Back Disciples of Christ Danish Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) German Discípulos de Cristo (Iglesia cristiana) Spanish مریدان مسیح Persian Disciples of Christ Finnish Église chrétienne des Disciples du Christ French ディサイプルス Japanese 크리스천 교회 (제자회) Korean Fiangonana Kristiana (Mpianatr' i Kristy) Malagasy Discípulos de Cristo (igreja) Portuguese

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

"Disciples of Christ" redirects here. For the Twelve Disciples, see Apostles in the New Testament. For other uses, see Disciples of Christ (disambiguation).

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The church's logo, depicting a chalice with the Cross of St Andrew.
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationMix of Restorationist, Liberal, Progressive, and Pluralist
PolityCongregationalist
General Minister
and President		Teresa Hord Owens
Associations
Full communion
RegionUnited States and Canada
HeadquartersIndianapolis, Indiana
Founder
Origin
Separated from
Congregations3,624
Members277,864 (2022)[1]
Official websitewww.disciples.org

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)[note 1] is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada.[2][3] 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 denomination is referred to by several versions of its full name, including "Disciples of Christ", "Disciples", "Christian Church", and "DOC".[note 2] 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.

The Disciples' local churches are congregationally governed. In 2008 there were 679,563 members in 3,714 congregations in the United States and Canada.[4] By 2015, this number had declined to a baptized membership of 497,423 in 3,267 congregations, of whom about 306,905 were active members, while approximately 177,000 attended Sunday services each week.[5] In 2018, the denomination reported 380,248 members with 124,437 people in average worship attendance.[6] By 2022, membership had dropped to 277,864 members, 89,894 of whom attended worship on average.[7]

  1. ^ Walton, Jeffrey (September 14, 2023). "Disciples Suffer Massive Membership Drop Post-2019". Juicy Ecumenism. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  2. ^ "Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations". Pew forum. May 12, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)".
  4. ^ "Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) – Religious Groups". The Association of Religion Data Archives. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "Religious Landscape Study". Pew forum. Pew Research. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  6. ^ "Congregations in Crisis: Dour News from Disciples, Brethren". Juicy œcumenism. February 10, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Walton, Jeffrey (September 15, 2023). "Analysis: Disciples of Christ Suffer Massive Membership Drop Post-2019". The Roys Report. Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2024.


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