If you've been a Christian or have been around Christianity for any length of time, you know that there are countless denominations within the banner of Christianity itself. Each denomination has its own worship style, scriptural interpretations, beliefs about communion and baptism, and more.

These differences are nothing new – and they're not a bad thing! Denominations are a blessing for the church. It's good that we grapple with questions of Scripture and their interpretations. But where the Church can fall into error is in the handing down of certain attitudes – the notion that other denominations are in competition with ours, or that worship styles that do not adhere to a strict checklist be written off as mere performance.

While some of these attitudes are generational preferences, others can end up doing more harm than good. Satan has used these denominational differences and turned the Church against itself. Rather than learning from each other, we dismiss other believers as misguided, ill-informed, "crazy", or even as heretics when our faith walks don't match exactly. If we as Christians do not demonstrate unity, the world misses out on the Gospel. If, instead of encouragement, we begin listing all the ways others have it wrong, we achieve nothing for the Kingdom, and come across as a family offering acceptance and love when we aren't willing to extend that to each other.

Enter: The Christian Chain.

TCC began as a nudge from the Holy Spirit. As a college freshman in 2000, our CEO, Christopher Warrington, was trying to get acclimated to his new campus environment and find a church in California. When he found that there were little to no resources to help a Christian find a local church congregation to worship with, an idea started to grow. As he talked with people about how the church should be unified and discussing scriptural references to this point, he found a lot of discord where there should have been harmony. Often, there were conversations (and many since then) that would center around how other denominations were wrong, yet the person making the claims couldn't provide scriptural evidence for these doctrinal inaccuracies. After some deeper questioning, he was finding a common thread that this distrust was more due to teachings received from pastors and family members then any scriptural basis.

A 20-year-long labor of love, TCC is the product of ideas, prayer, and a deep-seated desire from the Holy Spirit to unite the worldwide Church through actionable resources and programs that allow us to find common ground. It's taken a while for us to get going, but we're here!

We know that God is using this time of uncertainty and social distancing for His purpose. God grieves with us over the COVID-19 crises, but as Scripture says, He is Sovereign and present, and He works all things together for our good. Despite a struggling economy, TCC was able to hire additional staff members in July 2020. Our hiring process looked strikingly similar to Samuel's anointing of the King of Israel – there were plenty of qualified candidates, and a few who looked perfect on paper, but God had his own candidates in mind.

As CEO, Christopher has been given an incredible support system through our employees and board members, all godly men and women who share the vision for Church unity. His family in particular is made up of prayer warriors and mentors who have all seen how TCC has grown, and have devoted their own time and energies to pray for us.

And so, onwards and upwards! We've got plenty of programs and ideas we'll be rolling out in the near future, and we're excited to see God's direction for our organization. Please pray for us as we prayerfully consider God's will for The Church and His direction for our own ministry.