sentences:  In Laura, Ohio, in 1854, many African American ministers were welcomed to preach in the pulpits of various Evangelical Christian Churches, while many of the white Evangelical Christian Church's clergy continued to minister to mixed congregations, which was unprecedented.In the midst of shifts in theology and church polity  the Evangelical Christian Church became the first institution where both women and blacks made an important contribution in leadership roles within many Evangelical Christian Churches in North America.The Evangelical Christian Church (Christian Disciples) exercised its independence under God by becoming one of many Restoration Movement denominations to recognize the ordination of women.