The Independent Church of Christ/Christian Church


Who We Are



The Restoration Movement is a religious movement that began at the start of the nineteenth century. The purpose being to restore the church to its original state in doctrine, polity, and life. The standard for this restoration is the Word of God, specifically the New Testament teaching on the church. "We may not be the only Christians but we are Christians only," is an old slogan of our churches.

A great revival swept our nation in the early 1800s and many new churches began. The undisputed leaders of our movement, those who early on shaped and formed our thinking, were Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone. By 1861, the churches in this movement were among the fastest growing in America. According to a recent New York Post article, the independent Christian Church is the SECOND fastest growing religious body in America today.

We were one of the few groups that did not divide during the American Civil War but we have suffered two major divisions since then. In the late 1800s, the issue of using instrumental music became a thorn that tore our unity hopes apart. Then, throughout much of the early twentieth century, we divided again becoming two separate groups: the Disciples of Christ and the independent Church of Christ/Christian Church.

But in spite of these sad break ups, we are still interested in getting beyond tradition and man made ideas and serving Christ only. Another old slogan is, "In matters of opinion, liberty; in matters of essentials, unity; and in all things, love."

We practice salvation through baptism or water immersion. We see this as being an act of faith because of God's grace to us in sending his son to die for our sins. We take communion, or the Lord's supper, weekly believing that to be the practice of the early church and with a desire to constantly remember what Jesus did for us. We believe in the priesthood of all believers and desire everyone to come to an understanding of what the Scripture teaches.

Our churches are autonomous and we are governed by local elders. Although we have publishing houses, colleges, camps, conventions and other para-church organizations, no group can speak for our movement as a whole. The strength of our churches are in America, especially in the midwest, but we have ministries and churches worldwide. Our missionaries are supported directly by local congregations and our movement numbers workers in over 80 countries.

Although I have a great love for history and the plea of this movement, I am by no means an authority on the subject. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at jdmcarthur@juno.com and I will attempt to answer or clarify your question. For more information on the Restoration Movement, I would recommend the book: "Union in Truth" by Dr. James North (1994, Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio).


Now that you know a little about who we are, why not return to my HOME PAGE and look at my sermons and writings?

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