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Two by Twos

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Template:Short description Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use shortened footnotes Template:Infobox Christian denomination

Two by Twos (also known as 2x2, The Truth and The Way) is an international, home-based Christian new religious movement that was founded in 1897 in Ireland by William Irvine. Irvine, an evangelist with the interdenominational Faith Mission, began independently preaching that the itinerant ministry outlined in Matthew 10 remains the only valid method of evangelism. Church growth was rapid, spreading outside Ireland. Irvine eventually began preaching a new order in which the hierarchy developed within the church would have no placement. This teaching became controversial within the church, leading to his expulsion by church overseers around 1914. One of the church's most prominent evangelists, Edward Cooney, was expelled a decade after Irvine. The church then became much less visible to outsiders for the next half-century. The publication of several articles and books, increased news coverage, and the appearance of the Internet have since opened the church to wider scrutiny. Increased scrutiny by news organizations has focused on various wrongdoings, and the United States FBI launched an on-going investigation into allegations of childhood sexual abuse and other potential irregularities.

Some in the church assert it is a direct continuation of the 1st-century Christian church. Others in the church believe that a restoration occurred in the late 19th century. Ministers are itinerant and work in pairs, hence the name "Two by Twos". Members hold regular twice-weekly worship gatherings in local homes on Sunday and midweek. The church also holds annual regional conventions for members and public Gospel meetings. Baptism by immersion, as performed by one of the church's workers, is required to partake in the emblems of bread and wine at the fellowship gathering. The orthodox Christian Trinitarian doctrine is rejected. Doctrine of the church teaches that salvation is reached by attending the group's home meetings, accepting the preaching of its itinerant, unsalaried ministry workers, and "professing". The church teaches that salvation is not achieved through faith alone but only through a combination of faith and "works." Works are considered acts of self-denial such as wearing modest skirts and long hair in a bun or attending all meetings regardless of how far away they are. The church does not do any outreach programs or encourage its members to participate in charities.

The church does not have official headquarters or publications. It does not explicitly publish any doctrinal statements, insisting that such tenets may only be directly imparted orally by its ministers, referred to as "workers." Its hymnbook and various other materials for internal use are produced by outside publishers and printing firms. Printed invitations and advertisements for its open gospel services are the only written materials that those outside the church are likely to encounter.

Among members, the church is usually referred to as "The Truth", "Meetings", or "the workers and friends", but members deny an official church name. Those outside the church refer to it as "Two by Twos", "The Black Stockings", "No-name Church", "Cooneyites", "Workers and Friends", or "Christians Anonymous", and journalists sometimes call it "2x2" for short. The church's various registered names include "Christian Conventions" in the United States, "Assemblies of Christians" and "The Alberta Society of Christian Assemblies" in Canada (dissolved only after it was exposed), "The Testimony of Jesus" in the United Kingdom, "Kristna i Sverige" in Sweden, and "United Christian Conventions" in Australia. These registered names are used only for specific purposes (for instance, to register conscientious objection during war) and are not routinely used by members.

HistoryEdit

FoundingEdit

In 1896, William Irvine was sent from Scotland to southern Ireland as a missionary by John George Govan's Faith Mission, an interdenominational organization with roots in the Holiness movement.Template:Sfn Because his mission was successful, he was promoted to superintendent of Faith Mission in southern Ireland.Template:Sfn

File:Dippersdippingt1907.gif
A drawing from 1907 depicting a baptismal rite. Its caption reads "How 'Dippers' are Initiated".Template:Sfn

Within a few months of his arrival in Ireland, Irvine was already disillusioned with the Faith Mission.Template:Sfn There was friction over its Holiness teachings, and Irvine saw its organization as a violation of his concept of a faith-based ministry. Above all, Irvine was increasingly intolerant of the Faith Mission's cooperation with the other churches and clergy in the various communities of southern Ireland, regarding converts who joined churches as "lost among the clergy."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1897, he began preaching independently, proclaiming that true ministers must have no home and take no salary.Template:Sfn He became convinced that he had received this as a special revelation he referred to as his "Alpha message".<ref>See:

