The Association of Born-again Church Dropouts

Thank you for visiting the official Web site of The Association of Born-again
Church Dropouts (or "The ABCD" for short). We hope your time spent here will
be both challenging and rewarding. This article will not only serve as an
introduction to who we are and what we do, but it will also give you a brief
overview of our unique history. (For more information, click on the buttons to
your left.) As you learn about us, we hope that you will experience a positive
and lasting impression that will change your life forever and motivate you to
join us in our quest to fulfill the ultimate intention and eternal purpose of God
to which we have all been called (Eph. 3:11). This is our desire and prayer for
everyone who has ears to hear what God's Spirit is speaking to their hearts.

Who We Are

The Association of Born-again Church Dropouts is a nondenominational ministry
that was established to serve the needs and interests of the rapidly-growing
global population of true believers in Jesus Christ who are not part of any
church. To put it bluntly, such believers don't "go to church." However, some
of them claim that they "are the church." What they all claim, though, is that
they are members of the body of Christ because of the relationship they have
with Jesus as their spiritual Head, and they all claim that they are members of
the family of God because of the relationship they have with God as their
spiritual Father. In addition, they all claim that both of these relationships
began when they were born spiritually, that is, when they were "born again."

We realize, of course, that most true believers in Jesus Christ are part of a
church. We also realize that practically all of these believers have embraced
the belief that everyone needs to be in a church---especially anyone who has
been born again.[1] And while some of these believers have reasons galore for
adhering to such a belief, most of them are oblivious to the conflicts it creates
and the damage it causes.

For example, the belief that everyone needs to be in a church promotes
division in the body of Christ and the family of God due to the inherently
sectarian nature of the church. Plus, it disables the body of Christ because its
members who are involved with a church unwittingly acquire a religious mindset
that blinds them to their real identity and causes them to become spiritually
dysfunctional by diverting the eyes and ears of their heart from the simplicity
of knowing Jesus and the Father. Worse yet, it decapitates Christ's body by
subjecting its members to the unbiblical authority of a man (or woman) who
supplants Christ as its Head, which then disrupts the flow of the Spirit and life
of Christ to its members.

But first and foremost, the belief that everyone needs to be in a church
distorts the fundamental teachings of Jesus and His apostles in the New
Testament. In other words, there's no legitimate biblical support for the idea
that church affiliation is necessary for anyone, including those who have been
"born again." (Though a number of verses in the Bible are typically cited to
support the necessity of church involvement, our understanding is that they
have all been misconstrued.[2] A glaring example of this is Hebrews 10:25,
which is discussed in the article "Host an ABCDEFG.") So, we not only contend
that involvement with a church is unnecessary, but we also contend that
church involvement is more detrimental than it is beneficial, especially long
term. Furthermore, we believe that it is primarily the detrimental effects of
being involved in a church that are causing so many true believers in Jesus
Christ to leave the church altogether and become "church dropouts."[3]

Therefore, in order to distinguish such believers from everyone who is part of a
church and from other church dropouts who have not been born spiritually, we
refer to them as "born-again church dropouts" (or "BCDs"). We make these
distinctions to emphasize the fact that spiritual birth (being "born again") is
essential for admission into God's family and Christ's body while being part of a
church is not. We also make these distinctions to emphasize the difference
between the church and both the body of Christ and the family of God. To find
out more about these important distinctions, please read the book entitled The
Ultimate New Church Paradigm that is featured on our Books page.

In making these distinctions, our intent is not to drive a wedge of division
between true believers who are part of a church and true believers who are
church dropouts. However, we are painfully aware that some visitors to our
Web site will probably have this impression anyway. The truth, though, is just
the opposite. For instead of promoting division, we are actually promoting unity
by pointing to spiritual birth as the common bond that joins us to one another
and by simultaneously exposing the church as the dominant wedge that divides
us from one another. So if anyone is promoting division, it is those true
believers who cling to the church, not true believers like us who have forsaken
the church. In fact, despite claims to the contrary, this has been the case
ever since the church was invented nearly 1700 years ago.[4]

Our Unique History

The ABCD was officially founded in May, 2007, as the culmination of more than
thirty years of prayer, biblical studies, and historical research concerning the
divided, confused, and impotent state of Christ's body and God's family.[5]
Technically speaking, though, The ABCD has unofficially existed since around
324 AD when the Roman emperor Constantine began using government
resources to construct huge and elaborate Christian worship buildings for the
general public and thus invented the church.[8] (Prior to Constantine's
initiative, such buildings did not exist.) Next>
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[1] The belief that everyone needs to be in a church is typical of church people, including
those who are not true believers in Jesus Christ. Also, we are fully aware that this belief is
based partly on the Christian teaching that the church is the body of Christ and the family
of God, which we consider fallacious. To understand why, read our Right to Exist article.

[2] This is documented in the book The Ultimate New Church Paradigm, which is featured on
our Books page.

[3] This is well documented in the book Out-of-Church Christians by Andrew Strom and the
book Churchless Faith by Alan Jamieson. Both are featured on our Books page.

[4] For proof that the church was invented 1700 years ago, please read The Ultimate New
Church Paradigm, which is featured on our Books page.

[5] Our founder and his wife have been born-again church dropouts since 1976.

[6] For proof that Constantine invented the church, please read The Ultimate New Church
Paradigm, which is featured on our Books page.