Christian Churches and Churches of Christ

Christian Churches and Churches of Christ comprise an undenominational fellowship of Protestant Christians dedicated to the "restoration of New Testament Christianity, its doctrine, its ordinances, and its life." Included are some 5,500 self governing congregations in North America, with membership just over 1 million, and 1,500 congregations with some 150,000 members in forty other nations. The movement began in the eastern United States about 1800. Prominent early leaders included Thomas Campbell (1763 - 1854), Alexander Campbell, and Barton W Stone. Until 1906 its history was shared with those Churches of Christ that avoid the use of instrumental music in worship; and until 1968 it shared a common history with the then restructured Disciples of Christ (Christian Church). For their creed and moral code, the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ depend on direct quotations from the Bible. Baptism is by immersion; communion is central to each Sunday's worship.

Edwin V Hayden