The Stone–Campbell Restoration Movement

Where did this movement come from?

In the early nineteenth-century United States, Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell challenged divisions between churches. With connections to British reform movements, they hoped Christians could unite around Jesus and New Testament teaching without requiring disputed creeds as membership tests. Stone's and Campbell's movements joined in 1832. “Restoration” describes their aim of recovering the faith and practice of the earliest churches. This describes how the movement understands its purpose; other Christian traditions make different claims about continuity with the earliest churches. Read the Disciples' historical account.

What do these churches emphasize?

Characteristic practices include baptism by immersion after a confession of faith, weekly communion, and significant responsibility for the local congregation. They seek to make Scripture the basis of Christian belief and practice. “No creed” usually means resisting compulsory human statements as tests of belonging, not having no beliefs or no inherited ways of interpreting the Bible. The World Council of Churches' overview explains the family resemblance and its historical development.

Why are there several branches?

Differences developed over instruments in worship, missionary organizations, biblical interpretation, and wider church cooperation. In the United States, Churches of Christ, often associated with unaccompanied singing, were recorded separately by 1906. Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) also became distinct. The Disciples developed a denominational structure; the independent branches retain strong congregational independence. Names and relationships outside the United States do not always follow exactly this pattern.

What varies between congregations?

The branches differ over how strictly New Testament examples prescribe church practice, who may participate in communion, and how to work with other churches. Disciples emphasize an open communion table and room for thoughtful disagreement; see their account of church identity. Many Churches of Christ and independent Christian Churches take more conservative approaches, but local practices still vary. Baptism's relationship to salvation also requires careful explanation rather than a slogan. Compare the arguments about baptism, communion, and biblical authority. A congregation's full name and its own explanation are more informative than the words “Christian Church” alone.