Barton Warren Stone (December 24, 1772 – November 9, 1844) was an American evangelist during the early 19th-century Second Great Awakening in the United States. First ordained a Presbyterian minister, he and four other ministers of the Washington Presbytery resigned after arguments about doctrine and enforcement of policy by the Kentucky Synod. This was in 1803 after Stone had helped lead the Cane Ridge Revival, a several-day communion season attended by nearly 20,000 persons.
Stone and the others briefly founded the Springfield Presbytery, which they dissolved the following year, resigning from the Presbyterian Church altogether. They formed what they called the Christian Church, based on Christian scriptures rather than a creed. He later became allied with Alexander Campbell, a former Presbyterian minister who was also creating an independent sect, sometimes allied with Baptists, and formed the Restoration Movement. Stone's followers were first called "New Lights" and "Stoneites". Later, he and Campbell brought the groups together, which relied solely on the Christian Bible.
Several church groups have historical roots in Stone's efforts. The three main groups are the Churches of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the independent Christian churches and churches of Christ. Additionally, there are the International Churches of Christ, the International Christian Church, the Churches of Christ in Australia, the Churches of Christ in Europe, and the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada.Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (2004)Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions (2009)
Early life and education Stone was born to John and Mary Warren Stone near Port Tobacco on December 24, 1772.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on "Stone, Barton Warren" His immediate family was upper-middle class, with connections to Maryland's upper class of planters. The first Protestant governor of Maryland, William Stone, was an ancestor; one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, Thomas Stone, was his second cousin.
Mary Stone was a member of the Church of England, and Barton had been christened by a priest named Thomas Thornton. After Barton's father died in 1775, his mother moved the family to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1779, then on the frontier. After the move to the Virginia frontier during the war, Mary joined the Methodists.Dr. Adron Doran, Restoring New Testament Christianity: Featuring Alexander Campbell, Thomas Campbell, Barton W. Stone, and Hall L. Calhoun, 21st Century Christian, 1997 Barton was not himself religious as a young man: he found the competing claims of the Episcopalians, Baptists, and Methodists confusing, and was much more interested in politics.
Barton entered the Caldwell Log College in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1790.Stone at times errantly referred to the school as Guilford Academy, which was actually a Quaker-affiliated institution. While there, Stone heard James McGready (an evangelical Presbyterian minister) speak. A few years later, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister.
Career As Stone looked more deeply into the beliefs of the Presbyterians, especially the Westminster Confession of Faith, he doubted that some of the denomination's beliefs were grounded in the Christian Bible.Leroy Garrett, The Stone-Campbell Movement: The Story of the American Restoration Movement, College Press, 2002, , , 573 pages He was unable to accept the Calvinist doctrines of total depravity, unconditional election, and predestination. He also believed that "Calvinism's alleged theological sophistication had . . . been bought at the price of fomenting division" and "blamed it . . . for producing ten different sects within the Presbyterian tradition alone."Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on "Calvinism"
The Cane Ridge Revival of 1801 was "set up as a traditional Presbyterian 'sacramental occasion'," similar to the one Stone attended earlier that year in Logan County—later called the Revival of 1800. Like its predecessor, the Cane Ridge Revival continued for two to three days.Schmidt, Leigh Eric. Holy Fairs: Scottish Communions and American Revivals in the Early Modern Period, Princeton University Press: 1989, p. 64 It attracted an estimated 20,000 people, and Stone was one of eighteen Presbyterian ministers, along with a number of Baptist and Methodist preachers, who preached to the participants.Schmidt (1989), Holy Fairs, p. 64 Elements traditional to this form Christian revivalism included the "large number of ministers, the action sermon, the tables, the tent, the successive servings" of communion—all part of the evangelical Presbyterian tradition and "communion season" known in Scotland.Schmidt (1989), Holy Fairs, pp. 64-65
In 1803, Stone and four other ministers formed the Springfield Presbytery after disagreeing with the Kentucky Synod's decision to censure a minister for deviating from the Westminster Confession of Faith.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on Springfield Presbytery By 1804, the Springfield Presbytery had attracted 15 congregations in Ohio and Kentucky. The leaders of the new presbytery became concerned by its growth because they did not want to create a new denomination or "party" within Presbyterianism. Ultimately convinced that their newer Springfield Presbytery was sectarian, the ministers dissolved it on June 28, 1804.
