The Church of God Reformation Movement: the emerging church of the late 1800's?

My blogging has been sparse over the past couple of weeks, but I came across an article that I couldn't but help pass on without delay.

 

Those of you following the emergent movement may read TheOOZE, a website devoted to encouraging "the Church to engage our emerging culture by developing relationships and resources". I was not aware until just now that the general editor, Alan Hartung, has deep Church of God roots.

 

Hartung wrote an article that compares the genesis of the Church of God Reformation Movement with the emergent movement. This is a must read article, as it provides valuable insights from someone who understands our movement, who now stands outside of it, and who has many insights on church movements including our own. ARTICLE LINK.

 

A key quote:

 

The Church of God reformation movement began with the power of God’s Spirit and a vision from God birthed in the hearts of a few that spread to many. The emerging church began in the same way. We are as much captives to our era as they were to theirs, and we will not be able to see everything coming. But we can learn from the mistakes of our godly predecessors, the body of Christ before we were, and seek to stay on the path of God’s vision for the Church.

 

It's good we have contributed so much to the larger church through our "mistakes"! :)

 

Blogging and news updates

I want to share some of my personal thoughts concerning the direction of this blog. As my blog description says, my intent is to provoke "constructive discussion related to our theology and mission, within broad contexts". As a result I will engage in a number of topics, with the hope that you will leave comments as part of the dialogue.

 

Blogging is a a relatively new medium, and most people do not even understand it, let alone make effective use of them. In the evolution (can I use that word?) of this technology it is emerging as an powerful means for disseminating information and for creating decentralized networks of discussion.

 

This blog is devoted to Church of God issues, and the only one that I know of that has this precise focus. Certainly, as my blogroll reveals, there are many other Church of God bloggers, but many of these blogs are more personal or have a very narrow purpose. From time to time I will reference those postings that seem to contribute to the Church of God discussion that I am leading here.

 

One of the areas that I have struggled with is passing along Church of God news items that may not be passed on through the normal and "official" channels. I don't want to bore anyone with the details of every WCG bake sale, etc. but occasionally I mine news stories that may be of general interest to this readership. This is a new, powerful role that blogs are doing to fill the gap not met by traditional media or communications.

 

My goal, however, is not only to avoid trivia, but also to refrain from gossip. In the interests of the privacy and dignity of individuals it is important to exercise discretion. There are times, however, when news stories are of interest to Church of God members and leaders, even if their content is less than inspiring or positive. I may pass some of these on, if only to remind us of the realities that exist within our movement (and that some of them are not pretty). Hopefully, we will respond with prayer and reflection, and with the intent of restoring people and relationships.

 

For example, last week I provided an update of a settlement in the Church Extension fiasco.

 

Today, I learned of a court resolution regarding Forrest Robinson, a former president of Mid-America Christian University. For those interested you can read more at the Lexington Herald-Leader.

 

As always, your feedback on these issues and how I handle them are always welcome.

 

Our Culture (version 1.0)

In a recent post, "Change of Culture", I highlighted the discussion that Jeannette Flynn has begun concerning cultural change within the Church of God.

 

While we still await the start of her own blog and her future articles in Communion, I am anxious to begin the discussion here. And, probably the best way to start is by describing our culture as it currently expresses itself.

 

The whole question of culture can be highly abstract and academic. Let's leave it up to anthropologists and sociologists to define the concept, but I think it is still reasonable for us to list a number of traits and influences of our movement that generally describe our common experiences and expressions in North America. Here's my quick list:

 

Midwest-centered. Historically and geographically the Church of God finds its roots and strength in the Midwestern United States. This influences our perspectives and values across the continent.

 

Rural-oriented. While the urbanization and suburbanization of our movement has been increasing, we have tended to function better within smaller towns and cities.

 

Fellowship-driven. Rallying around our self-identity, we enjoy and take advantage of our sense of community, even at the expense of effectively engaging in mission within the larger society. Larger events such as campmeetings have contributed in a major way to our cohesion, although in recent years many of these have struggled.