Template:Cquote

In October 1897, Irvine was invited by Nenagh businessman John "Jack" Carroll to preach in the Carrolls' hometown of Rathmolyon. There he held a series of mission meetings in which all established churches were rejected, and Irvine's new doctrine and method of ministry were set forth. It was in Rathmolyon that he recruited the first adherents to his new message.Template:Sfn Aside from condemning all other churches, Irvine's doctrine included the rejection of church buildings, damnation of all followers of churches outside the new fellowship, rejection of paid ministry, rejection of collectionsTemplate:Efn-ua during services and collection boxes, and the requirement that those seeking to join the ministry "sell all".<ref>See:

Irvine's preaching during this latest mission influenced others who began to leave their respective churches and join Irvine to form an initial core of followers.Template:Sfn Some of these early adherents would become important members of the new church, including John Long,Template:Efn-ua the Carroll family, John Kelly, Edward Cooney—an influential evangelist from the Church of IrelandTemplate:Sfn—and George Walker (an employee of the Cooney family's fabric businessTemplate:Sfn), all of whom eventually "sold all" and joined the new movement as itinerant preachers.<ref>1905 "List of Workers" in Template:Harvnb</ref> Although other movements, such as the Plymouth Brethren and Elim have had strong Irish connections, the church founded by Irvine is the only religion known to have had its origin and early development in Ireland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Early growthEdit

File:Impartialrep25aug1910.jpg
Extract of an article from The Impartial Reporter and Farmers' Journal from 1910Template:Sfn documenting the early phases of the church. See endnote for link to the full article.Template:Efn-ua

Unlike later secretiveness,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn initially, the church was in the public eye, with questions about it being raised in the British Parliament beginning in 1900.<ref>See:

  • Template:Harvnb;
  • Template:Harvnb;
  • Template:Harvnb.</ref> Inspired by speakers such as Irvine and Cooney, membership growth was rapid. Rather than adding members to established denominations, as was the practice of the Faith Mission outreach, churches began noticing their congregations thinning after exposure to the Two by Two missions. Clerics soon began regarding the Two by Two preachers as "inimical to the membership of the church".Template:Sfn After receiving reports from Ireland, the Faith Mission in 1900 formally disassociated itself from Irvine and any of its workers found to be participating in the new Two by Two movement.Template:Sfn

The attention of Belfast newspapers was initially drawn to the Two by Twos church because of its open-air baptismal rites.Template:Sfn At that time, the baptisms took place in public settings such as streams, lakes, or the sea, even in cold weather. Regarded as a novelty, the outdoor "dippings" and accompanying sermons attracted large crowds.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Further attention was given during the staging of large marches through boroughs and public preaching in town squares and on street corners.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Workers, including Edward Cooney and George Walker, publicly preached that all members of other churches were damned.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They singled out prominent individuals, and even entire communities, for condemnation.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At times, missions were sited close to the meeting places of other denominations, which were denounced using "extreme language".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Consequences of these inflammatory remarks ranged from heckling and street violenceTemplate:Sfn to the break-up of families,<ref>See:

As the ranks of its ministry increased, the church's outreach expanded. Large gatherings were held in Dublin, Glasgow and Belfast during 1899. Annual conventions, modeled after the evangelical Keswick Conventions in England,Template:Sfn began to be held regularly in Ireland starting in 1903. Later that year, William Irvine, accompanied by Irvine Weir and George Walker, took his message to North America.Template:Efn-ua Missions to continental Europe, Australia, and Asia followed.Template:Sfn

By 1904, the requirement to "sell all" was no longer mentioned in sermons.Template:Sfn A two-tiered system was instituted that made a distinction between homeless itinerant missionaries (called "workers") and those who were now allowed to retain homes and jobs (called "friends" or "saints").Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Weekly home meetings began to be held and presided over by "elders", who were typically the householder. During the next few years, this change became universal. The church continued to grow rapidly and held regular annual conventions lasting several weeks at a time. Irvine traveled widely during this period, attending conventions and preaching worldwide, and began sending workers from the British Isles to follow up and expand interest in various areas.<ref>See:

Beginning in 1906, unwelcome attention came in the form of leaflets and billboard notices. W. D. Wilson, an English farmer whose unmarried children had left home and joined the Two by Twos, began publishing articles stating girls were being recruited by the church for immoral purposes.Template:Sfn In response, Edward Cooney brought a widely publicized suit for libel that was resolved by a settlement between the parties by the end of 1913.Template:Sfn

