Churches of Christ vs Baptist Church — what is the difference?
By Vinay Koshy, Editor
Both Churches of Christ and Baptist churches baptise adult believers by full immersion and both govern congregation by congregation. Baptists come from 17th-century English Nonconformity, hold to confessional statements, and celebrate the Lord's Supper monthly or quarterly. Churches of Christ come from the 19th-century American Restoration Movement, reject creeds beyond the New Testament, and celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday. Baptists are Australia's much larger group at 1,195 directory listings; Churches of Christ list 386.
Last verified: 2026-07-04. Directory counts pulled live from the Australian Church Directory database. Census figures from the 2021 Australian Census.
Comparison at a glance
| Aspect | Churches of Christ | Baptist |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Early-19th-century American Restoration Movement. Cane Ridge Revival 1801 (Kentucky) under Barton W. Stone; Declaration and Address 1809 by Thomas Campbell; formal Stone-Campbell union 1832 in Lexington, Kentucky. | 17th-century English Nonconformist movement. General Baptists 1609 (Amsterdam) under John Smyth; Particular Baptists 1638 (London). |
| Arrived in Australia | Thomas Magarey opened the Franklin Street chapel in Adelaide in 1846 and formed the first Church of Christ congregation by 1849. First Victorian congregation at Prahran in 1855. | 24 April 1831 — first Baptist service held by John McKaeg at the Rose and Crown Inn, Sydney. |
| Australian national body | Council of Churches of Christ in Australia (CCCA). Coordinating not governing. State conferences: NSW / ACT, QLD, SA / NT, VIC / TAS (CCVT), WA. Global Mission Partners as a national agency. | Australian Baptist Ministries (renamed from Baptist Union of Australia in 2009). Fellowship of 6 state / territory unions. |
| Governance | Congregational — each local church is autonomous and democratic. State conferences are voluntary associations, not authorities. | Congregational — each local church is autonomous. State unions and the national body are fellowships, not authorities. |
| Confessions and creeds | Reject historic creeds beyond the New Testament. Guiding principle: "no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no name but the divine." No binding confessional statement. | Confessional. Second London Baptist Confession (1689), Baptist Faith and Message, and similar statements shape most congregations, with each church free to affirm or modify. |
| Believer's baptism | Yes, by full immersion. Treated as directly integral to conversion — the New Testament pattern of repentance, faith, confession, and baptism together. | Yes, by full immersion. Treated as the outward sign and public confession of an already-existing inner faith. |
| Lord's Supper | Every Sunday, following the pattern in Acts 20:7. No clergy requirement to preside. | Monthly or quarterly, presided over by the pastor or elders. Practice varies by congregation. |
| Instrumental music | Yes — instrumental worship is standard in Australia (matches the Disciples of Christ / Christian Church strand, not the a cappella US-South Churches of Christ). | Yes — mix of hymns and contemporary songs, usually band or piano. |
| Ordination of women | Varies by state conference. Most Australian state conferences ordain women. | Varies by state union. Baptist Union of Victoria and Baptist Association NSW & ACT ordain women as pastors; other states range from permissive to restrictive. |
| 2021 Census members | 35,900 (0.1% of Australians) | 347,300 (1.4% of Australians) |
| Directory listings (this site) | 386 | 1,195 |
| Community services | Churches of Christ Care (QLD is one of Australia's largest aged-care providers), Global Mission Partners, congregation-run services. | Baptist World Aid Australia, Global Interaction, state-level community services agencies. |
Origin — two continents, two centuries apart
The Baptist movement began among 17th-century English Separatists who wanted a Reformed church free of state control and made up of believers only. John Smyth baptised himself and the first General Baptist congregation in Amsterdam in 1609; the first Particular Baptist congregation formed in London in 1638. Baptist ministry reached Australia less than fifty years after European settlement — on Sunday 24 April 1831, John McKaeg held the first Baptist service at the Rose and Crown Inn on the corner of Castlereagh and King Streets in Sydney.
Churches of Christ come from a distinctly American movement two centuries later. Barton W. Stone (1772–1844) led the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky in 1801, a week-long camp meeting that drew tens of thousands and marked the start of the Second Great Awakening. In 1809 Thomas Campbell, a Presbyterian minister in western Pennsylvania, published the Declaration and Address, arguing that Christians should abandon denominational labels and return to New Testament practice. His son Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) built the movement out through the Christian Baptist (1823) and Millennial Harbinger (1830) journals. Stone's "Christians" and the Campbells' "Disciples" formally united at the Hill Street Meeting House in Lexington, Kentucky in 1832, sealed by a handshake between Stone and John "Raccoon" Smith.
