Timeline
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Historical
Precursors:
1)
“Popular” Reformation, i.e. from Peter Waldo to Jan Hus (12th-15th centuries):
* communion in “both kinds” e.g., the loaf AND the chalice (hence
Disciples logo),
* a priesthood of all believers (including women),
* use of vernaculars and local cultures,
* social (distributive) justice.
2)
Germanic Reformation in general (16th century):
* authority of scripture alone, sola scriptura (vs. scripture
& “tradition”),
* faith in saved by grace alone, sola fide and sola gratia (vs. good
works/deeds/merit),
* only because of Christ, sola
Christus (vs. other human beings or
institutions),
* one is simultaneously saved and sinner, simul iustus et peccator.
3)
Huldrych Zwingli of the Reformation in Zurich (16th century):
* communion a meal of remembrance of Christ’s supper and of one’s
baptism,
* no “real presence” of Christ at the Table, but rather symbolic.
4)
Anabaptists movement of the Radical Reformation (16th century):
* adult or “believers” baptism (by immersion),
* non-hierarchical governance system – congregational or “low
church” authority.
1801 –
Presbyterian minister and abolitionist from Maryland-Virginia area, Barton
Stone,
is formative in the multi-day, racially integrated Cane Ridge Revival in
Kentucky
during the Second Great Awakening (1790s-1840s).
1804 –
Stone and four other Presbyterians close their presbytery in Kentucky and write
the
“Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery” in which they declare:
“We will, that this body [the Springfield Presbytery] die, be
dissolved, and sink into union with the
Body of Christ at large; for there is but one Body, and one
Spirit, even as we are called in hope of
our calling.”
He forms
the “Christian” movement or association. This marks the beginning of
formal
ecumenism in the U.S. along with other efforts by Methodists (e.g., James
O’Kelly
in Virginia) and Baptists (e.g., Elias Smith in New Hampshire).
For the
full text see:
1807 –
Thomas Campbell emigrates from Ireland to Pennsylvania.
1809 –
Thomas Campbell writes his “Declaration and
Address” of the 13
propositions
for “restoring” the church in which he states:
“That the church of Christ upon earth is essentially,
intentionally, and constitutionally one;
consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in
Christ.”
This not
only marks the beginning of the Restoration Movement or “Second
Reformation”
but will also serve later as a theological “blueprint” in the twentieth
century
for the Federal Council of Churches in 1908 (which later becomes the
National
Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S. in 1948), the Canadian Council of
Churches
in 1944, and the World Council of Churches in 1948.
For the
full text see:
After
studying for a year at the University of Glasgow, Alexander Campbell, Thomas
Campbell’s
son, emigrates to the U.S. Independently, they both come to the
conclusion
that the historical creeds are divisive among Christians and, as a result,
they
denounce denominationalism and cease being Presbyterians.
1811 –
Thomas and Alexander Campbell promote their creedless Christianity in the
Brush Run Church, loosely
related with the Baptists, where they advocate:
1.
Christ alone is the head of the church and host of the table,
2. Bible
(and not tradition or creeds) is sole authority on matters of faith,
3.
baptism is to be by consenting adult believers and by immersion (like Jesus did
it),
4.
celebration of the Table at every worship (usually weekly), and
5.
congregational leadership with no distinction between clergy and laity.
late
1820s – Walter Scott emigrates from Scotland and works with Campbells;
develops
the “five-finger exercise”:
1. faith
(as the rational ascent to belief),
2.
repentance of sin(s),
3.
baptism (our move toward God and membership into God’s church)
4.
forgiveness of sin(s) (God’s response to our move), and
5. gifts
of the Holy Spirit (i.e. eternal life, but not enthusiasms or charisms).
1830 –
“Campbellites” ousted from the Baptists – form the “Disciples” movement.
In his
publication The Millennial Harbinger, Alexander Campbell denounces the
disenfranchisement
of the Cherokee Nation by business interests in Georgia.
1832 –
the joining of Alexander Campbell (with 12,000 “Disciples”) and Barton Stone
(with
10,000
“Christians”) for a combined movement but not a “denomination.”
(Note: a
sizeable portion of the Christian Association will not join the Disciples; this
part of
the “Christians” will later join the Congregationalists in 1931 to form the
Congregational
Christian Church and then later help form the U.C.C. in 1957).
1834 –
first autonomously chartered African American congregation within the Stone-
Campbell
movement – Colored Christian Church of Midway, Kentucky –
spearheaded
by Alexander Campbell (no relation to the Campbells, Thomas or his
son
Alexander from Ireland) who was an African American slave who converted to
Christianity
at the Cane Ridge revival and went on to establish numerous
predominantly
African American congregations.
