This site is devoted to the history of the Restoration Movement in the Maritime Provinces (PEI, NB, NS) of Canada.
*Please note that this site is an incomplete, working, and collaborative project. Biographies and histories are being added as they are compiled. Learn more on our "About" page
For questions, or to contribute to the project, please email the address below:
If you are interested in local church history and would like to browse, this site has been organized topically into sections for that purpose.
However, if you would like to research a specific topic, church, person, etc., this entire website has been indexed. You can use the search icon at the top right to make specific keyword searches. This will bring up a list of any page on this website containing your keyword. From there, you can search your keyword on each referenced page using Ctrl-F (Command-F for Mac).
The Restoration Movement, part of the broader movement called “restorationism” in the Second Great Awakening, began in the early 19th century when various members from different Christian groups and denominations decided they had drifted away from the basics of Christianity. Several Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others abandoned their formal denominations with hopes of establishing a church based solely on the Christianity taught in the New Testament.
With their belief in Jesus as the only model and the Bible as the only sacred book, they endeavoured to “restore” the church to its original focus during the time of the apostles. The Restoration Movement rejected rules and practices that did not come explicitly from the Bible as causing unnecessary divisions in the church. The goal was for all Christians to dissolve denominational boundaries and become united as one church under God’s rule alone.
Among the most influential leaders of the Restoration Movement were three ministers: Thomas Campbell, his son Alexander Campbell, and Barton W. Stone. Sometimes their reformation efforts are called the Stone-Campbell Movement. Followers of Campbell and Stone called themselves simply “Christians” or “Disciples.”
Despite the goal of Christian unity, over time, several schisms occurred. Currently, there are three major groups, called “streams,” that trace their roots back to the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement: the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Christian Churches / Churches of Christ (Instrumental), and the Churches of Christ (Acapella).
A huge thank-you must be given to many for making this project possible through access to archives, records, history, and much more. Many have shared documents, compilations and records over the past few months, and would be too numerous to list.
A special thanks must be given to:
Maritime Christian College (Archives and student-written church histories)
Stewart Lewis (Personal research, Thesis, Compilation of Church History, historical documents)
Paul Stevenson (Maritime Christian Fellowship meeting notes, brochures, etc.)