What was once the Christian church took up the name United Church of Christ. Not the same thing.
In the 1800’s the church of Christ had a split, ones that left became the Disciples of Christ [missionary society, instrumental music].
About 1950-1960 there was another split, ones that left were the institutional church. They use the name church of Christ.
The non-institutional groups are often referred to as conservative [not a good term as that is relative to what?] and they use the name church of Christ.
Eastern states, like Virginia, have not very many churches that are non-institutional and they are far apart. It is difficult to determine what they believe and practice. In TN there are a lot of institutional and non-institutional. The church where Fred’s mother attends looks like it is non-institutional from their website.
The churches in VA can be entirely different from TN. They are all autonomous.
The United Church of Christ is a whole ‘nother ball game. The Church of Christ that’s common around here is comprised of two groups. The conservatives and the liberals. LOL I believe Thompson is part of the liberal church. Liberal meaning that they are less rigid in their teachings. It has nothing to do with politics...I promise. ;) Both are conservative by nature but the conservative church is more rigid in its teachings.