1849 –
establishment of the American Christian Missionary
Society with Dr. James and
Mrs.
Julia Barclay as the first missionaries, they are sent to Jerusalem.
1840s-1860s
– the Disciples of Christ the only U.S. church to not split over the issue of
slavery
but for the sake of promoting ecumenism and unity, slavery is deemed a
personal
“opinion” rather than a matter of “faith.”
* Barton Stone repeatedly freed slaves sent to Kentucky by family
back in Virginia,
but his
son fights for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
* Alexander Campbell has slaves in Pennsylvania that he would have
freed in his will,
but his
sister and brother-in-law are active in the Underground Railroad.
1854 –
Alexander Cross, a freedman, is the second missionary of the American
Christian
Missionary Society; he and his family are missionaries to Liberia.
1858 –
former Congregationalist missionary to Jamaica, J. O. Beardslee, is sent again
as
missionary
to Jamaica but by the Disciples’ American Christian Mission Society.
1867 –
Rufus Conrad and other African Americans form the first “denomination” of the
Stone-Campbell
movement called the National Convocation of
Disciples.
1870s –
African Americans in the Disciples and Christian movement in southern
Mid-Atlantic
region form the Assembly Churches of the Church of Christ,
Disciples
of Christ; while always a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
they
still refer to themselves as the “Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ.”
1874 –
Disciples women form the Christian Women’s
Board of Missions for mostly
domestic
mission work within the U.S.
1875 –
formation of the Foreign Christian Missionary
Society by Disciples specifically
for work
outside of the U.S.
African
American Disciples establish the Southern
Christian Institute in Edwards,
Mississippi
(later becomes Tougaloo College).
1877 –
Disciples women form a network of orphanages, homeless shelters, and homes for
the
elderly called the National Benevolent Association
(later becomes Disciples
Benevolent
Services): http://www.nbacares.org/
1882 –
Christian Women’s Board of Missions and Foreign Christian Missionary Society
establish
Disciples mission in India.
1883 –
Christian Women’s Board of Missions and Foreign Christian Missionary Society
establish
Disciples mission in Japan.
1886 –
Christian Women’s Board of Missions and Foreign Christian Missionary Society
establish
Disciples mission in China.
1890 –
Preston Taylor, an African American businessman, hired by the American
Christian
Missionary
Society to be the “National Evangelist.”
1892 –
Jeu Hawk, a Chinese minister, is hired by the Christian Women’s Board of
Missions
to lead
the mission in Portland, Oregon among Chinese immigrants (closes in 1923
as a
result of the Chinese Exclusion Act).
[and the
establishment of the University of Chicago and the idea of an ecumenical,
non-affiliated
Divinity School (despite
its legacy of the Baptist Theological Union),
denominational
presence is to be provided through the establishment of Divinity
Houses
neighboring the campus.
1894 –
establishment of Disciples Divinity House of
Chicago with Herbert L. Willet as
the
first dean (will later be accompanied by the Disciples Divinity House of Yale
University
and the Disciples Divinity House of Vanderbilt University); these Houses
relate
to the denomination and to their neighboring university with the same status
as a
free-standing seminary with its own dean and governing board as do the
numerous
Disciples-affiliated colleges and universities:
1897 –
Christian Women’s Board of Missions and Foreign Christian Missionary Society
establish
Disciples mission in Congo. (Note: today the Disciples of Christ in the
Congo
outnumber those in both the U.S. and Canada combined.)
1899 –
first Disciples missionaries to Puerto Rico and Cuba.
(1899
formation of the Mexican Christian Church in San Antonio, Texas by George
cont’d)
Ramshaw and pastor Y. Quintero (disbands in 1905 but will become the Mexican
Christian
Institute or Inman Center in 1913):
1900s-1940s
– rise of the “new liberals” largely based at the University of Chicago,
Disciples
Divinity
House Chicago, and University Church Disciples of Christ Hyde Park (i.e.
Herbert
L. Willet, Winfred E. Garrison, and Edward Scribner Ames) challenge and
provoke
conservative reaction throughout the Disciples and beyond with their
teachings
and publications, academic and popular (e.g., The Christian Century);
{for
example, Ames spearheaded the notion of the “open Table” where baptism or
congregational
membership was not a requirement for taking or even serving
communion
– today all but one Disciples of Christ congregation practices some
form of
“open communion” as a part of worship}.
1904 –
Berkeley Japanese Christian Church begins in Berkeley, California.
(Continued with 1906)
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