History

We are a non-denominational church, born out of the Restoration Movement. Appleton Christian Church started out as Redlands Christian Church in Grand Junction, CO, which was named after the Redlands area of western Grand Junction. This church was founded in the mid-70's. In 1995, the church relocated to the Appleton area of Grand Junction and thus became Appleton Christian Church.

Mission

Appleton Christian Church exists to Adore the Lord, Connect with His people, and Contribute to His project. The initials of Appleton Christian Church create an acronym which makes this mission statement easy to remember:

Our church logo is also centered around this concept: the cross symbolizes our Christian faith, the apple represents our geographical location, the ACC represents our name as well as our mission, and the checkbox symbolizes our invitation for you to join us in our mission. In other words, the checkbox means..."count me in!"

What We Believe

We are often asked what Christian churches believe.  The goals and principles which have guided these congregations through the years can best be appreciated by a brief look at the history out of which they came.

The early 1800’s was a time of extreme division, almost chaos, among the denominational churches in the Eastern United States.  Many people recognized that the state of the church was not what Jesus taught and prayed for, but their solutions to the problems weren’t very satisfactory, either.

1. Some promoted unity by downplaying Biblical teaching;

2. Other used the Bible primarily to reinforce denominational positions;

3. And still others essentially abandoned the Bible completely and created their own religious systems

In contrast to these three directions, several believers from various denominational backgrounds felt that they could be both (1) true to the Bible while simultaneously seeking (2) unity among Christ’s followers.

A thorough  study of the Bible led these folks to an amazing but simple principle, the key both to Biblical loyalty and Christian unity.

That principle was:

the "restoration" of the church
found in the early chapters
of the Book of Acts

In conscientiously attempting to restore the kind of church pictured early in the book of Acts, these Christians used or developed several practical mottoes that helped convey their basic convictions:

In essentials, unity;

In opinions, liberty;

And in all things, love.


No book but the Bible;

No creed but Christ.

Call Bible things by Bible names.

These mottoes were intentionally not codified into a creed, in order to avoid creating yet another denomination.  But they and others were used as a practical means with which to communicate Bible-based Christian unity.

Admittedly, such principles leave some doctrinal questions unresolved, and they put a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders  of Christians and the leaders of local congregations.  But they preserve the opportunity for a church to be biblically sound and still to experience the unity for which Christ prayed  (John 17).

Further information is presented in our Appleton 101 class.

Did You Know . . .

Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and James A. Garfield were all connected with Christian churches. Mr. Garfield was a preacher for a congregation before he became President.