Hello all:
Bobby Ross, editor of the Christian Chronicle, has written an excellent article on the recent debate on unity between Churches of Christ and Independent Christian Churches that occured at FHU.
While it sounds as if the debate didn’t change very much, it is good to hear that FHU allowed the debate to occur on their campus at all.
-Clarke
Hello everyone:
Well, I am somewhat caught up in my Astronomy and Criminal Law classes for today, so I have a minute to sit down and blog.
As I wrote in my last post, I’ve been really busy with school. Work slowed down just about the time school started so that my activity level stayed just about the same. Now that has changed.
I’m still under an overtime freeze at work, but now I’m taking a fire apperatus operators classs for work during work hours. This is taking up some of my time. Also, my wildland fire classes are starting with the first one starting next week, so my schedule is very messed up.
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On the Restoration and Unity fronts, the Stone-Campbell Dialogue has issued a study guide and brochure on how to create a local Dialogue in your own community, in advance of the 2008 anniversary of 200 years of our movement.
This just came out a week or so ago, and was publized today in the Disciples News Service news brief for the week. This comes at an interesting time for me. Back in March or April when Sara and I went to the Stone-Campbell Symposium, I met the Regional Minister for the Disciples in Oregon. I then contacted her via email and we agreed to speak more and work together on something to promote unity within the Restoration Movement. She told me that she would be busy until November or so, but that we could start working on it then.
So, is it coincidence that the S-C Dialogue put this out right when they did, or is it providential? My faith tells me that there is something more than mere coincidence working here.
If the Disciples minister agrees, I want to persue a local S-C Dialogue here in Portland.
So…if you are in the Portland Metro area, or know someone who is a member of a restoration movement church, I’d like to hear from you. This project will take a lot of work. Its likely to get some strong reactions from some churches in the area, and some of those reactions will probably be pretty negative.
And you’ll hear about it here first.
-Clarke
Hello all:
My parents are on vacation right now and are currently in Texas. They are driving up to Missouri and Illonois, and might be hitting Louisiana and Mississippi while they are down South. They are planning on hitting Abeline and Harding on their tour.
One of my second cousins is a minister in Texas. My parents dropped in my Dad’s aunt and uncle to visit and wanted to see my cousin Arty. While they were there they were shocked to learn that Arty had “left the church.”
Arty now preaches at an Independent Christian Church. My parents aren’t too sure what to thing about that, but my Dad’s Aunt gave them a copy of “The Other Side of the Keyboard” to read.
My mom called me to ask what I thought about the book and the situation; she knew that I had read it because I had sent it over with my dad for her to read some months ago and it had gotten lost in his travels. I was at work so I couldn’t really talk about it. We keep missing each other by phone so I haven’t been able to talk to her about it. But, she reads my blog.
In a nut-shell, I think its great. I’m glad that Arty has a job, that a Independent Christian Church is willing to take the risk in hiring a preacher who was trained and grew up in the Churches of Christ, and I’m glad that Arty was willing to take a job with a congregation that is different from what he has known.
I hope that if Arty is ever ready to return to an a capella church that he is shown the same grace that the Christian Church seems to have shown him.
-Clarke
Rejected by the instrumentalists……
Hello all:
One of my kids in the youth group I lead is dating a guy that attends a large independent Christian Church. He comes fairly often with her, and I try to expound on the fact that the two churches aren’t that different and come from the same heritage.
On Sunday morning, she went to church with him at his congregation. She then came for Sunday night service at ours. While she was at his church, she invited the youth group there to come to the monthly devo and movie night that we hold once a month. I was pleased to hear that.
I was pleased, until she told me the youth ministers response. He said to her, “I don’t feel comfortable having my kids go visit a church that doesn’t use musical instruments.” He also told her that he was afraid his kids “might think a capella worship is better,” than worship with an instrument.
We certainly aren’t the only ones with a hand in our division…..
-Clarke