A READER'S GUIDE TO AN EARLIER CHANGE MOVEMENT (A Review)

It may come as a surprise to you to know that the change movement that is currently troubling the Lord's church is the second such disruption to afflict us. The first change movement emerged in 1849 when D. S. Burnet was able to launch his American Christian Missionary Society. Objections by concerned brethren and the turmoil leading up to the Civil War kept the society from reaching full blossom until after the war. In 1859 Dr. L. L. Pinkerton led the congregation in Midway, Kentucky to introduce a musical instrument to accompany its singing. Following the war, the Northern churches seem to embrace an endless a number of innovations including: women in church leadership roles, a denominational status for their churches, fellowship with denominational bodies, acceptance of the unimmersed into church fellowship and skeptical views concerning the inspiration and authority of the Bible. These changes swept through the brotherhood capturing hundreds of congregations, all our Christian schools, most of our mission outposts. By 1906 it was evident that a permanent breach had been inflicted upon the church. A census revealed the tragic results. The progressives had 982,701 members in 8,203 congregations, our brethren numbered 159,658 in 2,649 congregations. Some eighty-five percent of the great restoration movement was lost to apostasy.

Those who know their history are best equipped to avoid its repetition. The following books tell the story of that period of conflict and division. Some are yet in print, the others could likely be borrowed from the libraries of some of our Christian Schools. Read and be strong.

The following tell the story from point of view of the churches of Christ.
* Search for the Ancient Order Vol.2 & 3, by Earl West. (In pr.).
* The Life and Times of David Lipscomb, by Earl West. (In pr.). Lipscomb led the Southern resistance to the apostasy.
* The Eye of the Storm (Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin), by Earl West. (In pr.). Bro Franklin lead the norther resistance to the apostasy. Originally he actively supported the missionary society, but later became its principal foe.
* A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Life of David Lipscomb) by Robert Hooper.
* Daniel Sommer, 1850-1940 by William Wallace. Sommer succeeded Franklin as the major opponent of the apostasy in the North, but he proved to be as radical and divisive as the progressives were in their liberalism. His spirit blighted the Cause in the North for nearly a century.


The following books tell the story from the standpoint of the progressives of the Disciples of Christ and Christian Churches.
* The Story of D. S. Burnet, Undeserved Obscurity by Noel Keith. Burnet was the father of the missionary and other societies that troubled the church. (Out of pr.)
* J. H. Garrison and Disciples of Christ by William Tucker. Garrison edited the Christian Evangelist and played a principal role in leading the progressives into theological liberalism and ecumenical fellowship with denominational bodies. (Out of pr.)
* Memoirs of Isaac Errett by J. S. Lamar, 2 Vols. (Out of pr.). Errett was editor of the Christian Standard and the principal leader of the progressives. He was not inclined to theological liberalism as was Garrison.
* Origin and Development of the Disciples A. W. Fortune. (Out of pr.). Explains the development of the denominational mind set that came to control the progressive wing of the church.
* Alexander Campbell and the General Convention, by Allen Moore. (Out of pr.). The traces the change in the thinking of A. Campbell from opposition to embracing the idea of a general convention of the churches and the missionary society.
* Fifty Years of Attack and Controversy by Stephen Corey. (Out of pr.) Corey served as president of the Missionary Society. He traces the opposition and hostility to the society and shows how step by step they prevailed over the opposition.
* One Hope by Mrs. C. E. Stark (Out of pr.). Mrs. Stark turned from being a friend and supporter of the Disciples leadership to an outspoken critic. It was the theological liberalism that changed her perspective.
* Church of Christ Number Two by A. T. De Groot. (Out of pr.). DeGroot was a militant liberal and this is his response to the defection of the conservative Independent Christian Churches. He sought to insult them by likening them to us.
* The Grounds of Division Among the Disciples of Christ by A. T. DeGroot (Out of pr.). A vigorous apology for the changes the progressives choose that led to the division in 1906.
* The Restoration Principle by A. T. DeGroot. (Out of pr.). This is a valuable book that shows how the liberal mind interprets the restoration principle and our movement. I suspect that many of our intellectual spokesmen for the change movement have studied this books since they make heavy use of his concepts and vocabulary.


Solomon wisely observed that there is nothing new under the sun (Eccle. 1:9). The reader of these and related books will be convinced that the change movement is the revival of the old apostasy that devastated our brotherhood in the last half of the 19th century. The long dead corpse has been resurrected but the putrid smell of death is still upon it.
JHW