- Kip McKean
Thomas "Kip" McKean (born
May 31 ,1954 ) is an influential Christianpreacher . He is an ex minister from theInternational Churches of Christ . He is currently the minister of the City of Angels International Christian Church and head of the International Christian Churches organization, also known as the "Portland/Sold-Out Discipling Movement"cite web |url=http://www.kipmckean.org/ |title=Kip McKean.org » Biography of Kip McKean |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-09-02] .Early life and family
The son of an
admiral , McKean was born inIndianapolis , Indiana, and is purportedly named after his ancestorThomas McKean , signer of the Declaration of Independence. McKean married Havana-born Elena Garcia-Bengochea onDecember 11 ,1976 . She is presently the Women's’ Ministry Leader in the City of Angels International Christian Church. They have three children, Olivia, Sean and Eric. [ [http://www.tolc.org/falters.htm tolc.org A Christian community falters - Loss of leader, governing body hurts group formed in Boston] , by Farah Stockman, "Boston Globe ",17 May 2003 .]From Gainesville to the Boston Church of Christ
McKean was baptized as a Christian in 1972 while a freshman at the
University of Florida in Gainesville. His mentor, Charles H. "Chuck" Lucas, was the evangelist of the 14th Street Church of Christ, part of the mainstreamChurches of Christ , a 19th Century movement with aspirations toward a return to "First Century Christianity" as practiced in the New Testament. The church moved into a larger building with a new name, the Crossroads Church of Christ, and, through an aggressive student-based evangelism program Lucas had established, they made many new converts (along with a number of community and campus detractors) as its membership quickly grew. In 1975, McKean left Gainesville as part of a campus ministry program called "Campus Advance". Two years later, at the Memorial Drive Church of Christ inTulsa, OK , McKean lost financial and church eldership support and moved on to other congregations. McKean became head of theLexington (Massachusetts) Church of Christ in 1979 and carried on Lucas' brand of church ministry that focused onevangelism . The church grew rapidly and soon became theBoston Church of Christ. The Boston church then expanded its influence among other Churches of Christ, becoming known as "the Boston Movement" and, eventually, theInternational Churches of Christ , with McKean and his wife Elena considered the highest authority within the hierarchy of the movement. In 1990, the McKeans moved toLos Angeles to lead the Los Angeles Church of Christ, where they presided over the rapid growth of the ICOC throughout the 1990s. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20021211100838/icoc.org/icocmain/whoweare/history/history.htm Short history of the ICOC] ]Resignation
In 2001, after much internal questioning of his leadership and following a fallout from both outside the Church and within it regarding the way church leaders maintained control over their congregations using often abusive and controlling methods to keep rank and file members in line, Kip McKean announced that he was taking a sabbatical to focus on "marriage and family issues". In 2002, the McKeans announced their resignations as head of the
Los Angeles church. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20021214174427/http://www.upcyberdown.org/icocmain/Documents/11_02/mckean_resignation.htm Kip McKean Resignation Letter Wednesday,November 6 ,2002 ] ]New movement
A year later in 2003, they moved to
Portland, Oregon to lead the Portland International Church of Christ. Since 2005, the congregations under Kip McKean's leadership have been considered separate from other International Church of Christ congregations and they have shown a tendency to call their organization within a city "International Christian Church". [ [http://www.cityofangelsicc.org/index.php/church-directory/ Smallest groups that current affiliated with Kip McKean and the "Portland movement"] ] This group under Kip McKean's influence has been called the "Portland/Sold-Out Discipling Movement". In 2007, McKean moved to Los Angeles to lead a congregation of his new movement known as the City of Angels International Christian Church. [ [http://www.disciplestoday.com/Headlines/061208_McKeanStartsNewMovement.aspx Kip McKean Starts The International Christian Churches] ]
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