The Stone-Campbell Movement resulted from a confluence of several international efforts to restore the life and faith of the first century church in the nineteenth century. The Movement in the twenty-first century claims about five million members around the globe. Illinois played a pivotal role the early years. In 1880 there were more members of the movement in Illinois than in any state in the United States or in any country in the world. We elaborate upon the various religious tributaries involved from the beginning and have depicted churches, leaders, members, educational institutions, books, journals, and organizations in their various and wide-ranging manifestations. Authors of earlier published histories of the Movement in Illinois did not have access to some important primary sources that the authors of this new history have been able to utilize, including correspondence, books, day ox periodicals and ephemera located in libraries, personal collections, historical societies and online. A significant number of these sources have been digitized just for this project. Illinois readers will identify the roots of the Movement in their region and readers elsewhere will recognize insights that impact the total Movement and forces related to their own situation.
James L. McMillan and Thomas H. Olbricht. The History of the Restoration Movement in Illinois in the 19th Century. Sulis Academic Press, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-946849-56-4. eISBN: 978-1-946849-57-1. 454pp. $24.99 (pbk), $19.99 (eBook).
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Encyclopedic in scope and with careful attention to congregations, church leaders, periodicals, colleges, divisive issues and more, this book demonstrates how very strategic the state of Illinois was for the Restoration Movement in the nineteenth century. With data not available to earlier scholars, McMillan and Olbricht organize their material into a readable and accessible narrative that make this book useful to scholars and ordinary readers alike. A sterling contribution to the history of this tradition.
— Richard T. Hughes, Author of Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of Churches of Christ in America
McMillan and Olbricht provide an exhaustive history that will serve as an essential reference for Stone-Campbell history in Illinois for a long time, but it also functions as a microcosm of Stone-Campbell history in the United States because the book covers national themes and developments—the Second Great Awakening revivals and accompanying “exercises,” the role of women, religious periodicals, colleges, instrumental music, African American history, theological liberalism, seeds of the Modernist-Fundamentalist controversy, and early calls for division from the “innovators.” Moreover, the book is a treasure trove of primary and secondary sources on its topic.
—James Gorman, Associate Professor of Church History, Johnson University
This thoroughly researched study is a detailed account of the origins and nineteenth century development of the Stone-Campbell Movement in Illinois. Attention is given to the different streams that formed the movement, the earliest congregations and their characteristic forms of organization, prominent leaders, and responses to the movement by leaders of other churches. Also addressed is the founding of colleges and religious periodicals, the prominent role of women, the emergence of African-America congregations and preachers, and major controversies, including the role of the Holy Spirit, changing views regarding instrumental music in worship, and the emergence of theological liberalism. In short, the authors have provided a treasure trove of information regarding individual leaders and organizations. The detailed and helpful appendices will be invaluable to current and future historians.
—D. Newell Williams, President and Professor of Modern and American Church History, Brite Divinity School
McMillan and Olbricht have compiled an extremely valuable account of the complex formation and diversification of the Stone-Campbell Restoration movement in Illinois during its first century of existence. Though drawing extensively from earlier studies, the authors expand, contextualize and at times correct those treatments in useful ways. Charts spread among the chapters and in four appendices chronicle the history of Illinois congregations, key leaders and institutions. McMillan and Olbricht give readers glimpses into very human stories that illustrate how congregations served and fought. They also provide a fertile field for further investigation and interpretive work on numerous themes such as the history of African American churches in the state.
The authors have produced an indispensable reference for anyone wishing to examine Stone-Campbell history in Illinois, and how the state both shaped and was shaped by larger social and religious trends in the nation.
— Douglas A. Foster, University Scholar in Residence, Abilene Christian University
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About the Authors
James L. McMillan grew up a preacher’s kid in western Colorado. He attended Colorado State College and received degrees from Ozark Bible College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. From 1970 – 1995 he preached for non-denominational Christian Churches and taught at Ozark Bible College, Mid-South Christian College, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. From 1995 – 2019 he worked in Information Technology. As of April 2019 he is Archival Associate with the Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Bethany, WV.
Thomas H. Olbricht grew up in Southern Missouri. He attended Harding University and received degrees at Northern Illinois University, the University of Iowa, and Harvard Divinity School. Olbricht commenced preaching in 1948 in small congregations in Arkansas and Missouri. In 1948 he helped found a Church of Christ in DeKalb, Illinois, where he served as the full time minister in 1949-51. Olbricht has published books and essays on Biblical theology, rhetoric and church history, especially on the American Restoration Movement. He has taught at Harding, the University of Dubuque, Abilene Christian, and Pepperdine University.
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