An American Religious Movement : A Brief History of the Disciples of Christ

The narrative traces the origins and growth of the Disciples movement from early nineteenth-century frontier revivalism to mid-twentieth-century institutional maturity. It recounts the coming together of separate reform impulses—notably those associated with Barton W. Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, and evangelists like Walter Scott—around a restorationist program that sought to recover simple New Testament practice, reject creeds, and emphasize repentance and believer's baptism. The study situates expansion in the westward migration and shows how itinerant preaching and print fostered rapid church planting. As social conditions changed the movement developed colleges, missionary agencies, and conventions, while persistent tensions remained between congregational liberty and voluntary cooperation, naming, and adaptation to modern denominational structures.