I don't want to completely leave the discussion concerning our mission, but I briefly want to take a slight diversion and comment on the Warner Auditorium dilemma facing the Church of God. This might seem to be trivial issue, but for me the decision we make on this will have lasting influence on our movement.
In short, I am convinced that it is time to level the dome.
At the General Assembly in Anderson this year we were informed of the options that were being considered to deal with the problem of asbestos insulation in Warner Auditorium. If I have my facts straight, the least expensive option is to have the asbestos removed and to level the structure. All for around $800,000. To renovate, expand or even rebuild would mean even more money, heading into the millions of dollars.
Just from the perspective of stewardship I cannot see spending any more money than necessary on a building that we use only one week a year (and rent out for only a handful of other events). The new Kardatzke Wellness Center served well as a replacement location this year for the North American Convention, especially considering the last minute preparations required to make everything work. Why do we need a new shrine?
Certainly "Anderson Campmeeting" has been an important occasion for drawing the Church of God together. When the dome was built in 1962 it may have seemed appropriate to maintain the centrality of Anderson for this event and other aspects of our movement. But, today is a different story.
If we are going to take our mission seriously in this new century it is important that we move away from a Anderson-centric model, and towards a church movement focused on our core, the local congregations. Moving the North American Convention around the continent would be a tremendous symbolic act affirming that we are not just a Midwestern United States denomination, but a continent-wide fellowship that is united in mission but diverse in culture and approach.
Certainly the large power and population concentration around central Indiana will resist any change from status quo. Having always lived on the geographic fringes of our movement, I see first hand how disconnected people distant from Anderson are to the rest of the Church of God.
As I and others have already indicated, this year's North American Convention offers hope that a new missional wind is blowing across our movement. In that spirit, let's level the dome and allow ourselves to see new ways of functioning together for the Kingdom.
4 comments:
"...Burn baby burn..." lets have a disco inferno. Oh wait we're talking about fire retardant arent we. I'll operate the crane or set the fuse.
My senior pastor and I have talked about moving the GA around, much like the youth conventions [NIYC/IYC] are moved around. We have also talked about Andercentrism our movment is faced with. If nothing else it's fair to move around, let alone the statement you made about symbolism that we're nation wide. Doesn't the World Conference move around? Hhhmmm there's an idea. Marlene, let's make sure that the hype doesn't cloud our colective judgement.
Hmmmm, gypsies. A term reserved for a nomadic people who have been known to have psychic powers and the originators of the Tarot card. Also a very persecuted bunch as well. Yea that sounds about right.
Could someone please share with me some concrete examples of Unity in this movement? I think change is good, and leveling the dome - a minor decision that looks major, I know when you look at it from a financial stand point it looks major, I think we really waste a lot of time talking when it comes to the CHOG. I just don't have much patience with arbitrary locations and buildings when we are in the business of soul saving.
Terry,
As a movement we have to get past the sentimentality that keeps us from living out our mission. Besides, here on the West Coast I can assure you that over 99% of Church of God constituents would not consider Anderson to be "like going home".
Andy,
I hear your frustration over talk versus actions. The future of the dome is one concrete way that we will set a path for our future. The dome will provide a powerful symbol for (using McNeal's terminology) whether we choose "mission or refuge". While I think your unity question suggests an extreme position, it raises some other interesting questions which I hope to address in coming days.
Lloyd
Terry said the 'U' word first. I was just trying to get this Unity discussion finally underway. One very important direction and very rewarding dialogue this blog must take(when the time is right) is over the subject of unity. We have such a broad take on unity, and what is advantageous to us here on the CHOG Blog is that we are all coming from different sections of our movement, both geographically and in thought. I look forward to your thoughts.
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