Basic Information

The Churches of Christ (Non-Instrumental) is one of the several branches of the Restoration movement begun in the early 19th century by Barton Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Originating primarily among those Restorationist congregations in the South, it has become a national movement. It has been most identified for its disavowal of the use of instrumental music in worship and ultra-congregational organization. Over the years, the decentralized polity has allowed for a number of factions to develop over various beliefs and practices not accepted by the majority of churches. The Churches of Christ (Non-instrumental) represent the largest faction of the movement.

History

Christian Church/Disciples of Christ

split into Churches of Christ (1906)

Snapshot

	1990	2000	Growth/Decline
Congregations	13,097	13,027	-70 (-0.5%)
Adherents	1,681,013	1,645,584	-35,429 (-2.1%)

Notes

Snapshot data are from Churches and Church Membership in the United States 1990 and Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Copyright © 2002, Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). All rights reserved. Published by Glenmary Research Center, 1312 Fifth Ave., North, Nashville, TN 37208. www.glenmary.org/grc.

History data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches [More information on history data sources]