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.infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox" style="width: 24em;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:125%;">Congregational Christian Churches</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png/200px-Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png" decoding="async" width="200" height="66" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png/300px-Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png/400px-Congregational_Christian_Churches_Yearbook_Name.png 2x" data-file-width="941" data-file-height="312" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Abbreviation</th><td class="infobox-data">CCC</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Orientation</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Mainline_Protestant" title="Mainline Protestant">Mainline Protestant</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Theology</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Calvinism" class="mw-redirect" title="Calvinism">Reformed</a> and <a href="/wiki/Restorationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Restorationist">Restorationist</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Ecclesiastical_polity" title="Ecclesiastical polity">Polity</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Congregationalist_polity" class="mw-redirect" title="Congregationalist polity">Congregational</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Origin</th><td class="infobox-data">1931 <br /><a href="/wiki/Seattle,_Washington" class="mw-redirect" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle, Washington</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="/wiki/Church_union" title="Church union">Merger of</a></th><td class="infobox-data"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/National_Council_of_the_Congregational_Churches_of_the_United_States" title="National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States">National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christian_Connection" title="Christian Connection">Christian Connection</a></li></ul> </td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Separations</th><td class="infobox-data"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Conservative_Congregational_Christian_Conference" title="Conservative Congregational Christian Conference">Conservative Congregational Christian Conference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Association_of_Congregational_Christian_Churches" title="National Association of Congregational Christian Churches">National Association of Congregational Christian Churches</a></li></ul> </td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Merged into</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ" title="United Church of Christ">United Church of Christ</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Defunct</th><td class="infobox-data">1957</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap;">Other name(s)</th><td class="infobox-data"> <ul><li>Congregational and Christian Churches</li> <li>General Council of Congregational Christian Churches</li></ul> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>Congregational Christian Churches</b> was a <a href="/wiki/Protestant" class="mw-redirect" title="Protestant">Protestant</a> <a href="/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christian</a> denomination that operated in the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">U.S.</a> from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the <a href="/wiki/Evangelical_and_Reformed_Church" title="Evangelical and Reformed Church">Evangelical and Reformed Church</a> in a merger to become the <a href="/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ" title="United Church of Christ">United Church of Christ</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Gunnemann1977_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gunnemann1977-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Others created the <a href="/wiki/National_Association_of_Congregational_Christian_Churches" title="National Association of Congregational Christian Churches">National Association of Congregational Christian Churches</a> or joined the <a href="/wiki/Conservative_Congregational_Christian_Conference" title="Conservative Congregational Christian Conference">Conservative Congregational Christian Conference</a> that formed earlier in 1945. During the forementioned period, its churches were organized nationally into a General Council, with parallel state conferences, sectional associations, and missionary instrumentalities. Congregations, however, retained their local autonomy and these groups were legally separate from the congregations. </p><p>The body came into being in <a href="/wiki/Seattle" title="Seattle">Seattle</a>, <a href="/wiki/Washington_(state)" title="Washington (state)">Washington</a> in 1931 by the merger of two American bodies that practiced <a href="/wiki/Congregational_church_governance" class="mw-redirect" title="Congregational church governance">congregational church governance</a>, the <a href="/wiki/National_Council_of_the_Congregational_Churches_of_the_United_States" title="National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States">National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States</a> and the <b>General Convention of the Christian Church.</b> Initially using the word "and" between the words "Congregational" and "Christian," the new denomination decided to combine the predecessor churches' identities into one nationally, while its constituent churches remained free to either retain their original names or adopt the new usage. