Post 1: History of the Restoration Movement and the ICOC
Post 2: History of the Cincinnati church of Christ

Now its time to talk about my time in the Cincinnati Church of Christ.

Highs and lows to be sure.

My ICOC history started in July of 1997.  My girlfriend and our child were living in an apartment complex in Amelia.  We had talked about going to church 'for the child'... but never acted on it.  Then I was on first shift for two short weeks. Three men came knocking on our door and invited us to church, I wasn't home at the time... I had ran up to pay the rent.  When I returned my wife, who had planned on blowing it off, told me about them so I stepped outside and found them and talked to them about church, you know, 'for the child.'

They invited us to a local Bible study in the area and through that process our life was changed forever.  The ICOC didn't mess around with sin, and we were living in sin.  They took us through a study series called 'First Principles' and challenged us to get married. [Side Note: During this time I got to know a bunch of good folks, many of which are still very faithful and living a deeply committed Christian life.]  We dropped off their radar, they thought we just weren't interested in that church stuff.  Called them a few weeks later and let them know that we were married!  Six days later, we were baptized.

The first year or two at the CCoC was a very up and down process.  The small group we were in was GREAT.  Just excellent.  But the discipling partners (basically mentors) we had were bad, just awful.  And really for a lot of our time at the CCoC this process continued.

We'd have great small group experiences, but the discipling partner thing was awful.  The men were apathetic and seem aloof.  The women were just mean and nasty toward my wife, and the ones that weren't were just apathetic like their husband. 

But our first small group is likely the reason we are still faithful.  There were some people in that group that still mean a lot to my family.  Then we were moved onto another small group, and this was a lot like the previous one but had a new dynamic to it.  The leader and of this group was basically serving as an Elder of the church.  They were the first people to really treat us like adults and not like the 19/20 year olds we were... we had two children by this time. Their family still means the world to me.  Just a great couple with three great children.  But in this group we had a very apathetic discipling partner. 

Eventually they shook things up again and we were in a new small group.  This one started off really bad.  Didn't much care for most of the people in it!  But the way the CCoC worked is that you are told where you are going to go.  But looking back now, several people in that group are some of my deepest friendships today.  Including one couple that we used to hate (and the feeling was mutual).  Couldn't stand them, and they couldn't stand us.  We fought through a lot of growth issues in this group and in the end things were really great.  But the leaders of this group needed to take a break.

Then we were moved to a group in Milford and this little section of the church had gone through some things over the years (including one of their members committing suicide).  Things were OK there, but there were some unhealthy dynamics in this group of people... however change was a coming.  Many new families (including my family) moved into the area and a place that barely had one group, had issues with the amount of people in the area.  About this time the couple leading this group had some serious church/family issues that led to them leaving the CCoC.  I think another long term couple in the area put it best... they were strangers in their own city and they didn't even move!  At this time the staff member over this part of the city decided to really shake it up. He decided to put a couple in the area as sort of a sector leader, and then put my wife and I over one group and the other couple (that at one point, and even a bit at this point) in charge of the two groups that would be in this area. 

This is when I ended up leading my first small group.  Two 21/22 year olds leading a bunch of 40+ year olds, with a few people near our life situation (married with young children).  This was some growing period for us.  Overall we did a very good job.  Had some bumps, but we formed our small group to a pretty healthy point (after a few adjustments with a few couples that didn't want to be led by a bunch of kids).  But the other group didn't fair so well, the couple in charge there just weren't ready AND some life situations sunk them a bit.  Plus the sector couple started having their own life issues.  So it left my wife and I in charge of much of this group of people.  Most were on board, some weren't.  Then more people moved in and another small group (which is actually still going on) formed.  This was likely the highest point of our membership at the CCoC... then all hell broke loose. 

The ICOC started to crumble and so a big part of our small group, sort of.  Our good friends that had been with us since we first started leading went through a divorce.  And frankly the wife said some pretty blatant lies to others about my wife and us.  Then our best friends at the time relocated to South Bend, Indiana.  We still had some good friends left in our small group... but even with that, it wasn't the same.  Plus the CCoC made a decision that I think cemented the fact that it was time for us to move on.

They wanted to hire a youth minister, and one of their requirements was that the person was a member of a former ICOC church.  It was at that point that I knew they'd always be more like a ICOC church than a 'normal' church.  So we left. Our leaving was honestly received very well.  I have always been an out spoken person, so they knew where I stood and WHY we needed to leave. 

So we left the CCoC for a smaller church in the Milford area.... but I won't go into that ;-).

Overall our time at the CCoC has made us a lot of who we are today.  I got my start in the IT industry by working for a CCoC member.  I became much of who I am today by several of the men I was around in that church.  It was because of the CCoC that my wife and I were married and were converted to Christianity. 

Our time at the CCoC was not all positive, but nothing ever is.  It was exactly where God wanted us to be while we were there.  I will be eternally grateful for our time at this church.