International Christian Fellowship

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International Christian Fellowship
International Christian Fellowship
Motto: "Experience the Church anew"
General
organization Mixed form between Presbyterian and Episcopal elements, with the episcopal in the foreground.
particularities no memberships; Financed solely through donations
distribution Switzerland , Germany , Austria , Czech Republic , Netherlands , Israel , Italy , Cambodia , Albania and Brazil
founding
Place of foundation Zurich
Others
Humanitarian institutions social welfare organization "ICF Foundation"
Tax position Non-profit association ; Free Church
Also called: ICF Church
Website www.icf.church

ICF (phonetic [aisiː'æf] for International Christian Fellowship ), also called "ICF Church," is a 1,996 incurred and are active in several countries, interdenominational and non-denominational oriented Christian Free Church , which for neocharismatischen movement is counted. The Free Church orients itself more towards a younger audience, among other things through more modern communication methods.

distribution

The umbrella organization ICF Movement supports church planting through its structures in Switzerland, Germany and internationally.

In April 2015 there were ten ICF congregations in Switzerland, eleven in Germany, six in other European countries and two in other countries, with some congregations functioning as so-called multisite churches, i.e. H. a congregation that meets at several locations. In 2016 there were 51 ICF churches across Europe with an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 visitors per week. By May 2017, the number of ICF churches worldwide had grown to 60 and Leo Bigger announced the establishment of a number of other ICF churches in 2017 when he presented the Vision Sunday ICF 2.0.

Switzerland
Germany
International

Several church foundations of the ICF have meanwhile been dissolved again. a. in Germany ( Berlin , Bonn , Braunschweig , Coburg , Hamburg and Lippe ), Italy ( Rome ), Netherlands ( Zaanstad ), Norway ( Trondheim ), Austria ( Bregenz ), Switzerland ( Aarau , Baden , Thurgau and Zofingen ) and the United Kingdom ( London ).

The ICF employs 60 full-time employees in its original municipality in Zurich (the personnel expenses for 2015 account for 52 percent of the budget). This means that a celebration (church service) in 2015 will reach 3,200 visitors a week in all six locations (meeting places).

Teaching and culture

The ICF movement sees itself as a neo- charismatic movement because it does not want to commit itself between evangelical and charismatic ideas on fundamental theological issues.

The Bible and the apostolic creed are considered the foundation of teaching. Therefore, the ICF can be classified doctrinally with the other churches and free churches and distinguishes itself from sectarian currents. The interpretation corresponds to the evangelical tradition; the ICF also takes a conservative position on questions of sexual ethics such as premarital intercourse or homosexuality .

A central aspect of the teaching is, according to ICF, people in a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ to lead , he that as a present, intensely personal friend, is constantly communicating with the man.

The ICF Church does not have a uniform theological character, the individual parishes are evangelical and charismatic to different degrees.

The ICF Movement has developed a vision as a common denominator , according to which the individual ICF churches align:

  • We dream of a church that has its finger on the pulse
  • Here people find a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
  • In this church people experience real love and fellowship
  • Talents are discovered and promoted
  • The church we dream of is passionate, growing and having a positive impact on our society

In 2018 the theologian Manuel Schmid formulated five characteristics of the ICF culture:

  • Progressive - culture of expecting the future (having dreams, realizing visions through faith in the power of the gospel and in the love of God)
  • Passionate - culture of passion (passion is attractive, especially because God has not given up his church)
  • Participatory - culture of empowerment (new vessels serve for participation, trust, multiplication and the realization of ideas of the members)
  • Pragmatic - culture of fault tolerance (challenge and encourage people, experimenting means making learning experiences and fault tolerance should lead to better results)
  • Personal - culture of closeness to life (people come and identify with successful and authentic, struggling and vulnerable leaders)

Worship and practice

Church services

ICF service in Berlin

The services are called Celebrations in the ICF . Above all, the motto should be visible here on the cutting edge . Sermon series are popular in which a specific topic is dealt with over several consecutive weeks in church services and in discussion groups called small groups. The sermons ( called Messages by the ICF ) try very hard to be clear, and one of the stated goals of the ICF Movement is that the sermons can be implemented by the faithful; So they call on the worshipers to rethink and take concrete action.

