Check.Church

Disciples of Christ (Christian Church)

Stone-Campbell · 1832 · United States; worldwide

The 1832 union of two independent restorationist movements — the tree's earliest large-scale merger, formed explicitly to overcome denominational division, from which three streams later emerged.

Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) was formed in 1832. Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) continues today. Disciples of Christ (Christian Church)'s institutional line runs back through The Christians (Stone movement), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (1789 line), Church of Scotland, Reformed, Roman Catholicism to the post-apostolic church. No body on this tree is the assembly of Acts 2; where a body claims that, the claim appears in the claimed-lineage layer.

Between the post-apostolic church and Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) stand 3 divisions along the institutional line, counting separations and disputed forks, not mergers, renewals or national organizations.

At a glance

Formed
In 1832
Family
Stone-Campbell
Region
United States; worldwide
Key figures
Barton W. Stone, Alexander Campbell, 'Raccoon' John Smith
Also known as
Stone-Campbell Movement → Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Restoration Movement; Christian Church

What it was organized out of

Bodies organized out of it or separated from it: Churches of Christ, Christian Churches / Churches of Christ (independent).

On the tree

Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) and its institutional line back to the post-apostolic churchAD 33The church at Pentecost: On divine groundThe church at Pentecost: on divine groundtoday100424431451105415191560170618031809183218891927The post-apostolic church (The spine)The post-apostolicchurchDepartureChurch of the East (Church of the East)Church of the EastChurch of the EastThe conciliar church (The spine)The conciliar churchDepartureThe Chalcedonian church (The spine)The Chalcedonian churchDepartureOriental Orthodoxy (Oriental Orthodox)Oriental OrthodoxyOriental OrthodoxEastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodox)Eastern OrthodoxyEastern OrthodoxRoman Catholicism (Catholic)Roman CatholicismNot gatheredReformed (Reformed and Presbyterian)ReformedReformed and PresbyterianChurch of Scotland (Reformed and Presbyterian)Church of ScotlandReformed and PresbyterianPresbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (1789 line) (Reformed and Presbyterian)Presbyterian Church inthe U.S.A. (1789 line)Reformed and PresbyterianThe Christians (Stone movement) (Stone-Campbell)The Christians (Stonemovement)Stone-CampbellThe Disciples (Campbell movement) (Stone-Campbell)The Disciples (Campbellmovement)Stone-CampbellDisciples of Christ (Christian Church) (Stone-Campbell)Disciples of Christ(Christian Church)Stone-CampbellChurches of Christ (Stone-Campbell)Churches of ChristStone-CampbellChristian Churches / Churches of Christ (independent) (Stone-Campbell)Christian Churches /Churches of Christ (ind…Stone-Campbell

Solid lines are separations and unions; dashed lines are renewals that began inside a body; dotted gray lines are national organizations of one communion; a diamond marks a fork event where neither side is drawn as the one that left. Every line runs back to the post-apostolic church; no body descends from the assembly of Acts 2. Dashed gray boxes mark the institutional line after the apostles, shown as departure; no line of descent is drawn from Pentecost. A verdict appears on a box once its section is published.

Adherents

About 278,000 adherents (official census, as of 2022).

Source: denominational yearbook figures via Christian Standard/Christian Post reporting

Claimed lineage

What this tradition says about its own origin · restoration

Not a succession but a plea: all Christians united in a single body patterned after the New Testament church — 'Christians only, but not the only Christians'; 'No creed but Christ'; 'Where the Scriptures speak, we speak.' The movement's heirs typically decline the 'Protestant' label: restoration, not reformation.

Its own sources: Thomas Campbell, Declaration and Address (1809); Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery (1804); the movement's slogans (Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, p. 688).

The documented record: Documented origins in the Second Great Awakening frontier revivals (Cane Ridge 1801; the union of 1832). The claimed-lineage layer expresses the plea; the tree records the history.

In the explorer's claimed view this renders as a dashed line, labeled "pattern claimed, not descent".

Notes

  • Peak ~2M in 1958; below 1M by 1993; the tree's steepest documented decline curve.

Sources

Research compiled July 2026. Page data built 2026-10-31.