"I submit this proposition: Any individual Christian, or group of individuals, smaller than a local congregation; or any group of individuals or churches larger than a local church; or any individual church itself that begins thinking in terms of what the whole brotherhood should do, and goes or sends somebody to the churches to see that they do it, and acts as an agent or agency through which the brotherhood does it, thereby constitutes itself a full-grown blown-in-the-bottle, fourteen-karat missionary society of the deepest dye! There is no way on earth to white-wash it. There is no city or refuge where he may hide from God’s displeasure. To call it something else, or to leave it unnamed, is a mere technical dodge. It is not condemned because it is similar to the missionary society, but because it violates the same fundamental principle the society violates — namely, the initiative and autonomy of the local congregation.” — W. E. Brightwell, Gospel Advocate, Dec. 20, 1924.)

“I asked a preacher, who defends Herald of Truth, why he thinks the Missionary Society is unscriptural. He said, ‘the Missionary Society is wrong because it is a functional organization larger than a congregation, and therefore violates the New Testament pattern of church organization.^’ I asked him if the Herald of Truth, where one church directs and oversees the work supported by thousands of other churches, does not violate the New Testament pattern of congregational function. He said ‘the New Testament limits the organization of the church (nothing larger than a congregation), but does not limit its function.^’ Look that one over. The very purpose of organization is that of function. And when the Lord limited the organization of the church He thereby, and to the same extent, limited its function.” — Luther Blackmon, Truth Magazine, February 18, 1971.

^“God has specified the organization (the congregation) and God’s specification excludes every other organization to do the work of the church. If Bro. Carrell could cite general authority that includes a human organization for benevolence, the same kind of general authority would include a human organization to preach the gospel. But Bro. Carrell can cite neither general nor specific authority for any human institution to do any work of the church.^” — Cecil Willis, Truth Magazine, Feb. 1969, page 9.
 

^“We, in this country, have tried to show again and again that the largest functional unit in the Bible is a congregation; the smallest functional unit in the New Testament is a congregation; the only functional unit in the New Testament is a congregation. God did not devise any way that local congregations could be tied together. There is no officer in the Bible who is appointed to oversee anything other than a congregation.^” — Cecil Willis, Truth Magazine, September 28, 1972, page 6.

^“Everybody should know that the only ‘organization’ or ‘arrangement’ of Christians to which the Lord has addressed commands for collective or joint activity is what is generally referred to as a ‘local church.’” — James R. Cope, Where is the Scripture, A review of BBB tract, page 59.

“There is no organization in the New Testament larger than, smaller than, or other than the congregation for the collective action of Christians.

“The fact that God hasn^’t specified the exact methods or ‘hows’ to be employed by a church or Christian does not authorize the building of another organization which then must provide its own methods. … In his book, Instrumental Music in the Worship, page 78, M. C. Kurfees makes an interesting statement along this line of thought. He wrote: ‘The same principle applies in precisely the same way to the religious organization under which, and through which, God’s Children are to work. If he had merely commanded them to work without giving them an organization through which, and under which, to work, with its divinely appointed board of supervisors and managers to look after the work, then they could obey the command by forming for themselves an organization for that purpose and appointing a board of supervisors to look after the work. But the Lord has given them an organization, and has specifically named its board of overseers and managers.’” —Eugene Britnell, Reminders, April 23, 1972.

“It is the conclusion of this writer that human organizations through which men seek to do the Lord^’s work are condemned on these grounds:

            “1. They reflect upon the wisdom of God, which is infinite and infallible. They ignore God’s knowledge of what is best for the accomplishing of what He wants done.

            “2. They ignore the divine pattern, and by their existence deny the reality of such a pattern, notwithstanding the teaching of such a pattern for congregational activity and life.

            “3. They defeat the purpose of God in establishing the church according to His wisdom. The development of the church in all its parts and functions is neglected.

            “4. Like mechanical instruments of music, human organizations created for the purpose of doing what God designed the local congregation to do are substitution for, or an addition to, the completeness of the Lord’s arrangement, and, consequently, cannot be an aid to the carrying out of that will. In thus violating the divine will, substituting human will and wisdom for the divine, such organizations result in presumptuous sinning.

“God knows what He wants and how best to accomplish that end. Let Christians be content to yield to that will, working in congregational capacities and not creating human societies through which to do the work. This is the only infallible safe course to pursue.” — Homer Hailey, Bible Guide, Huntsville, Alabama, March 1, 1974.

 “The New Testament church has been given the greatest task in the world. It has been charged with the awesome responsibility of preaching the gospel to all mankind. The design of that message is to turn people from darkness to light. It is a rescue mission of greatest urgency.

“Jesus said the gospel was to be preached to the whole creation (Mk. 16:15-16). Paul said the church is the ‘pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15). As such, it is expected to stand under and support the truth in the world. The church at Thessalonica was commended because from it has ‘sounded out the word of the Lord’ (1 Thes. 1:8-10). The seven churches of Asia were presented as lampstands (Rev. 1:20). They were bearers of the light of the gospel.

