the other separated groups, forming the General Convention of the Christian Church in 1890. Many Southern/O'Kelly Christians owned slaves, some of whom formed churches of their own in that tradition after the Emancipation Proclamation. Centered in central and eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, African-American Christian congregations formed a convention of their own in the 1890s. This convention existed until 1950, well after the Congregational Christian merger; that year it joined the Convention of the South, heretofore composed of Congregational churches founded by the American Missionary Association. Theologically, the Christian Churches did not encourage a highly elaborate system of doctrine or Biblical interpretation. Relatively few of their ministers were educated past the elementary grades, a characteristic that persisted well into the early 20th century. Their leanings were toward revivalist Wesleyanism, emphasizing traditional evangelical themes such as regeneration, acceptance of personal salvation, and the performance of good works of charity. Few if any of their members were inherently predisposed toward polemical attacks upon other traditions, although some pastors and churches would eventually identify with the emerging fundamentalist movement in later decades. By the time that the Congregationalists had approached Christian leaders about possible union, some disaffected adherents of the wing of Restoration Movement led by Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell had joined the Christian Connection. This group gave the movement a geographical complexion that entailed pockets of strength in New England, upstate New York, southeastern Virginia, central and eastern North Carolina, western Georgia, eastern Alabama, southwestern Ohio, and eastern Indiana, with dispersed congregations in parts of the Great Plains. Most of the membership was rural, outside major cities, usually engaged in farming or similar occupations. The Christians founded schools such as Ohio's Defiance College and Antioch College and North Carolina's Elon University; during the early 20th century, an academy and seminary for African-Americans operated in Franklinton, North Carolina. Defiance continues to relate to the United Church of Christ today. Early post-merger years After the 1931 merger, relatively few practices and customs changed drastically within either of the uniting traditions, largely because its members, like most Americans, were overwhelmed by, first, the Great Depression, and, later, World War II. It would not be until after the latter concluded that the CC churches would embark on anything like a major church extension program; this was the case, of course, with most U.S. denominations during this period, as their churches often struggled to merely