Christian Connection

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The Christians or Christian Connection religious movement began in several places and were secessions from three different religious denominations during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1792, James O’Kelley, dissatisfied with the role of bishops in the Methodist Episcopal Church, separated from this body. O’Kelley’s movement, centering in Virginia and North Carolina, was originally called Republican Methodists.

The denominational name was dropped in 1794 favor of the name “Christian” and a commitment to use the bible as the only “rule of faith and practice.” During the first several years of the 19th century, two Baptist ministers in New England espoused similar views to O’Kelley and began exclusively using the name “Christian.” Working independently at first, Abner Smith of Vermont and Elias Jones of New Hampshire joined together in their efforts.

In 1801, the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky would plant the seed for a movement in Kentucky and the Ohio River valley to disassociate from denominationalism. Barton W. Stone and four others separated from the Springfield Presbytery in 1804 preferring to be known only as “Christians.” Interestingly enough, Rice Haggard who suggested that the Republican Methodists use only the name Christian was the impetus behind Stone's western group doing the same.

By 1808, O’Kelley’s followers and the Smith/Jones movement were united; Stone’s Christians in Kentucky would soon follow suit. This loose fellowship of churches was called by the names “Christian Connection/Connexion” or “Christian Church.”

When Stone and Alexander Campbell’s Reformers (also known as Disciples and Christian Baptists) united in 1832, only a minority of Christian Churches participated. The participating churches largely were from Kentucky, Indiana, and southern Ohio. Those who did not unite with Campbell continued to use the name Christian Church as did the Disciples — thus beginning the confusion over names among the various factions of the Restoration Movement which continues today.

The Christian Church merged with the Congregational Church in 1931 to form the Congregational Christian Church. The Evangelical and Reformed Church formed in 1934 as a merger of the Reformed Church in the United States and the Evangelical Synod of North America. In 1957, the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Church after twenty years of discussion forged the United Church of Christ.

In 1989, the UCC and Disciples of Christ agreed to participate in full communion with each other while remaining separate denominations.

The group had no creed, instead relying strictly on the Bible. Its periodical, the Herald of Gospel Liberty (first published September 1, 1808), is considered by historians to be the first religious journal.

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