A hierarchy was instituted by Irvine, and his most trusted associates in various regions were designated as "overseers" or "head workers". Each worker was assigned a particular geographical sphere and then coordinated the efforts of the ministry within his area.Template:Sfn Among the overseers were William and Jack Carroll, George Walker, and Willie Gill. Irvine continued to have the ultimate say over worker conduct and finances, and his activities within their fields became regarded as "interference."Template:Sfn Except for such annual conventions as he was able to attend across the globe, communications and instructions from Irvine passed through the overseers.Template:Sfn

SchismEdit

William Irvine's progressive revelation continued to evolve over this time, and eschatological themes began to appear in sermons.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn-ua By 1914, he had begun to preach that the Age of Grace, during which his "Alpha Gospel" had been proclaimed, was coming to a close. As his message turned towards indicating a new era, which held no place for the ministry and hierarchyTemplate:Sfn that had rapidly grown up around the "Alpha Gospel," resentment arose on the part of overseers who saw him as a threat to their positions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Australian overseer John Hardie was the first to break with Irvine and excluded him from speaking at the South Australia convention in late 1913. As 1914 progressed, he was excluded from speaking in a growing number of regions, as more overseers broke away from him.Template:Sfn Rumors circulated about Irvine's comfortable lifestyle and supposed weakness for women, though nothing concrete was ever exposed.Template:Sfn It was put about that Irvine "had lost the Lord's anointing" in an effort to explain his ouster. He was shunned and his name was no longer mentioned, making him a nonperson in the church he founded.Template:Sfn There were many excommunications of Irvine loyalists in various fields during the following years, and by 1919, the split was final, with Irvine moving to Jerusalem and transmitting his "Omega Message" to his core followers from there. Lacking any organizational means of making his case before the membership, Irvine's ouster occurred quietly.Template:Sfn Most members continued following the overseers, and few outside the leadership knew the details behind Irvine's disappearance from the scene, as no public mention of the split seems to have been made.Template:Sfn Mention of Irvine's name was forbidden, and a new explanation of the group's history was introduced from which Irvine's role was erased.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn-ua

Although the threat posed by Irvine to the church's organization had been dealt with, the prominent worker Edward Cooney refused to place his evangelistic efforts under the control of the overseers. Cooney himself adhered to the earlier, unfettered style of itinerant ministry, moving about wherever he felt he was needed.Template:Sfn He rejected the appointment of head workers to geographic regions and criticized their lifestyles.Template:Sfn He also preached against the "Living Witness" doctrine (i.e., that salvation entails hearing the gospel preached directly by a worker and seeing the gospel made alive in the sacrificial lives of the ministry), the bank accounts controlled by the overseers, use of halls for meetings, conventions, the hierarchy that had developed, and the ministry and the registrations under official names.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn For a time, his message urging a return to the original principles of Matthew 10 gained a following, even among some Australian overseers.Template:Sfn

A second division occurred in 1928 when Edward Cooney was expelled for criticizing the hierarchy and other elements that had arisen within the church, which he saw as serious deviations from the church's original message. The overseers seized upon a failed attempt at performing a faith healing as a pretext to excommunicate him.Template:Sfn Cooney's loyal supporters joined him, including some of the early workers, and they stayed faithful to what they perceived to be the original tenets.Template:Sfn The term "Cooneyite" today chiefly refers to the group which separated (or were excommunicated) along with Cooney and who continue as an independent group. Prior to the schism, onlookers had labeled the entire movement as "Cooneyites" due to Edward Cooney's prominence in the early growth of the church. There are areas where this older usage continues.Template:Sfn

ConsolidationEdit

These schisms were not widely publicized, and few were aware that they had occurred. Most supporters of Irvine, and later Cooney, were either coaxed into abandoning those loyalties or put out of the fellowship. Among these were the early workers May Carroll, Irvine Weir (one of the first workers in North America, who was excommunicated for continued contact with Cooney and for his objection to registration of the church under names),Template:Sfn and Tom Elliot (who had conducted baptisms of the first workers and was nicknamed "Tom the Baptist").Template:Sfn