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Heritages">Heritages</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Heritages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Congregationalism">Congregationalism</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Congregationalism"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Congregationalism_in_the_United_States" title="Congregationalism in the United States">Congregationalism in the United States</a></div> <p>Established by settlers in present-day <a href="/wiki/New_England" title="New England">New England</a> fleeing religious persecution in their native <a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Congregationalism_in_the_United_States" title="Congregationalism in the United States">Congregational churches</a> were identified with the <a href="/wiki/Puritan" class="mw-redirect" title="Puritan">Puritan</a> theological and political perspective within <a href="/wiki/Anglosphere" title="Anglosphere">Anglo-Saxon</a> <a href="/wiki/Protestantism" title="Protestantism">Protestantism</a> during the 17th century. Many American historians have viewed their semi-democratic practices as laying the foundation for the representative nature of the U.S. political tradition. Although they were originally strongly <a href="/wiki/Calvinism" class="mw-redirect" title="Calvinism">Calvinist</a> in the 18th century, eventually, by the 19th century, <a href="/wiki/Congregationalists" class="mw-redirect" title="Congregationalists">Congregationalists</a> had accepted their peculiar vocation in U.S. religious life, maintaining a broadly orthodox faith while cultivating a passion for freedom, equality, and justice. </p><p>These ethical convictions would propel the Congregational churches into the forefront of social reform movements during the next 150 years or so. Most notable of these was strong support for the abolition of <a href="/wiki/Slavery" title="Slavery">slavery</a> among <a href="/wiki/African-Americans" class="mw-redirect" title="African-Americans">African-Americans</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Southern_U.S." class="mw-redirect" title="Southern U.S.">Southern U.S.</a> In the aftermath of the <a href="/wiki/American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a>, numerous pastors and female schoolteacher missionaries, working under the auspices of the <a href="/wiki/American_Missionary_Association" title="American Missionary Association">American Missionary Association</a>, established academies, colleges, and churches for the freedpeople; six of the colleges are still in existence. Later generations became involved in causes such as <a href="/wiki/Temperance_movement" title="Temperance movement">temperance</a>, <a href="/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage" title="Women's suffrage">women's suffrage</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Social_Gospel" title="Social Gospel">Social Gospel</a>. </p><p>In the midst of this political involvement, Congregationalists held firmly to the notion that each local church was ruled directly by <a href="/wiki/Jesus_Christ" class="mw-redirect" title="Jesus Christ">Jesus Christ</a>, as testified to in the <a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">Bible</a> and preached to those convicted by the <a href="/wiki/Holy_Spirit" title="Holy Spirit">Holy Spirit</a>. Each thus constituted a spiritual republic unto itself, needing no authorization from outside ecclesiastical forces. </p><p>On the homefront, Congregationalism became primarily a grouping found among townspeople and affluent urban residents of New England, <a href="/wiki/New_York_state" class="mw-redirect" title="New York state">New York state</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Great_Lakes" title="Great Lakes">Great Lakes</a> region, portions of the <a href="/wiki/Great_Plains" title="Great Plains">Great Plains</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Pacific_Coast" class="mw-redirect" title="Pacific Coast">Pacific Coast</a>; roughly speaking, the <a href="/wiki/Northern_United_States" title="Northern United States">Northern United States</a>, a region strongly influenced by migrants from New England and New York. By the turn of the 20th century, the churches had begun to attract worshippers from outside their original base constituency of English-speaking <a href="/wiki/European_American" class="mw-redirect" title="European American">Anglo-Americans</a>. Immigrant groups that formed Congregational churches included <a href="/wiki/Volga_German" class="mw-redirect" title="Volga German">Volga Germans</a>, <a href="/wiki/Swedish_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Swedish people">Swedes</a>, <a href="/wiki/Puerto_Rican_American" class="mw-redirect" title="Puerto Rican American">Puerto Ricans</a>, <a href="/wiki/Overseas_Chinese" title="Overseas Chinese">Chinese</a>, <a href="/wiki/Japanese_people" title="Japanese people">Japanese</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Native_Hawaiians" title="Native Hawaiians">Hawaiians</a>. The Congregational churches also acquired two smaller church bodies: several <a href="/wiki/Southeast_Conference,_United_Church_of_Christ#Congregational_Methodist_acquisition" class="mw-redirect" title="Southeast Conference, United Church of Christ">Congregational Methodist</a> churches in <a href="/wiki/Alabama" title="Alabama">Alabama</a> and <a href="/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)" title="Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia</a>, during the 1890s, and the <a href="/wiki/Ohio_Conference,_United_Church_of_Christ#Southwest_Ohio_Northern_Kentucky_Association" title="Ohio Conference, United Church of Christ">Evangelical Protestant Churches</a> in 1925, a <a href="/wiki/Germans" title="Germans">German</a>-immigrant group located primarily in and around <a href="/wiki/Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania" class="mw-redirect" title="Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania">Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cincinnati,_Ohio" class="mw-redirect" title="Cincinnati, Ohio">Cincinnati, Ohio</a>. </p><p>Theologically, during