Alexander Campbell, an influential figure in the Christian Restoration Movement, from which came the tradition of which I am a part—the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)—was a regular journal writer.
I was actually talking about this practice recently with my middle school daughter, telling her that podcasting and Substack are, in many ways, modern forms of that same practice.
Campbell edited and authored two journals, first The Christian Baptist from 1823 to 1830, then The Millennial Harbinger from 1830 to 1866.
More, in 1835, he wrote a comprehensive statement of faith, The Christian System: In Reference to the Union of Christians, and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity in the Current Reformation, which he revised and expanded four years later.
Reading recently about Campbell, one author noted that:
“His essays on the kingdom of heaven show a creative, deeply scriptural imagination wrestling with the formation of an eschatological community of faith on the American frontier.”
Campbell was also a skilled debater, both on the printed page and in person.
He was described as the leader of “Thundering Legions” of followers, an incredibly influential voice as his Disciples movement was “growing like a prairie fire” along the Midwestern frontier.
Now, to be fair, it’s likely that few outside the Restoration or Stone-Campbell Movement (Disciples of Christ, Churches of Christ, and Independent Christian Churches) have ever even heard of Alexander Campbell.
Still, his historical example is worth remembering, if only because it is so relevant to our own context today.
Forming People From a Distance
First, due to the constraints of time, travel, and resources, it’s likely that Campbell was forming people through his writing whom he would never meet in person.
And perhaps one of the best examples of this was his understanding of communion.
Campbell lamented that within the Presbyterian circles in which he had been raised, communion was often restricted to those who had been approved to participate. Even Christians from other traditions, such as Baptists or Congregationalists, who shared many theological similarities, could be excluded from the table.
In fact, I have a communion token in my bag, a small metal token of the sort once used by churches to identify who was permitted to receive communion. No token, no communion.
Campbell challenged this understanding, advocating for greater Christian unity at the communion table, even as his own views on participation and baptism were more complicated than the fully open table practiced by many Disciples congregations today.
But here’s where I think the formational element becomes particularly interesting.
Through his writing, Campbell was not simply trying to convince people to think differently about communion. He was encouraging them to practice communion differently.
And as congregations began putting those ideas into practice, they were also being formed by them. Gathering around the table reinforced a different understanding of Christian unity, belonging, and the nature of the church itself.
In other words, Campbell’s writing helped change a practice, and that practice helped form a people.
Many of those people likely never met Campbell personally. Yet his influence extended beyond the printed page into the actual worship and life of their congregations.
And while Campbell distributed his writings on paper and we distribute ours through the interwebs, we still face many of the same challenges.
How do we communicate something meaningful to people we may never meet?
How do we encourage people not simply to consider new ideas, but to put those ideas into practice?
And how might those practices, in turn, shape the communities in which they participate?
Those questions aren’t entirely new.
A different kind of frontier
Second, like Campbell then, we too exist in a sort of digital and sociological frontier.
Now, I recognize that implicit within Campbell’s understanding of the frontier was certainly some disrespect, if not disdain, for Indigenous populations already residing there. The frontier was hardly an empty space waiting for Christians to arrive.
Nevertheless, Campbell was trying to reach and influence people in new and forming towns and communities.
Today, we find ourselves in a somewhat different situation.
Rather than working on the front end of a growing Christian movement, we’re often working on the back end of the bell curve, where Christian influence is rapidly being lost in many communities, but there are similarities.
The old structures and assumptions no longer work as they once did. People are scattered across different communities, networks, and platforms. And we’re trying to figure out how to communicate, connect, and form people in a changing cultural landscape.
In that sense, the digital world is something of a new frontier for ministry.
Fr. Cathie Caimano and Loren Richmond Jr. talk about how true community forms - online and in person.
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We’re trying to do something new also!
Third, like Campbell, we’re trying to start a new movement.
Substack Seminary is meant to be that. And many of you reading this are also trying to start something new!
Maybe it’s a church, a nonprofit, a podcast, a writing project, or some other expression of ministry that doesn’t fit neatly within the traditional institutional structures we’ve inherited.
And perhaps, like Campbell, much of your influence will happen through people you never meet.
Someone reads something you’ve written. Someone listens to a podcast episode. Someone shares an idea with a colleague. A ministry leader takes something you’ve said and tries it in their own context.
You may never know about it—but that doesn’t mean formation isn’t happening.
Of course, there’s an important distinction between influencing someone and forming them. Christian formation involves more than simply consuming information; it involves practices, relationships, and communities in which our convictions are lived out.
And perhaps that’s part of what makes Campbell’s example so interesting. He wasn’t simply writing for isolated individuals. His writings were helping shape a movement of congregations and Christians who were putting those ideas into practice in their own communities.
Campbell didn’t have to meet everyone he influenced because he wasn’t the only person involved in their formation.
I wonder if that’s an important lesson for those of us working in digital spaces today. Maybe our task isn’t to provide everything people need for formation, but to offer something that contributes to the formation already happening in their lives and communities.
'We can start something new, but we need to stay connected'
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What can we learn from Campbell?
The point is that I think we’re in a similar space to Campbell, at least in the sense that we can learn from his example.
A few things come to mind:
Have something unique and compelling to say. Campbell wasn’t simply repeating what everyone else was saying. He had a particular vision for the church and was willing to articulate it, defend it, and invite others into it.
What is the particular contribution you’re trying to make?
Or, to say it differently, what’s your niche?
Stick with it. Campbell wrote for YEARS. Not weeks or months, but decades. It’s easy to get discouraged when a blog post doesn’t get much engagement or a podcast episode doesn’t reach many people. But influence and formation often happen over time, through consistent engagement.
I’ve been doing my Future Christian podcast for about 6 years and am finally nearing 50k downloads.
Pray and trust that the Spirit is at work. We can write, teach, publish, and share, but we cannot control what happens on the other end. Christian formation has never been simply a matter of delivering the right information. We trust that the Spirit is at work in ways we may never see.
And, let me add this—faithfulness and fruitfulness are not necessarily connected.
Remember that you’re part of a long lineage. We’re hardly the first people trying to shape and influence others whom we’ll likely never meet. Whether through letters, journals, books, radio, television, podcasts, or Substack, Christians have long used the communication tools available to them to reach beyond their immediate communities.
Why this matters for Substack Seminary
At Substack Seminary, we’re trying to help leaders navigate the changing landscape of church and ministry, often through the very tools we’re discussing.
And like Campbell, we’re doing so with the recognition that many of the people reading, listening, and learning may never meet us in person.
But perhaps that’s part of the opportunity.
We don’t have to be physically present with everyone we hope to influence or encourage.
We do, however, need to be intentional about what we’re communicating, consistent in showing up, and trusting that God can use our efforts in ways we may never fully recognize.
And perhaps we should also be asking ourselves whether we’re simply sharing ideas or encouraging practices that might actually shape how people lead, worship, and live.
So, here’s a question for this week:
Who are you trying to form or influence through your ministry, even if you may never meet them? And what are you doing consistently to make that possible?
Source note: Historical background on Alexander Campbell is drawn from Stephen V. Sprinkle’s Disciples and Theology: Understanding the Faith of a Covenant People
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Looking forward to talking about this with you tomorrow!
I wonder if we (those of us leading Substack Seminary) need to make the formation part of what we do more concrete?
I think we're forming ministers for *evangelism*. Even ourselves. How are we sharing the faith through our ministry?