re these movements began. (The CrossroadsChurch of Christ in Gainesville, Florida in 1967, and the Boston Church of Christ inLexington, Massachusetts in 1979.) Both movements had many members at other churcheswhich they began (or planted), or which adopted their methods and beliefs, so a"Bostonite" or "Crossroader" may not have been in Boston or Gainesville at all. The ICC generally points to the start of the Boston Church of Christ in 1979 as the point atwhich it begun. Most outside the ICC put the date twelve years earlier, though, and at the14th Street (later Crossroads) Church of Christ in Gainesville, Florida. In 1967 the elders(bishops) of that church hired Chuck Lucas as campus minister. Lucas immediately beganan outreach to the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, named the "CampusAdvance."Lucas also began a system of mentoring, or discipling, within the Campus Advance, basedon the principles in Robert Coleman's Master Plan of Evangelism and other works whichpreached the principles of discipling, or "shepherding", as it was also called at the time.The central theme of these works was an interpretation of Matthew 28:18-20 which taughtthat:Making disciples was the primary goal and purpose of a Christian's life.To make a disciple, you must go out into the world (not wait for the world to come toyou), bring people to conversion (baptism, in the Church of Christ), and then teach themeverything Christ taught you.The process of making disciples thus requires that each new Christian be assigned a moremature Christian as a mentor, or "prayer partner", who teaches them the fullness of theGospel and whom the junior prayer partner is expected to emulate and obey.To this Lucas added one further point.To be a disciple requires total commitment to God, the Church, and the discipling process.If this sounds familiar to those who never heard of Crossroads and joined the ICC twentyyears later, it should. While there are some differences, a...
