Evangelical Christian Church in Canada - Restoration Movement History

Restoration Movement History

The Second Great Awakening at Cane Ridge, Kentucky helped advance the liberation of black slaves and women's rights within American-Canadian society. Several African American Christians who were born into slavery went on to become prominent figures in society, marked as a "central and defining" moment in the development of Afro-Christianity. The Restoration Movement influenced many Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) clergy, and those who were followers of the Stone movement, to believe that all men, including blacks, are created equal under God according to the Holy Scriptures. This was later adopted in its constitution of beliefs in Canada because of its political and religious anti-slavery views. In Laura, Ohio, in 1854, many African American ministers were welcomed to preach in the pulpits of various Evangelical Christian Churches, while many of the white Evangelical Christian Church's clergy continued to minister to mixed congregations, which was unprecedented.

In the midst of shifts in theology and church polity the Evangelical Christian Church became the first institution where both women and blacks made an important contribution in leadership roles within many Evangelical Christian Churches in North America. The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) exercised its independence under God by becoming one of many Restoration Movement denominations to recognize the ordination of women. Women in many black Evangelical Christian Churches became, to an even greater degree than in white churches, the backbone of church life; many became preachers. Black women so reared, upon joining integrated churches, found it difficult to accept less crucial roles where men dominated.

The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) on participated in the holiness movement that occurred spontaneously in various parts of the United States during the latter part of the 19th century. The converts needed to be established in holiness of heart and life, and opportunities were opening for the expansion of the work into other communities to ending abolitionism in the United States with the involvement of James O'Kelly, an American Methodist clergyman. The distinctive characteristic of early Methodism in the United States that most appealed to people and resulted in conversions and joining the Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) was not a theological concept, such as Arminianism, but rather was "enthusiasm," including dreams, dancing, visions, supernatural impressions, miraculous healings, speaking in tongues, praising God, laughter, swoons, and falling down in trances. It was also reported that those who came to the revival meetings scoff at these manifestations were not immune to these life changing experiences.