During my experience of approval for ordination, we were encouraged to find a “favorite” person from Disciples History, not including the founders. The person I picked was named John “Racoon” Smith. Now, I want to be clear, there is no reason anyone needs a favorite person from Disciples history.

But, right or wrong, I became introduced to John Smith. It should not be any surprise that the first thing that drew me to this person was his
nickname. Apparently, he did not like it. John Smith was a preacher in
the 19th century whose main goal was Christian unity. At that time,
what would become the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was two
different churches and they were not that interested in becoming one.
John Smith worked with both sides, dispelling their concerns about the
other and working toward their common goal: One church, One
people, One faith. John Smith would eventually be the one to
symbolically shake Barton Stone's hand and unite the two churches into what would become the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Christian unity today seems a far-off goal. But the reality is, all it takes is acknowledging that there is one Christ, one faith, and one God that calls us all. Yes, we are different. Yes, we practice differently. Yes, we worship differently, but that does not change the God that we worship. What is needed today is not a formal organized consolidation of churches, rather a fundamental understanding that we are God's
people in many places, in many times, in many languages.