The Evangelical Christian Church in Canada (Christian Disciples), as a mainstream Christian religion in Canada, traces its historic roots to the formal organization of the Christian Church in 1804 in Bourbon County, Kentucky, U.S.A., and in 1810 near Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada under the leadership of Barton Warren Stone (1772-1844), a former Presbyterian minister. The Stone Movement later merged with the efforts of Thomas Campbell (1763-1854) and his son Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) to become the Restoration Movement that gave birth to the Churches of Christ (Non-Instrumental), the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and The Christian Connection. The emphasis on religious freedom became strong enough that Barton Stone avoided any man-made ecclesiastical traditions that resulted in a movement that was “largely without dogma, form or structure,” committing only to a primitive Christianity. This movement sought to restore the whole Christian church and the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament. On June 28, 1804, they adopted the name “Christian” to identify their group based on its use in Acts 11:26 which became the remnants of the Springfield Presbytery. Of the majority of independent churches that aligned with the Stone-Campbell movement, many continued to use the name Christian Church, until it was renamed The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) in 1860.