the 19th century the Congregationalists shifted gradually from adherence to orthodox <a href="/wiki/Reformed_tradition" class="mw-redirect" title="Reformed tradition">Reformed</a> concepts and teachings (e.g., <a href="/wiki/Total_depravity" title="Total depravity">total depravity</a>, <a href="/wiki/Limited_atonement" title="Limited atonement">limited atonement</a>) toward a decidedly more liberal orientation, facilitated by a group of <a href="/wiki/Yale_University" title="Yale University">Yale University</a>-educated pastors in and around the time of the Civil War. Led by the likes of <a href="/wiki/Horace_Bushnell" title="Horace Bushnell">Horace Bushnell</a> and <a href="/wiki/Nathaniel_William_Taylor" title="Nathaniel William Taylor">Nathaniel Taylor</a>, the <a href="/wiki/New_Divinity" class="mw-redirect" title="New Divinity">New Divinity</a> men broke, some would say irrevocably, with the older pessimistic views of human nature espoused by classical Congregationalist divines such as <a href="/wiki/Cotton_Mather" title="Cotton Mather">Cotton Mather</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(theologian)" title="Jonathan Edwards (theologian)">Jonathan Edwards</a>, declaring instead a more sanguine view of possibilities for the individual and society. Even as this grand shift may have attracted individuals weary of overbearing, harsh harangues from generations of revivalist preachers, numerous others deplored what they felt was an abandonment of the true faith. Such conservatives, especially outside New England, increasingly sought refuge in churches that held to more rigid doctrine, such as the <a href="/wiki/Baptists" title="Baptists">Baptists</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Presbyterians" class="mw-redirect" title="Presbyterians">Presbyterians</a>. </p><p>Congregationalist losses to Presbyterianism increased greatly in the decades in which the <i>Plan of Union,</i> was in effect. Although it was designed by Connecticut Congregationalists and the Presbyterian General Assembly to avoid duplication of effort in evangelizing the frontier regions, this plan resulted in numerous Congregational-founded parishes being annexed to presbyteries, usually through the pastor's affiliation and often without the local church's assent. The need to dissolve that failed attempt at inter-denominationalism, which had already taken place among the Presbyterians, prompted a national gathering of Congregationalists in 1865 at Boston, Massachusetts. This was the first national meeting in more than 200 years, since the 1648 synod that produced the <a href="/wiki/Cambridge_Platform" title="Cambridge Platform">Cambridge Platform</a>, a confession of faith similar to the <a href="/wiki/Presbyterians" class="mw-redirect" title="Presbyterians">Presbyterians</a>' <a href="/wiki/Westminster_Confession" class="mw-redirect" title="Westminster Confession">Westminster Confession</a>. It was not until 1870, though, that a sufficient number of Congregationalists responded to a related call to organize nationally. </p><p>This was not the first time American Congregationalism had been shaken to its foundations by theological change; the <a href="/wiki/Great_Awakenings" class="mw-redirect" title="Great Awakenings">Great Awakenings</a> of the decades surrounding the turn of the 19th century had also left indelible marks upon the churches. Some churches openly embraced revivalism at the time, while others, particularly in the <a href="/wiki/Boston" title="Boston">Boston</a> area, reacted negatively to the developments by adopting <a href="/wiki/Arminian" class="mw-redirect" title="Arminian">Arminian</a> viewpoints in opposition to the intensified Calvinism espoused by such preachers as Edwards and <a href="/wiki/George_Whitefield" title="George Whitefield">George Whitefield</a>. Following the Great Awakening, many of the liberalized congregations would eventually depart the Congregational fellowship in 1825 to form the American Unitarian Association; this body is now known as the <a href="/wiki/Unitarian_Universalist_Association" title="Unitarian Universalist Association">Unitarian Universalist Association</a>. </p><p>Meanwhile, despite the cherished commitments to independence and freedom, Congregationalists increasingly began to espouse the main aims of the <a href="/wiki/Ecumenical_movement" class="mw-redirect" title="Ecumenical movement">ecumenical movement</a> within American (and world) Protestantism. This movement had gathered much energy from the rise of totalitarian regimes in <a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a> during the first third of the 20th century, and a perceived decline in that period of religious life among Americans. Congregational leaders pursued close relations with numerous Protestant groups, but one group emerged as a prime candidate for actual organizational union: the Christian Churches. