Disciples History
The Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) is a Protestant denomination of nearly 800,000
members in the United States and Canada. It's one of the largest
faith groups founded on American soil.
Some key persons and dates
in the church's development:
Presbyterian minister Barton W. Stone
was born in Port Tobacco, Maryland, December 24,
1772. He died in Hannibal Missouri, November 9, 1844.
Stone was educated as a school teacher and entered the ministry
through the Presbyterian Church. He served a church in Cane Ridge
Kentucky, and after hosting the historic Cane Ridge Revival of
1801, (also see pages on the Cane
Ridge Meeting House and Shrine ) he and several others formed
the Springfield Presbytery denouncing all human creeds
and appealing to the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice.
They soon dissolved the Springfield
Presbytery, and published the Last
Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, one of
the documents the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) considers
key in its development. They dissolved their denominational
ties to enter into unity with "the body of Christ at large."
They called themselves, simply, "Christians."
Thomas Campbell was born in County
Down, Ireland, February 1, 1763. He died in Bethany, Virginia (now
West Virginia), January 4, 1854. He came to America from Scotland
in 1807. He was chastised by Pennsylvania church authorities
for refusing to use Presbyterian creeds as terms of communion. In
1808 he and others founded the Christian Association
of Washington, Pennsylvania. That group adopted the motto,
well-known by Disciples, "Where the scriptures speak, we speak;
where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."
Campbell and others were called "Reformers,"
for their desire to restore the Church's first century roots. This
way of life came to be known as the "Restoration Movement."
Near Washington, Pennsylvania, Campbell
and his son, Alexander, and the Christian Association established
the Brush Run Church, which, in 1815, became part
of a nearby Baptist Association.
Reformers and the Baptists differed
on key issues. By 1830, the Reformers cut
their last ties with the Baptist Association and became known as
"Disciples."
Thomas Campbell's passion for Christian
unity is summed up in his proclamation that : "The
church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally
one." This statement is the first and key proposition of
Thomas Campbell's Declaration
and Address, a work called by some the "Magna Charta"
of the movement that preceded the denomination known as the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ).
Alexander Campbell was born September
12, 1788 in the County of Antrim, Ireland. He was
raised as a Presbyterian. He attended the University of Glasgow,
Scotland.
In 1809, Alexander arrived in America
from Scotland, and joined his father, Thomas, in western Pennsylvania.
He carefully read and fully endorsed the principles of Thomas' Declaration
and Address. Biographer Nathaniel Haynes says that Thomas
and Alexander Campbell were "one in their aims, spirit and
work."
The younger
Campbell was a prolific writer. In 1823,
he founded the periodical The Christian Baptist.
After the Reformers dissolved ties with the Baptists, Campbell founded
a new publication called The Millennial Harbinger. He
was a talented debater, and in 1829 drew attention to the Restoration
Movement in a widely known debate with social reformer Robert Owen.
In 1837, he engaged the Roman Catholic John B. Purcell, archbishop
of Cincinnati, in a widely publicized eight day debate
on the traditions and beliefs of the Catholic Church.
His public speaking skills, writing,
and articulation of the place of reason (but not pure rationalism)
in Christian faith propelled him into the leadership of the "Disciples
of Christ."
A dedicated scholar and educator, Alexander
Campbell founded Bethany
College, Bethany, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1840 and served
as the school's first president.
1832-
The "Christians" and the
"Disciples of Christ" agreed on basic beliefs and aims
and united with a formal handshake in Lexington, Kentucky, and created
a new Christian movement on the American frontier.
1832-1968
The "Christians" and the
"Disciples of Christ" functioned and grew as a "movement,"
often referred to as the "Stone-Campbell movement." During
this period, Disciples often described the relationship of the Christians
and the Disciples of Christ as a "brotherhood." In 1960,
the Commission on Brotherhood Restructure started the task of designing
a new form of organization. Throughout the 20th century, American
Asian, Hispanic and African American Disciples congregations multiplied.
1968-
A representative assembly meeting in
Kansas City overwhelmingly approved the Provisional Design for
the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Church historian
D. Duane Cummins writes: "Approval of the Provisional Design
marked the passage of the Disciples into denominational maturity.
Officially named the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), they
became a church."
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