Who are the Two-by-Twos?

The Christian Convention Church, known by others as the "Two-by-Twos" is a secretive pseudo-Christian gathering of well-meaning folks, most of whom are clueless as to the history and factual truth about their church. It is interesting to note that the members call their group the "truth," instead of Jesus himself, as written in John 14:6.

Most members subscribe to the notion that their little church is "from the beginning," implying direct ministerial lineage from the 12 disciples of Christ. Thanks to the internet and the free proliferation of previously-hidden facts, the group had to slightly revise its story by saying that their ministry is "from the beginning" and that it was recently revived in the present time. This revision contradicts their own insistence that the "truth" is unchanging, or has "always been on the earth." If the "truth" is truly unchanging, the revision of their history would be unnecessary.

The church's nickname is a derivative of the manner in which its ministers (known as "workers") travel about in pairs, going "two and two" as described by either Mark 6 or Luke 10. At some point, the nickname became "Two-by-Two." Church members are quick to point out that the phrase "two by two" is not in the bible, thus the name is invalid. What they fail to note is that the word "convention" (a 4-day annual gathering that all members are expected to attend) is not in the bible either. Hmmm...

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Comments from a few of the "friends" who have left the sect:

"I was over thirty before I heard the truth regarding the actual history of the fellowship. I had always firmly believed that we were a continuation of the first century church, established by Jesus and somehow preserved throughout the ages as had been reinforced often by the worker's preaching. I relied on this "fact" often when I was telling "outsiders" about "The Way". In my mind, it was probably the single most important fact of all - that Jesus established His Church while on earth, complete with instructions of how the church was to gather and how the ministers were to preach. That I was a part of that continuing church was amazing! I never challenged this concept anymore than I challenged the fact that the world is round vs. square The workers either actually preached or subtly alluded to their belief of the church's origin and I simply accepted them at their word. One wasn't to question the authority of the workers! When I discovered that the church is only approximately 100 years old and has an earthly founder by the name of William Irvine I was at first shocked. But that soon led to anger and a feeling of betrayal. After careful scrutiny I could not find anywhere in the gospels where Jesus actually said, "this is the way in which you are to worship" or "this is the way I want ministers to go forth and preach from now until eternity." His sending forth the 12 in Matt.10 was for a SPECIFIC reason, to SPECIFIC people for a SPECIFIC period of time I found more instances of the apostles going forth singly, or in three-somes and four-somes than two-by-two. One also can read 1 Cor. 9:5 and ascertain that many apostles were married and likely had families and homes of their own. I find it interesting to read about the beginnings of the "fellowship" and see how it has been patterned after a church in Scotland, the Faith Mission, which is still in existence today."

"We were having doubts for several years about all that goes on in the "Truth" and reading about the background and beginning of it made me furious after being lied to about the history all those years that we professed."

"I decided that I wanted to understand the Bible and I wasn't getting enough information from the workers. All they talked about was the ministry and I wanted to know more about the Bible . When I finlly did learn more, I realized that the "way" wasn't right."

"The bottom line is this...the 2x2's teach doctrine that is contrary to scripture and they do not agree among themselves (at all levels, from older workers to younger workers from elders to saints) on what they believe."

"When I left the 2x2's, and got into a good church, the Bible became a new experience for me I remember reading it like I had never even set eyes on it before in my life!! It, for me, at least, was NOT the same Bible I had in the "truth." The words were the same, but I had finally grasped the MEANING, which was so much different."

"Oh how confident we were that we had the answers! Such misplaced confidence while in reality we knew so little!"

"The 'truth' believes and teaches doctrine contrary to the inspired inerrant Word of God."

"The one distinctive characteristic of a cult is that they do not recognize or acknowledge who Jesus Christ is."