The emergence of the Two by Twos caused severe splits within local Protestant churches in Ireland at a time of increasing demands for Irish independence, largely driven by the Catholic majority community. Because of animosity, the Two by Twos did not form a united front with other Protestant communities.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Although the church was noted for extreme anti-Catholic views, it played a very minor role during the struggle for Irish independence. One exception was the involvement of the Pearson family in the still-controversial killings at Coolacrease.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In the mid-1920s, a magazine article entitled "The Cooneyites or Go-Preachers"Template:Sfn disturbed the leadership, who made efforts to have it withdrawn,Template:Sfn particularly when material from the article was added to the widely distributed reference Heresies Exposed.Template:Sfn During this period, the church modified its evangelical outreach. The public preaching of its early days was replaced with low-key "gospel meetings", which were attended only by members and invitees. The church began to state that it had a 1st-century origin.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It asserted that it had no organization or name and disclaimed any unique doctrines. The church shunned publicity, making the church very difficult for outsiders to follow.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Geowalker1942letter3.jpg
Last page of senior overseer George Walker's statement to the U.S. Selective Service in 1942 under the name "Christian Conventions"Template:Efn-ua

The North American church saw a struggle for influence between overseers George Walker in the east and Jack Carroll. In 1928, an agreement was forged between the senior overseers that limited workers operating outside of their appointed geographical spheres, known as "fields": workers traveling into an area controlled by another overseer had to first submit their revelation to,Template:Sfn and obtain permission from, the local overseer. Template:Sfn The exact boundaries between fields was worked out over time, and there were areas where workers under the control of more than one overseer operated, causing conflict.Template:Sfn

During the First World War, the church obtained exemption from military service in Britain under the name "The Testimony of Jesus." However, there were problems with recognition of this name outside the British Isles, and exemption was refused in many other areas.<ref>See:

After the death of Australian overseer William Carroll in 1953, an attempt was made to reintegrate the repudiated adherents of William Irvine and Edward Cooney. Rather than producing further unity, the attempt produced conflicts over the church's history which was exposed, the existence of legal names, disagreements over the hierarchy which had developed, and other controversies. Many excommunications took place in the subsequent effort to enforce harmony.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The earliest workers and overseers were succeeded by a new generation of leaders. In Europe, William Irvine died in 1947,Template:Sfn Edward Cooney died in 1960,Template:Sfn and John Long (expelled in 1907) died in 1962. British overseer Willie Gill died in 1951. In the South Pacific, New Zealand overseer Wilson McClung died in 1944, and Australian overseer John Hardie died in 1961. In North America, both Jack Carroll,Template:Sfn the Western overseer, and Irvine Weir died in 1957 while Eastern overseer George Walker died in 1981.Template:Sfn

Its policy of not revealing its name, finances,Template:Sfn doctrine, or history,Template:Efn-ua and avoidance of publicityTemplate:Efn-uaTemplate:Sfn largely kept the church from public notice.Template:Sfn The group has been labeled a "high-control group" by some.Template:Sfn A few authors of popular literature have noted the church, even using it as background for various works.<ref>Uses as background for literary works include,

Into the 21st century; abuse casesEdit

File:Two by Two Convention Hall.jpg
Two by Two convention hall in Saginaw, Oregon, in 2018

Divisions, both doctrinal and organizational, within the group have formed throughout its history and continue as ongoing challenges.Template:Sfn

Until the mid 1980s, notes regarding the Two by Twos had appeared infrequently in religious journals and sociological works, with some writers assuming that the church had greatly declined, with nothing published regarding it.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1982, the publication of The Secret Sect was followed by press reports and public statements by former members.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Other books and news coverage dealing with the church appeared in the following decades and increased awareness of the church and its practices. With the exposure of regional differences and the appearance of dissent, a loosening of a few strict standards demanded of members has been observed in some areas.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A marked decline in membership has occurred over recent decades, coinciding with availability of information on the Internet and elsewhere.Template:Sfn

In April 2019, the Australian current affairs television show 60 Minutes interviewed child sex abuse victims of Australian ministers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On 20 March 2023, a letter was released from overseer Doyle S. Smith, (the "Dean Letter") informing members of the discovery of predatory and sexually abusive behavior by recently deceased worker and overseer Dean Bruer.Template:Sfn Since the release of the Dean Letter, other allegations of sexual abuse and child sexual abused have been reported within the church from all over the world, and former minister Robert Corfield admitted that he had sexually abused a boy in Saskatchewan, Canada, over several years in the 1980s.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Numbers of perpetrators have been estimated to number in the hundreds, with several thousand victims identified.Template:Sfn In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an investigation in 2024.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In 2023, the Two by Twos' Australasian overseers had issued two letters to members acknowledging incidents of abuse overseas, condemning child abuse and encouraging victims to report abuse to the police. The overseers also announced they would establish an anonymous advisory group to develop child-safe policies and manage the group's response to historical child sexual abuse. In other areas, calls for adoption of an official policy have been rejected or ignored.Template:Sfn In May 2024, the group's Australasian leaders launched a website with information about their response to historical child sexual abuse and a written apology to victims. Former abuse victims and victim advocate Jillian Hishon have criticized the group's response for lacking impartiality and accountability.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In June 2024, the American Broadcasting Company television news program Nightline aired a segment on child sexual abuse cases across the United States. An expanded report aired concurrently on season 2 of the Hulu docuseries Impact X Nightline.Template:Sfn

