Churches of Christ

Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices. They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, and seek to be New Testament congregations as originally established by the authority of Christ. Historically, Churches of Christ in the United States were recognized as a distinct movement by the U.S. Religious Census of 1906. Prior to that they had been reported in the religious census as part of the movement that had its roots in the several independent movements that occurred through the leadership of people such as Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, and Barton W. Stone, all of whom were first associated with the Presbyterian Church, based in Scots immigrant society. They were active in American frontier settlements and cities. Those leaders had declared their independence from the denominations, seeking a fresh start to restore the New Testament church, and abandoning creeds. The names "Church of Christ," "Christian Church" and "Disciples of Christ" were adopted by the movement because leaders believed these terms to be biblical.

Branches developed within the church between those who used musical instruments in worship (now usually known as Christian churches and churches of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)) and those who chose to sing a cappella, because the use of instruments in church worship is not mentioned in the New Testament.

The latter branch, called Churches of Christ, is the subject of this article. Though officially recognized as distinct movements since 1906, the separation between the Churches of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) had been taking place gradually for decades. Yet, many within both traditions consider both to belong to the same fellowship, although they have the different worship practices regarding church music.