Two by Twos (often known as The Truth by its members) is an international, home-based Christian new religious movement that has its origins in Ireland at the end of the 19th century. This church has no official name; among members, the church is more usually referred to as "The Truth", "Meetings", or "the workers and friends". 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". The church's registered names include "Christian Conventions" in the United States, "Assemblies of Christians" and “The Alberta Society of Christian Assemblies” in Canada - dissolved only after it was exposed, "The Testimony of Jesus" in the United Kingdom, "Kristna i Sverige" in Sweden, and "United Christian Conventions" in Australia. These organization names are used only for registration purposes and are not used by members.
The church was founded in 1897 in Ireland by William Irvine, an evangelist with the interdenominational Faith Mission. Irvine began independently preaching a return to the method of itinerant ministry he claimed was set forth in Matthew 10. Church growth was rapid, spreading outside Ireland. Irvine eventually began preaching a new order in which the hierarchy that had developed within the church would have no placement. This teaching became controversial within the church and led to his expulsion by church overseers around 1914. One of the church's most prominent evangelists, Edward Cooney, was expelled a decade after Irvine. The church then became much less visible to outsiders for the next half-century. 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 does not explicitly publish any doctrinal statements, claiming these must be orally imparted by its ministers, referred to as "workers". Doctrine of the church teaches that salvation is reached by attending the group's home meetings, accepting the preaching of its itinerant, unsalaried ministry workers, and "professing". (See Terminology). Whereas some other Christian sects believe in salvation by faith alone, the Two by Twos teach that salvation is not achieved through faith alone, but achieved only through a combination of faith and "works". Works are described as selfless good deeds, which are in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The orthodox Christian Trinitarian doctrine is rejected, and members deny having a church name. Baptism by immersion as performed by one of the church's workers is required for full participation. Some in the church claim it is a direct continuation of the 1st-century Christian church. Others in the church believe that a restoration of some sort may have occurred in the late 19th century.
Members hold regular weekly worship gatherings in local homes on Sunday and midweek. The church also holds annual regional conventions and public Gospel meetings. The church claims no official headquarters or official publications. Its hymnbook and various other materials for internal use are produced by outside publishers and printing firms. Printed invitations and advertisements for its open gospel meetings are the only written materials which those outside the church are likely to encounter.
History
Founding
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. Because his mission was successful, he was promoted to superintendent of Faith Mission in southern Ireland.
Within a few months of his arrival in Ireland, Irvine was already disillusioned with the Faith Mission. There was friction over its Holiness teachings, and Irvine saw its organization as a violation of his concept of a faith-based ministry. Above all, Irvine was increasingly intolerant of the Faith Mission's cooperation with the other churches and clergy in the various communities of southern Ireland, regarding converts who joined churches as "lost among the clergy." In 1897, he began preaching independently, proclaiming that true ministers must have no home and take no salary. He became convinced that he had received this as a special revelation he referred to as his "Alpha message". Opposed to all other established churches, he held that the manner in which the disciples had been sent out in chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew was a permanent commandment which must still be observed. The passage reads in part: