Christian Connection
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The Christian Connection or Christian Connexion was a Christian movement which began in several places during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and were secessions from three different religious denominations.
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[edit] History
In 1792, James O'Kelly, 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 in 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 Jones of Vermont and Elias Smith 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 five others published The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery in 1804 giving up denominational ties and preferring to be known simply as Christians. Stone was influenced by his earlier involvement with O'Kelley and knew of the Republican Methodists use of only the name Christian.
By 1808, O’Kelley’s followers and the Smith/Jones movement were united, and 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.
In 1832, the Christian Churches led by Stone united with the churches led by Alexander Campbell. Many of the churches which were part of the Campbell/Stone union continued to use the name Christian Church, even though they would no longer consider themselves part of the Christian Connection. The confusion over names which this created still continues.
In 1850, the General Convention of the Christian Church passed a resolution calling for the establishment of Antioch College. The college opened in 1852. Notable for its time, the Christian Connection decided that the college "shall afford equal privileges to students of both sexes." The Christian Connection sect wanted the new college to be sectarian, but the planning committee decided otherwise. Antioch College was one of the nation's first colleges to offer the same curriculum to men and women as well as to admit blacks and operate on a non-sectarian basis.
The Christian Church merged with the Congregational Churches in 1931 to form the Congregational Christian Churches. In 1957 after twenty years of discussion and work, the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, itself the product of the merger of two German-American denominations, 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 Christian Connection had no creed, instead professing to rely strictly on the Bible. Its periodical, the Herald of Gospel Liberty (first published on September 1, 1808), is considered by some historians to be the first religious journal ever published in the U.S.
[edit] Theology
Several leaders of the movement questioned whether the concept of the Trinity was Biblical and came to believe that it was not.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Murch, James DeForest. Christians Only. Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 1962.
- Jennings, Walter Wilson. Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 1919.
- Morrill, Milo True. History of the Christian Denomination in America. Dayton: The Christian Publishing Association, 1912.
- A Short Course in UCC History: The Christian Churches
- UCC-Disciples Ecumenical Partnership
- A Short Course in UCC History: The Congregational Christian Churches
- A Short Course in UCC History: The Evangelical and Reformed Church
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