The Rushford Center for Research on Churches of Christ and the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement

Heritage Collection books in the Rushford Center

The Rushford Center is home to several scholarly programs, services, and resources, including the Churches of Christ Heritage Collection, the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement History Archives, the William M. Green Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program, and the Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program. Lucy Perrin, MLS, is the Center's director and archivist. The Rushford Center was founded by Jerry Rushford, PhD, who serves as curator.

The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement is the American religious movement that gave rise to the Churches of Christ. George Pepperdine, the founder of Pepperdine University, was a life-long member of the Churches of Christ. The Rushford Center is vital to the mission of Pepperdine University as it strengthens the university's ties to its cultural and spiritual heritage.

Churches of Christ Heritage Collection

Casitas Springs Church of Christ, Ventura County 1937

The collection includes both published and unpublished materials documenting the history of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and the Churches of Christ. The collection is a repository of books, documents, photographs, religious periodicals, congregational histories, biographical studies, archival materials and artifacts, with specific focus on materials from the western United States and the Pacific Rim countries. More than 4200 volumes are held in the Churches of Christ Heritage Collection.

To further the mission of the Rushford Center, digitization of select materials from the Churches of Christ Heritage Collection is ongoing.

Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement History Archives

Archival collections held by the Rushford Center include personal papers and records of individuals, churches, and organizations integral to the history of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and the Churches of Christ. The following highlighted archival collections illustrate the repository's strength in the history of Churches of Christ in the Western US and the Pacific Rim.

Jerry Rushford Digital Collection

This collection consists of historical photographs and documents collected by Dr. Jerry Rushford on the topic of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, the Churches of Christ, and Pepperdine University. This digital collection represents only a fraction of the materials in the Jerry Rushford Collection, which is housed in the Rushford Center for Research on Churches of Christ and the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement.

Browse the Jerry Rushford Collection

Terry and Susan Giboney Digital Collection

Terry and Susan Giboney at the wedding of their language teacher, ca. mid 60s

This collection chronicles the life of Pepperdine alumni Terry Giboney ('61) and Susan Giboney ('62) during their time as Church of Christ missionaries in Omika, Japan from 1963 to 1966. The Giboneys worked primarily as educators with Ibaraki Christian College, but were also involved with the Hitachi Christian Camp, the Motosu Christian Camp, and the Nazare-En elderly Christian home.

Browse the Terry and Susan Giboney Digital Collection

J.M. McCaleb Papers

J.M. McCaleb was a Church of Christ missionary who spent nearly fifty years of service in Japan from 1892-1941. The collection includes scrapbooks, clippings, correspondence, and publications both written and compiled by McCaleb.

Restoration Movement Publications Collection

The periodical collection, which dates from 1808, consists of more than 600 titles. The periodicals are international in scope and document the history of theological thought and religious practice in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. The writers, editors, and publishers were local church leaders, preachers, missionaries, and leaders in the ministries and colleges associated with the movement. The periodicals cover the work of educational institutions and children's homes associated with the movement, as well as services to the deaf, the aging, single parents, and the armed forces. Some of the periodicals are communications from poverty-relief efforts, hospital ministries, bus ministries, broadcast ministries, marriage ministries, and ministries to divorced Christians. Many of the periodicals in this collection are reports from and about evangelistic mission efforts of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement churches across the globe.

See the Restoration Movement Publications Finding Aid

Search all of Pepperdine's archival collections.

Consult the Churches of Christ Heritage Collection research guide for more information on archival collections.

Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Programs

Frederick D. Aquino speaking in Stauffer Chapel

The Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Programs of the Rushford Center provide a forum for the advancement of Christian scholarship.

The William M. Green Lecture, which began in 1980, brings an outstanding scholar from the Churches of Christ to the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University each year. Beginning as the Thomas F. Staley Lecture in 1981, the Frank Pack Lecture continues the annual tradition of bringing a distinguished Christian scholar from outside the Churches of Christ.

The named lectures honor the memory of two distinguished Christian scholars from Pepperdine University, William Green and Frank Pack. William Green (1897-1979) was professor of classics at University of California, Berkeley, from 1927 to 1962, and he was professor of ancient Christian literature at Pepperdine University from 1962 to 1974. Frank Pack (1916-1998) served for sixty years as a preacher in Churches of Christ and for more than forty-five years as a distinguished professor of biblical studies in three colleges related to Churches of Christ: David Lipscomb College (1940-1944), Abilene Christian College (1949-1963), and Pepperdine University (1945-1949 and 1964-1990).

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44th Annual William M. Green Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program: Josh Graves

Thursday, October 17, 2024, 7 – 8 PM
Stauffer Chapel

The Pepperdine Libraries' Rushford Center for Research on the Churches of Christ is pleased to announce that Josh Graves, preaching and teaching minister at Otter Creek Church in Nashville, TN, will be delivering the lecture for the 44th Annual William M. Green Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program. Dr. Graves will speak about his 2023 book, The Simple Secret: Choosing Love in a Culture of Hostility.

Add Dr. Graves's Lecture to Calendar

Hours and Location

The Rushford Center is located on the second floor of Payson Library. Books may be browsed whenever Payson Library is open. View Payson Library hours. To view archives materials, please contact staff to make an appointment in advance of your visit.