Introduction by J. H. Garrison:
• The Centennial, pp. 7-10.
• The Plea for Restoration, pp. 10-13.
• Results of the Movement, pp. 13-16.

      Nothing is more in consonance with the spirit of Christianity than the grateful remembrance of those who have rendered conspicuous service in its behalf. When, at the institution of the Memorial Supper, Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of me," His concern was not for His personal glory, but for the welfare of His disciples. In the remembrance of the great sacrifice which He made for the world's redemption, they would find a constant stimulus to faithful and heroic service. The same principle holds good with reference to all the benefactors of our race who, at the cost of personal sacrifices and out of love for truth and for humanity, have laid down their lives in loving and faithful service for the promotion of Christ's kingdom and the elevation of the race. Among those most entitled to the grateful remembrance of mankind are the great reformers in Christian history who have sought to correct existing evils in the Church, and to purify Christianity from prevailing corruptions. The names of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and Alexander Campbell stand out like peaks in a lofty mountain range, whose lives and labors are somewhat more conspicuous, but not more noble, than a vast multitude of others who have given the best service of which they were capable to the cause of truth and righteousness. These men were great, and their names are gratefully remembered, not chiefly because they were men of preëminent ability, but because they consecrated their ability to the highest ends, allied themselves with Jesus Christ, and became partakers of His life, and in a measure, of his glory and immortality. It is not, therefore, in any spirit of glorying in men that we remember and seek to honor [7] the great reformers in Christian history who have contributed so much to our present inheritance of Christian truth and of civil and religious liberty.

      The people who have come to be known as Disciples of Christ or Christians, because of their refusal to be designated by mere party names, have deemed it to be both proper and praiseworthy to recognize the origin of the religious movement which they represent--the youngest of these great historic Reformations--by holding, in the city of Pittsburgh, Penn., near the scene of its birth, in this good year of our Lord 1909, a great Centennial Convention as the culmination of a series of Centennial endeavors worthily to celebrate an event which, under God, has become a source of blessing to the Church universal. As our own free and independent government of the United States dates its origin from the Declaration of Independence, which set forth the reasons why such a government should be formed, and the fundamental principles which should govern it, so it has been thought that this religious movement in behalf of a united church should properly date its origin from the publication of the "Declaration and Address," which occurred at Washington, Penn., Sept. 7, 1809. This document, written by Thomas Campbell, and later read and fully endorsed by his son, Alexander Campbell, contains the reasons which led to the new movement for religious reformation, and the germinal principles which have been dominant in the history of the movement.

      In celebrating this event, we believe we are but recognizing the hand of God in granting a new dispensation of truth demanded by the needs of the world. The event as seen from the distance of only one hundred years seems to mark clearly the opening of a new era in the history of the Church--an era marked by a new emphasis on the evils of division, and the need, as well as the method of realizing, that unity among Christ's followers for which He prayed. The result of that agitation and discussion is witnessed to-day in the growing spirit of unity and in the wider [8]

fellowship among Christians which are characteristic of our time. It is, therefore, in grateful remembrance, first of all, of God's goodness in granting to us this dispensation of truth, and secondarily in loving remembrance of the men whom He chose as instruments for the inauguration of this work of reformation, that we seek to worthily celebrate its one hundredth anniversary.

      It is unnecessary here to give the dates and chief events in the lives of Thomas and Alexander Campbell, of Barton W. Stone, of Walter Scott, and the host of others identified with them in the early history of this movement, as this information may be found in contemporaneous history. We honor these men because they were first honored of God in being made the heralds of truth which the age demanded. It is only as we recognize the hand of God in the work which they inaugurated that we can devote ourselves with the same sublime courage and devotion to carrying forward the work which they have committed to us. If this Centennial celebration shall serve to fix more clearly in our minds the great principles of this restoration movement, and to make us realize more vividly that the work is of God and not of men, and that in committing ourselves to it we are not following the wisdom of [9] man, but seeking to be loyal to Jesus Christ, the celebration will have accomplished its chief purpose. It cannot but prove a vast blessing to the cause of Christian union, and therefore to the cause of world-wide Christianization, if there shall be begotten in the hearts of the younger generation, now coming on the stage of action, the same zeal for the great fundamental principles of this movement which characterized our fathers, who were willing to forsake all for the defense of the Reformation which they had espoused. What, in brief, are some of the chief things for which this movement stands whose inauguration we are celebrating? Holding in common with other evangelical Christians the great fundamental truths of our common faith, it pleads, as truths for the present time, other principles and aims which have made its advocates a distinct religious people.

