This is not surprising. Our new General Director, Jim Lyon, is prepared to lead and there is always a certain amount of latitude given to a leader at the beginning of his/her to make big changes. He has been hinting for several weeks on his Twitter feed that changes would be announced this month, utilizing hashtags like #StayTuned, #WorthWaitingFor and #JesusIsTheSubject.
1. It will now be referred to as the "Church of God Convention". Website: www.chogconvention.org
2. The event will be shorter, running Monday through Thursday, June 23-26.
3. Convention location is Oklahoma City at Crossings Church. Services will be simulcast back to Anderson.
4. The convention will consist only of plenary sessions. No conferences. No childrens and youth programs, etc.
5. The General Assembly will take place at various times throughout the convention.
6. A wide range of significant speakers and musicians have been announced (e.g. Anne Graham Lotz and Sandi Patty) and some others will be revealed at a later date.
These are more than tweaks. This is a complete reset of what our annual gathering will be. And, I am impressed as I believe that it offers an opportunity for the convention to take on new meaning that is relevant and practical for our time.
These are exciting times.
It's time to Be Bold!
10 comments:
not thrilled with the new logo. kinda looks like a trumped up excuse of a four leaf clover. I think the simple, basic three toned flame image was/is a perfect portrayal of who the Church of God Reformation Movement is in Christ. Really not liking the new look...
The First Church of God of our founding fathers is seriously falling away.
That is why people are leaving the First Church of God because they have become to wordly.
At a time when Churches of God all over the country are in great decline and when pitiful numbers of ministers show an interest in the work of the General Assembly, I am excited about the efforts to return us to our missional, movemental, unified, and transformational roots. Whether it begins with a new logo or change in venue for our international convention, I am for seeing the Church of God on the move again! Praying for Jim Lyon and his team, and am grateful for the opportunity he has given each person to ask him questions personally. Church of God, the best is yet to come!
Glad to see we are on the move. Don't really care what the logo looks like. But then again no one gets saved because of 3 flames or a pretty flower. Or even where our convention is located at. I think Jesus is the subject is a great declaration. And if logos and locations are what is important then maybe He is not the subject of the Church of God. Glad our leadership is steering us in the way of Jesus being the subject.
Rev. Pratt,
The lack of interest in the work of the General Assembly on the part of ministers is a direct result of the fact that what is decided there does not seem to matter to our "leaders." In June 2011 I spent my anniversary at the General Assembly while my wife did something else. During that time we looked at the report of a task force study that claimed the NAC should remain in Anderson. The minutes from the General Assembly read as follows: "Dr. Rebecca New-Edson moved that the recommendation of the committee be accepted: to continue the practice of convening the North American Convention of the Church of God in Anderson, IN, every year, while expanding to regional and streaming sites. She further moved that these conventions utilize one speaker streamed nationally, with live local worship at each site each night and that the Church of God work to begin the practice of offering an alternative regional location in June of 2014. Rev. Mark Sundstrom, Casper, WY seconded. Concerns, words of appreciation and suggestions were shared from the floor. Motion carried."
I don't care where they have the NAC, but it does make a difference to me that I spent hours at that meeting and the decisions of the assembly are ignored. I will NEVER do that again. Why should we participate in the work? It seems to me that our participation is not really wanted.
I believe it is an important and necessary challenge to be bold in order to move The Church Of God Movement forward into the twenty-first Century for sure, and with a new leader I want to embrace change along with our new General Director Jim Lyon. But I must say, the new logo looks pretty funny, it doesn't seem to symbolize anything yet, it reminds me of a
bear claw(s). Keep up the good work and the vision in which God is leading. God bless.
If you read the FAQ's for the convention, (found at http://www.jesusisthesubject.org/FAQ), it says "Upon the planning committee's unanimous recommendation, the Ministries Council voted unanimously in October 2013 to convene the Convention and General Assembly in Oklahoma City in June 2014..."
Based upon the accounts of those who were at the GA meeting (read above), it was voted to keep the convention in Anderson. So apparently a small handful of people overrode the decision of the GA? I would like to see some honest explanation for this...
The FAQ page also laments that a small percentage of GA members participate. Common sense seems to indicate that if you are going to ignore the results of the voting body, they would have little incentive to participate.
I wonder if our problem is that we are becoming too wordly? (Read this sentence from the FAQ page, "The registration cost is a big jump relative to the event’s history, but still a deal within the marketplace.") This seems to reduce the experience of attending our Church's convention to that of attending a concert or a business conference?
Perhaps our best approach might be to return to our roots? Hopefully, admist all the fanfare and "surprise" guests, there is still room for prayer for our movement at the convention...
I don't like the new logo either. Change is not always for the best.
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