Modern music in the style of rock , pop , house , dance or soul is part of every church service. The entire celebration and especially the worship part resembles the services of Hillsong Church or other attractive parishes. Modern event technology plays a noticeable role here, and all ICF congregations use similar modern means to organize their services

Pieces of music are partly created from the ICF itself, but in many cases other bands are loaned, that is, the rights for the corresponding songs are bought and then played with the church's own bands.

What is striking is the massive and consistent use of Anglicisms such as B. Celebration for worship, message for sermon, worship for praise music .

In addition to the church services, the ICF offers courses on, for example, basic beliefs, personal talents, dealing with money or leadership training.

Small groups

Since 2002 there has been a small group model in the ICF, as can be found in most other Christian churches (there traditionally known as the house group ). These groups should strengthen and deepen the faith through personal exchange and promote fellowship with one another. The organization of the mostly weekly or bi-weekly meetings is left to the group members; some place emphasis on spiritual exchange, others on the aspect of community.

Initially, the so-called G12 from Colombia was introduced as part of the small groups in some ICFs , a system in which the G12 leader in turn trains his participants to become G12 leaders. The originally well-intentioned concept was criticized because of its strong ties to the G12 leaders and the ICF was accused of sectarian structures. So G12 was soon abolished and abandoned.

college

In Zurich, Munich, Berlin and Karlsruhe, lay training in the basic subjects “Bible Challenge”, “Leadership Challenge” and “Life Challenge” (personal and social skills) as well as in advanced subjects is a theological one in the so-called ICF College Training offered based on Bible schools .

ICF Worship

The Free Church ICF Zurich and the ICF Movement Worship produce music under the name ICF Worship. The songs come from the heart of the local church and aim to lead people into the presence of God. ICF Worship has been working closely with Integrity Music (UK / USA) since the beginning of 2013. Integrity Music publishes and administers the ICF Worship Songs worldwide and supports ICF Worship in the distribution of the songs in the churches worldwide. Since 1996 more than 20 CDs have been produced and several concert and musical tours have been carried out.

ICF TV

Since August 2010, half-hour recordings of sermons given by ICF pastor Leo Bigger in Zurich have been broadcast on television. The programs can be viewed on ICF TV's own website and via broadcasts from various stations ( Rhein-Main TV , Das Vierte , Super RTL and others).

Organization: development, management and financing

Corporate identity

The ICF has its corporate identity , that is its mission statement and its uniform and binding self-presentation, summarized in six keywords :

  • In tune with the times
  • Enthusiastic about life
  • Experience community
  • Unfold potential
  • Give the best
  • Nothing is impossible.

Community structure

The head office is in Zurich (so-called mother church). The Swiss ICF communities are registered as non-profit organizations in the sense of registered associations in the respective commercial registers of the cantons , the German ICFs are non-profit associations

In contrast to most other free churches , the ICF Movement has no binding membership. Each visitor can decide for himself whether he sees himself as part of the church or not. Accordingly, there are no democratic parish assemblies at which decisions are voted on, but decisions are usually made by a management team made up of key people in the church. This makes the church structure a little more hierarchical, but also more dynamic, since change processes can be initiated more quickly. The structure of the ICF churches is a hybrid between Presbyterian and Episcopal elements and is not the same everywhere.

Community life itself is mainly shaped by volunteer workers. The aim is for everyone to be employed according to their talents and to flourish through their collaboration. According to the ICF, participation is voluntary and no pressure is exerted.

financing

The ICF congregations are not financed by the state but by donations, which is why donations are regularly asked for at ICF events. As in most free churches, the theological justification refers to the donation to the Jewish temple , which is listed in the Bible as the duty of the believers. However, the ICF expressly gives church service visitors the freedom to decide whether they are able and willing to donate something; there is no obligation to donate.

The ICF emphasizes on keeping its finances transparent and on various occasions has expressed its willingness to provide information on its expenditure. The donors are given a financial report once or several times a year, from which the individual income, donations and expenses can be seen. So every donor can find out what is happening with their money. About 10 percent of the money is used for charitable purposes.

A group consisting of the local senior pastor (called "Senior Pastor" by the ICF) and local deacons (called "Ministry Heads") is usually involved in making financial decisions.

history

The Swiss Heinz W. Strupler , gardeners and church planters who is already in-Newlife movement, the Swiss version of the Jesus People , played an important role from the late 1960s, organized on 19 August 1990, submit a non-denominational worship-worship in the St. Anna Chapel of the Evangelical Society of Zurich . 380 people were counted. The young community later settled in the old stock exchange in Zurich .

