With roots stretching to before the Civil War, the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) today serves as the connection between African Americans and the Stone-Campbell Movement. Founders of the African American Convention movement were visionaries, coordinating the opposition to slavery, forced relocation of free African Americans to Africa, and a multitude of social ills. Following emancipation, organizations that later became the National Convocation worked to improve the lives of freed slaves and their descendants. Journey Toward Wholeness: A History of Black Disciples of Christ in the Mission of the Christian Church, chronicles the predecessors of the National Convocation and the movement's roots and growth through almost three centuries.