Disciples
History
The Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) is a Protestant denomination of nearly 825,000 members in the United
States and Canada. It's one of the largest faith groups founded on American
soil.
Article added to FaithandValues.com
in July 2002.
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."