      1. It stands for the unity which existed in the New Testament Church, and which Christ prayed might continue to exist among all those who should believe on Him through the testimony of His apostles.

      2. In order to the realization of this unity which Jesus teaches is essential to the world's conversion, this movement stands for the rejection of all human creeds as authoritative, or as the bases of union and fellowship among Christians, and for the restoration of the Bible, and the Bible alone, as the only authoritative rule of faith and of practice.

      3. It stands for the rejection of all party names in religion, and for the use of those common names which suitably describe all the followers of Christ,--as Christians, or Disciples of Christ, or Churches of Christ,--thus giving preëminence to Christ in all things.

      4. It stands for the restoration of the New Testament Creed or Confession of Faith: namely, the old confession of Simon Peter on which Jesus said he would build His Church,--"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Believing on Him with all the heart, one believes all that He reveals concerning God and duty [10]

and destiny, and is willing to obey all that He commands. This makes faith personal rather than doctrinal. On this basis of faith and loyalty to, Jesus Christ, it stands for Christian liberty--the goal of an age-long conflict with a religious despotism that has sought to make men think alike and worship alike, mistaking uniformity for unity. The distinction between faith, which has Christ for its object, and opinions, which are deductions of human reason, and which, though true, are not to be made tests of fellowship, has enabled the advocates of this Reformation to harmonize two important principles which have often been regarded as incompatible; namely, union and liberty. For the first time, therefore, in history, has it been possible to give practical effect to the saying of Rupertus Meldenius: "In things essential unity; in things not essential liberty; in all things charity." The faithful adherence to this vital distinction makes possible also the realization of Christ's prayer that His disciples may be one in Him, that the world may believe. This unity allows liberty for the acceptance of all the truth which may break forth from God's word in the coming times. 5. It stands for the restoration of the two ordinances of Christianity, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, to their original place [11] and meaning,--the former, the burial in water of a penitent believer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, thus symbolizing the burial and the resurrection of Christ, as well as the believer's own death to sin and resurrection to newness of life; the Lord's Supper to be observed weekly, in accordance with New Testament practice, in memory of Christ's death, to which should be received, without question, all who believe in and love our Lord Jesus Christ, and desire to observe the institution in memory of Him.

      6. It stands for the restoration of the New-Testament method of evangelization through the simple preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the baptizing of penitent believers who signify their willingness to confess the Lord Jesus and to walk in obedience to His commandments, discarding such methods and theories as seem to dishonor God's character and God's Word, and seeking to reconcile men to God--not God to men.

      7. It stands for the organization of baptized believers into local congregations or churches, which have the right of self-government in all matters that pertain to their local welfare--with the two classes of local officers recognized in the New Testament as bishops or elders, and deacons. It stands also for the fellowship of all these churches together in the common work of advancing the kingdom of God, believing that not in isolated efforts, but in coöperation as members of a common body, can they accomplish the work which Christ has laid upon His Church, and promote their own spiritual development.

      8. Committed as the movement is to the cause of Christian unity, it stands for the manifestation of the spirit of unity by coöperation with other followers of Christ, who stand not with us in all things, but who hold to Christ as their Head, in so far as this may be done without sacrificing any truth or principle which its mission is to emphasize.

      9. It stands not only for the world-wide prevalence of the gospel, to which Christian union looks as its end, but for the complete [12]

dominance of Christianity in our social, domestic, industrial, and political life, so that ours shall be indeed a Christian civilization.

