The American Council of Christian Churches (ACCC) is a

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...

organization set up in opposition to the Federal Council of Churches (now

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Un ...

). The council's motto is Jude 3, "Earnestly contending for the Faith".

History

ACCC was founded in 1941 under the leadership of

Carl McIntire Carl Curtis McIntire, Jr. (May 17, 1906 – March 19, 2002), known as Carl McIntire, was a founder and minister in the Bible Presbyterian Church, founder and long-time president of the International Council of Christian Churches and the Amer ...

. Membership in the American Council of Christian Churches is available to denominations and individual Christians, who are admitted by a 3/4 majority vote. Agreement with the purposes and doctrinal statement are required and membership is specifically denied to those who have affiliations with The ACCC has remained small in comparison to the

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches ...

and the

. This is due in part to its strong

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

stance, and in part because separatist denominations will often not participate in "cross-denominational" organizations. Ralph Colas currently serves as Executive Secretary. Offices are in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 1 ...

. The ACCC is the national equivalent of the

International Council of Christian Churches The International Council of Christian Churches (Abbreviation: ICCC) was founded on 12 August 1948 at the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam, as a fundamentalist Christian group of constituent national churches with opposition to the more liberal- ...

. In July 2007, the leadership of the ACCC issued a statement criticizing a recent declaration by the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsib ...

on the meaning of the phrase ''

subsistit in ''Subsistit in'' (subsists in) is a Latin phrase which appears in ''Lumen gentium'', the fundamental document on the church from the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church. Since the Council the reason for use of the term "subsists in" rat ...

'' which re-emphasized the role of the Catholic Church as the subsisting Church of Christ.ACCC responds to ''proper Church'' comment

Members – April 2019

* Appalachian Independent Minister’s Fellowship * Association of Ministers of the Reformed Faith * Faith Presbytery, Bible Presbyterian Church *

Evangelical Methodist Church of America The Evangelical Methodist Church of America (or Evangelical Methodist Conference) Christian denomination based in the United States. Ardently Fundamental, the denomination has its roots in a movement of churches that broke away from Mainline M ...

Fellowship of Fundamental Bible Churches The Fellowship of Fundamental Bible Churches (FFBC) is a fellowship of independent, autonomous, fundament churches established in 1939. It is considered only a fellowship of like-minded churches, rather than a denomination. Local congregations in th ...

Free Presbyterian Church of North America The Free Presbyterian Church of North America (FPCNA) is a Presbyterian denomination in the United States and Canada with mission works in Liberia, Jamaica, Haiti, and Kenya. Originally consisting of North American congregations under the auspic ...

Fundamental Methodist Church The Fundamental Methodist Conference, Inc., is a body of independent Methodist congregations organized in 1942. In 2001 there were 814 members in 13 congregations. By 2018 the conference listed five congregatio all of which are located in southwest ...

* Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America * Independent Churches Affiliated

Presidents

* Clyde J. Kennedy (1958–1961)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Christian fundamentalism

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Christian organizations established in 1941