These churches all arose from the Stone-Campbell Restoration movement in the late 18th century. The movement hoped to restore the church to practices based on the description of church and worship in the New Testament. Only the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a true denomination with a central administrative structure. The others are churches that have the same fundamental beliefs and cooperate on some extra-church areas. The Christian Church/Churches of Christ believe that any worship/church practice not forbidden in the New Testament is open for discussion and adoption. The Churches of Christ believe that only practices specifically mentioned or described in the New Testament are appropriate for worship or church organization.
Featured book:
The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement by All quotations are taken from the denomination's website unless otherwise noted.