for a leadership team sent out from Boston to take over. Those whorefused were henceforth no longer to be considered part of the Movement.Most of the Movement churches capitulated, but a number did not. Among those whorefused were the Northwest Church of Christ in Seattle (whose evangelist, Milton Jones,had been very influential in the movement) and the Crossroads Church of Christ, where themovement began. This period also led to an exodus of members from churches which didcapitulate, many of them long-time members and leaders who could not accept what washappening. During this period Kip McKean also first formulated the trademark ICC doctrine of"Baptism as a Disciple" -- the teaching that one must both fully understand the purpose ofbaptism and have fully committed to following Christ and obeying the leaders in theChurch (the two were seen as synonymous) in order for his baptism to be valid. Thosewho had not been baptized in accordance with this understanding of baptism were nolonger considered to be Christian.This led to a wave of rebaptisms in Boston-planted churches -- many of the top leaderswere rebaptized at this time. Kip McKean, oddly enough, either never was rebaptized orhas never stated so publicly.Former members have taken to calling the period between late 1986 and early 1988 theGreat Reconstruction. It also marks the final break between the ICC and the mainlineChurches of Christ -- from this point, both groups considered themselves separate churchesAlthough the ICC did not adopt the name "International Church of Christ" formally until1993, we consider the "Great Reconstruction" to represent the breaking point. The earlierBoston Church of Christ had a real, although uncomfortable and contentious, relationshipwith outside Churches of Christ -- churches whose doctrines and practices differedsignificantly from those of the leaders in Boston.After 1987 the Boston Church of Christ became law unto itself. It recognized no one buti...