In September 2024, Radio New Zealand reported that New Zealand Police were assisting the FBI investigation by investigating at least one former New Zealand minister for historical abuse. A former minister William Stephen Easton admitted 55 child sex abuse charges over three decades against young boys. The church has about 2,500 members and 60 ministers in New Zealand.Template:Sfn Peter Lineham of Massey University has been researching the group since the 1970s and said that it had been active in New Zealand for 120 years.Template:Sfn

An American former elder of the church, Raymond Zwiefelhofer, was sentenced to 120 years in prison in November, 2024, for 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material.Template:Efn-ua A report published by the BBC in early 2025 covered allegations of women who were pressured into giving up their children for adoption.Template:Sfn

DoctrineEdit

Apart from their hymnals, officially published documentation or church statements are scarce, making it difficult to speak in depth about its beliefs. Some former members and critics of the church have made statements about its beliefs, although these points have rarely been publicly responded to by any authorities within the church.Template:Sfn

All the church's teachings are expressed orally, and the church does not publish doctrine or statements of faith.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Workers hold that all church teachings are based solely on the Bible.Template:Efn-uaTemplate:Efn-ua A catchphrase frequently used to describe the church is: "The church in the home, and the ministry without a home."Template:Sfn<ref>Overseer John ("Jack") Carroll quoted in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Church members and "workers" will publicly declare that the church does not own any buildings. This is not strictly true: in fact, church members own rural or semi-rural properties dedicated to worship, housing workers, and church gatherings, including conventions and "special meetings". The concept of church buildings is still seen as inconsistent with "biblical Christianity" and was strongly denounced by early workers.<ref>See:

The King James Bible is the only scripture used in English-language services. The Bible itself is held as insufficient for salvation unless its words are "made alive" through the preaching of church ministers.Template:Efn-ua<ref name="the word made flesh">See:

Salvation is deemed to require self-sacrifice in following the example and commandments of JesusTemplate:Efn-ua and suffering is revered.Template:Sfn Members are encouraged to attend meetings, publicly pray, and testify at them.<ref>Worker Leo Stancliff quoted in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Although the church has roots in the Holiness movement and has inherited some of its features, charismatic elements are suppressed.Template:Sfn Other standards include modest dress, not wearing jewelry, long hair for women and short hair for men, not getting piercings, not dying hair, not getting a tattoo, and avoiding activities deemed to be worldly or frivolousTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn (such as smoking, drinking alcohol, watching television, and viewing motion pictures).<ref>See:

ChristologyEdit

The church has rejected the doctrine of the TrinityTemplate:Sfn since its inception.<ref>See:

BaptismEdit

Baptism by one of the church's ministers is considered a necessary step for salvation and full participation, including re-baptism of persons baptized by other churches.<ref>See:

Church nameEdit

File:Alberta1995incorpapp02.jpg
Application for incorporation in the Province of Alberta under the name "Alberta Society of Christian Assemblies"

The church represents itself as nondenominational and without a name.Template:Sfn Those outside the church often use descriptive terms such as "Two by Twos" (from their method of sending out ministers in pairs),Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn "No-name Church", "Cooneyites", "Workers and Friends", "disciples of Jesus", "Friends", "Go-preachers", and "Tramp Preachers," among other titles.<ref>See:

Though overseers and head workers use registered names when necessary to conduct official business, most members do not associate a formal name with the church.Template:Sfn Instead, they refer to the church as "The Truth," "The Way," "The Jesus Way," or "The Lowly Way."<ref>See: "The Meetings" or "The Fellowship".

