Two years ago I conceived the plan of getting out a biographical, historical, and pictorial encyclopedia of Churches of Christ. I consulted with a number of brethren, and all said that such a publication would be, not only interesting, but very valuable. I was assured by scores of my brethren that they would lend all assistance possible in getting out such a book. It has been a laborious undertaking. People were very slow to send in photos, and I have written sometimes as many as ten letters before receiving the photo or desired information. I traveled some twenty-five thousand miles in the interest of this publication, gathering data, photos, and taking advance orders. During the two years I traveled from the Lakes to the Gulf and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

      The work would have been more successful, no doubt, if I could have devoted all my time to it, but I had to preach every Sunday and edit the Christian Companion, hence have only given a part of my time to this special work. I have felt for some time that such a publication was needed, but was not willing to undertake the work until two years ago. The work will be prized more highly in the years that are to come than now, because it is a kind of waymark of the Restoration Movement.

      It gives a history of the Movement to the present time. It also gives a number of sketches of our pioneers, our college presidents, some of our secretaries, and a number of evangelists. It was not my intention to give sketches of all who deserved them; but to mention only a few, that the church, in the future, may know something of the sacrifices of these splendid men of God, who labored earnestly and sacrificed much during the Nineteenth Century to re-establish Primitive Christianity in the world.

      There are thousands of men, who are worthy and consecrated, whose names do not appear in this book. It would have been impossible to have gotten sketches from all of them. Those who are not mentioned in the book are as worthy as those who are mentioned, and there may be some, whose names are mentioned, who are not as worthy as some whose names do not appear. I have had to be my own judge, and am personally responsible for all who appear in this book. It is not as complete as I could wish, and, no doubt, has many imperfections, but I send it out on its mission, trusting and praying that it may strengthen the faith of some struggling disciple encourage all to walk closer with Christ and to be more consecrated in His service. While it is not perfect, it is the best that I could do, under all the circumstances, and I must be held responsible for its imperfections. [xi]

      I desire to sincerely thank all who have assisted me in this great work, especially those whose names appear with the articles they have written. These brethren have been of untold service to me, and I will ever hold them in grateful remembrance for their assistance in getting out this publication. There are others, whose names do not appear in this book, who have given me much encouragement and assistance in publishing it. There are too many names to mention them all.

      The engravings were made by the Heybach-Bush Company, of this city. They are the very best. I have returned a great many photos that were not suitable. As a rule, those I used were the very best. If there is a bad engraving in the book it is because the photo was an inferior one. I was compelled to put in some few such photos, because good ones could not be secured. It was not my intention to have engravings of all of our church buildings, but simply a few, scattered all over the world, that the reader might know something of the architecture of our buildings.

      The size of the engraving has nothing to do with the importance of it. It was impossible to make all the same size, because the pictures varied in size. I have used my own judgment, in connection with that of the artist, in making some engravings larger than others.

      It is my purpose to publish Volume II of Churches of Christ in 1910 (D. V.), just after our Centennial Convention, which is to be held in Pittsburg, Pa., 1909. The second volume will be somewhat supplemental to the first. Some articles and some photos, which should have appeared in this volume, are left out because I was unable to secure them, but not because of any fault of mine.

      In the second volume I hope to publish, in addition to the new matter necessary, all the old material which was left out of the first.

      Some of my brethren told me in the beginning that I should get out a cheap book, so that it might have a large sale. The fact is, however, that a cheap book of this kind would have had no sale at all. A cheap book of halftone engravings would not sell. The first thousand of these books will cost nearly $6,000.00, almost six dollars a volume. I believe that our people will appreciate such a publication.

      My desire has been to give a faithful record of the work accomplished, and the reader will be his own judge as to how well the work has been done.

      Since beginning this volume, some, whose names appear in it, have fallen asleep. Some of them wrote me some time ago that they were anxious to see the book before they were called hence, but they have gone to their reward before it could be completed. Their names are written in the "Lamb's Book of Life." [xii]

[COC xi-xii]