 

Evangelical influence. Our Wesleyan roots certainly make us small "e" evangelical with emphases on conversion, experience and action, but we find significant (albeit uncomfortable and confused at times) affinity with American big "E" Evangelicalism, with its social and political conservatism and Calvinistic leanings.

 

Fractured homogeneities. The Church of God has significant and growing non-white/Anglo constituencies (i.e. African American and Hispanic), but the integration of our diversity is not a value that we easily practice.

 

Independent. We live in tension between our close affinity with Evangelicalism (see above) and our deviant distinctives. For example, the ordination of women, amillenial eschatalogy, and anti-denominationalism make us stand out in obvious ways from other conservative Christians. Our refusal to join ecumenical groups confirms the external perception that we "have a mind of our own" (a la the famous Saturday Evening Post article of a couple of decades ago). Overall, we just find it difficult to "fit" in with other Christians.

 

Reluctant of leadership. We began under strong, if not charismatic, leaders, but since the formative years have struggled with issues of leadership, vision and accountability.

 

That's my initial cultural description of the Church of God. I'm sure there are better ways to state some of these points, and there may be obvious things I have missed. This is a list still in process. I value your feedback.

 

Church of God and the Environment

Today a group of influential conservative Christian leaders issued a statement, "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action" (see Evangelical Climate Initiative). The statement expresses a biblical conviction of environmental responsibility, and calls for action to address climate change. The news media has been picking up on this story, especially since it involves a position that is not typical of conservative Christians. The 85 signatories include many prominent Christian leaders (including Leith Anderson, Jack Hayford, Brian McLaren, Rick Warren, and our own Jay Barber - President of Warner Pacific College), but has already generated controversy with the rejection of the statement by other conservatives such as James Dobson.

 

Despite the political and scientific arguments pro and con against this position, it is impressive to see this segment of Christianity taking environmental stewardship seriously.

 

I am concerned, however, that in the Church of God we typically have adopted a very narrow view towards stewardship, being virtually silent on broader issues such as the environment. I remember awhile back looking through many of our doctrinal and theological books trying to find discussions on the environment. I was shocked and frustrated not to find a single significant statement by any Church of God author or theologian. Many writers address creation, but get caught up in the tired, old modernistic debates over creation versus evolution.

 

Thank you Jay Barber for boldly going against the norm, and reminding us in the Church of God of some of the broader issues of Scripture and holiness.

 

Change of Culture

In the January-February 2006 Communion newsletter recently mailed to ministers, Congregational Ministries Team Leader, Jeannette Flynn, asks the question: How do you change a culture? If you haven't already read her front page article, "Do We Need a Change of Culture?", I encourage you to do so.

 

Flynn honestly looks out across the church (both outside and inside our movement) and sees some disturbing trends, including pastors struggling and leaving ministry, and more churches closing than being planted. While this article is only Part One of an on-going series, she already suggests that the problem is rooted in our culture.

 

I was impressed to read this emphasis on culture. Admittedly, "culture" is a difficult thing to pin down, and can be easily relegated to an abstract description with little relevance. Yet, within the Church of God we have avoided this type of discussion that probes into the underlying theological and social factors that guide and express our corporate life. Apart from denial, other attempts to address our problems have been limited to providing simplistic answers and spiritualizing rationalizations.

 

Jeannette posed a number of important questions. For the benefit of all of us, here they are:

• How do you change a culture?
• What is a culture?
• Does the Church of God reformation movement have a culture?
• How do we know when you need to actually change a culture versus just changing some practices or inserting some new concepts?
• Where do you start if you're going to change a culture?
• Where does the responsibility for a changing a culture really lie?
• Can one person really have any influence on changing a culture?
• Are there pitfalls to avoid or nonnegotiables that must be engaged?

I will make some attempts at these questions in the coming days. I'd also love to hear from many of you out there.

 

It was encouraging to read that Jeannette is planning on starting her own blog to further this discussion. We welcome her participation in the blogosphere. Until then let's begin the dialogue!