For more than a century and a quarter, m em bers of the southern Christian Church were often erroneously identified with the Disciples of Christ, with "C am p bellites", or with the Christian Church in the northern and western U nited States. They were also frequently asked why they had no denom inational name but Christian, and requested to explain why they subscribed to no specific creed. Actually, the Church grew slowly from its founding in 1794 and while its m em ber ship spread throughout the South in general, its greatest strength by far was in North Carolina and V irginia. Small in num bers, it founded a college and an orphanage which are both thriving institutions today, and often it exerted an influence where it existed far in excess of its numerical strength. In 1931, after a merger with the Congregationalists, the southern Christian Church ceased to exist as a separate organization. Many efforts to write the history of the Church were thwarted from time to time and it appeared that the role of this de nom ination in the history of southern religious developm ent would eventually be forgotten. No m em ber of the Church realized ...
