The Christian Century

A small weekly paper, The Christian Oracle, was established in Chicago in 1884 by the Disciples of Christ. Upon the suggestion of its editor, Dr. George A. Campbell, the magazine was renamed The Christian Century in 1900 to symbolize the optimistic outlook of the Christian world at the time. After a succession of four editors in ten years and three bankruptcies, Disciples of Christ pastor Dr. Charles Clayton Morrison became editor of the failing magazine in 1908 and subsequently purchased it. With financial assistance from Christian Century printer O. S. Bowman; J. C. Kilner, owner of the Congregationalist magazine The Advance; and Herbert L. Willett, a contributor of articles to the Century over the years, Morrison formed The Christian Century Press, a private corporation which published The Christian Century under his control and editorship until 1947.