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Christian_Churches_("Connection")"><span id="The_Christian_Churches_.28.22Connection.22.29"></span>The Christian Churches ("Connection")</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: The Christian Churches ("Connection")"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Christian_Connection" title="Christian Connection">Christian Connection</a></div> <p>While Puritans were consolidating their domination of religious, political and intellectual life in New England, elsewhere in America, during the period immediately before the American Revolution, many newly arrived settlers became dissatisfied with theology, preaching, liturgy, and ecclesiology inherited from Europe. Many of these people had turned to <a href="/wiki/Christian_revival" title="Christian revival">revivalist</a> faiths such as the <a href="/wiki/Methodists" class="mw-redirect" title="Methodists">Methodists</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Baptists" title="Baptists">Baptists</a>, and most found spiritual homes within those groups, or others deriving from the ferment started by the Great Awakenings. </p><p>However, in different parts of the country, several preachers led dissenting movements against the leadership of some of those churches. In the 1790s, <a href="/wiki/James_O%27Kelly" title="James O'Kelly">James O'Kelly</a>, a Methodist pastor serving churches in central <a href="/wiki/North_Carolina" title="North Carolina">North Carolina</a> and southeastern <a href="/wiki/Virginia" title="Virginia">Virginia</a>, took exception to the development of an episcopacy within his church. He believed that the rise of bishops, strongly advocated by the likes of <a href="/wiki/Francis_Asbury" title="Francis Asbury">Francis Asbury</a>, would approximate the powers of the recently disestablished <a href="/wiki/Anglican" class="mw-redirect" title="Anglican">Anglican</a> church and thus unduly control the ministry, particularly through the practice of <a href="/wiki/Circuit_rider_(Religious)" class="mw-redirect" title="Circuit rider (Religious)">itinerancy</a>. When leaders ignored O'Kelly's protests, he and some sympathizers withdrew from the Methodist Church to form a body originally known as the "Republican Methodist Church." Upon extensive discussion and prayer, O'Kelly began to hold that the name implied a sectarianism that was quite at odds with what he felt were prescriptions from the <a href="/wiki/New_Testament" title="New Testament">New Testament</a> prohibiting churches from identifying with mere human opinions. Thus, he and others arrived at the notion that their churches should bear simply the name of "Christian." </p><p>Several hundred miles to the north in <a href="/wiki/Vermont" title="Vermont">Vermont</a>, a Baptist preacher by the name of <a href="/wiki/Abner_Jones" title="Abner Jones">Abner Jones</a> began to refute the then-prevalent Calvinist dogmas within his fellowship. He led some of his followers out of his congregation into a new fellowship founded upon a platform similar to O'Kelly's, with a strong emphasis upon open communion and freedom of conscience. Later in the first decade of the 19th century, he and a <a href="/wiki/New_Hampshire" title="New Hampshire">New Hampshire</a> pastor began publishing a newspaper for the movement, <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Herald_of_Gospel_Liberty&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Herald of Gospel Liberty (page does not exist)">Herald of Gospel Liberty</a>,</i> reputed by some historians to have been the first general-interest religious periodical in the U.S. The movement progressed throughout New England, especially within those two states, as well as <a href="/wiki/Maine" title="Maine">Maine</a> and <a href="/wiki/Massachusetts" title="Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a>. Adherents of the Congregational "Standing Order" treated the new churches in a generally hostile fashion. </p><p>Both movements were <a href="/wiki/Restorationism_(Christian_primitivism)" class="mw-redirect" title="Restorationism (Christian primitivism)">restorationist</a> in outlook, and influenced the later <a href="/wiki/Restoration_Movement" title="Restoration Movement">Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement</a>. That later movement produced several larger groups that continue to operate today: the <a href="/wiki/Christian_Church_(Disciples_of_Christ)" title="Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)">Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Christian_churches_and_churches_of_Christ" title="Christian churches and churches of Christ">Christian churches and churches of Christ</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Churches_of_Christ" title="Churches of Christ">Churches of Christ</a>. </p><p>The geographically disparate Northern and Southern wings of the Christian movement did eventually discover each other, and they formed a convention in 1820. At that time, they agreed on a general list of five (some scholars have claimed six) principles unifying the otherwise diverse congregations. The unity did not survive engrossing controversies over slavery and the ensuing <a href="/wiki/American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">Civil War</a>. The "Christian Connection," as was also the case with American Protestant groups such as the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, split once again into Northern and Southern factions. The Northern group catalyzed the split, as many of its leaders, much like those of the Congregationalists, strongly denounced slavery. The Northerners used the schism as an occasion to legally take denominational form, in 1850. Despite the bitterness of the split, Christians in both sections reunited much sooner than did the other separated groups, forming the General Convention of the Christian Church in 1890. </p><p>Many Southern/O'Kelly Christians owned slaves, some of whom formed churches of their own in that tradition after the <a href="/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation" title="Emancipation Proclamation">Emancipation Proclamation</a>. Centered in central and eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, <a href="/wiki/African-American" class="mw-redirect" title="African-American">African-American</a> Christian congregations formed a convention of their own in the 1890s. This convention existed until 1950, well after the Congregational Christian merger; that year it joined the Convention of the South, heretofore composed of Congregational churches founded by the <a href="/wiki/American_Missionary_Association" title="American Missionary Association">American Missionary Association</a>. </p><p>Theologically, the