The Institute for Church Building and World Mission emerged from the ICF in 1990 and various Christian congregations in 1992, such as the Evangelical Congregation Glockenhof (later called Limmatgemeinde), the English Church of Zurich and the Assemblée Chrétienne de Zurich .

In 1993 the congregation moved to the Glockenhof for a short time , then to the Shopville train station shopping center for a few months . In 1994 Heinz W. Strupler handed over the management of the ICF to Leo Bigger . From this year the ICF church services took place in the Hotel Limmathaus.

In 1996 Leo Bigger and others founded the ICF Church Association , which was renamed ICF -Zurich in 1999 . Even then, her declared goal was to become an international movement.

In 1997 the ICF Church moved from the Hotel Limmathaus to the old stock exchange on Paradeplatz in Zurich . In 1998 the movement diversified its services to address different age groups: Groundzero - (13 to 15 years), Youthplanet - (16 to 19 years) and since 2002 there has been the Zwänzger service (20 to 25 years). For a few years now there has also been the GenX service for people over the age of 25 ( GenX stands for Generation X ).

In 1999 new ICF congregations were founded in Basel and Bern, and in 2000 in Nuremberg.

In 2002, house Bible groups with twelve people each were formed in the ICF based on the model of a Colombian congregation by César Castellanos in Bogotá. This G12 principle - later referred to as small groups - was later dropped. In the same year, the Zurich ICF community relocated from the old stock exchange to the Maag event halls in District 5 in Zurich with 1900 seats.

In 2005 ICF Zurich organized the Leadership in Style congress with guest speakers Walter Heidenreich , Robert Schuller and Magnus Persson , which was attended by 1,500 participants. In the same year the publishing house ICF Media GmbH is founded.

In 2006 the ICF movement celebrated its tenth anniversary. The celebration was connected to a conference and was combined with the celebration of Ascension Day . Internally it was named Big10 (pronounced Big Ten based on Big Ben ). Around 3500 people attended the event with various guest speakers and the British band delirious? in the ice hockey stadium Kolping Arena in Kloten . In the same year the social welfare foundation Acts was founded.

In 2008 ICF opened two new locations in Rapperswil and Winterthur under the motto: One Church - Three Locations . The ICF College was also started with weekly theological lectures.

In 2010, ICF services were broadcast for the first time on two private television channels, Star TV and Das Vierte. In the same year, the ICF branches in Winterthur, Rapperswil and Wetzikon were organizationally integrated into ICF Zurich under the motto: One Church - Four Locations .

In 2011 Bigger's sermons were also broadcast on the German channels Main TV and Austria 9. The 15th anniversary celebration also took place in the Hallenstadion in Zurich. This time the event was called The Big 15 and was attended by around 7,000 people. The event was criticized by the high level of interest also from the media, the Tages-Anzeiger was mentioned as an example . The ICF Band released the album Take a Stand , the title track topped the Swiss iTunes charts.

From the beginning of 2012 to April 2013, the ICF Zurich was located in the freight yard, after which it moved to the Maaghalle just a few meters away.

Since 2017 the ICF Zurich has held its services in the new " Samsung Hall " in the Stettbach district of Dübendorf . The cost of converting the permanently rented premises is estimated at 4.9 million Swiss francs and is financed with donations.

Connections to other churches

The ICF does not belong to any ecumenical organization. It is consequently not a member of the ACK ( Working Group of Christian Churches ). Many leaders of ICFs take part in actions of the Evangelical Alliance. There are parish participations in non-denominational activities:

  • Karlsruhe is represented in the Network Forum Christian Leader Karlsruhe . Steffen Beck, pastor at ICF Karlsruhe, is also currently the chairman of the Evangelical Alliance Karlsruhe and one of the first signatories of the Germany-wide campaign Time to get up .
  • Most of the German ICFs such as Munich, Augsburg, Singen, etc. are members of the Evangelical Alliance.
  • In 2006, Nuremberg supported the ecumenical festival for football fans and is in contact with the Evangelical Alliance and LUX, a youth church project of the Evangelical Church.
  • In Switzerland, nine local ICF congregations are members of the responsible local or regional section of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance .
  • Mittelland participates with the Reformed Church and various free churches in the week of prayer of the Evangelical Alliance.
  • In Austria, all existing ICF congregations are part of the Free Christian Church Association - Pentecostal Church and thus members of the Free Churches in Austria (FKÖ). This means that they are officially recognized in Austria.

