1923 Building at Broadway and Helena

In the fall of 1893, H. Ward Elliott, an evangelist from Ohio, preached a series of meetings in Anaheim to see if there would be an interest in beginning a church dedicated to "the restoration of the New Testament Church." From those meetings, a group was formed in Anaheim, and first met in the Opera House. They built their first building in 1896 at Center and Helena, they quickly outgrew it and built a second building in 1923 at Broadway and Helena. The present building was built in 1974 and is debt free.

Groundbreaking for 1974 Building

By the early 1980's, AFCC was one of the largest and most influential churches in the Anaheim area. There began a significant change in the demographics of the area and subsequent difficulties in adjusting to many of the new challenges. By 1990, many thought that AFCC would close it's doors. However, rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated and we are now on the threshold of growth and renewed vitality. In the fall of 1998, this congregation took

2000 All-church picture

a step of faith in re-framing our mission as follows: "AFCC is a regional congregation committed to providing a thriving metropolitan church affecting the immediate community of central Anaheim. We must intentionally draw, from the larger region, people who will bring resources and commitment to making a difference in a metropolitan community. In our worship and in our programming we want to be a multi-ethnic, multi-generation family working toward that end."

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The Christian Church traces its origins to the New Testament Church with Jesus Christ as its founder and foundation. We are committed to being the church that Christ established, with Him as the head. We do not claim to be the only church that believes this, we only claim that this is our primary goal. We trace the roots of the modern Christian Church to the turn of the 19th century. God moved in the lives of several men, who at approximately the same time, and unknown to each other, began the struggle to leave manmade doctrines, creeds and titles to restore the purity of the name Christian. Their desire was to restore New Testament Christianity. This movement is not to be confused with Martin Luther's attempts to reform the church. Some key men:

• Abner Jones		Barton W. Stone
  Thomas Campbell		Alexander Campbell

  1792 - James O"Kelly, Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, MD. Broke from the Methodist church because of the inconsistencies of the denominational rule by Francis Asbury.
• 1802 - Abner Jones, Baptist Minister in Vermont, voiced deep concern about traditions that were taking precedence over Biblical principles.
• 1803 - Barton W. Stone, Presbyterian Minister in Concord, KY broke with the Presbyterian church when he and colleagues were disciplined for preaching just the Bible rather than the Westminster Confession.
• 1804 - Elias Smith, another Baptist minister in New England who joined Abner Jones and broke with the Baptist church because they could not reconcile the teachings of John Calvin with scripture.
• 1808 - Thomas and Alexander Campbell, also Presbyterians, solidified concepts of "Bible only" and received discipline because they served communion to a member of another church. Really did the scholarly work and writing to set the movement in motion.

Their goal remains our goal today: to be Christians and Christians only. We have no desire to be attached to councils, conferences or synods that establish doctrines, policies and rules for the church. There is no desire to follow a creed other than the Bible itself. Several slogans:

• No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible
• Not the only Christians, but Christians only
• In matters of opinion liberty, in matters of doctrine unity, and in all things charity

There have been two major splits in the Restoration Movement:

• 1864 - There was split over the use of musical instruments in worship. This group is known as the "Church of Christ."
• 1919 - Another split over the support of missionaries and the desire to establish a denominational board to control missions. This group is known as "The Disciples of Christ."