[YP0534]

A trend I've noticed:

It also occurs to me that there is perhaps a desire to deny that the word "church" is even properly applicable to the group due to grave allegations of abuse and error. Or perhaps it's because of a desire to preserve the phrase "local church" for general use. But around here they avoid use of the common denominational name "Local Church" that has been used in Christianity for decades. I've noticed this most commonly among those who are most strongly antagonistic to the group. Instead, they prefer to add other words as descriptors such as "system" or "movement" or to make express reference to the denomination's LSM connection, e.g. "LSM-affiliated local churches."

I find that I'm completely comfortable utilizing the denominational name that Christianity Today used in print from at least the early 1980s and that the group itself used in its recent pleadings to the United States Supreme Court, capital letters and singular to boot. This is "The Local Church of Witness Lee" or, more concisely, "The Local Church."

The Local Church is a denomination that got its name on account of their peculiar doctrine of localism which began as a truth concerning the oneness of all believers but eventually became a point of division, as has happened with so many good teachings in so many groups throughout history.