RestorationismEdit

Many church members hold to a long-standing view that the church has no earthly founder,Template:Sfn and that only they represent the "true Christian Church" originating directly with Christ during the 1st century AD.<ref>See:

TerminologyEdit

The following are terms used by the church with the definitions giving the sense commonly intended and understood by members.Template:Efn-ua

Template:Nobold
Generally refers to a small local group that meets in a home; can refer to a larger group of believers. This term is never used to refer to a building except for church buildings of other denominations. Used colloquially when talking to strangers to refer to Sunday/Wednesday activity, e.g., "I'll be at church until midday". Some regions choose not to use this word at all, emphasizing the church's separation from other mainstream beliefs.
Template:Nobold
A gathering of members held in members' homes or rented buildings.
Template:Nobold
A geographical region to which workers have been assigned (similar to parishes)
Template:Nobold
A series of larger meetings known as gospel meetings, the function of which is proselytizing.
Template:Nobold
Adherent or member of the laity. Collectively "the friends" or "the saints".
Template:Nobold
To make a public declaration of one's willingness to become a member is generally a sign that a person may participate in the prayer and testimony sections of Wednesday night and Sunday morning meetings or at designated testimony times in larger gatherings. Professing constitutes an intermediate stage. Following baptism, the partaking of bread and grape juice (or wine) is also permitted, which occurs between the elder's testimony and the final hymn in some fields.
Template:Nobold
A chairman of a local meeting. Usually, the male head of the house in which meetings are held. The bishop/elder is typically the person in charge of calling the start of the meeting. The deacon is considered an alternative to the elder in some areas.
Template:Nobold
Terms used to denote the church's semi-itinerant, homeless ministers. These are unmarried (several exceptions were made during the first half of the 20th century to allow married couples to enter the ministry) and do not have any formal training. Workers go out in same-sex pairs (hence the term "Two by Two"), consisting of a more experienced worker with a junior companion.
Template:Nobold
The senior worker in charge of a geographic area roughly corresponds to the position of a bishop in Catholicism. No hierarchical position is higher than overseer—such as a pope—which might guarantee doctrinal and practical unanimity.
Template:Nobold
Any person who has not 'professed' per the church's processes and is therefore deemed to be 'outside' of God's fold
Template:Nobold
A broad term used to describe all people not involved in the church, including those in other religions

Practice and structureEdit

MinistryEdit

The church holds that faith and salvation may only be obtained by hearing the preaching of its ministers (typically called workers), and by observing their sacrificial lives.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn During the early years, this requirement was referred to as the "Living Witness Doctrine", though that term is no longer used. The minister must be heard and observed in person, rather than by broadcasts, recordings, books or tracts, or other indirect communication.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The church's ministerial structure is based on Jesus' instructions to his apostles found in Matthew chapter 10, verses 8–16 (with similar passages in Mark and in Luke). The church's view is that, following these Biblical examples, its ministers have no permanent dwelling places, minister in pairs, sell all and go out with only minimal worldly possessions, and rely only upon hospitality and generosity.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Most ministers receive their support and income directly from lay members, and have no fixed address except for mail collection.Template:Sfn

The option of entering the ministry is theoretically open to every baptized member, although it has been many decades since married people were accepted into the ministry. Female workers operate in the same manner as male workers. However, they cannot rise to the position of overseer, do not lead meetings when a male worker is present, and occupy a lower rank than male workers.Template:Sfn

Workers do not engage in any formal religious training.<ref>See:

GatheringsEdit

The church holds several types of gatherings throughout the year in various locations.Template:Efn-ua

Template:Nobold
A Gospel meeting is the gathering that is most likely to be open to those considered to be "outsiders".Template:Sfn At one time, Gospel meetings were typically held in tents, set up by workers as they traveled; they are now most commonly held in a rented space.Template:Efn-ua Gospel meetings are held to attract new members, though professing members typically make up the majority of attendees. The Gospel meeting consists of a period of quiet, followed by congregational singing (often accompanied by piano) of selected hymns, and then sermons delivered by the church's workers. Gospel meetings are regularly scheduled for portions of the year in areas where the group is well-established. They may also be held when a worker believes there may be people in the region who would be receptive to the church's message.
Template:Nobold
Participation in this closed<ref>See:

</ref> meeting is generally restricted to members. It is usually held in the home of an elder, and consists of a cappella singing from the regular hymnal,Template:Sfn partaking of communion emblemsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn (a piece of leavened bread and a cup of wine or grape juice),Template:Sfn prayer and sharing of testimonies by members in good standing.Template:Sfn Members are expected to be silent and arrive fifteen minutes early.