The ICF was accepted as a member of the Association of Evangelical Free Churches and Congregations in Switzerland in September 2019 .

Controversy

The ICF used to be criticized for the “G12” house group principle, which has since been abandoned, because it was considered a pyramid scheme. The ICF is most often criticized for its lack of democratic elements and its fundamentalist orientation.

criticism

The Zurich journalist and sect expert Hugo Stamm described the ICF as a charismatic free church with sectarian tendencies, but emphasized that it was not a sect. The specialist office infosekta considers the alienation of family and friends, great psychological stress in case of doubt and a problematic handling of psychological borderline situations as possible problems for members.

The journalist and Protestant theologian Fritz Imhof criticized Infosekta for the potentially misleading decision " [...] to place a Christian youth church in a statistical table next to Scientology and the VPM [...] ". He also criticized the fact that Infosekta based its assessment of the ICF mainly on statements from former members. Imhof points out that “ [...] dropouts are usually very hard on their former spiritual home. [D] a is often a lot of frustration, which is compensated in the form of aggression and correspondingly harsh judgments. Dropouts do not give a neutral picture. "

The independent information center INFOREL, Information Religion, contradicts the statement of Infosekta after they carried out extensive research in the area around the church. On the official homepage it says: “ Theologically, the ICF does not differ from other evangelical free churches […] ICF wants to address above all young people who do not yet belong to any church. Therefore [...] services are designed in such a way that young people are addressed [...]. "

View of regional churches and other free churches

One of the big accusations from the free church side is: The ICF mainly attracts young people from other churches. This triggered the protest of some churches, which are of the opinion that ICF has so far recruited committed young people from them. The ICF Church denies this: There is no targeted solicitation. However, a regional church pastor said on this subject: “Our parish life no longer appeals to most young people. I would prefer it if they were accepted into this or another free church than to lose contact entirely. ”The Reformed pastor David Brunner said of ICF as follows:“ Thank you, ICF! You awaken a new passion in me for God's glory. You excite me with your longing to not focus on the show but on Jesus. Your way of living the church, passionately releasing employees and not keeping your know-how to yourself, but rather allowing others to participate, is anything but natural in the church landscape! "So says ICF managing director and press spokesman Nicolas Legler:" It is noticeable that fear of contact is disappearing more and more. We go together and for one another towards the same goal. ”In 2018, a group of Protestant Reformed theologians visited the ICF in Zurich for a further training event to learn from the dynamic Free Church. The theologian Manuel Schmid described the ICF culture with the five points progressive, passionate, participatory, pragmatic and personal. These are more essential than the most modern technology and the best celebrations.

It is known from personal reports that when new local ICF churches are founded, young visitors from traditional, local Christian congregations switch to the new ICF. It is unclear whether this is the result of active enticement or the automatic pull of the ICF Church with its modern multimedia presentation. The pastor of a Protestant regional church thinks that the modern forms of religious practice could be condemned as competition, but also offer an opportunity to rethink one's own community life and the organization of church services.

ICF reactions

The ICF defends itself against the charge of being a sect. For example, the ICF-Zofingen stated in an FAQ on its previous website that there is no neutral assessment if you want to decide whether a community is a sect or not, so the term is fundamentally questionable. The ICF-Zofingen considered the criteria used by cult experts to identify cults to be inadequate and stated: "We believe that the primary assessment criterion should not be the cult criteria, but the effects that an organization has on individual people and on society." ICF is not a sect, one can recognize among other things by the fact that there are no members, nobody is prevented from leaving the community and the finances are transparent.

A position is also taken on the points of contention: The ICF claims that the biblical-conservative ethics are "old wine in new bottles", the ICF thus represents the biblical principles consistently and loyally according to their interpretation. It also claims that biblical ethics in society are conservative and therefore out of date and need not be a standard. The ICF believes that homosexuality is identified as sin in the Bible (especially in the New Testament epistles of Paul). ICF believes that it does not discriminate against homosexuals because it welcomes all people. The ICF goes on to say: It condemns sin, but not the sinner. For the ICF, every sin is equal before God.

