The Independent Work and Autonomy of the Local Church
The Independent Work and Autonomy of the Local Church by Keith Sharp Introduction Several years ago, I spoke by phone to a preacher who works with a large congregation in South Texas. As we conversed, he asked if I was “anti-cooperation.” I told him I knew what he was talking about, but that I advocated scriptural cooperation between churches of Christ that was “concurrent” (each maintaining independence while working together in the same work) but not “collective (one centralized church overseeing and directing others). He changed the subject. The issue of how local congregations may scripturally cooperate with one another has been from early days of the “Restoration Movement” in the USA and continues to be today a live issue among brethren all over the world. We must establish the scriptural principle of independent, autonomous local churches of Christ (Rom. 16:16, Phil. 1:1) that "strives together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27). The Lord did not set up any cent...
