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The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) as an evangelical Protestant Canadian church body in North America (2004) can be traced to the formal organization of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1804, in Bourbon County, Kentucky under the leadership of Barton Warren Stone (1772–1844). The Stone Movement later merged with the efforts of Thomas Campbell (1772–1854) and his son Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) to become the Restoration Movement that gave birth to the Churches of Christ (Non-Instrumental), the Christian churches and churches of Christ, the Churches of Christ (non-institutional), and the Disciples of Christ. The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) as a separate group within the Restoration tradition was reorganized in 2001. The Evangelical Christian Church's national office in Canada is in Waterloo, Ontario.
Contents
- Restoration Movement history
- History
- Organization and structure
- Ministries
- Membership trends
- Sacraments
- Doctrine
- Colleges and universities
- Board of directors
- Memberships
- Key figures
- References
The Evangelical Christian Church, also known as "Christian Disciples" became the Stone-Campbell Movement, also called the Restoration Movement which arose on the frontiers of early 19th-century America. Like minded Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians abandoned denominational labels in order to be "Christians only" from the Stone group, and "Disciples" from the Campbell group. They called followers from both groups to join in Christian unity and restore the ideals of the primitive New Testament church, holding only the Bible as authoritative.
The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples), founded in 1804, joined with other Canadian branches in 1832, and the first work of the Christian Disciples of Evangelical Christian Church to form was in 1810 in Stratford, PEI, in the Maritime provinces Canada. The oldest Christian Disciples Church in Canada was founded in 1810 by John R. Stewart, an immigrant from Perthshire, Scotland. The first Meeting House was a log cabin built in 1813. From 1907 to 1947, the church was operated as a Baptist charge in conjunction with Baptist churches in Alexandra and Hazelbrook, when it apparently again became an Evangelical Christian Church. After the Second World War, a collaboration between an All-Canadian and North American (Evangelical Christian Church) Movement began as a way to coordinate and unite the various churches of the Restoration Movement in order to reform the church along non-sectarian, non-creedal lines. Several church bodies identifying with the Stone-Campbell movement were very creedal and range from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal as can be seen in the United Church of Christ which is an attempt to unite all Christian denominations into one national body. In the beginning of the early 1940s, this movement organized a Great Western revival meeting, causing an increase in religious interest and excitement in the Canadian Evangelical Christian Church, unifying Christians based on their interpretations of New Testament principles.
During the early 20th century, many Restoration Movement churches not affiliated with the three larger Restoration bodies existed under such names as Canadian Evangelical Christian Churches, Evangelical Christian Churches, Independent Christian Churches, Christian Churches of North America, Christian Missionary Churches, Bible Evangelical Churches, Community Churches, Evangelical Congregational Churches, Congregational Christian Churches, and the Evangelical Protestant Churches which traces its roots to various Lutheran and Reformed churches from Germany in 1720. The Congregation Christian Church itself was the product of a merger in 1931, between the Congregational Church and a number of Christian Churches. The Congregational Church developed in England before migrating to the United States. Some of these united in 1966 as the Evangelical Christian Churches, Farmland, Indiana. The majority of these congregations that have not been otherwise absorbed, continue as the Evangelical Christian Churches, Albany, Indiana.
Restoration Movement history
The Second Great Awakening at Cane Ridge, Kentucky helped advance the liberation of black slaves and women's rights within American-Canadian society. Several African American Christians who were born into slavery went on to become prominent figures in society, marked as a "central and defining" moment in the development of Afro-Christianity. The Restoration Movement influenced many Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) clergy, and those who were followers of the Stone movement, to believe that all men, including blacks, are created equal under God according to the Holy Scriptures. This was later adopted in its constitution of beliefs in Canada because of its political and religious anti-slavery views. In Laura, Ohio, in 1854, many African American ministers were welcomed to preach in the pulpits of various Evangelical Christian Churches, while many of the white Evangelical Christian Church's clergy continued to minister to mixed congregations, which was unprecedented.
In the midst of shifts in theology and church polity the Evangelical Christian Church became the first institution where both women and blacks made an important contribution in leadership roles within many Evangelical Christian Churches in North America. The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) exercised its independence under God by becoming one of many Restoration Movement denominations to recognize the ordination of women. Women in many black Evangelical Christian Churches became, to an even greater degree than in white churches, the backbone of church life; many became preachers. Black women so reared, upon joining integrated churches, found it difficult to accept less crucial roles where men dominated.