The movement reached Australia through British restorationist streams rather than direct American import. Thomas Magarey, an Irish-born miller who arrived in Adelaide in 1845 aged twenty, initially joined a Scotch Baptist congregation, opened the Franklin Street chapel in 1846, and in 1848 broke away with fellow restorationists to form a Disciples of Christ congregation. By 1849 this was the first Church of Christ in Australia. The first Victorian congregation followed in 1855 in Prahran, established by the Ingram and Picton families from England.
Governance — congregational on both sides
This is where the two traditions look most alike. Baptist and Churches of Christ congregations are self-governing: each local church calls its own pastor, decides its own budget, owns its own property, and sets its own doctrinal statement within the limits of its tradition. Neither has bishops. Neither has a top-down authority structure. Both use state-level fellowships that support local churches with training, mission, and community services but do not govern them.
The Baptist state unions (Baptist Association NSW & ACT, Baptist Union of Victoria, Queensland Baptists, Baptist Churches SA & NT, Baptist Churches Western Australia, Tasmanian Baptists) sit under Australian Baptist Ministries, the national body renamed from the Baptist Union of Australia in 2009. The Churches of Christ state conferences (NSW / ACT, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania under CCVT, and Western Australia) sit under the Council of Churches of Christ in Australia (CCCA). Both national bodies represent their movement on ecumenical councils rather than setting doctrine.
Theology — creed versus New Testament
Both movements teach salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, both hold Scripture as final authority, both reject infant baptism, and both baptise adult believers by full immersion. Both practise the Lord's Supper as a memorial rather than a sacrifice.
The difference is on creeds and on how baptism is framed. Baptist theology is confessional — most Baptist congregations look to the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, the New Hampshire Confession of 1833, or the Baptist Faith and Message, and Baptist colleges teach systematic theology in the Reformed tradition. Churches of Christ theology is restorationist — the guiding principle is "no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no name but the divine," and post-New-Testament confessions are not treated as binding. On baptism, Baptists teach that faith itself unites a person to Christ and baptism is the outward sign; Churches of Christ teach the New Testament pattern of repentance, faith, confession, and baptism together, treating baptism as directly integral to conversion. Neither teaches that ritual saves apart from faith, but the practical emphasis is different.
Worship — the weekly Lord's Supper
The clearest week-to-week difference is at the communion table. In a Churches of Christ service the bread and cup are served every Sunday, following the Acts 20:7 pattern of the early church "coming together on the first day of the week to break bread." There is a short reflection or communion meditation, and the elements are usually served by lay elders rather than requiring an ordained minister to preside. In most Baptist services the Lord's Supper is served monthly or quarterly, presided over by the pastor or elders. Both traditions preach expository sermons of 30-45 minutes, sing a mix of hymns and contemporary songs, and use a pastor-and-elders leadership model.
A note on the a cappella Churches of Christ strand
A visitor searching for "Churches of Christ" online may find American sources describing an a cappella tradition that rejects instrumental music in worship. That strand emerged from a division in the Stone-Campbell movement in the late 19th century over the introduction of pipe organs, and it is centred in the American South. Australian Churches of Christ are on the other side of that division — they use musical instruments, matching the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) branch and the independent Christian Churches / Churches of Christ branch in the United States. No significant a cappella-only Churches of Christ presence exists in Australia.
Frequently asked questions
Are Churches of Christ and Baptist churches the same?
No, though the similarities are strong enough to confuse a visitor. Both baptise only believers by full immersion, both reject infant baptism, and both are governed one congregation at a time rather than by bishops or councils. They differ in origin, communion practice, and stance on creeds. Baptists come from 17th-century English Separatism and hold to confessional statements like the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. Churches of Christ come from the 19th-century American Restoration Movement and hold the principle "no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no name but the divine." Churches of Christ celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday; most Baptist churches do so monthly or quarterly.
Which is bigger in Australia, Baptist or Churches of Christ?
Baptist is much bigger. The 2021 Australian Census recorded 347,300 people identifying as Baptist (1.4% of the population) versus 35,900 identifying as Churches of Christ (0.1%). The Australian Church Directory currently lists 1,195 Baptist churches and 386 Churches of Christ. Both denominations have been in Australia since the mid-19th century, but the Restoration Movement in Australia has consistently sat below 1% of the population.
Do Australian Churches of Christ use musical instruments in worship?
Yes. Australian Churches of Christ use musical instruments in worship, following the mainstream Restoration Movement pattern shared with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States. They are not connected to the a cappella "Churches of Christ" strand found in the American South, which rejects instrumental music on the grounds that the New Testament is silent on it.
