Brush Run Church

The Brush Run Church was one of the earliest congregations associated with the Restoration Movement that arose during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. In 1811, a congregation of Christian reformers known as the Christian Association of Washington reconstituted itself as a church and constructed a new building to replace the temporary log building where they began. Because it was built on the farm of William Gilchrist, near a stream called Brush Run, both the building and the congregation became known as Brush Run Church. It was the center of activity for Thomas and Alexander Campbell, father and son respectively, in their movement for Christian reform on the American frontier. The meeting house was later used as a blacksmith shop, then as a post office and finally it was moved to Bethany, Virginia .

In 1809, Thomas Campbell, a "seceder" Presbyterian minister who had emigrated from Scotland to western Pennsylvania, established the Christian Association of Washington as a result of his groundbreaking theological treatise, entitled "The Declaration and Address of the Christian Association of Washington." On May 4, 1811, the Association reconstituted itself as a congregationally governed church. It constructed a meeting house which became known as the Brush Run Church. It, along with the Cane Ridge Meeting House in Paris, KY, is considered to be one of the first churches in the Christian group which later became known as the Christian Church .

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