Three churches that split a century ago, call all churches everywhere to commune together October 4, 2009

The United States was founded on great documents and historic meetings. Churches also have these pivotal moments and writings. Three major churches in America were originally founded as one new movement two hundred years ago. The Stone-Campbell heritage was sparked by writings such as the “Declaration and Address” by Thomas Campbell and fueled further by the Holy Spirit’s movement in revivals and meetings of people who wanted to be disciples of Christ alone.

Two hundred years ago and as recently as 1909, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Churches of Christ, and Christian Churches/Churches of Christ were all part of the same reform movement in America that centered around Christian unity, return to the Bible rather than denominational creeds, and revival that would bring the apocalyptic reign of Christ.

It is around these common beliefs and this shared background that a new wave of believers in each of the three churches have rallied to plan a historic event in 2009 to commemorate a document that was not only the foundation of their churches but has played a part in the very identity and shape of each one. That’s why a task force—comprised of representatives of all three streams of the Restoration movement — began three years in advance to plan a bicentennial celebration of Campbell’s prescient and historic work. The task force is calling on all Stone-Campbell Churches to celebrate and reclaim the vision of Christian unity in the “Declaration and Address” for the twenty-first century.

“We were looking for a way to celebrate the bicentennial of this heritage and continue to open this doorway of developing dialogue among Churches of Christ, Christian Churches and Disciples of Christ,” said Glenn Carson, president of the Nashville-based Disciples of Christ Historical Society, which is sponsoring the event.

The 2009 Task Force was called together by the Disciples of Christ Historical Society in Nashville, Tennessee. A small group of original dreamers and visionaries had a glimpse of a celebration that could light up the world for Christ, a “Great Communion Celebration.” The celebration would bring together all three streams of a unity movement that is divided. Reemerging unity is itself reason for celebration, but, even more important, the “Great Communion Celebration” will serve as a dramatic way to inspire a vision of the unity of the church in the 21st century.

Rather than plan one mega-event limited to one location, the 2009 Task Force envisions a global network of events focused on the common meal, the Lord’s Supper, that is central to worship in all three streams of the movement. To support the work of local congregations, the 2009 Task Force has created and assembled a wealth of resources easily available on at www.greatcommunion.org

Some of these resources will provide a contemporary understanding of the principles of the “Declaration and Address.” Others will be directed to a deeper understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Yet another group of resources will provide materials for use in worship services.

“These resources will be designed to educate people about the genius of the Stone-Campbell heritage,” said Foster. “They also will prepare churches and members around the world to participate in communion services in October 2009, commemorating the Great Communion service in Pittsburg, Pa., in October 1909 that marked the centennial of the ‘Declaration and Address.’” Leafwood Publishers has just released a new book titled, One Church: A Bicentennial Celebration of Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address, edited by Glenn Thomas Carson, Douglas A. Foster, and Clinton J. Holloway. “One Church is a never before imagined volume,” says Newell Williams, president of Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas. “Along with a history of the reception of Thomas Campbell’s ‘Declaration and Address,’ combined with communion meditations from around the globe, voices from across the divided streams of the Stone-Campbell heritage—women and men, Anglo, Black, Latino, and Asian—issue an earnest self-critical and challenging contemporary call for reformation and unity in the spirit of Thomas Campbell.”

In each community, believers will celebrate this centennial/bicentennial in the ways most meaningful to them, but in every case focused on the Lord’s Supper and the unity of the church. These celebrations will honor both Jesus’ command to “Do this in remembrance of me” and his prayer for the unity of all believers. No one on the 2009 Task Force wants to return to 1809 or even 1909. We have a dream for 2009. We hear the words of Jesus praying in the garden that all his disciples will be one, and we want to participate in that unity. We want to make the idea and the reality of unity as exciting today as it was to those who listened to Thomas Campbell in 1809. His language sounds old-fashioned to us, but his ideas are as relevant as ever. Maybe you have had dreams of unity in your community. Perhaps this celebration will provide the opportunity you have been looking for to live out Christian unity.

Leading up to 2009, plans also call for “major involvement” of members of all three churches as speakers and workshop leaders in the August 2008 World Convention of Churches of Christ in Nashville, according to Jeff Weston, General Secretary of the event. The Convention began in 1930 to provide fellowship and cooperation among Churches of Christ and Christian Churches internationally.

As we celebrate the great events of 1809 and 1909, we can make 2009 a year worth remembering.