For at least 15 years there has been a vibrant community of individuals from across the Church of God who have shared together in an online discussion group. This group has evolved over the years, beginning with the technology early-adopters who dialed in with their 1200 baud modems long before the Internet became a household word. Since then the listserve group moved around to various online locations, and most recently has been a Yahoo! Group. There are currently over 100 members in the group, representing the broad diversity of the Church of God. I have been part of this discussion (even if just a lurker at times) for almost all of this time.
This week, ChoGtalk (as it is now known) experienced a major crisis. This is not the first time the group has faced a major internal challenge. In fact just a few years ago the previous group moderator shut the group down because of the highly charged discussions that were turning destructive.
The latest crisis came about as a result of a recent discussion concerning women in ministry leadership. In the end some attitudes and words were expressed that were far from helpful and, in fact, precipitated hurt feelings. The group moderator quit, as did some others. The group still exists, but is in a very fragile state.
Why am I sharing this dirty laundry here?
I believe the problems that have confronted ChoGtalk this week illustrate two important issues that confront the larger Church of God Reformation Movement today:
1. We still struggle with women as pastors. As someone who has long been an advocate of women in ministry, this is particular frustrating for me. I have been proud to be part of a movement that has had a much more open view toward women in leadership than what is common in much of conservative Christianity today. I know that chauvinism is still rampant in our society and that it carries over to the church at times, despite the radical inclusivity of the Gospel. But, to see us struggle with this still after 127 years is disheartening. I remain convinced that this is because a large proportion of our movement has bought into the Evangelical worldview, hermeneutics and subculture that have severely distorted the message of Scripture and the heritage from which we come.
2. We find dialogue difficult. Despite our rhetoric on Christian unity, we generally do not practice what we preach. As I posted several months ago, we have tremendous diversity in the Church of God. But, there are large segments within our movement that have trouble accepting these variances among us. Some seem to believe that doctrinal and social conformity supercede our unity in Christ. As a result, open and honest discussion is hindered. Truth itself is, therefore, often a casuality of this rigidity.
The Church of God has, at its roots, a strong foundation, and I remain committed to this movement. I pray that we will continue to strive together in a spirit of love that will allow us to grow and impact the world for Christ. Along the way we must confront those things about us that keep us from being all that God wants us to be.
This week, ChoGtalk (as it is now known) experienced a major crisis. This is not the first time the group has faced a major internal challenge. In fact just a few years ago the previous group moderator shut the group down because of the highly charged discussions that were turning destructive.
The latest crisis came about as a result of a recent discussion concerning women in ministry leadership. In the end some attitudes and words were expressed that were far from helpful and, in fact, precipitated hurt feelings. The group moderator quit, as did some others. The group still exists, but is in a very fragile state.
Why am I sharing this dirty laundry here?
I believe the problems that have confronted ChoGtalk this week illustrate two important issues that confront the larger Church of God Reformation Movement today:
1. We still struggle with women as pastors. As someone who has long been an advocate of women in ministry, this is particular frustrating for me. I have been proud to be part of a movement that has had a much more open view toward women in leadership than what is common in much of conservative Christianity today. I know that chauvinism is still rampant in our society and that it carries over to the church at times, despite the radical inclusivity of the Gospel. But, to see us struggle with this still after 127 years is disheartening. I remain convinced that this is because a large proportion of our movement has bought into the Evangelical worldview, hermeneutics and subculture that have severely distorted the message of Scripture and the heritage from which we come.
2. We find dialogue difficult. Despite our rhetoric on Christian unity, we generally do not practice what we preach. As I posted several months ago, we have tremendous diversity in the Church of God. But, there are large segments within our movement that have trouble accepting these variances among us. Some seem to believe that doctrinal and social conformity supercede our unity in Christ. As a result, open and honest discussion is hindered. Truth itself is, therefore, often a casuality of this rigidity.
The Church of God has, at its roots, a strong foundation, and I remain committed to this movement. I pray that we will continue to strive together in a spirit of love that will allow us to grow and impact the world for Christ. Along the way we must confront those things about us that keep us from being all that God wants us to be.
3 comments:
Thanks, Lloyd, for sharing this comment about the row at ChogTalk. I signed off that list several months ago, in an effort to simplify my life (too many e-mails, not enough time), so I wasn't aware of this dispute.
I wonder what would be some fruitful and (relatively) safe venues for Church of God people to discuss their theological differences. A blog or Listserv is easy to access; but when people get upset about what's being said, it's also easy to exit.
We encounter the same kind of problem when we publish books designed to provoke doctrinal/theological dialogue within the church, such as "Are You Sure You're Right?", by Jerry Hickson, or "What's Right about the Church of God," by Tom Pelt. Warner Press published those books a year ago, and we've sold equal numbers of them. But when I ask pastors or lay leaders what they think of the contents, I get only 2 responses: "I read it and loved it!" Or, "I knew I didn't agree with him, so I didn't read it."
So far, I've not heard anyone say, "He challenged my beliefs. I never thought of it that way before. I'd like to talk about."
I've met pastors, professors, and lay leaders from a variety of holiness denominations (e.g., the Church of the Nazarene, the Wesleyan Church, etc.). It seems that the history and teachings of the Church of God should make us more open to dialogue and more tolerant of doctrinal diversity than any of those other groups. Sadly, our behavior demonstrates the opposite: We've simply not learned the skills of Christian dialogue.
So I wonder, where do we learn them? How do we get Church of God people who hold different convictions face-to-face long enough to practice those skills?
Good comments Joe.
I don't know if I have the complete answers to your questions at the end, but let me quickly suggest two things:
1. Dialogue will likely never happen because of a top-down initiative from "Anderson", etc. It will need to begin and spread from individual conversations, and even online dialogue through such mechanisms like ChoGtalk and blogs.
2. We need leaders willing to initiate and model such dialogue. But, this is risky and we must be prepared to protect leaders sticking their necks on the line.
Hey, I stumbled upon your blog. Congratulations for your courage to post about a very real issue facing the entire holiness movement.
You should have seen the ripples move through the crowd when the Church of the Nazarene elected our first woman General Superintendent a few years ago.
Fun, fun, fun.
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