Across the next decade, bitter division erupted in Churches of Christ throughout the nation. Debates were held over the issues, though usually positions had already hardened beyond persuasion. Preachers suspected of taking positions at odds with the leadership were ordered to publicly refute said position as a condition of employment; the "Gospel Advocate" became a forum for some better-known preachers to recant publicly previous positions opposing institutionalism. Some churches were forced to make token donations to institutions in order to avoid being called "anti's." Conflict sometimes ended in fistfights. Members who espoused a minority position in a congregation were expelled. Lawsuits over building ownership followed from some of these divisions. 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.