Canfield Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) grew out of two movements seeking Christian unity that sprang up almost simultaneously in western Pennsylvania and Kentucky – movements that were backlashes against the rigid denominationalism of the early 1800s.

Thomas and Alexander Campbell, a Presbyterian Scotch-Irish immigrant father and son in Pennsylvania, rebelled against the dogmatic sectarianism that kept members of different denominations – and even factions within the same denomination – from partaking of the Lord’s Supper together. Walter Scott, an immigrant from Scotland, was a successful evangelist of the resulting Campbell movement as it separated from the Baptists. The only other major founder, Barton Stone, does not appear to have a direct connection to Canfield.

"When the association met in David Hays' barn at Canfield in 1826, Adamson Bentley was elected moderator and Joab Gaskill, clerk. Prominent men in attendance were: Alexander Campbell, Thomas Campbell, Sidney Rigdon, and Walter Scott. Alexander Campbell delivered the keynote address, an exposition of the seventh chapter of Romans. The next day being Sunday, several sermons were heard. When Walter Scott preached, it was his first appearance before the association. His message was well received."

Minutes of the Mahoning Baptist Association, Palmyra, 1825, A.S. Hayden, p. 24, quoted in
Shaw, Henry K. , Buckeye Disciples: A History of the Disciples of Christ in Ohio, St. Louis, Christian Board of Publication, 1952, p. 41

"About this time [1827] he [Scott] moved his family to Canfield where he purchased a home. He intended to make this community his headquaters, bur never quite got around to it."
Buckeye Disciples, p. 47

"The Yearly Meeting [1848] at Canfield attracted seven thousand persons. It was held in a large tent pitched in a shady grove. [Co-founder Alexander] Campbell claimed not more than half the audience could get in the tent at one time. He also wrote that the horses and carriages covered a twenty-acre field... The appearance of Campbell as a speaker always guaranteed a successful meeting."
Buckeye Disciples, p. 151