[2]: 177  The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement describes the Chronicle as "by far the most-read paper in the Churches of Christ and [it] exercises an influence for cohesiveness in this part of the Stone-Campbell Movement".

[2]: 177 The Christian Chronicle was established in 1943, by journalist and Bible scholar Olan Hicks as a newspaper with the primary goal of providing information about Churches of Christ.

Has been characterized as "one of the most important sources of primary historical information on the worldwide missions carried out by Churches of Christ.

[3]: 725  In 1981 the Chronicle was redesigned by Charlie Marler, a journalism professor from Abilene Christian University.

Following the second redsign, articles will be classified under the headers: Matter of Fact (top stories), National, International, Life Matters (includes opinion), Q&A interviews and reviews.