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
Polity	Congregationalist
Associations	Churches Uniting in Christ, Christian Churches Together, National Council of Churches, World Council of Churches, World Convention of Churches of Christ
Region	The United States and Canada with partner churches worldwide
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana
Founder	Various members from the non-denominational Christian Church formed the Council on Christian Union in 1910 which made a distinction in direction from independent Christian Churches and the Restoration Movement. This was even more formalized in 1919 with the establishment of the United Christian Missionary Society. Denominational structure of the Disciples of Christ was formed in 1968.
Origin	1968 Kansas City
Branched from	Restoration Movement
Separations	Churches of Christ, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ
Congregations	3,627
Members	497,423 registered (2014)
Official website	www.disciples.org

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States in the Reformed tradition. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or as The Disciples. 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 North America. For 2012, their Yearbook & Directory claimed 625,252 members in 3,627 congregations. In 2015, Pew Research estimated .3% of the U.S population, or roughly 735,000 adult adherents, self-identify with the mainline tradition which is significantly higher than the official membership of 497,423, of whom about 306,905 are active, while roughly 177,141 people attend services each week. The WCC also reports, with higher figures, that the denomination has up to 830,000 members in the US and 2,606 in Canada.

The name, Disciples of Christ, is shared by three other groups, The Churches of Christ, the Independent Christian churches and churches of Christ, and the Christian Congregation. They emerged from the same roots. The Stone-Campbell movement began as two separate threads, each without knowledge of the other, during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century. The first of these two groups, led by Barton W. Stone began at Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky. The group called themselves simply Christians. The second, began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia (now West Virginia), led by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander Campbell. Because the founders wanted to abandon all denominational labels, they used the biblical names for the followers of Jesus that they found in the Bible.