Thomas "Kip" McKean (born May 31, 1954) is a Christian preacher. He is a former minister of the International Churches of Christ. He is currently the minister of the City of Angels International Christian Church and head of the International Christian Churches organization, also known as the "Portland/Sold-Out Discipling Movement".^[1]

According some who have left the International Churches of Christ and the City of Angels International Christian Church, Kip Mckean and his partner in crime Al Barid, have been called cult leaders^[2]

The son of an admiral, McKean was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is purportedly named after his ancestor Thomas McKean, signer of the Declaration of Independence. McKean married Havana-born Elena Garcia-Bengochea on December 11, 1976. She is presently the Women's’ Ministry Leader in the City of Angels International Christian Church. They have three children, Olivia, Sean and Eric.^[3]

McKean was baptized into Christ in 1972 while a freshman at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His mentor, Charles H. "Chuck" Lucas, was the evangelist of the 14th Street Church of Christ, part of the mainstream Churches of Christ, a 19th Century movement with aspirations toward a return to "First Century Christianity" as practiced in the New Testament. The church moved into a larger building with a new name, the Crossroads Church of Christ, and, through an aggressive student-based evangelism program Lucas had established, they made many new converts (along with a number of community and campus detractors) as its membership quickly grew. In 1975, McKean left Gainesville to be the campus minister for Northeastern Christian College, located near Philadelphia as part of a campus ministry program called "Campus Advance". Then in 1975 McKean was hired as a campus minister by the Heritage Chapel Church of Christ in Charleston, Illinois where he had great success in growing a college ministry at Eastern Illinois University. McKean became head of the Lexington (Massachusetts) Church of Christ in 1979 and carried on Lucas' brand of church ministry that focused on evangelism and campus ministry. The church grew rapidly and later changed its name to the Boston Church of Christ.

Later they were disfellowshipped by the Crossroads Church of Christ. The Boston church then expanded its influence among other Churches of Christ, becoming known as "the Boston Movement" and, eventually, the International Churches of Christ, with McKean and his wife Elena considered the highest authority within the hierarchy of the movement.

They were not long later disfellowshiped from the mainline churches of christ. In 1990, the McKeans moved to Los Angeles to lead the Los Angeles Church of Christ, where they presided over the rapid growth of the ICOC throughout the 1990s.^[4]

In 2001, after much internal questioning of his leadership and following a fallout from both outside the International Churches of Christ and within it regarding allegations that church leaders often used controlling and abusive methods to maintain control over their congregations, Kip McKean announced that he was taking a sabbatical to focus on "marriage and family issues".^{[citation needed]} In 2002, the McKeans announced their resignations as head of the Los Angeles church.^[5]

A year later in 2003, they moved to Portland, Oregon to lead the Portland International Church of Christ. In 2005 the majority of International Churches of Christ disfellowshiped the Mckeans. Since 2005, the congregations under Kip McKean's leadership have been considered separate from other International Church of Christ congregations and they have shown a tendency to call their organization within a city "International Christian Church".^[6] This group under Kip McKean's influence has been called the "Portland/Sold-Out Discipling Movement". In 2007, McKean moved to Los Angeles to lead a congregation of his new movement known as the City of Angels International Christian Church.^[7]

In August 2008, the Portland church disfellowshiped or broke away from McKean's "new movement" and "extended the hand of fellowship" to the ICOC.^[8]

• Churches of Christ
• International Churches of Christ
• Restoration Movement

• KipMcKean.org, Official Website of Kip McKean
• City of Angels International Christian Church, currently led by Kip McKean
• CAICC Movement, directory

• KipMcKean.com, Information about Kip McKean. Contains quotes, audio files and documented information
• tolc.org, 2001-2003 articles from Ayman Akshar, 1959-2002 (the founder and former leader of "TOLC" )
• "Reveal" Organization, 1996-2006 a small group and website
• Honest to God: Revolution Through Repentance and Freedom in Christ by an ICOC leader Henry Kriete February 2, 2003
• Commentary Blogspot, commentary by Sarel de Wet (a former member) mainly on the Portland Intl. Church of Christ and Kip McKean
• What is McKeanism?, a summary of characteristics that illustrate “McKeanism”

Template:Persondata