literature

  • Georg Schmid , Georg Otto Schmid (Hrsg.): The churches, sects, religions. Religious communities, ideological groups and psycho-organizations in the German-speaking area. ISBN 3-290-17215-5 , Theologischer Verlag Zurich, 7th edition Zurich 2003.
  • several authors, ICF-Mittelland (ed.): Portrait ICF Zofingen , self-print 2005.
  • several authors, ICF-Mittelland (Ed.): Annual Report (ICF Zofingen) , self-print 2006.
  • Francis Müller: Self-Transformation and Charismatic Evangelical Identity. A comparative ethnosemantic lifeworld analysis Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2015. ISBN 978-3-658-09250-4 (Dissertation at the University of Bayreuth 2013. ICF occurs particularly on pages 70–81 and 243–249)

Web links

Wiktionary: fellowship  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

swell

  1. Simon Hehli: Incredibly enthusiastic about Jesus - The ICF Free Church has a bad reputation in public. But it offers its followers its own microcosm - and can thus assert itself in an incredulous environment . Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Zurich June 15, 2016
  2. a b ICF Movement: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  3. 20 years of ICF: In tune with the times , Idea , article from May 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Vision Sunday - ICF 2.0 , ERF Medien , recording of ICF-TV from the Samsung Hall in Zurich from May 26, 2017
  5. ^ ICF Basel: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  6. ^ ICF Bern: Locations ( Memento of April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  7. ^ ICF Chur: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  8. ^ ICF Emmental: Location ( Memento of April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  9. ^ ICF Mittelland: Locations ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  10. ^ ICF Lausanne: Villes ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  11. ^ ICF Genève: Villes ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  12. ^ ICF Zug: Locations ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  13. ^ ICF Lucerne: Locations ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  14. ^ ICF Central Switzerland: Locations ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  15. ^ ICF Schaffhausen: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  16. ^ ICF St. Gallen: Contact ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  17. ^ ICF Zurich: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  18. ^ ICF Augsburg: Location ; accessed on November 8, 2016
  19. ^ ICF Berlin: Locations ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  20. ^ ICF Bielefeld: Location ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  21. Bretten ; accessed on October 21, 2017
  22. ICF: Experience the Church anew. Retrieved on March 2, 2020 (German).
  23. ^ ICF: Frankfurt
  24. ^ ICF Freiburg: Contact ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  25. ICF: Welcome. Retrieved on July 27, 2019 (German).
  26. ICF: ICF Lörrach - New Church Experience! Retrieved January 28, 2019 .
  27. ^ ICF Karlsruhe: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  28. ^ Ludwigsburg ( Memento from September 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ); accessed on October 21, 2017
  29. ICF Mannheim ; accessed on November 18, 2018
  30. ^ ICF Munich: Celebrations ; accessed on July 23, 2017
  31. ICF Munich Locations. In: ICF Munich. Retrieved August 12, 2019 .
  32. ^ ICF Nuremberg: Contact ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  33. ^ ICF Paderborn: Location ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  34. ^ ICF Reutlingen: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  35. ^ ICF: ICF Remstal. (No longer available online.) In: www.icf-remstal.de. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016 ; accessed on November 8, 2016 .
  36. ^ ICF Singen: Location ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved April 20, 2015
  37. ^ ICF Stuttgart: Locations ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  38. ^ Walldorf ; accessed on October 21, 2017
  39. ICF Salzburg: contact ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  40. ^ ICF Vorarlberg: Location ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  41. ^ ICF Vienna: contact ; Retrieved April 20, 2015
  42. a b Georg Otto Schmid : ICF today, brief information , relinfo.ch, 2007; Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  43. http://www.ead.de/nachrichten/nachrichten/einzelansicht/article/schweiz-icf-gemeinden.html
  44. ^ Announcements in the service in Zurich, August 9, 2015
  45. Simon Hehli: "When I take my wife in my arms, I feel butterflies in my stomach, with Jesus the feeling is the same". Corina and Josua Tilge cannot hear or touch their best friend. And yet the couple always exchanges ideas with him - with Jesus. Their image of God differs fundamentally from that of most Swiss people. NZZ, Zurich May 2, 2018
  46. vision. (No longer available online.) In: ICF Zurich. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016 ; accessed on August 24, 2016 .
