried. 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「Followers of Christ」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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