Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
| Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) | |
|---|---|
The church's logo, depicting a chalice with the Cross of St. Andrew | |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Mainline Protestant, Restorationist |
| Polity | Congregationalist |
| General Minister and President | Teresa Hord Owens |
| Associations |
|
| Full communion |
|
| Region | United States and Canada |
| Headquarters | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Founder |
|
| Origin |
|
| Separated from |
|
| Congregations | 3,624 |
| Members | 277,864 (2022)[1] |
| Official website | disciples |
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 toward Christian unity. These slowly structuralized through missionary societies, regional associations, and an international convention. In 1968, the Disciples of Christ officially adopted a denominational structure. At that time, a group of churches left in order to remain nondenominational.
The denomination is referred to by several versions of its full name, including "Disciples of Christ", "Disciples", "Christian Church", "CC(DOC)", 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 2025, Pew Research Center published the Religious Landscape Survey, estimating that 0.3% of the US adult population, or 780,000 people, self-identified as adherents of the Disciples of Christ.[4][5] In 2008 there were 679,563 members in 3,714 congregations in the United States and Canada.[6] 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.[7] In 2018, the denomination reported 380,248 members with 124,437 people in average worship attendance.[8] By 2022, membership had dropped to 277,864 members, 89,894 of whom attended worship on average.[9]
- ^ Walton, Jeffrey (September 14, 2023). "Disciples Suffer Massive Membership Drop Post-2019". Juicy Ecumenism. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ "Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations". Pew forum. May 12, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
- ^ "Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)".
- ^ Fahmy, Gregory A. Smith, Alan Cooperman, Becka A. Alper, Besheer Mohamed, Chip Rotolo, Patricia Tevington, Justin Nortey, Asta Kallo, Jeff Diamant and Dalia (February 26, 2025). "Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off". Pew Research Center. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Religious Landscape Study". Pew Research Center. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Religious Landscape Study". Pew forum. Pew Research. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ^ "Congregations in Crisis: Dour News from Disciples, Brethren". Juicy œcumenism. February 10, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ 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.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).