Template:Nobold
Participation in this closed meeting is generally restricted to members, and is usually held in the home of an elder each Wednesday evening. Members are assigned a list of Bible verses or a topic of study for consideration during the week, for discussion at the next meeting. As the meeting progresses, each member shares thoughts regarding the scripture or topic. Thoughts are shared by individual members in turn, and members do not engage in discussions during the meeting. The Bible study meeting includes hymns and prayers.
Template:Nobold
This is a monthly gathering of several congregations, and follows the format of the Sunday morning meetings. Union meetings are not open to the public.
Template:Nobold
Special meetings are annual gatherings of members from a large area. Each is held as a private gathering, often in a rented hall. Special meetings last a single day, and include sermons by local and visiting workers. The sermons are interspersed with prayers, hymns, and testimonies.
Template:Nobold
These annual events are attended by members from within a larger geographical area than for the special meetings. These services generally follow the format used for special meetings. Conventions are held over several days, usually in rural areas on properties with facilities to handle housing, feeding, and other necessities for those who attend. There are typically crude male and female dormitories, a dormitory for the Workers, and male and female communal bathrooms with simple showers. Conventions are not open to the public, although outsiders often attend by invitation. Although not now usual, members were at one time segregated by sex during services.Template:Sfn
Template:Nobold
These gatherings are not open to either the public or general membership. Attendance and participation are restricted to workers and certain invited members. The meeting may be a regular Bible study, or it may be used to disseminate any instructions from senior workers or to issue decisions about controversial matters. They are held during conventions, or as necessary. These meetings include prayer, a period for testimonies from any workers wishing to share, and may include statements by senior workers in attendance.

OrganizationEdit

Members state that the church does not have a formal organization.<ref>See:

  • Template:Harvnb;
  • Overseer Charles Steffen quoted in Template:Harvnb;
  • Template:Harvnb.</ref> Members do not participate in, and many are unaware of, the church's governance.Template:Efn-ua Although in the early years of the church a headquarters was maintained in Belfast,Template:Sfn no official headquarters currently exist and the church remains largely unincorporated. Both expenditures and funds collected remain secret from the membership and no accounting is made public.Template:Sfn Funds are handled through stewardships, trusts, and cash transactions.Template:Efn-ua

No materials are published by the church for outside circulation other than invitations to open Gospel meetings.Template:Sfn Printed materials are published for circulation among the members and include sermon notes, convention notes, Bible study lists, convention lists, and worker lists.Template:Sfn In recent years, contact details of members, including phone numbers and home addresses, have been compiled into booklets. These booklets are treated as highly confidential and available for workers' use only. Some members of the group refuse to provide their details for these booklets, in the name of privacy. Some members of the group see the internal dissemination of worker letters as continuing the practice of the early Church and the epistolary work of the original apostles.Template:Sfn

HierarchyEdit

The church is controlled by a small group of senior male overseers with each having oversight of a specific geographic region. Under each senior overseer are male head workers who have oversight of a single state, province or similar area, depending on the country.<ref>See:

  • Template:Harvnb;
  • Template:Harvnb;
  • Template:Harvnb;
  • Template:Harvnb.</ref> These head workers handle the two-by-two pairing and field assignments of workers for that area. Each pair of workers has charge over several local meetings with the senior worker of the two having authority over his junior. Local meetings are hosted in the homes of elders who report to the workers. Correspondence such as reporting, finances, and instructions are often communicated according to the set hierarchy.Template:Sfn The administration of the church and its annual process of assigning of workers to fields are rarely discussed among the membership.Template:Sfn Workers are believed to be holy conduits of God and are regarded highly by the congregation.

HymnalsEdit

The church's first hymnal, The Go-Preacher's Hymn Book, was compiled by 1909Template:Sfn and contained 125 hymns. The English-language hymn book currently used is Hymns Old and NewTemplate:Sfn and was first published in 1913Template:Sfn with several subsequent editions and translations. It contains 412 hymns, many of which were written or adapted by workers and other members of the church, and is organized into "gospel" and "fellowship" hymns.Template:Sfn A smaller, second hymnal, also titled Hymns Old and New, consists of the first 170 songs found in the full hymnal. Another version of the hymnal contains words without musical notation and is used primarily by children and those who cannot read music.Template:Sfn Hymnals in other languages, such as "Himnos" in Spanish, contain many hymns translated from the English and sung to the same tunes, as well as original non-English compositions.

EndnotesEdit

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FootnotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

BooksEdit

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Journals, newspapers, periodicalsEdit

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