Where did the Restoration Movement come from?
It is a distinctly American 19th-century movement. Barton W. Stone (1772–1844) led the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky in 1801, and Thomas Campbell published the Declaration and Address in 1809, calling for Christians to abandon denominational labels and return to New Testament practice. Thomas's son Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) built the movement out through the Christian Baptist and Millennial Harbinger journals. Stone's "Christians" and Campbell's "Disciples" formally united at the Hill Street Meeting House in Lexington, Kentucky in 1832, sealed by a handshake between Barton Stone and John "Raccoon" Smith. The movement produced three major branches today: Churches of Christ (a cappella), Christian Churches / Churches of Christ (instrumental, independent), and Disciples of Christ (instrumental, mainline).
Who founded the first Church of Christ in Australia?
Thomas Magarey, an Irish-born miller who arrived in Adelaide in 1845 aged twenty. Magarey initially attended a Scotch Baptist congregation, opened the Franklin Street chapel in 1846, and in 1848 broke away with fellow restorationists to form a Disciples of Christ congregation — the first Church of Christ in Australia by 1849. The first Victorian congregation followed in 1855 in Prahran, established by the Ingram and Picton families from England. Australian Churches of Christ have been drawn more from British restorationist streams than from the direct American Stone-Campbell line.
Do Baptists and Churches of Christ believe salvation is by faith alone?
Both teach salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, but they emphasise the moment of salvation differently. Baptists broadly follow the Reformation formulation: faith itself is what unites a person to Christ, and baptism is the outward sign of an already-existing inner reality. Churches of Christ hold a more integrated view: baptism is where a repentant believer's union with Christ is publicly enacted, and the New Testament pattern is repentance, faith, confession, and baptism together. Neither teaches that ritual saves apart from faith, but Churches of Christ treat baptism as more directly integral to conversion than most Baptists do.
What is the Council of Churches of Christ in Australia?
The Council of Churches of Christ in Australia (CCCA) is the national coordinating body for Australian Churches of Christ. It is not a governing body — Churches of Christ congregations are self-governing — but it represents the movement on national and international bodies including the National Council of Churches in Australia, the World Council of Churches, and the World Convention of Churches of Christ. Its member state conferences cover NSW / ACT, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania, and Western Australia. Global Mission Partners is a national agency working under the CCCA umbrella.
How does a Churches of Christ service differ from a Baptist service?
The clearest weekly difference is at the Lord's Supper. In a Churches of Christ service the bread and cup are served every Sunday, usually at a set point in the middle of the service, with a short reflection or communion meditation and no requirement for a clergyperson to preside. In most Baptist services the Lord's Supper is served monthly or quarterly. The rest of the service — expository sermon, congregational singing, extended prayer — looks similar. Sermon length and worship-band structure vary by congregation in both traditions.
Are Churches of Christ related to the Christian and Missionary Alliance?
No. The Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) is a distinct denomination founded by A. B. Simpson in 1887 in New York with a Holiness / early-Pentecostal-adjacent theology and a strong global missions focus. The Australian directory currently lists 50 Christian and Missionary Alliance churches. They are unrelated to the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, and they should not be grouped with Churches of Christ despite the shared "Christian" in the name.
How do I find a local Baptist or Churches of Christ church?
The Australian Church Directory lists Baptist and Churches of Christ churches across all Australian states and territories, with addresses, denominational affiliation, and contact details. Baptist is currently listed as one canonical group. Churches of Christ is a separate canonical group. The directory also lists Christian and Missionary Alliance, Christian Reformed, and other Restoration-adjacent traditions under their own labels.
Find a local congregation
Use the directory to find a church near you:
- → Browse Churches of Christ in Australia
- → Browse Baptist churches in Australia
- → Guide: Baptist vs Pentecostal Church
- → Guide: Christian denominations in Australia
- → Guide: how to find a Christian church in Australia
Sources
- Australian Bureau of Statistics — 2021 Census, Religious affiliation (Baptist: 347,300 / Churches of Christ: 35,900).
- Council of Churches of Christ in Australia — Structure in Australia (cofcaustralia.org.au).
- Australian Baptist Ministries — official site (baptist.org.au).
- Wikipedia — Restoration Movement, Churches of Christ in Australia, Thomas Magarey, Alexander Campbell (minister), Barton W. Stone, Australian Baptist Ministries.
- Australian Dictionary of Biography — Magarey, Thomas (1825–1902).
- Disciples Historical Society — biographical notes on Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone.