The congregations that advocate financial support or the pooling of resources for the benefit of other entities or organized external evangelical efforts are sometimes called "sponsoring churches" and identified as "mainstream."

Examples include whether or not to 'corporately' sponsor a youth outing or have auxiliary facilities like a study room or kitchen on church grounds.

As a result, they oppose the following practices that became widespread in other churches of Christ during the mid-twentieth century,[7] namely: The diversity among autonomous congregations makes it difficult to document their history, either individually or as a group of common interest.

The lack of denominational infrastructure leaves a vacuum for inter-congregational discourse among Churches of Christ, one that often has been filled by publications and extra-church institutions such as colleges.

In 1933, he had written a series of articles in the Gospel Advocate arguing that churches should support educational institutions and charities from their treasuries.

First, many of the previous generation of perceived leaders (such as Daniel Sommer, J. D. Tant, Joe Warlick, and F. B. Srygley) had died, leaving others with different beliefs and dispositions to take their place.

The most notable of these was Goodpasture, who had ascended to be editor of the Gospel Advocate in 1939; he is generally regarded as the most influential figure among Churches of Christ at this time.

The best-known of these efforts was the Herald of Truth, a nationwide radio program begun by the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, in 1952.

No longer was it a mere hypothetical question, but one where a strict interpretation of congregational independence and separation of the individual and the church would, in their estimation, lead to lost opportunities.

Those who objected to churches funding private institutions were often referred to as "orphan haters", "Pharisees," and the like;[11] for their part, non-institutionals such as Foy E. Wallace, Jr. returned (and at times initiated) the rhetorical fire.

[citation needed] The leading voices of the institutional movement were men such as G. C. Brewer, N. B. Hardeman, Robert M. Alexander, and B. C. Goodpasture.

The non-institutional side of the debate was led by men such as Foy E. Wallace Jr., Roy Cogdill, and Fanning Yater Tant.

From the beginning, the non-institutional side found itself outmaneuvered by the institutionals, who held the reins of power at all the large Bible colleges and the most popular of publications.

It was not aided by infighting between the various proponents, climaxing in the 1951 split of the Fourth and Groesbeck Church of Christ in Lufkin, Texas, leading to two congregations, one with Cogdill as preacher, the other with Wallace's brother Cled preaching.

[12] Foy Wallace, the most polarizing figure in the debate, thereafter ceased arguing for a non-institutional position; indeed, by the mid-1960s, he associated himself exclusively with institutional churches.

The paper had in previous years stood opposed to the colleges on many matters and had positioned itself under Showalter as a place for balanced debate.

"[13] Goodpasture's political style led him "to cut his losses and to consolidate his assets," in the words of historian Richard Hughes.

[16] Exiles often banded together to form new congregations; some rural communities today are home to two or more small Churches of Christ as the legacy of this division.

The most significant discussion of this time reflected the "unity in diversity" debate taking place in institutional churches; but it was little accepted in the more conservative non-institutional branch.

A more recent reconciliation attempt involved a series of discussions that took place on November 15, 2019, in Dickson, Tennessee, at Freed-Hardeman University's Renaissance Center.

[18] Doug Burleson, Associate Professor in Bible at Freed-Hardeman University and Assistant Dean of the College of Biblical Studies, and Kyle Pope, who preaches for the Olsen Park Church of Christ in Amarillo, Texas, sat down for an informal series of living room conversations.