To publicize the dissolution, they signed a document entitled The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery. The tract willed that "this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large." It expressed a desire for Christian unity and identified the Christian Bible as its standard. In addition to signing the Last Will and Testament, they agreed to take "no other name than christians" on the basis that it was "the name first given by divine authority to the disciples of Christ." Soon, they adopted the name "Christian" to identify their group. Thus, remnants from the Springfield Presbytery became known as the Christian Church.McAlister, Lester G. and Tucker, William E. (1975), Journey in Faith: A History of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), St. Louis, Chalice Press, It is estimated that the Christian Church numbered about 12,000 by 1830.
Elias Smith had heard of the Stone movement by 1804 and the O'Kelly movement by 1808.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on Christian Connection The three groups "declared themselves one" by 1810. At that time the combined movement had a membership of approximately 20,000. This loose fellowship of churches was called by the names "Christian Connection/Connexion" or "Christian Church."C. Leonard Allen and Richard T. Hughes, Discovering Our Roots: The Ancestry of the Churches of Christ, Abilene Christian University Press, 1988,
In 1819, Stone moved with his family to Georgetown, Kentucky, where he had been hired as principal of the Rittenhouse Academy, which became Georgetown College in 1829. In 1834, the Stones moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, in part to be able to free slaves whom his wife had inherited. This was not possible in Kentucky because they were attached to the estate. His mother-in-law's will bequeathed the slaves to his wife and her children in perpetuity in a way that placed them under the control of trustees. Moving to a free state allowed the Stones to emancipate them. Stone was a proponent of abolition and an active supporter of the American Colonization Society, which promoted sending free blacks to a colony in Africa—this was the basis of Liberia. By 1833, Stone had become disillusioned by the lack of success of the colonization efforts and began to support the immediate abolition of slavery.
The "Christian" movement associated with Stone merged with the "Disciples" movement led by Alexander Campbell in 1832.Monroe E. Hawley, Redigging the Wells: Seeking Undenominational Christianity, Quality Publications, Abilene, Texas, 1976, (paper), (cloth)Davis, M. M. (1915). How the Disciples Began and Grew, A Short History of the Christian Church , Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing CompanyGarrison, Winfred Earnest and DeGroot, Alfred T. (1948). The Disciples of Christ, A History, St Louis, Missouri: The Bethany PressDouglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, Introductory section entitled Stone-Campbell History Over Three Centuries: A Survey and AnalysisDouglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, Introductory Chronology This was formalized at the High Street Meeting House in Lexington, Kentucky, with a handshake between Barton W. Stone and John Smith. Smith had been chosen, by those present, to speak on behalf of the followers of the Campbells. A preliminary meeting of the two groups was held in late December 1831, culminating with the merger on January 1, 1832. Campbell had been publishing the Christian Baptist since 1823,Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on Christian Baptist, The, pp. 174-175 and Stone the Christian Messenger since 1826.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on Christian Messenger, pp. 194-195 They intended to bring their followers together under Jesus with their publications.H. Leo Boles, Biographical Sketches of Gospel Preachers, Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate Company, 1932, pp.28-32
When the Christians and Disciples united in 1832, only a minority of Christians from the Smith/Jones and O'Kelly movements participated. Those who did were from congregations on the frontier, west of the Appalachian Mountains, that had come into contact with the Stone movement. The eastern members had several key differences from the Stone and Campbell group: an emphasis on a conversion experience, quarterly observance of communion, and nontrinitarianism.
Stone died on November 9, 1844, in Hannibal, Missouri, at the home of his daughter.Olbricht, T. H. (2003). "Stone, Barton W." In (T. Larsen, D. W. Bebbington, M. A. Noll, & S. Carter, Eds.), Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. His body was buried on his farm in Morgan County, Illinois. When the farm was sold, descendants had his remains reinterred at Antioch Christian Church, east of Jacksonville. In 1847, his remains were moved again and reinterred at Cane Ridge, Kentucky.