The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) as an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Canadian church body. The Evangelical Christian Church's national office in Canada is in

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the ci ...

History

The church has its origins in the formal organization of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1804 http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/pub/rc/rel/eccc-ecec-eng.asp Religions in Canada (2009) Retrieved on 17/10/09 ,roots in the Christian churches and churches of Christ (2009) Retrieved 23-04-09
/ref> in Bourbon County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

under the leadership of

Barton Warren Stone Barton Warren Stone (December 24, 1772 – November 9, 1844) was an American evangelist during the early 19th-century Second Great Awakening in the United States. First ordained a Presbyterian minister, he and four other ministers of the Washingt ...

(1772–1844). The Evangelical Christian Church, also known as "Christian Disciples" became the Stone-Campbell Movement, also called the

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (17 ...

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 The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% o ...

Canada. The oldest Christian Disciples Church in Canada was founded in 1810 by John R. Stewart, an immigrant from

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The first Meeting House (Cross Roads Christian Church) was a log cabin built in 1813. The church was designed by members of the congregation, which were then Christian Disciples whose faith was influenced by Baptist theology. From 1907 to 1947, the church was operated as a Baptist charge in conjunction with Scottish Baptists churches in

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "p ...

and Hazelbrook, when it apparently again became an Evangelical Christian Church. The following year, the church was visited by the noted evangelist, Alexander Crawford, who was then also working in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Crawford would remain with the Cross Roads congregation for almost two years before moving to Tryon,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. It was after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

that a collaboration between an All-Canadian and North-American (Evangelical Christian Churches) 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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, revolutionizing a spiritual hunger for God, and unifying

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

on the basis of

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

basic principles, while liberating the spiritual

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

in Canada. The leaders of this movement sought to reform the church along

non-sectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...

, non-creedal lines with the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) as a separate group within the Restoration tradition was reorganized in 2001. The leaders believed in the essential unity of the body of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

, 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 The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

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.

Organization and structure

The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) in Canada is

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

and its member churches are self-governing in the tradition of

congregational polity Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or " autonomous". Its first articu ...

. Ministers who are the Elders of the church are held accountable only to the scriptures, and guaranteed freedom of

thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...

and

conscience Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sens ...

to practice their faith without doctrinal restrictions. The ECC maintains a high commitment to

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a ...

, 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 Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogni ...

as taught by the early church. The ECC divides the country into 10 districts assigned to

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

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 minister, 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 Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

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,

denominations, not in an attempt to reform any particular denomination, but rather in an effort to "restore" the "original" church according to the

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

, while basing its Biblical mission on the

Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16– 20, where on a mountain i ...

found in the gospel of

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

. 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 Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

doctrines Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief syste ...

. 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 The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" ...

. In order for this Kingdom dominion pursuit to be realized, the Five-fold ministry expounded in Eph.4:11 (

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

s, evangelists, pastors, and

teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

) needed to be commissioned by the Church at large and given room to exercise their

spiritual gifts A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...

with authority in the church of Jesus Christ.

Membership trends

Within the

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

, 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: *

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

, which is limited to those old enough to make a profession of faith and is commonly administered by immersion. * The Lord's Supper is performed weekly, at which time all members partake of the emblems.

Doctrine

The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) in Canada has eleven

Articles of Faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

that are considered to be their definitive doctrinal statement:

Colleges and universities

* Waterloo Bible College

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 Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

with other affiliated denominations on critical ministry issues, as well as public issues facing all

. The ECCC and other affiliated denominations participate in the consultations, forums and roundtables that are hosted by the EFC in order to promote

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

and ministry partnerships.http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/NetCommunity/page.aspx?pid=848 Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Retrieved on 2004-01-01

Key figures

* Barton Stone (1772–1844) * Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) * Thomas Campbell (clergyman) (1763–1854)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evangelical Christian Church In Canada Evangelical parachurch organizations Evangelicalism in Canada Restoration Movement Restoration Movement denominations Nondenominational Christianity Evangelical denominations in North America Congregationalism in Canada