“The greatest task in the world has been ordered by the greatest Being in existence, God himself. This task can only be accomplished by following the wisdom of God who ordered it. ‘The foolishness of God is wiser than men’ (1 Cor. 1:25). God said ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways’ (Isa. 55:8-9). The human mind would have ordered the massing of troops and the concentration of power to accomplish this task. The mind of God ordained that there be no more complex arrangement than that of a         local church doing what it can to the limit of its power in accomplishing this task, and the consecrated efforts of individual disciples who burn with a love for the souls of the lost.

“The great world-wide spread of the gospel did not take place in the New Testament era until the concentration of thousands of members was scattered abroad (Acts 8:1-4). The scattering of the troops was contrary to anything human wisdom would have fashioned, but the wisdom and providence of God was behind it. The end result was that the Roman Empire was permeated with the gospel.

…

“With each congregation ‘sounding out the word of the Lord’ under its own elders, using its own resources and answerable to no board or conclave known to man, and with each disciple personally doing all he/she can to teach the truth wherever his/her influence may extend, then the greatest task in the world can and will be accomplished in harmony with the wisdom of the Being who ordered it. Let us be content to do God’s work in God’s way.” — Connie W. Adams, The Manslick Road Speaker, July 27, 1990.

^“The law of God does not authorize but one organic structure through which the church accomplishes its work. That is the local church, the congregation. There is, in the word of God, no organization larger, no organization smaller, no organization other than the congregation. … Here is the authority for the medium through which Christians are to accomplish the mission of the Lord’s church. A local congregation of the church of Christ is all and the only organization authorized to carry on Christian work or worship, and such organization excludes each and every other organization for the purpose of carrying on religious work or worship, whether the same be evangelistic, missionary or otherwise. This is the ground upon which we have stood, and upon which we will stand.” — Roy Cogdill, Cogdill-Woods Debate, page 25.

 “Everybody should know that the only ‘organization’ or ‘arrangement’ of Christians to which the Lord addressed commands for collective or joint activity is what is generally referred to as a ‘local church.’” — James Cope, Where Is The Scripture?, page 59.

 “In their capacity alone they moved. They neither transformed themselves into any other kind of association, nor did they fracture and sever themselves into divers societies. They viewed the church of Jesus Christ as the scheme of Heaven to ameliorate the world; as members of it, they considered themselves bound to do all they could for the glory of God and the good of men. They dare not transfer to a missionary society, or Bible society, or education society, a cent or a prayer, lest In so doing they should rob the church of its glory, and exalt the inventions of men above the wisdom of God. In their church capacity alone they moved. The church they considered ‘the pillar and ground of the truth’. They viewed it as the temple of the Holy Spirit; as the house of the living God. They considered if they did all they could in this capacity, they had nothing left for any other object of a religious nature. In this capacity, wide as its sphere extended, they exhibited the truth in word and deed.” — Alexander Campbell,  The Christian Baptist, August 3, 1823.

“But in the religious realm there is a difference. When God wanted collective, i.e., organizational action in the religious realm He gave (He specified) the collectivity or organization through which we must function. He gave the local church. It is the EKKLESIA, or church, of His choice. And it is the only religious organization or collectivity of His people that He authorizes. God’s word authorizes no religious organization that is larger than, smaller than, or other than the local church of Christ.” — Willie Ramsey, Torch magazine, July, 1983, page 17.

“Again in the work of the church God has authorized ‘evangelism.’ God has been specific as to the organization through which the church is to carry on the collective activity of evangelizing the world or preaching the gospel in all the world. The specific organization that God has chosen is the ‘local church.’ This is God’s collectivity, where Christians work together in fellowship one with another in doing the work of evangelizing the world. This is the organization through which the world was evangelized in the New Testament day.” — Roy Cogdill, The Arlington Meeting, page 36.

“Since all action in the kingdom is either distributive or collective, and since neither the individual Christian nor the church universal can function collectively, and since the only units of activity in the kingdom are the individual and the local congregation, it follows that all collective or group action belongs to the local congregation.” — Franklin Puckett, The Arlington Meeting, pages 156-157.

“Again, accepting the church as it is set forth in the New Testament as sufficient to do everything that God wants brethren to collectively do in Christ, I stand opposed to the formation of any other collective to provide for these things, either a collective of churches or Christians. …

“… If God has granted his people the right to form themselves into other collectives than a local church to do the things (collectively provide for) he has charged his people with doing, I am not aware of it. As a citizen of the world there are many organizations in which I may hold membership and function, but as a Christian I know of no organization peculiar to his people other than a local church.”  — W. L. Wharton, Jr., The Arlington Meeting, pages 178, 201-202

“Please note that collective action is OPPOSITE or OPPOSED to individual and distributive action. A ‘collective’ (such as ‘church’) may be considered distributively, its units act independently; or the units may act collectively. BUT WHEN THEY ARE ACTING INDEPENDENTLY, THEY ARE NOT, IN THAT MATTER, ACTING COLLECTIVELY: AND WHEN THEY ARE ACTING COLLECTIVELY, INDEPENDENCE HAS BEEN SACRIFICED IN THINGS PERTAINING TO, AND TO THE EXTENT OF, THAT COLLECTIVE ACTION. Here is a vital point, and a source of much misunderstanding and ambiguity of arguments among brethren.” — Robert F. Turner, The Arlington Meeting^, page 259.