The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) on participated in the holiness movement that occurred spontaneously in various parts of the United States during the latter part of the 19th century. The converts needed to be established in holiness of heart and life, and opportunities were opening for the expansion of the work into other communities to ending abolitionism in the United States with the involvement of James O'Kelly, an American Methodist clergyman. The distinctive characteristic of early Methodism in the United States that most appealed to people and resulted in conversions and joining the Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) was not a theological concept, such as Arminianism, but rather was "enthusiasm," including dreams, dancing, visions, supernatural impressions, miraculous healings, speaking in tongues, praising God, laughter, swoons, and falling down in trances. It was also reported that those who came to the revival meetings scoff at these manifestations were not immune to these life changing experiences.
History
The Union of Evangelical Christian Churches was founded in 1992 to continue the tradition of the Union of Evangelical Christians, which had been founded in Russia in 1909, persecuted under tsarism and then banned under communist rule. The leaders believed in the essential unity of the body of Christ, they could not accept the sectarianism that was all around them. Several church bodies identifying with the Stone-Campbell movement today are very creedal and range from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal as can be seen in the United Church of Christ which is an attempt to unite all Christian denominations into one national Church body as well as the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches which merged English Christians with American-Canadian Christians in 1931.
It was after the Second World War that a collaboration between an All-Canadian and North-American (Evangelical Christian Church) Movement began as a way to coordinate and unite the various churches and ministries within Canada. As this movement developed, in Canada, following up to the early 1940s, .... the Great Western Revival caused a tidal wave of religious interest and excitement in the Canadian Evangelical Christian Church to sweep across North America, revolutionizing a spiritual hunger for God, and unifying Christians on the basis of New Testament basic principles, while liberating the spiritual landscape in Canada. The leaders of this movement sought to reform the church along non-sectarian, non-creedal lines with the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Organization and structure
The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) in Canada is non-denominational and its member churches are self-governing in the tradition of congregational polity. Ministers who are the Elders of the church are held accountable only to the scriptures, and guaranteed freedom of thought and conscience to practice their faith without doctrinal restrictions. The ECC maintains a high commitment to religious freedom, Christian unity, and the priesthood of all believers who make up the body of Christ. The ECC permits only those practices that it believes are found in the guidelines of New Testament living and worship as taught by the early church. The ECC divides the country into 10 districts assigned to district superintendents for liaison with the congregations and ministers in the appointed province. A hierarchical leadership is in place nationally, including the provincial superintendents, the general superintendent, the board of directors or general council, and regional field representatives. The general superintendent or constitute the executive staff. Ordinations are approved by the Credentials Standing Committee and ministerial credentials come from Central Office.Ordained or licensed ministers, both male and female, provide leadership for the church and preside over the ordinances.
Ministries
The early participants in the Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) consisted of those who came away from a variety of fundamental, evangelical denominations, not in an attempt to reform any particular denomination, but rather in an effort to "restore" the "original" church according to the New Testament pattern, while basing its Biblical mission on the Great Commission found in the gospel of Matthew. They believed that history was moving toward a spiritual climax where God's power will be poured out on the church without the use of self-made religious doctrines. Promoters of restoration believed that this supernatural move could be the Lord's final move where the church will be endued with power to Christianize the world with the gospel of the Kingdom of God before Jesus returns. In order for this Kingdom dominion pursuit to be realized, the Five-fold ministry expounded in Eph.4:11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) needed to be commissioned by the Church at large and given room to exercise their spiritual gifts with authority in the church of Jesus Christ.
Membership trends
Within the North America Evangelical Christian Church, the Region of Canada, which had 30 churches and some 3500 members in the mid-1990s is unique in that it functions as a national church and has full denominational status at national and international levels. All Christian faiths were free to establish places of worship, train clergy, and proselytize to their faith.
Sacraments
The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) teaches that Jesus Christ instituted two ordinances as instruments of his grace, found in:
Doctrine
The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) in Canada has eleven Articles of Faith that are considered to be their definitive doctrinal statement:
Colleges and universities
Board of directors
Memberships
The Evangelical Christian Church in Canada is an affiliated denominational member of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The ECCC serves to work and network with other affiliated denominations on critical ministry issues, as well as public issues facing all evangelical Christians. The ECCC and other affiliated denominations participate in the consultations, forums and roundtables that are hosted by the EFC in order to promote collaboration and ministry partnerships.