By Hannah Barnes, Student Reporter
When Richland Hills Church of Christ in Fort Worth was excluded from the 2009-edition of Churches of Christ in the United States, mixed reactions arose from the decision.
Carl Royster, the volume’s compiler, said in The Christian Chronicle that Richland Hills’ instrumental services had the church omitted from the directory.
As a member of Richland Hills, Stephen Moore, senior accounting major from Fort Worth, did not worry about the toll this would take on the congregation.
“We don’t base our decisions on tradition. This has not phased the congregation in the past, nor will it in the future,” Moore said.
Richland Hills did not cut ties with Churches of Christ. Instead, Moore said the church claimed to be “a restoration movement;” by this, he thought, the church constantly was changing in order to be more like Christ and benefit His kingdom.
“We [Richland Hills] chose to leave the name [Church of Christ] on to encourage others to be accepting of Christians who have chosen to worship this way,” he said. “If people are to be reached from this style of worship, then I say go for it. We should be doing all we can to reach the lost in modern society.”
Savannah Shelton, sophomore advertisement major from Fort Worth, also attended Richland Hills and saw no problem with an instrumental service or two.
“Personally, I really like the instrumental services,” she said. “They have been very well done and have only enhanced the worship.”
Although Shelton said it did not affect her, she did not think Richland Hills should have been removed from this year’s edition of Churches of Christ in the United States.
“We have had great relationships with many other Churches of Christ. Even though we’ve added instruments, RHCC’s mission is the same,” Shelton said.
The Church of Christ directory also recognized Highland Church of Christ as one of the largest churches by attendance in the nation.
“Highland has been one of the largest Churches of Christ, so this is nothing new,” said Highland minister Mike Cope. “As far as we know, no one from the directory has contacted us in recent years, so we wonder how they come up with all their figures.”
As one of the largest Churches of Christ, Cope said no secret formula existed.
“We have a stable, strong leadership, beginning with our 40 elders,” he said. “The time for churches to spend half their energy trying to nail the perfect worship service is long past. It’s time for us to follow Christ into the world that he loves.”
Lawrence Lamptey
posted 2/05/09 @ 1:57 AM CST
Wow!! this is really serious. I am surprise to read about this suddenly change about a big church like Highland Hills church of christ. Where are we heading towards. Are these not the same faithful brethren who have been sending misssionaries to other parts of the world to preach the Gospel and established the Lord’s church? I want to know if they will go back to their mission fields to tell the churches they have established to use instrumental music?. Well, Brethren, with the issue of whether to exclude Highland from this year’s church of christ directory, I think is a good idea. Now, from all indication shows that they are not THE CHURCH OF CHRIST – NON INSTRUMENTAL
Thank you
Laura Clark
posted 2/24/09 @ 11:18 AM CST
I just want to clarify…Richland Hills Church of Christ and Highland Church of Christ are two separate churches. I will not state my opinion here, but I just want you to be sure you have the facts straight – you may want to re-read the article.
Chad Pigott
posted 2/11/09 @ 9:09 PM CST
Having been raised in the church and now raising my daughter in the church I must say that the decision to exclude the Richland Hills congregation was the proper one. The Scriptures in no way support the use of instrumental music in the worship. After 37 yrs. of living and 27 yrs of being a Christian, I fail to see how others can claim that instrumental music in the worship is ok. An old school minister in my home state of West Virginia by the name of Paul Gray used to say, “We get back to God by getting back to the Bible.” Pity that some of the brethren don’t understand that. Get back to God by getting back to the Bible. I will pray that the elders of this congregation will come back to the truth. God Bless
Ben F. See
posted 2/13/09 @ 10:36 AM CST
Anyone truly interested in a complete and thorough Biblical study concerning the use of instrumental music in worship should contact the Oldham Lane Church of Christ and ask for a printed copy or CD of their Sunday evening series regarding this very issue.
The Oldham Lane Church of Christ Web site is oldhamlane.org and email address is oldhamlanecofc@abilene.com
Jennifer Takala
posted 2/18/09 @ 7:53 AM CST
Are we SERIOUSLY still arguing about instrumental music? Wow.
It’s funny to me that anyone would think Richland Hills cares about this. I doubt Rick Atchley is sitting around worrying about it. If I were him, I’d be glad to no longer be associated. I know I am!
