CHRIST, Disciples of, a denomination of Christians in the United States commonly known as the Christian Church, or Church of Christ, and sometimes called Campbellites. Among the Protestant bodies of America they rank fifth in number. Their strength is great est in the Ohio and Mississippi Valley States. In September 1809, Thomas Campbell, a Scotch minister of the seceders' branch of the Presby terian Church, then ng in western Pennsyl vania, issued a and Address,* de ploring the divided state of the Church, and urging as the only remedy a complete restora tion of apostolic Christianity and the rejection of all human creeds and confessions of faith. The Christian Association of Washington, Pa., was formed for the purpose of promoting the principles set forth in this declaration. Mr. Campbell's son, Alexander, just from Glasgow University, Scotland, at once gave his splendid ability and learning to this new movement. It was not the intention of the Campbells to form a distinct religious body, but to effect the pro posed reforms in the churches. Their plea was so opposed that they were compelled to act independently, and the first church in the new movement was organized at Brush Run on 4 May 1811. The Disciples maintained that hav ing accepted the Bible as their, only rule of faith and practice, and the only divine basis for the union of all Christians, they were led to reject infant baptism and adopt believers' immersion only. They observe the Lord's Supper each first day of the week, and heartily and practically accept and exalt the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. Their church policy is congregational, and they have no distinction of clergy and laity and recognize the local church with its elders and deacons as the highest ecclesiastical authority though they frequently hold conventions in the interest of world-wide missions and benevolent work, hut not for legis lative purposes. In recent years the Disciples
of Christ have made great advance in numbers and along all lines of religious activity, until their statistics for 1916 show 14,184 ministers, 17,236 churches and 2,283,003 communicants. They report about 10,000 Bible schools, with an enrolment of about 900,000 children. They raised $1,503,716 for missions, home and foreign, in 1915, and about $150,000 for other purposes. Among the several universities and colleges of high rank controlled by the Church are Drake University,. Des Moines, Ruth Col lege, Indianapolis, Hiram Ohio, and Valparaiso University, Indiana.
Bibliography.—Doctrinal: Campbell, 'Chris tian System) (Cincinnati 1853) ; Errett,
Position' (ib. 1885) ; Edwards,
thodoxy in the Civil Courts' (ib. 1887) ; Lamar,
Principles and Perfection' (New York 1895) ; Tyler, 'Peculiarities of Disciples' (Cin cinnati 1897); Garrison, 'Old Faith Restated' (Saint Louis 1890) ; Power,