Within a few months of his arrival in Ireland, Irvine was already disillusioned with the Faith Mission. Its caption read "How 'Dippers' are Initiated". Ī drawing from 1907 depicting a baptismal rite. Because his mission was successful, he was promoted to superintendent of Faith Mission in southern Ireland. In 1896, William Irvine was sent from Scotland to southern Ireland as a missionary by John George Govan's Faith Mission, an interdenominational organization with roots in the Holiness movement. Printed invitations and advertisements for its open gospel meetings are the only written materials which those outside the church are likely to encounter. Its hymnbook and various other materials for internal use are produced by outside publishers and printing firms. The church claims no official headquarters or official publications. The church also holds annual regional conventions and public Gospel meetings. Members hold regular weekly worship gatherings in local homes on Sunday and midweek. Others in the church believe that a restoration of some sort may have occurred in the late 19th century. Some in the church claim it is a direct continuation of the 1st-century Christian church. Baptism by immersion as performed by one of the church's workers is required for full participation. The orthodox Christian Trinitarian doctrine is rejected, and members deny having a church name. Doctrine of the church teaches that salvation is available only by accepting the preaching of its homeless, unsalaried ministry workers and by attending the group's home meetings. The church does not explicitly publish any doctrinal statements, claiming these must be orally imparted by its ministers, referred to as "workers". Publication of several articles and books, increased news coverage, and the appearance of the Internet have since opened the church to wider scrutiny. The church then became much less visible to outsiders for the next half-century. One of the church's most prominent evangelists, Edward Cooney, was expelled a decade after Irvine. This teaching became controversial within the church and led to his expulsion by church overseers around 1914. Irvine eventually began preaching a new order in which the hierarchy that had developed within the church would have no placement. Church growth was rapid, spreading outside Ireland. Irvine began independently preaching a return to the method of itinerant ministry he claimed was set forth in Matthew 10. The church was founded in 1897 in Ireland by William Irvine, an evangelist with the interdenominational Faith Mission. These organization names are used only for registration purposes and are not used by members. The church's registered names include "Christian Conventions" in the United States, "Assemblies of Christians" in Canada, "The Testimony of Jesus" in the United Kingdom, "Kristna i Sverige" in Sweden, and "United Christian Conventions" in Australia. Those outside the church refer to it as "Two by Twos", "The Black Stockings", "No-name Church", " Cooneyites", "Workers and Friends" or "Christians Anonymous." Church ministers are itinerant and work in groups of two, hence the name "Two by Twos". Among members, the church is typically referred to as "The Truth" or "The Way". Two by Twos is one of the names used to denote an international, home-based new religious movement that has its origins in Ireland at the end of the 19th century.
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