Editing Restoration Movement (section)

==Subsequent development of the unaffiliated congregations==
{{anchor|Subsequent development of the Christian churches and churches of Christ}}
{{main|Christian churches and churches of Christ|l1=Unaffiliated Christian Church/Church of Christ congregations}}
Independent Christian churches and churches of Christ have both organizational and [[Hermeneutics|hermeneutic]] differences with the Churches of Christ.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Religion in the South" />{{rp|186}} For example, they have a loosely organized convention, and they view scriptural silence on an issue more permissively.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Religion in the South" />{{rp |186}} Nonetheless, they are much more closely related to the Churches of Christ in their theology and [[ecclesiology]] than they are with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).<ref name="Encyclopedia of Religion in the South" />{{rp |186}}

The development of the unaffiliated Christian Church/Church of Christ congregations as a separately identifiable religious body from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was a lengthy process.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ"/>{{rp|185}} The roots of the separation can be found in the polarization resulting from three major controversies that arose during the early 20th century.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp |185}} One, which was a source of division in other religious groups, was "the theological development of modernism and liberalism."<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp|185}} The early stages of the ecumenical movement, which led in 1908 to the [[Federal Council of Churches]], provide a second source of controversy.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp|185}} The third was the practice of open membership, in which individuals who had not been baptized by immersion were granted full membership in the church.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp|185}} Those who supported one of these points of view tended to support the others as well.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp|185}}

The Disciples of Christ were, in 1910, a united, growing community with common goals.<ref name="Kragenbrink 2000">{{Citation | first = Kevin R | last = Kragenbrink | url = http://www.acu.edu/sponsored/restoration_quarterly/archives/2000s/vol_42_no_1_contents/kragenbrink.html | title = The Modernist/Fundamentalist Controversy and the Emergence of the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ | journal = [[Restoration Quarterly]] | volume = 42 | number = 1 | year = 2000 | pages = 1–17 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131110040322/http://www.acu.edu/sponsored/restoration_quarterly/archives/2000s/vol_42_no_1_contents/kragenbrink.html | archive-date = 2013-11-10 }}.</ref> Support by the United Christian Missionary Society of missionaries who advocated open membership became a source of contention in 1920.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp |185}} Efforts to recall support for these missionaries failed in a 1925 convention in [[Oklahoma City]] and a 1926 convention in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp |185}} Many congregations withdrew from the missionary society as a result.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp |185}}

The [[North American Christian Convention]] was organized by the more conservative congregations in 1927.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp|185}} The ''Christian Standard'' served as a source of cohesion for these congregations.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp |185}} From the 1960s on, newer unaffiliated missionary organizations like the Christian Missionary Fellowship (today, [[Christian Missionary Fellowship International]]) were working more on a national scale in the United States to rally Christian Church/Church of Christ congregations in international missions.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ" />{{rp |9}} By this time the division between liberals and conservatives was well established.<ref name="Kragenbrink 2000" />

The official separation between the independent Christian churches and Churches of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is difficult to date.<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp |407}} Suggestions range from 1926 to 1971 based on the events outlined below:
* 1926: The first North American Christian Convention in 1927<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp|407}} was the result of disillusionment at the Memphis convention.
* 1944: International Convention of Disciples elects as president a proponent of open membership<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp |408}}
* 1948: The Commission on Restudy, appointed to help avoid a split, disbands<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp |409}}
* 1955: The Directory of the Ministry was first published listing only the "Independents" on a voluntary basis.<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp |408}}
* 1968: Final redaction of the Disciples Year Book removing Independent churches<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp |408}}
* 1971: Independent churches listed separately in the Yearbook of American Churches.<ref name="Garrett 2002" />{{rp |408}}

Because of this separation, many independent Christian churches and Churches of Christ are not only non-denominational, they can be anti-denominational, avoiding even the appearance or language associated with denominationalism holding true to their Restoration roots.