Christian Churches did not encourage a highly elaborate system of doctrine or Biblical interpretation. Relatively few of their ministers were educated past the elementary grades, a characteristic that persisted well into the early 20th century. Their leanings were toward <a href="/wiki/Christian_revival" title="Christian revival">revivalist</a> <a href="/wiki/John_Wesley" title="John Wesley">Wesleyanism</a>, emphasizing traditional evangelical themes such as regeneration, acceptance of personal salvation, and the performance of good works of charity. Few if any of their members were inherently predisposed toward polemical attacks upon other traditions, although some pastors and churches would eventually identify with the emerging <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalist" class="mw-redirect" title="Fundamentalist">fundamentalist</a> movement in later decades. </p><p>By the time that the Congregationalists had approached Christian leaders about possible union, some disaffected adherents of the wing of <a href="/wiki/Restoration_Movement" title="Restoration Movement">Restoration Movement</a> led by <a href="/wiki/Barton_Stone" class="mw-redirect" title="Barton Stone">Barton Stone</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Campbell_(clergyman)" class="mw-redirect" title="Alexander Campbell (clergyman)">Alexander Campbell</a> had joined the Christian Connection. This group gave the movement a geographical complexion that entailed pockets of strength in New England, upstate New York, southeastern Virginia, central and eastern North Carolina, western Georgia, eastern Alabama, southwestern <a href="/wiki/Ohio" title="Ohio">Ohio</a>, and eastern <a href="/wiki/Indiana" title="Indiana">Indiana</a>, with dispersed congregations in parts of the <a href="/wiki/Great_Plains" title="Great Plains">Great Plains</a>. Most of the membership was rural, outside major cities, usually engaged in farming or similar occupations. </p><p>The Christians founded schools such as Ohio's <a href="/wiki/Defiance_College" title="Defiance College">Defiance College</a> and <a href="/wiki/Antioch_College" title="Antioch College">Antioch College</a> and North Carolina's <a href="/wiki/Elon_University" title="Elon University">Elon University</a>; during the early 20th century, an academy and seminary for African-Americans operated in <a href="/wiki/Franklinton,_North_Carolina" title="Franklinton, North Carolina">Franklinton, North Carolina</a>. Defiance continues to relate to the United Church of Christ today. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_post-merger_years">Early post-merger years</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Early post-merger years"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>After the 1931 merger, relatively few practices and customs changed drastically within either of the uniting traditions, largely because its members, like most Americans, were overwhelmed by, first, the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a>, and, later, <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>. It would not be until after the latter concluded that the CC churches would embark on anything like a major church extension program; this was the case, of course, with most U.S. denominations during this period, as their churches often struggled to merely stay open, with little or nothing left over for mission work. </p><p>Congregationalists constituted about 85-90% of the membership of the new denomination; this caused few if any resentments or conflicts because, by and large, the two groups did not overlap each other geographically, except in parts of New England, upstate New York, Ohio, and among African-American churches in North Carolina. Regional judicatories and national domestic and foreign mission agencies merged quite smoothly, often continuing to use varying terminologies (e.g., "convention," "conference," "association"), depending on custom. On the domestic front, most of the new church planting efforts were concentrated in newly developing areas such as southern <a href="/wiki/California" title="California">California</a>, <a href="/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona">Arizona</a>, <a href="/wiki/Florida" title="Florida">Florida</a>, and suburbs of major Midwestern cities (e.g., <a href="/wiki/Chicago" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>, <a href="/wiki/Detroit" title="Detroit">Detroit</a>, <a href="/wiki/Minneapolis" title="Minneapolis">Minneapolis</a>). Abroad, many CC missionary efforts shifted their emphases toward medical and social services, particularly after many of the churches Congregationalists had founded in earlier decades had formed autonomous bodies of their own. </p><p>One distinguishing trait of the new fellowship, aside from its unusually tolerant attitude regarding subscription to ancient doctrines, was its bold enthusiasm for <a href="/wiki/Ecumenical" class="mw-redirect" title="Ecumenical">ecumenical</a> adventures, especially those growing out of the "<a href="/wiki/Faith_and_Order" class="mw-redirect" title="Faith and Order">Faith and Order</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/Life_and_Work_(conference)" class="mw-redirect" title="Life and Work (conference)">Life and Work</a>" inter-church initiatives in <a href="/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a> in the 1920s and 1930s. These developments and others led to the founding of the <a href="/wiki/World_Council_of_Churches" title="World Council of Churches">World Council of Churches</a> in 1948, of which the Congregational Christian Churches was a charter member. In the U.S., the Congregational Christians made several overtures to other Protestant groups toward federative unions and/or organic mergers in the years before World War II. But the main legacy of those discussions was what became the United Church of Christ in 1957. