Evangelical Christian Church in Canada

Evangelical Christian Church In Canada

The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) as an evangelical Protestant Canadian church body in North America can be traced to the formal organization of the Christian Church in 1804, in Bourbon County, Kentucky under the leadership of Barton Warren Stone (1772–1844). The Stone Movement later merged with the efforts of Thomas Campbell (1772–1854) and his son Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) to become the Restoration Movement that gave birth to the Churches of Christ (Non-Instrumental), the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, and the Christian Church Disciples of Christ. The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) as a separate group within the Restoration tradition was reorganized in 2001. The Evangelical Christian Church's national office in Canada is in Waterloo, Ontario.

The Evangelical Christian Church, also known as "Christian Disciples" became the Stone-Campbell Movement, also called the Restoration Movement 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 Canadian Evangelical Christian Church to formed was in 1810 in Ontario, and in the Maritime provinces Canada. After the Second World War, a collaboration between an All-Canadian and North American (Evangelical Christian Church) Movement began as a way to coordinate and unite the various churches of the Restoration Movement in order to reform the church along non-sectarian, non-creedal lines. Several church bodies identifying with the Stone-Campbell movement were very creedal and range from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal as can be seen in the United Church of Christ which is an attempt to unite all Christian denominations into one national body. In the beginning of the early 1940s, this movement organized a Great Western revival meeting, causing an increase in religious interest and excitement in the Canadian Evangelical Christian Church, unifying Christians based on their interpretations of New Testament principles.

During the early 20th century, many Restoration Movement churches not affiliated with the three larger Restoration bodies existed under such names as Canadian Evangelical Christian Churches, Evangelical Christian Churches, Independent Christian Churches, Christian Churches of North America, Christian Missionary Churches, Bible Evangelical Churches, Community Churches, Evangelical Congregational Churches, Congregational Christian Churches, and the Evangelical Protestant Churches which traces its roots to various Lutheran and Reformed churches from Germany in 1720. The Congregation Christian Church itself was the product of a merger in 1931, between the Congregational Church and a number of Christian Churches. The Congregational Church developed in England before migrating to the United States. Some of these united in 1966 as the Evangelical Christian Churches, Farmland, Indiana. The majority of these congregations that have not been otherwise absorbed, continue as the Evangelical Christian Churches, Albany, Indiana.