Newell Williams appointed as the Moderator of the Disciples
Hello all:
Newell Williams, the president of Brite Divinity School and co-editor of the the Stone-Campbell Encyclopedia, has been appointed as the Moderator of the Christian Church.
As the moderator, Williams will preside over the General Assembly of the Disciples of Christ that will take place in Fort Worth, Texas in July.
This is good news. Newell Williams has a vision of unity for all three streams of the Restoration Movement, and his beliefs about baptism are much more in-line with Churches of Christ and Christian Churches than much of the Disciples. Hopefully he will be a “moderating” force that will steer the Disciples from the extreme liberalism that they have been embracing over the last few years.
-Clarke
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March 25th, 2007 at 8:52
Is it true that many of the Disciples reject innerancy? Or just generally don’t accept the Bible as reliable? i’ve only caught hearsay but plenty of stories about “we know that no virgin ever really had a baby” and that sort of thing.
March 26th, 2007 at 20:20
Guy:
I’d say it is kind of hard to pin down alot of the beliefs of the denomination as a whole. One of the nicer things about the Disciples is that their focus on unity has made them pretty non-dogmatic on most issues, but this is also their greatest weakness as well.
You can safely say that some Disciples reject innerancy and don’t accept the Bible as reliable. There are many others though that would completely balk at those statements. Generally, those in the ministry are much more liberal than the laity of the denomination. There are many many Disciples that affirm the historical truths of the Christian faith.
Historically, there were Disciples who denied the inspiration of scripture before there was a split between Churches of Christ and the Disciples. In a movement such as ours, you get people throughout the spectrum.
The thing I am most worried about right now as far as the Disciples is a report to the General Assembly that was received by the board. This report contained the statement:
“We affirm that it is morally, ethically, and spiritually wrong for any person, group, or religion to claim exclusive access to
God, God’s love, grace, or salvation. When Christians and others have made such claims to exclusivity, much suffering and degradation has often been the result.”
That statement sounds as if the Disciples are rejecting the fact that Christianity is the only way to God.
Maybe I’ll write about this issue in my next post.
-Clarke
April 2nd, 2007 at 16:19
I did not know this. Thanks for the info and link.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
April 2nd, 2007 at 17:07
Williams was NOMINATED he will face election at the General Assembly in Fort Worth this summer.
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:30
I stand corrected, Newell Williams has been nominated, not elected. The press release can be viewed at: Disciples News Service
-Clarke