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="UCC_merger_talks">UCC merger talks</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: UCC merger talks"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Rev. Dr. Truman Douglass, pastor of <a href="/wiki/St._Louis" title="St. Louis">St. Louis</a>' Pilgrim Congregational Church, met with the Rev. Dr. Samuel Press, president of <a href="/wiki/Eden_Theological_Seminary" title="Eden Theological Seminary">Eden Theological Seminary</a> in that city, a seminary of the <a href="/wiki/Evangelical_and_Reformed_Church" title="Evangelical and Reformed Church">Evangelical and Reformed Church</a>, a denomination predominantly of German origin and itself a merger of two previously separated traditions, as part of an informal interchurch discussion group in 1937. Douglass' and Press' talks led to the involvement of both bodies in proposals to consider organic union, work that eventually culminated in the Basis of Union in 1943, which both national bodies approved after a five-year period of revising. The Rev. Dr. <a href="/wiki/Douglas_Horton_(clergyman)" class="mw-redirect" title="Douglas Horton (clergyman)">Douglas Horton</a>, a former <a href="/wiki/Harvard_Divinity_School" title="Harvard Divinity School">Harvard Divinity School</a> dean, had become the CC general minister and president by this point, and became the prime figure in the CC union efforts. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id=""Continuing_Congregationalism""><span id=".22Continuing_Congregationalism.22"></span>"Continuing Congregationalism"</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: "Continuing Congregationalism""><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>However, a small but vocal minority of ministers and laymen protested the developments, charging that any merger with a confessional, presbyterial body such as the E&R Church would destroy the heritage and structure of American Congregationalism. These opponents formed groups that published pamphlets and attempted to persuade churches to reject the proposed merger. An anti-merger congregation in <a href="/wiki/Brooklyn" title="Brooklyn">Brooklyn</a> filed suit against the CC moderator, Helen Kenyon, in 1949 to legally stop the merger proceedings; the major legal contention made by the church and the anti-union advocates was that the CC General Council possessed no authority to enter into a merger as a national entity. After some initial victories in lower courts, a New York state Court of Appeals declined jurisdiction and judged in favor of Ms. Kenyon and the CC Churches in 1953. With this defeat, the anti-merger forces turned instead toward forming a new denomination, which became the <a href="/wiki/National_Association_of_Congregational_Christian_Churches" title="National Association of Congregational Christian Churches">National Association of Congregational Christian Churches</a>, founded in 1955; a preponderance of these churches were located in non-metropolitan New England, southeastern <a href="/wiki/Michigan" title="Michigan">Michigan</a>, parts of <a href="/wiki/Wisconsin" title="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a> and <a href="/wiki/Illinois" title="Illinois">Illinois</a>, and southern California. Some years before that, motivated by different concerns, chiefly doctrine, a group of evangelical-leaning congregations formed the <a href="/wiki/Conservative_Congregational_Christian_Conference" title="Conservative Congregational Christian Conference">Conservative Congregational Christian Conference</a>, in 1948. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Union_approved">Union approved</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Union approved"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The final vote on participation by the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> in the UCC merger took place at the 1956 General Council, meeting in <a href="/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraska" title="Omaha, Nebraska">Omaha, Nebraska</a>. Eighty-eight (88) percent of the delegates approved the motion to unite with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and the latter body's General Synod approved by an even wider margin. This set the stage for the Uniting General Synod, which took place in <a href="/wiki/Cleveland,_Ohio" class="mw-redirect" title="Cleveland, Ohio">Cleveland, Ohio</a>, on June 25, 1957; the General Council of Congregationalism Christian Churches were represented by the Rev. <a href="/wiki/Fred_Hoskins" title="Fred Hoskins">Fred Hoskins</a>, who had succeeded Horton some years earlier as general minister and president. Hoskins would become, along with E&R President James Wagner, one of the co-presidents of the UCC. The actual consummation of the UCC, however, did not occur until 1961, when a sufficient number of CC congregations voted to approve the denomination's new constitution. </p><p>The CC Churches brought into the new <a href="/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ" title="United Church of Christ">UCC</a> approximately 1.4 million members, about 60 percent of the total number of members in the new denomination. In order to attend to necessary legal business continuing from years past, the General Council remained incorporated until 1984, when it finally dissolved. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/S._Parkes_Cadman" title="S. Parkes Cadman">S. Parkes Cadman</a>, prominent minister and leader of the Congregational Christian Churches in the early 20th century</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christian_Connection" title="Christian Connection">Christian Connection</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Gunnemann1977-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Gunnemann1977_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFGunnemann1977" class="citation book cs1">Gunnemann, Louis H. (1977). