The Christian Restoration Movement and Restoration 200 in Lexington, Kentucky May 15, 2016

This afternoon (May 15, 2016) I attended an event in Lexington, Kentucky called Restoration 200, celebrating 200 years since the first Restoration Movement church congregation that was located in Lexington formed in 1816. The Restoration Movement itself began some years earlier, with the exact year depending on how one defines the movement. But the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky in 1801 was a key event.    

I love the concept of "restoration." Today's event included music, prayer, communion, booths for various organizations, food truck vendors, and short messages from three ministers.

The three ministers spoke on "unity," "liberty," and "love," in that order. First, Jon Weece from Southland Christian Church where thousands worship spoke on "Unity." Then Barrett Coffman from Southside Church of Christ an acapella congregation near my apartment and the University of Kentucky that has a successful college ministry spoke on "Liberty." The third minister, David Shirey from Central Christian Church which has a significant ministy in downtown Lexington, spoke on "Love." The photos below were taken of the three as they spoke today (from top to bottom, Jon Weece, Barrett Coffman, and David Shirey, in the same order in which they spoke).

Ideally all Christians would seek to obey God perfectly and would be joined together as one large congregation working together toward this goal. Unfortunately, in actual practice all Christians fall short of perfectly obeying God, and Christians are divided into numerous groups that meet in various buildings in various congregations in various denominations with various beliefs.

In my opinion, one of the key movements that has sought to try to restore unity within the Christian faith is what is often called the Christian Restoration Movement, which is what the group that met today in Lexington from 3 p.m. till 5 p.m. is part of. The Restoration Movement, also sometimes called the Stone-Campbell Movement in honor of two men instrumental in its early success, has sought to unite the Christian faith in its basic beliefs.

Alas, after over two centuries of work not only has the Restoration Movement failed to restore unity within the Christian church as a whole, the movement itself has split into three factions, one group being Christian Churches known as Disciples of Christ Christian Churches, a second group known as nondenominational Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, and a third group known as acapella Churches of Christ. This permits illustrates the difficulty of uniting the Christian faith.

I have no illusions that today's event in Lexington will bring together the three factions that split. But I hope that the few hundred persons who gathered together today are part of a group of Christians committed to coming closer to obeying God's perfect guidance. I hope, pray, and trust that as Christians seek to unite together to do good things in accordance with God's desires, good things happen for Christians individually and for Christians collectively. Maybe somehow, in some way, today's event helps in that regard.