Its founders hoped to serve as a unifying force among Protestants. The Bible, particularly the New Testament, is the sole ecclesiastical authority for the Disciples of Christ.
Church polity is congregational.
The founders of the Disciples were Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander Campbell, former Irish Presbyterian ministers. Their followers became known popularly as Campbellites, although they preferred to be known as Disciples of Christ. In 1809 Thomas Campbell founded the Christian Association of Washington County, Pennsylvania, which he based on a return to early Christian ideals. In 1811 Alexander joined his father in forming a congregation at Brush Run, Pennsylvania, and from there the movement spread westward. In 1832 the Kentucky revivalist Barton Stone and most of his followers, called Christians, united with the Campbell group.