The History of the Christian Union

The denomination known as The Christian Union had its beginnings in Columbus, Ohio in 1864. The events proceeding its founding were incredibly complex and involved persons of national prominence. Its organization and earliest years, coming as they did from the trauma of the Civil War, screamed with tense emotion.

When one considers the full story of the founding of the Christian Union, it tells like a romance. Surrounded by the din and clamor of the Civil War, here is a history that smells of gunpowder and battlefield trench, that feels of cannon and musket and bayonet. It cries for Vicksburg and Antietam Creek, the Blue and Grey. It weeps for southern blacks, the rattle of chains and cruel auction blocks. It refuses to support many of the programs of Lincoln, and cheers lustily for Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis.

It was not that the leaders who founded the Christian Union were Confederate. They were Northerners, to be sure and Union to the core, but they found themselves on the horns of a terrible dilemma.

The state of Ohio played an important role in the Union victory of the Civil War. Rich in natural resources, strategically located for travel, and abundantly blessed with lakes and rivers for transportation, the Ohio Territory had become a state in 1803. It quickly rose to prominence among the states of the Middle West, and in the 1860 presidential election voted overwhelmingly for republican Abraham Lincoln, a stand which continued throughout the war of rebellion. The Ohio democrats, for their part, showed open hostility to Lincoln and the war effort. Leading the democratic opposition were men who later helped to found the Christian Union; men like Dr. Edson B. Olds, Governor Samuel Medary, Judge Virgil E. Shaw and Congressman Philadelph Van Trump. These men, and dozens like them, fought for the preservation of their political party, and national peace to preserve the union as it was.

James Fowler Given was born April 1, 1825 in Princeton, Kentucky. In 1832 his father fell victim to the dreaded disease, cholera, and shortly thereafter his mother died of consumption, leaving him an orphan at the age of seven. At that time his uncle, Dr. Peter Holt, a wealthy and influential citizen, took the child and raised him until his eighteenth year when he went away to college. In 1843 James F. Given came to Marietta College. His graduating class, which consisted of ten persons, included one other minister besides himself. He married Charlotte Geren the summer after graduation. He pursued and earned a Master’s degree.

It must be noted here that many clergymen did use their pulpits as a means of political power. Given once wrote in the DEMOCRATIC STANDARD that his sense of duty and honor as a minister would not allow him to thrust his views on his congregation when preaching to them.

When James F. Given withdrew from Methodism in 1863, he burned his bridges behind him as he went. Not only did he publish accounts of his difficulties with the Ohio Conference, but he wrote an article in a leading Methodist periodical as well, telling of his withdrawal from the church. Because of these things, and many others, Given found himself thrust into the limelight of leadership in the new church movement. He became the ministerial force, the moving spirit behind it. When those in favor of organizing the new church met in convention in Columbus, Ohio, they appointed Given a committee of one to form a basis of union. Considering Given’s sacrifices to bring about such a union, his appointment to that committee was a most fitting one. There were those at the convention who feared such a union would never come to pass, no matter how hard the delegates tried to form it; the differences were just too great. However, as Given read his brief report in the first afternoon session, people all over the hall were moved to tears at the simplicity of his proposal. This union they had dreamed about could work, and they would see to it that it did!

John Klise, at the time a soldier in the Union Army (and dressed in uniform!), was an eye witness to the events of the day. He described them like this:

'When the report of the committee on the basis of union was called for, Rev. J.F. Given arose holding a small slip of white paper in his hand. My heart stood still to aid the deep and breathless silence of that crowded hall.

After addressing the chair, Rev. Given read the following basis of union:

“Having a desire for a more perfect fellowship in Christ, and for the more satisfactory enjoyment of the means of religious edification under the style of “The Christian Union” in which we avow our true and hearty faith in the received Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the word of God, and “the only and sufficient rule of faith and practice” and pledge ourselves “through Christ which strengtheneth us” to “keep and observe all things whatsoever he hath commanded us.” '

When the vote was called, not a single dissenting voice was heard in all that great hall.

The new church was indeed “set afloat in Ohio in 1863,” and its backers did include Medary, Olds and Shaw, and a host of other fine Christian people. The narrative is a fabulous one to tell, not because it is untrue, or the new church died, but because a host of people proved true to the convictions of their lives! They were willing to sacrifice public opinion or anything else in their service to God and country. And above all, they struggled together to make their ideas work. Their theology and their church had been pounded out on the hard anvil of experience, after having been heated white-hot by the pressures and tensions of the political hysteria of that day. Thus, tempered by the times, the stuff Christian Union was made of proved to be tough, durable and flexible. It proved tough enough to endure the jeers of public opinion, and eventually bring that opinion around to one of approval and admiration. It proved durable enough to last several withering storms in its own ranks, and see its most cherished leaders pass on to their heavenly reward. It proved flexible enough to change with the changing face of the nation, and always keep the first principles for which its leaders fought – freedom, evangelism, missions and worship.

The initial growth of Christian Union seemed to almost just happen all at once. However, it must not be supposed that the growth which did occur came without any effort, for much sweat, prayer and heavy labor lay behind every gain the movement made. At first, every ounce of available energy went into organization of local churches, District Councils and State Councils. The leaders quickly realized that thousands of persons all over the country were unhappy with their present church situation, or had been ousted altogether.

The real genius of the rapid growth of Christian Union lay in the founding and organizing of local churches. This came about through simple necessity, for the movement had no surplus of churches to offer pastors, and when a new preacher came on the scene he would simply have to build the church he wanted to pastor. This process literally demanded that the preacher be an evangelist capable of going into new communities, conducting revivals and organizing churches among the converts. The idea worked beautifully and literally hundreds of Christian Union churches still in existence were started in this manner.

Excerpts from the book:

The History of the Christian Union Church

Written by: Kenneth O. Brown

Assisted by: James Lawrence Rhoads

Published in 1972

Available from:

The Christian Union Publishing Board

455 Mill Street

P.O. Box 361

Greenfield, Ohio 45123

Submitted by Pastor Don Alexander