The Restoration Foundation began as a ministry of James Vinzant in the 1970s as a means to publish material that related to congregations of the churches of Christ. The State of Texas as well as the Internal Revenue Service recognizes the work of the Restoration Foundation as being a non-profit, tax exempt entity. It was ruled a public charity on August 6, 1979 under Section 509(a)(1) which primarily includes churches, schools, hospitals, and other organizations that receive their public support primarily from gifts, grants and contributions from a broad group of people. The EID number is: 74-1994084. Since its inception forty-five years ago, Vinzant has never accepted a salary; all contributions are applied to this work. The first project was a best selling book, “The Special Contribution,” which chronicled congregations that had large, one-time contributions.
A lifelong student of church history, Vinzant has traveled to many of the places associated with what some call “The American Restoration Movement,” or “The Stone-Campbell” movement. He prefers to call it the “Church that Jesus established on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.”