  47. ^ A b Christoph Bauernfeind: Reformed learners at the ICF. The education and training center of the Reformed organized a course at the ICF Zurich. How did this unusual occasion come about and what is the result? ideaSpektrum, Liestal July 11, 2018, pp. 8–11
  48. a b Livenet: ICF: For young people the epitome of church
  49. icf.ch, page College ( Memento from June 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  50. Broadcast times. In: "ICF Television with Leo Bigger". Retrieved August 12, 2012 .
  51. Our style. (No longer available online.) In: ICF Zurich. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015 ; accessed on February 1, 2015 .
  52. Portrait ICF-Zofingen
  53. ^ About ICF: Finances. Accountability. (No longer available online.) In: “ICF Freiburg e. V. “ May 18, 2012, archived from the original on February 24, 2013 ; accessed on August 5, 2012 : "[...] We regularly report on the current financial status in our celebrations, on other occasions and in the newsletter. If you have any questions about this area, you are also welcome to speak to our Chief Financial Officer Tim. "
  54. Heinz and Annelies Strupler: History Maker 2.… the story goes on. , Projektion J Gerth, Asslar 2003, ISBN 3-89490-474-7 , p. 138.
  55. ^ Claude-Alain Humbert: Religious Leader Zurich. 370 churches, religious and spiritual groups, centers and ideological movements in the city of Zurich. Orell Füssli, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-280-05086-3 , pp. 288–289.
  56. a b c About. History. (No longer available online.) In: ICF Zurich. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012 ; Retrieved February 20, 2012 .
  57. Homepage The Big 15 ( Memento from January 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  58. Tagesanzeiger Online from June 14, 2011
  59. Christof Bauernfeind: In tune with the times. 20 years of ICF. In the past two decades, no congregation has reshaped the free-church landscape in Switzerland like the International Christian Fellowship. That was not always right for everyone, but it has given youth work a new start in many places. Idea Spectrum No. 19, Liestal May 11, 2016, pages 11-15
  60. List of the first signatories on the homepage of Zeit zum Aufstieg . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
  61. ^ Homepage of the Evangelical Alliance Karlsruhe, Welcome. Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
  62. ^ Associated congregations, works and movements. In: "Evangelical Alliance Munich". Retrieved November 27, 2014 .
  63. What is ICF? (No longer available online.) In: "ICF Munich". Formerly in the original ; Retrieved on August 17, 2012 : “What we are also very happy about: We have recently become a member of the Evangelical Alliance in Munich (Link: www.ea-muenchen.de), because cooperation with other churches and organizations is very important to us . "
  64. NZ-Online.de The church is often like a wall over LUX and ICF from January 22, 2010 ( Memento from September 12, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  65. http://www.each.ch/search/node/ICF (accessed on: January 14, 2015)
  66. On the Attractiveness of International Christian Fellowship - Background, Facts and Criticism. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 24, 2016 ; accessed on August 24, 2016 .
  67. ICF - evangelical doctrine in modern guise (infoSekta, 2012). In: infosekta - specialist office for sect issues. Retrieved April 29, 2014 .
  68. ^ Fritz Imhof: ICF ... or if the statistics turn a free church into a sect. In: "livenet.ch, web portal of Swiss Christians". May 8, 2004, accessed August 5, 2012 (An Open Letter).
  69. ^ ICF Basel. Teaching and goals. In: "INFOREL, Information Religion". April 30, 2018, accessed on May 13, 2018 : “Theologically, the ICF does not differ from other Protestant free churches (Protestant creed). The aim of ICF-Basel is to lead people into a personal and growing relationship with Jesus. ICF primarily wants to address young people who do not yet belong to any church. Therefore, multimedia church services are designed in such a way that young people are addressed: modern music, plays, video contributions and sermons that relate to the everyday situation of the visitors. "
  70. a b Chrismon 5/2014, part Baden special, municipalities and districts, page 3.
  71. a b http://www.livenet.ch/themen/kirche_und_co/kirchen_gemeinden_werke/305732-icf_inspiriert_andere_kirchen_an_den_church_training_days.html
  72. a b FAQ. How can I know that icf is not a sect? (No longer available online.) In: "ICF Zofingen". Archived from the original on December 7, 2004 ; retrieved on August 12, 2012 : “Sect advisors look at 'sect characteristics': 1. Rapidly occurring, high degree of dependency, 2. Breaking off existing social connections; 3. Guru cult; 4. Synchronization of thinking; 5. Claim to be the only one who knows the way to salvation; 6. Tight management structures; 7. Financial exploitation. There is no value-neutral assessment. In their assessment, cult experts also proceed from their own view of the world. [...] "