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/shapingofunitedc00loui"><i>The Shaping of the United Church of Christ</i></a></span>. United Church Press. p. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/shapingofunitedc00loui/page/160">160</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0829813454" title="Special:BookSources/0829813454"><bdi>0829813454</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Shaping+of+the+United+Church+of+Christ&rft.pages=160&rft.pub=United+Church+Press&rft.date=1977&rft.isbn=0829813454&rft.aulast=Gunnemann&rft.aufirst=Louis+H.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fshapingofunitedc00loui&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACongregational+Christian+Churches" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Constitution of the United Church of Christ</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sources">Sources</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Congregational_Christian_Churches&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Sources"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><i>The Shaping of American Congregationalism: 1620-1957,</i> <a href="/w/index.php?title=John_von_Rohr&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="John von Rohr (page does not exist)">John von Rohr</a>. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1992.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ucc.org/about-us/short-course/the-christian-churches.html">UCC "Short History Course": The Christian Churches</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130919132344/http://www.ucc.org/about-us/short-course/the-christian-churches.html">Archived</a> 2013-09-19 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></li> <li><i>The Shaping of the United Church of Christ: An Essay in the History of American Christianity,</i> Louis H. Gunnemann; Charles Shelby Rooks, ed. Cleveland: United Church Press, 1999.</li> <li><i>A History of Black Congregational Christian Churches of the South,</i> J. Taylor Stanley. New York, United Church Press, 1978.</li> <li><i>The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism,</i> Williston Walker; Douglas Horton, foreword. Boston, Pilgrim Press, 1960.</li> <li><i>The Living Theological Heritage of the United Church of Christ,</i> volume 6, <i>Growing Toward Unity,</i> Elsabeth Slaughter Hilke, ed.; Thomas E. Dipko, postscript; <a href="/wiki/Barbara_Brown_Zikmund" title="Barbara Brown Zikmund">Barbara Brown Zikmund</a>, series ed. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2001.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist 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Episcopal Church">Methodist Episcopal Church</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background-color:;width:1%">History</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Church_of_England" title="Church of England">Anglican Church</a> (<a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Episcopal_Church_(United_States)" title="History of the Episcopal Church (United States)">in North America</a>)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Methodism" title="Methodism">Methodism</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/History_of_Methodism_in_the_United_States" title="History of Methodism in the United States">History of Methodism in the United States</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/First_Great_Awakening" title="First Great Awakening">First Great Awakening</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Articles_of_Religion_(Methodist)" class="mw-redirect" title="Articles of Religion (Methodist)">Articles of Religion</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Circuit_rider_(religious)" title="Circuit rider (religious)">Circuit rider</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Lovely_Lane_Methodist_Church" title="Lovely Lane Methodist Church">Lovely Lane Methodist Church</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Barratt%27s_Chapel" title="Barratt's Chapel">Barratt's Chapel</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Christmas_Conference" title="Christmas Conference">Christmas Conference</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Coke_(bishop)" title="Thomas Coke (bishop)">Thomas Coke</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Francis_Asbury" title="Francis Asbury">Francis Asbury</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Second_Great_Awakening" title="Second Great Awakening">Second Great Awakening</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Connexionalism" title="Connexionalism">Connexionalism</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Methodist_Church_(USA)" class="mw-redirect" title="Methodist Church (USA)">Methodist Church (USA)</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/United_Methodist_Church" title="United Methodist Church">United Methodist Church</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Mainline_Protestant" title="Mainline Protestant">Mainline Protestant</a></span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background-color:;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_Methodist_denominations" title="List of Methodist denominations">Derivatives</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Evangelical_Association" title="Evangelical Association">Evangelical Association</a> (1800)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church" title="African Methodist Episcopal Church">African Methodist Episcopal Church</a> (1816)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/African_Methodist_Episcopal_Zion_Church" title="African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church">African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church</a> (1821)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Methodist_Church_(Canada)" title="Methodist