Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a Mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the U.S. and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th century as a loose association of churches working towards Christian unity, then slowly forming quasi-denominational structures through missionary societies, regional associations, and an international convention.

In 1968, the Disciples of Christ officially adopted a denominational structure at which time a group of churches left to remain nondenominational. The Disciples’ local churches are congregationally governed. In 2022, membership was under 300,000 members, 90,000 of whom attended worship on average.

The denomination is referred to by several versions of its full name, including “Disciples of Christ“, “Disciples“, “Christian Church“, and “DOC.” The Christian Church was a charter participant in the formation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and of the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches), and it continues to be engaged in ecumenical conversations.

From their website: “We’re a diverse group of Christ-followers across the United States and Canada. We worship in old sanctuaries, living rooms, coffee shops, and online. We love sharing a meal together. We’re called to do justice. We read and wrestle with the Bible. We believe God loves the whole world, you included. We’re doing our best to follow Jesus and we’ve made a commitment to work toward being an anti-racist church.”