Two meetings in the same small town at the same time…
Hello all:
A few posts ago I mentioned that there would be a gospel meeting in my area held by a one-cup, no class congregation. It will be starting soon and I hope to attend at least one day of it.
However, Sunday night I attended a non-institutional congregation where my friend is the minister. While I was there I saw a poster for a Gospel meeting in the same small town of Wilsonville. This meeting is being held by the non-institutional congregation there (I didn’t even know there was one there). While not being held on exactly the same days, there will be small overlap where both meetings are going on at the same time.
So, two meetings going on at the same time in the same small town. Two groups that have so much in common with each other. They are both non-institutional, both believe in believers baptism, both partake of the Lord’s Supper (albeit in different ways), and both are very conservative.
These two churches are probably somewhat aware of each other-when I attended a non-institutional church in Forest Grove, we had a one-cup church down the road a ways that we all knew about-but probably have zero in the way of fellowship, and probably don’t know about the meetings the other is having.
I was hoping to make it to the meeting for the NI congregation that started last night, but it didn’t quite work into my schedule. I wonder if there is a way to bring these two groups together, even just a little bit.
What I would really like to do is get to know people in both groups and maybe facilitate something, but am I being presumptious?
-Clarke
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November 17th, 2005 at 16:42
Presumptuous? Perhaps. Maybe faithful, optimistic, visionary are better words. Now, to assume that you alone would be able to make one church out of two, that would definitely be presumptuous. To think that you can forge relationships in each group and perhaps then bring those folks together seems good reasonable.
November 17th, 2005 at 17:53
Doug:
Don’t worry, I don’t think that I alone could take two groups and create one. But I think it would be neat to bring these two folks together a bit, along with some of us in the mainline congregations. Unity must start locally I think. I wish that you and Alan were here in Portland and Kip elsewear so that we could do an experiment.
-Clarke
November 18th, 2005 at 4:53
Clarke,
I don’t think it is presumptuous. It sounds like an act of faith to me…one effort that is a part of “every effort” (Eph 4:3, NIV) or being “diligent” (Eph 4:3, NASB). All David did was hurl a small smooth stone. God felled Goliath.
November 18th, 2005 at 7:10
Hey Clarke, your post reminded me of a line from a 1999 story I wrote in the small Oklahoma town of Butler when I worked at The Daily Oklahoman. I found the line in the archive:
“Between Clinton and Elk City about 110 miles west of Oklahoma City, this community of roughly 250 has a Dairy Boy restaurant, a lumber yard, a center where senior citizens play dominos, a First Baptist Church and two Churches of Christ.”
I recall that it amused me at the time. But it’s probably more sad than funny.
Bobby
November 21st, 2005 at 20:38
Bobby:
Thats a great, but sad story.
Alan:
Thank you for the reminder.
-Clarke