Church (Canada)">Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada</a> (1828)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Methodist_Protestant_Church" title="Methodist Protestant Church">Methodist Protestant Church</a> (1828)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Christian_Union_(denomination)" title="Christian Union (denomination)">Christian Union</a> (1864)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Church_of_God_(Holiness)" title="Church of God (Holiness)">Church of God (Holiness)</a> (1883)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Christ%27s_Sanctified_Holy_Church" title="Christ's Sanctified Holy Church">Christ's Sanctified Holy Church</a> (1892)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Church_of_the_Nazarene" title="Church of the Nazarene">Church of the Nazarene</a> (1895)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Pilgrim_Holiness_Church" title="Pilgrim Holiness Church">Pilgrim Holiness Church</a> (1897)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/International_Pentecostal_Holiness_Church" title="International Pentecostal Holiness Church">Pentecostal Holiness Church of North Carolina</a> (1897)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Lumber_River_Conference_of_the_Holiness_Methodist_Church" title="Lumber River Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church">Lumber River Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church</a> (1900)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Kentucky_Mountain_Holiness_Association" title="Kentucky Mountain Holiness Association">Kentucky Mountain Holiness Association</a> (1925)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Christian_Connection" title="Christian Connection">Republican Methodist Church</a><br />(1792)</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Christian_Connection" title="Christian Connection">Christian Connection</a> (1810)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Congregational Christian Churches</a> (1931)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Conservative_Congregational_Christian_Conference" title="Conservative Congregational Christian Conference">Conservative Congregational Christian Conference</a> (1948)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/National_Association_of_Congregational_Christian_Churches" title="National Association of Congregational Christian Churches">National Association of Congregational Christian Churches</a> (1955)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ" title="United Church of Christ">United Church of Christ</a> (1957)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Wesleyan_Methodist_Church_(United_States)" title="Wesleyan Methodist Church (United States)">Wesleyan Methodist Church</a><br />(1841)</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Church_of_Daniel%27s_Band" title="Church of Daniel's Band">Church of Daniel's Band</a> (1893)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Fire-Baptized_Holiness_Church" title="Fire-Baptized Holiness Church">Fire-Baptized Holiness Church</a> (1896)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Missionary_Methodist_Church" title="Missionary Methodist Church">Missionary Methodist Church</a> (1913)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Bible_Methodist_Connection_of_Churches" title="Bible Methodist Connection of Churches">Bible Methodist Connection of Churches</a> (1967)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Bible_Methodist_Connection_of_Tennessee" title="Bible Methodist Connection of Tennessee">Bible Methodist Connection of Tennessee</a> (1968)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Allegheny_Wesleyan_Methodist_Connection" title="Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection">Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection</a> (1968)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Methodist_Episcopal_Church,_South" title="Methodist Episcopal Church, South">Methodist Episcopal Church, South</a><br />(1844)</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Congregational_Methodist_Church" title="Congregational Methodist Church">Congregational Methodist Church</a> (1852)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Christian_Methodist_Episcopal_Church" title="Christian Methodist Episcopal Church">Christian Methodist Episcopal Church</a> (1870)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Congregational_Methodist_Church&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="New Congregational Methodist Church (page does not exist)">New Congregational Methodist Church</a> (1881)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/The_People%27s_Methodist_Church" title="The People's Methodist Church">People's Methodist Church</a> (1938)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Southern_Methodist_Church" title="Southern Methodist Church">Southern Methodist Church</a> (1940)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Free_Methodist_Church" title="Free Methodist Church">Free Methodist Church</a><br />(1860)</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Reformed_Free_Methodist_Church" title="Reformed Free Methodist Church">Reformed Free Methodist Church</a> (1932)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Bible_Methodist_Connection_of_Churches" title="Bible Methodist Connection of Churches">United Holiness Church</a> (1955)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Evangelical_Wesleyan_Church" title="Evangelical Wesleyan Church">Evangelical Wesleyan Church</a> (1963)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="background-color:"><div> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"> <span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <b><a href="/wiki/Category:Methodism" 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