Annual, non-delegate convention celebrating the ministries and mission of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Besides “charismatic” events like the Cane Ridge Revival, planned conferences or conventions of Christians began in earnest in the Stone-Campbell Movement in the 1830s, with the earliest statewide gatherings.
The first national convention as such was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849 to inaugurate the American Christian Missionary Society. In 1917 the annual convention was designated the International Convention of the Disciples of Christ. The Disciples struggled at times over whether to have a formal delegate convention or more of an open meeting for inspiration and information.
In the 1920s there was a concerted effort by church agencies of the Disciples of Christ to seek approval for their work by the convention body. This forced the assembled persons to vote in a procedure that had not been in vogue over the many years of meeting. This issue of endorsement of agencies came to the floor of the International Convention in Memphis, Tennessee, in November of 1926, and resulted in separate meetings being held in the Pantages Theater. A Committee for Future Action was named, with P. H. Welshimer of Canton, Ohio, as chairperson, along with Mark Collins, W. E. Sweeney, W. R. Walker, Robert F. Tuck, O. A. Trinkle, and F. S. Dowdy as members. This committee formed the program and rationale for a general rally to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 12-16, 1927, constituting the first North American Christian Convention (NACC).
Numerous declarations were made as an attempt to define the purpose of the new general meeting, and its apologists fiercely defended themselves from the charge of producing a “rival” to the International Convention. They argued that: (1) the NACC would be “a convention of individuals, not a convention of churches”; (2) it would focus on the “restoration of New Testament Christianity”; (3) it would work for unity, not division; and (4) it would preclude church agencies from promoting their causes from the convention platform. Exhibits and discussions of worthy issues were planned for conference rooms — a format that has continued to the present day. The convention also gave significant place to preaching on classic Stone-Campbell themes (unity, restoration, etc.), evangelism, and world mission.
Despite disclaimers to the contrary, critics clearly saw the NACC as divisive, prompting Frederick Kershner, who had been president of the International Convention in 1938, to declare in 1940 that the NACC was “not schismatic,” but “a meeting for inspiration, discussion, and public enlightenment” thoroughly complementary to the purposes of the International Convention. There were, to be sure, some supporters of the NACC who, in subsequent years, hoped for the convention to be a rallying point for conservative churches in their resistance to the denominational restructure of the Disciples of Christ. Others, however, wanted the convention to be an instrument for reconciliation within the Movement.
Following the inaugural 1927 convention in Indianapolis, the NACC met again in Kansas City in 1928. From then until 1950, eight conventions were held. In 1950 convention organizers determined to meet annually. In June 1960 the North American Christian Convention met in concert with the National Christian Education Convention in Columbus, Ohio. The combination of the summer meeting plus the addition of a great number of teaching and leadership sessions to the program meant adding childcare and teenage sessions to the NACC’s agenda.
Teen sessions have become a significant part of the convention’s program, beginning with the Bible Bowl quiz team competition in 1965. Gary A. Coleman served as assistant to the director from 1967 until 1996 and gave oversight to the development of the quiz program and teen sessions.
During July 6-10, 1986, a joint convention between the North American Christian Convention and the National Missionary Convention brought some 40,000 persons to a communion service on Sunday evening in the Hoosier Dome (now RCA Dome) in Indianapolis. The two conventions met again in concert in Indianapolis in 1995.
In 1963 the Long Beach, California, Convention Committee called Leonard G. Wymore to become the first full-time employee convention director and to open an office in Cincinnati, Ohio. The duties of the director and staff were detailed to support the planning and managing of the annual convention. Leonard G. Wymore retired in the summer of 1986; Rod Huron succeeded Wymore in the years 1986-97. In 1998 Dustin Rubeck became executive director, with Terry Wusky as managing director. In 2002 Allan Dunbar was approved as executive director.
The original convention committee consisted of seven persons. In 1934 the number had grown to twenty-three, to sixty-four in 1946, to one hundred in 1950, and to 120 in 1971. Past NACC presidents began to be represented at that time. In the 1990s women were added to the committee. In 1999 the convention committee elected a board of stewards, a group charged with providing direction to the business and policy issues of the convention, thus permitting the annually elected executive committee and president to give their attention to the event for the year.
The convention published a newsletter in the 1950s edited by Harry Poll. In 1973 a new publication, the NACC Update, was introduced as a bimonthly mailing that promoted the upcoming convention.
At the 1980 Seattle, Washington, convention, the group began the practice of recognizing faithful veterans in the leadership of church life. Each year three or four individuals have been so honored as “God’s Honored Servants” and introduced to one of the evening worship assemblies of the convention.
Although figures tell only a part of the history of the convention, these figures may be of general interest: registration is encouraged to support the convention, and the number of registered participants has been as high as 50,000, with attendance at one or more sessions averaging between 10,000 and 20,000. Within this figure are teens numbering 2,000 to 3,000, 1,000 children ages six to twelve, and 500 preschool-age children. Total cost of the yearly operation has grown from $200,000 to approximately $1 million.
This convention is a unique gathering for preaching, instruction, discussion, and fellowship. Besides multiple assemblies for worship and preaching, the convention each year hosts numerous workshops on a wide variety of issues related to ministry, missions, worship, Christian ethics, and much more. There has frequently been a theological forum dealing with doctrinal questions or controversial issues such as biblical inerrancy. The NACC does not legislate for the churches or pass resolutions on social or political issues. The only item of business is the ratification of one-third of the convention committee to plan the sessions for next year. The NACC is not intended to be a base of sectarian cohesion or to represent the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ as a denomination, but rather to rally Christians toward the person of Christ and the great themes of his Word as the necessary basis for Christian unity.
See also Bible Bowl; Christian Churches/Churches of Christ; Conventions; International Convention of the Disciples of Christ; Kershner, Frederick D.; National Christian Missionary Convention; Walker, Dean Everest; Welshimer, Pearl Howard
Bibliography Edwin V. Hayden et al., North American Gold: Fifty Years of North American Conventions (1989) • James B. Hunter, “A History of the North American Christian Convention” (B.D. thesis, Butler University School of Religion, 1950) • Frederick D. Kershner, “The North American Christian Convention Is Not Schismatic,” Christian Standard 75 (1940): 545-46 • NACC Committee, “NACC History and Purpose” (pamphlet, 1973) • Dean E. Walker, “NACC Objectives Viewed Historically” (unpublished paper, NACC Committee Meeting, October 1973) • Dean E. Walker, “The North American Christian Convention,” Shane Quarterly 3 (1942): 65-72.
Leonard G. Wymore
This entry, written by Leonard G. Wymore, was originally published in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004), pages 570-572. Republished with permission.