The Christian Congregation was founded in 1798 along the Ohio River Valley by evangelists associated with Barton Warren Stone and the early Restoration Movement as an informal, loosely organized non-creedal evangelistic organization. In 1887, ministers John L. Puckett,  John Chapman, and Isaac V. Smith, along with other members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kokomo, Indiana, who united with the Christian Congregation, incorporated the Church in the State of Indiana in 1887 and revised the church charter in 1898. In October of that year, the church was reincorporated under the new charter. The first Christian Congregation church was organized in Kokomo on North Armstrong St. by Dr. Puckett who served as its first pastor. During Puckett's tenure, the church purchased Spice Run Cemetary in 1900 to provide the poor with a place to bury their dead. The cemetery was renamed the Christian Congregation Church Cemetary, Pauper's Cemetery, Potter's Field, and then Puckett Cemetary, its current name.

Eventually, congregations were planted in the communities of Jewel, Darrough's Chapel, and Finch Chapel in Howard Co., Indiana. Another congregation was organized in Kokomo, the Freemont St. Chapel. Dr. Puckett's daughter, May Puckett-Foster served as pastor. The Jewel congregation was served by Ida Wygants, J. S. Butler, and Charles Laird. The Christian Congregation was the first Restoration Movement church body that had female pastors. The Scripture that was chosen to represent its theological and philosophical statement as it remained faithful to the Restoration Movement's non-creedal position was John 13:34-35 asserting that the church was not founded on any doctrinal agreement, creeds, church claims, or rites but solely upon the individual's relationship to God. The basis of this Christian fellowship is love toward one another. The theological persuasion of the church is universalist and it opposes abortions not medically necessary, capital punishment, and war. 

For a number of years, the Church operated from LaFollette, Tennessee with The Rev. Dr. Ora Wilbert Eads serving as General Superintendent. Dr. Eads assumed the role in 1961 upon the death of the former General Superintendent O. J. Read. Eads' tenure of office ended in 2008 upon his own death. Due to its loose organizational structure, a number of congregations and clergy lost contact with the Church after Eads' death and records could not be located. A number of Christian Congregation churches and clergy eventually assimilated into other Restoration Movement bodies. Those who did not assimilate joined Dr. James W. Clifton on August 22, 2017, in continuing the work of Stone, Chapman, Puckett, and Smith as the Christian Congregation Evangelistic Association. The Church continues the original mission and vision of a Restoration Movement non-creedal church body emphasizing Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, the sufficiency of Scripture in faith and practice, Christian character as evidence of faithfulness to the Gospel, and the eventual reconciliation of all souls to God.

The Christian Congregation Evangelistic Association credentials both men and women. Ordinations are performed at the local level. Christian Congregation ministers may independently ordain. Ministers may hold credentials in other denominations. All ordinations must be reported to the Office of the General Superintendent in order for the minister to have ecclesiastical recognition. All congregations are autonomous and congregationally governed. The Lord's Supper is served weekly. Baptism is by immersion.

Our Logo: The chalice represents the centrality of the Lord's Supper in our worship services. The off-centered cross within the circle represents our Universalist theology that excludes no one either in this life or the life to come.

Christian Congregation Evangelistic Association

Office of the General Superintendent

Post Office Box 237

Millersburg, Indiana 46543

EMAIL

Copyright August 22, 2017