      10. May we not add, as a consummating feature of the high ideals which come within the vision of this restoration movement, that it stands for that continuous growth in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, which has for its only limit the complete transformation of all who believe on Christ into the perfect likeness of their divine Lord; for the promise is that "We shall see Him as He is, and be like Him." This is the sublime consummation of God's purpose concerning humanity--

      It is pertinent that the world should ask, "What have you accomplished in the way of practical results during the century with these ideals and the program of reform herein outlined?" Asking our friends to bear in mind how many things which might properly be classed as practical results do not lend themselves readily to tabulation, and that statistics for this Centennial year will not be available until the Convention meets, we submit the [13] following as some of the tangible and practical achievements of the century.

      1. From nothing but a "voice" crying in the wilderness of the new world, saying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, walk ye in the old paths, and, putting aside the things which divide, be united in Him in order that we may bring the world in subjection to His reign," the number of believers now walking in this way is more than a million and a quarter, not to mention the vast host who, rejoicing for a period in this new-found light and liberty, have passed on to the life unseen and the church invisible.

      2. These believers are organized into 11,647 churches, with 8,904 Bible schools enrolling 931,938 scholars, with church property valued at $30,000,000.

      3. There are 6,877 ministers of the gospel preaching the Word and urging this plea for Christian union.

      4. There are three national missionary organizations through which the churches are coöperating in spreading the gospel at home and abroad; namely:

      (a) The American Christian Missionary Society, which was organized in 1849, and which is devoted to American missions. The Board of Church Extension, organized in 1888, is a part of this society, and the amount raised for home missions and church extension during the year 1908 was $175,248. The Board of Ministerial Relief, also a part of the A. C. M. S., raised last year $12,550.

      (b) The Christian Woman's Board of Missions, organized in 1874, and managed wholly by the women, does mission work both at home and abroad. It raised during the year 1908 $295,630. It does mission work in India, Jamaica, Porto Rico, South America, Mexico, and the United States.

      (c) The Foreign Christian Missionary Society, organized in 1875, purely for mission work in foreign lands, has missions in India, China, Japan, Africa, England, Scandinavia, the Philippines, Cuba, and Tibet. It raised in 1908 $274,324. [14]

      Besides these national missionary organizations there are state and district missionary societies which coöperate with the American Christian Missionary Society. These raised and expended during the past year $262,533.

      (d) In addition to these missionary organizations there is a National Benevolent Association, organized in 1886, for the purpose of caring for homeless and orphan children and the aged poor. It has orphan homes in St. Louis, Mo.; Cleveland, O.; Dallas, Tex.; Baldwin, Ga.; and Denver, Col. It has homes for the aged at Jacksonville, Ill.; East Aurora, N. Y.; and Eugene, Ore.; and hospitals at St. Louis, Mo., and Valparaiso, Ind. It raised for the work during the year 1908 $122,301. The total amount raised for missions, education, and benevolence during the year 1908 was $1,514,571.

      (e) There are thirty-three institutions of learning of various grades established in the interest of this Reformation, owning property worth $4,001,304 and having an aggregate endowment of $2,067,749. Among the students in these institutions are more than a thousand who are preparing for the work of the ministry.

      (f) A literature in the form of books and tracts has been [15] created, adapted to the growing needs of the movement, and there is a large number of periodicals serving the various needs of the work and advocating the principles herein stated.

      (g) Besides this work accomplished within our own lines, our membership is in coöperation with other evangelical bodies in various kinds of interdenominational work, such as is being carried on by the International Sunday School Association, Christian Endeavor, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., Federal Council of Churches of Christ, Union Evangelistic Meetings, and other forms of coöperative activity along undenominational lines.

      It is believed that a religious movement which stands for these high and holy aims, and which, during the first century of its existence has, with God's help, in spite of human infirmities, accomplished such results as have been achieved, having exerted the influence which it has on the religious thought and life of the world, is of sufficient importance to warrant the celebration of its one hundredth anniversary.

      We cannot close this brief introduction to our program without acknowledging, with thanks, the coöperation of the ministers and churches in carrying out the plans we have formulated. Nor can we look forward into the new century that lies before us without a prayer for God's continued guidance, and a prophecy that vastly greater things are to be accomplished under God in the century to come than have been achieved in the century past, and that those who join in celebrating our second Centennial will have occasion for thanksgiving to Almighty God for the realization of aims and ends which neither our fathers before us, nor we of to-day, have been permitted to see, except by faith.

[CCP 6-16]