Visiting a Different Denomination

I was tasked with researching a church ideology different than mine for a paper for my Master's program. Here's my experience.

Crossings Community Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, identifies as a ‘Christ-centered church’ and is non-denominational. Their website claims, ‘Here at Crossings, we believe our history is born out of early church history, and even the life and ministry of Jesus’[1]. The organization has two campuses, with a 3rd location opening soon. They offer a Pre-K through Grade 12 school education and an off-site medical clinic. The Sunday services are held in person and broadcast online. Their website encourages members to participate beyond Sunday services and expand their knowledge, commitment, and relationship with Jesus and the Church by attending their classes or ministry events on other days. Their website lists that they affirm and support women in church leadership. It also claims they are debt-free in all projects, which means they have a large and secure donor base. 

I watched the well-produced, high-budget online worship service on Sunday, October 1 [2]. The sermon, given by Pastor Jared Chambers, was about two biblical trees - the tree Zacchaeus climbed in Luke [3] and the tamarisk tree that Abraham planted in Genesis [4]. I noticed that the church evoked modern-day analogies and metaphors – namely, the Murrah tree in OKC that survived a bombing and the Oklahoma redbud tree. The two main messages of the sermon were a) Zacchaeus was blocked by others who thought he was sinful and needed to climb a tree to see Jesus (are Christians preventing sinners from seeing God?) [3], and b) Abraham planted a tamarisk tree that requires 80 years to reach maturity [4] (is the community planting today for tomorrow’s generation of Christians?). Crossings Church is similar to the practices of many evolving churches of the Early Church up to the early 300s. They practice communion [5], and the church holds preparation classes for baptism [6]. They serve those in hospitals and prisons. Crossings Church also includes women in ministry, just as Thecla became a missionary [7]. They are concerned with self-transformation and lifestyle changes of brotherly love [8]. In many ways, they do exactly what the Early Christians did – spread the word of Jesus and serve the needy. Just as the sermon referenced the local Murrah and redbud trees to evoke a particular sentiment from its OKC/OK-based congregants, the Early Christians and modern-day churches use their local world, speech, and culture to interpret and teach the word of Jesus  [9]. Crossings Community Church has a large ministry, payroll, and media production budget. They are a growing community intent on evangelizing Christianity across the Oklahoma City metroplex and beyond to serve the message of Jesus to those in church, medical, education, and prison settings.

Their influence is massive. Crossings Church has the power, purse, and purpose to continue expanding its ministry as they believe they are called to do by God. Leaders and figures from churches like Crossings have become significant players in real estate property ownership, community membership, and political influence in the State of Oklahoma, similar to Christian influence on Rome or Persia in the early 300s [10]. Leaders of these churches can influence political leaders to make decisions based on religious reasons, such as when Ambrose of Milan conversed with Emperor Theodosius I about the synagogue [11]. 

My concern with the success and longevity of the Crossings community is the same concern many Christian communities had during the evolution of the Early Church – the power and influence of any one interpretation’s beliefs that would oppress or conflict with another interpretation or culture. Just as East/Persian Christianity looked at Western/Latin Christianity as a threat to its beliefs and cultural lifestyles/values [11], there are Oklahoma Christians and Oklahomans who do not share the same beliefs as those held by a powerful conservative evangelist megachurch. As those megachurches gain more social and political influence, they may oppress or otherwise find themselves at odds with many Christians who don’t interpret the Bible or faith similarly. Perhaps some of those Biblical interpretations from the influential megachurch may cause harm to non-community members, such as their views on women’s rights or LGBT. 

I want to recognize that many people alive today around the world - in Armenia, India, Northern Africa, and Europe - agree and align with Crossings views. What I find restrictive or dehumanizing is not a singular interpretation in the American Bible Belt but theologies shared by millions globally that have significant roots in patriarchal conservative history. In the American South, conservative churches like Crossings will likely continue to gain power, membership, and money to influence local governance - such as school funding/prayers and women’s healthcare – such as Early Christianity influenced both West and Persian governance. I think many churches truly serve their God the best way they can interpret. Much of Crossings or the Early Church works to improve the quality of life for its members by connecting them to a faith larger than themselves, namely Christianity. Perhaps they share many overlapping beliefs and values with some interpretations in the Early Church. However, Christianity is widespread and widely interpreted, and power struggles exist today just as they did in 300 AD.

Bibliography

1. Crossings Church. “About Us | Crossings Church.” Crossings Community Church, https://crossings.church/about-us#beliefs.  Accessed 2 October 2023.

2. Maverick, Brett. YouTube, 30 August 2022, https://crossings.church/media/sermons/voice-of-hope/a-tale-of-two-trees. Accessed 2 October 2023.

3. “Luke 1.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/luke/1.htm.  Accessed 2 October 2023.

4. “Genesis 21:33.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/genesis/21-33.htm.  Accessed 2 October 2023.

5. González, Justo L., and Catherine Gunsalus González. Worship in the Early Church. Westminster John Knox Press, 2022, 91.

6. González and González. Worship in the Early Church, 76.

7.  John Wayland Coakley and Andrea Sterk, eds., Readings in World Christian History (Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 2004), 48-52.

8. Coakley and Andrea Sterk, eds., Readings in World Christian History, 102.

9. Irvin, Dale T. History of the World Christian Movement. Orbis Books, 2001.

10. Coakley and Sterk, eds., Readings in World Christian History, 213-221.

11. Irvin, Dale T. History of the World Christian Movement. 112.

12. Irvin, Dale T. History of the World Christian Movement. 196.