New Church Movements and Second-Generation Theological Education: The Boston Movement from 1979–2002

This article investigates why the schism of the Boston Movement (now the Inter - national Churches of Christ) adopted a very different ministerial training approach to the one long supported by its parent church, the mainline Church of Christ (CoC). Drawing from both primary and secondary sources, the article explores the Boston Movement’s transition to an independent church and then identifies specific reasons for the new Movement’s departure from the CoC’s expectation that church ministers receive an academic qualification in theology. Using a foundation in Max Weber’s theory of charisma and routinization, the article argues that at least eight interwoven socio-historical factors influenced the Boston Movement’s pendulum swing toward an almost exclusively practical approach to ministerial formation.