The Grand Strand Church of Christ
Surfside Beach, SC - Just South of Myrtle Beach, SC

History :

The Church of Christ was born out of the American restoration movement in the 1800’s.  At that time in history, there was a peaceful and purposeful rebellion from the established churches.  Unlike any time before, regular folks felt empowered to start up churches rather than mainstream in the existing churches.  There was a feeling that the old Christian churches had become encumbered and crusted with men’s opinions, and had been overly influenced by both civil government and church politics.  During the Restoration Movement, there was a spirit of renewal, one that promoted the return to basic Christian principles.

The "Church of Christ" was one of the churches founded during this period.  Its main tenet being a return to the simplistic church model that God established when he birthed the Christian faith.  We do this by modeling our Christian lives, our church, and our corporate worship after the model we read about in the New Testament.

Another tenet born out of the Church of Christ movement was to make everyone knowledgeable about God’s plan for man by promoting Bible education.  Everyone was expected to gain a personal understanding of the scriptures through personal Bible reading, children’s Sunday school, and continuous adult education.  Making every person Biblically educated insured that the church would not drift back to the man enriched religion these folks had come from. 

Today, 170 years later, the Church of Christ is still built upon these premises.  As such, we guide our Christian lives based upon the principles as established in the Biblical record to the best of our ability.

 If you visit with us, you will observe and experience the following regarding our corporate worship:

 Sunday Corporate Worship :

The bible tells us that the church met on the “first day of the week” for corporate worship.  This equates to Sunday.  We offer Sunday School and Corporate worship in the morning and a second worship service in the early evening.

 As a part of our traditional heritage, we promote that all members attend both the morning and evening services if they are able.  We believe the fellowship, encouragement, and friendships gained through both services is valuable.

 
Acapella Congregational Singing :

You will notice that we do not use musical instrumentation.  Instead we sing and harmonize together with both traditional and contemporary hymns written to worship God.   Since there is no record of the earliest church using instruments, the original Church of Christ charter did not include them.  Since then, acapella singing has become an integral part of the identity and fabric of Churches of Christ.  We believe participation in congregational singing heightens the individual and corporate spiritual experience and is pleasing to God.

Weekly Observance of the Lord’s Supper :

The Biblical record shows that the early Christians observed the Lord’s supper when they met together for corporate worship.  Jesus instituted this “memorial meal” for his disciples on the evening he was arrested.  He told them that they were to remember him and the new covenant of grace by gathering together (communing), eating unleavened bread, and drinking wine*.

The “Communion Service” or “Lord’s Supper” is the cornerstone of our worship service.  We do as Jesus asked.  We remember him, his life, his teaching and his sacrifice as we eat the bread.  We remember with thanksgiving the gift of grace when we drink the wine*.

* - In the Churches of Christ, the “wine” used in the Lord's Supper is natural red grape juice.  

Baptism :

While visiting us, you may see someone get baptized.

From the time of Christ forward to the end of scripture in the New Testament, God commanded that those who decide to follow Christ be baptized into Him for the forgiveness of their sins as the beginning step in their relationship with God.  We believe that the Bible is very clear on this subject.  It is commanded several times by both Jesus and his disciples, as well as there is no record in the New Testament of someone accepting Christ as their savior who was not then baptized into Christ to receive both the gift of God’s forgiveness and His grace.  

At the end of most every sermon, the minister will ask if there is anyone in attendance who recognizes the need for salvation who has not already been baptized.  

Baptism as a word is one that was not translated from the original Greek writing.  It was "transliterated" rather than translated.  Transliterated means that the folks who first translated the Bible into English modified the Greek word "baptiso" into "baptism" rather than translating it into its English form; "immerse, or immersion". 

Since “Baptism” actually means “Immersion”, baptism in the Church of Christ is defined as the full immersion of a person in water to “bury them with Christ” as the Bible so plainly describes in Romans 6:4 where he writes:

"We were therefore buried with him through bapstism (immersion) into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."  

Church Government :

The Church of Christ is a non-denominational church structure, as was the earliest form of Christ's church.  As such, each church is self-governed on all matters.  Although there are many Churches of Christ, there is no governing relationship between them.  The only guide used by the leadership of each church is the Bible.  As some issues and concerns are matters of interpretation, Churches of Christ may differ on certain issues.  This explains the subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences between individual Churches of Christ. 

Each church is under the spiritual care and direction of its Eldership.  This follows the structure of the New Testament church as designed by Christ's Apostles in the first century.  In the Bible, Elders are referred to as Shepherds as a metaphor for their role in the church.  The primary responsibility of the Elders is to care for the flock's spiritual well being.  Deacons are but another group of leaders under the Eldership's direction who take care of the day-to-day activities in the church, and help implement the church's vision as developed by the Elders.  The Deacons relieve the Elders of worldly concerns that would take them away from the truly important matters of the people whom they serve.