Review: Faith in the Future

For a slight change of pace I want to briefly comment on one of the new books published by Warner Press this year. Our publishing house releases several books every year, usually in conjunction with the North American Convention. Increasingly they are securing titles that can be marketed outside of our movement, and to the church at large.

While I do not have time to read or review every new Warner Press book, the one that caught my attention this year is Faith in the Future: Christianity's Interface with Globalization by Church of God missionary Patrick Nachtigall. I decided to purchase this because it covers a compelling topic that I don't hear discussed much in our circles.

Nachtigall's purpose in the book is to "look at some of the new things that are currently happening in our world so that Christians can be better informed and more prepared to engage the world with the gospel" (p. 2). As someone who has first-hand experience of living in different countries and cultures, Nachtigall brings his own personal experience and insight to the topic. He addresses a wide range of issues, including peace, poverty, sexual slavery and the environment. Some he sees as opportunities, others as challenges.

The value of this book will be in its application as a discussion starter, especially for mission-minded individuals and church groups. While I can't say that I learned much that I hadn't heard before, his drawing together of these issues provides for a great introduction, especially for the many Americans who seem to be somewhat insulated from the global trends happening around them.

Again, this book shines as an introduction and thought-starter. I was somewhat disappointed in that, for me, Nachtigall doesn't engage these issues enough with the gospel message and the implications for the church. He certainly touches on these components, but I expected more. Some may also be somewhat surprised and skeptical at his apparent over-optimism for some of the global trends that he writes about.

This is one of those books that is being marketed outside of the Church of God, and it is impressive to see the sharp design and layout of the book. This makes the book more attractive to those who tend to "judge a book by its cover". But, hopefully it will give Warner Press a bigger position within Christian bookstores, with the prospect that our voice will be heard more and wider in the future.

Addressing the Budget

Last week Church of God pastors were sent an email in regards to a special video message from General Director Ron Duncan concerning the current status of Church of God Ministries' budget. As we learned at the General Assembly, giving is down significantly and has been on a downward trend for several years.

Duncan's message is designed to communicate this message far and wide across the Church of God in North America. The facts and his plea need to be heard.

I think it is far too easy to look for simplistic explanations as to why this budget problem exists. Some might want to blame the economy or going disconnectedness with "Anderson", but I believe there are two reasons that especially stand out:

1. Undesignated giving is losing its value. This has been a trend developing for several decades now, and it not only affects giving to our national and regional bodies, but to local churches as well. Older generations gave out of sense of duty and obligation, whereas increasingly people today are giving where they see specific needs (e.g. missions projects, etc.). Obviously stewardship principles need to be reinforced, but this is a reality that is severely limiting the church's ministry at all levels.

2. Lack of clarity on the purpose of our national organization. While greater efforts have been made to express a vision for the Church of God in North America, it still has not filtered down to the local congregations where decisions are made whether to support Church of God Ministries. With many churches stuggling to meet their own local budgets, it is easy to see how cutting or eliminating support to "Anderson" is determined.

In resolving this we must get past our regrets, and pronouncements of "oughts" and "shoulds". The starting point must be facing the realities of the current situation, and from there we must inspire with a cooperative vision for our movement going forward. Otherwise, our budget problems will persist.

Get Up and March

In response to my request, Curtis Ferrell has given me permission to post the lyrics from the song he wrote, and sang Wednesday evening during NAC. Be sure also to watch and listen to it online.

Get Up And March!
Ferrell, Curtis L.

Verse 1:
This world doesn't need another satellite, spinnin' round,
Beamin' God's love to the ground.
This world doesn't need another TV preacher
Makin' all the saints fall down.
This world doesn't need another pretty Christian song
Playin' loud on the radio band.
What this world needs is for the church of God
To rise up and take a stand.

Chorus 1:
I'm talkin' 'bout love, I'm talkin' 'bout faith.
I'm talkin' 'bout mercy, I'm talkin' 'bout grace.
I'm talkin' 'bout healing, I'm talkin' 'bout peace.
I'm talkin' 'bout freedom, I'm talkin' 'bout sweet release.
Get up and march!

Verse 2:
This world doesn't need another superstar sayin' that
God helped him win the game.
This world doesn't need another Christian politician
Beggin' votes, power, money, and fame.
This world doesn't need another half a dozen cruise ships
Crusin' to the Holy Land.
What this world needs is for the church of God
To rise up and take a stand.


Chorus 2:
And live out love, living out faith.
Living out mercy, living out grace.
Living out healing, living out peace.
Living out freedom, living out sweet release.
Get up and march!

Verse 3:
Rise up, O church of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart, and mind, and soul, and strength
To serve our King of Kings!
Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait
Her strength unequal to her task
Rise up, and make her great!
Get up and march!

Verse 4:
Like a mighty army
Moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod:
We are not divided
All one body we,
One in hope and doctrine
One in charity.
Get up and march!

Verse 5:
Then forward let us go
Our hearts with love aflame
Our snowy banner borne aloft
Inscribed with Jesus name
The hosts of evil flee
And heaven's open gates
Invite us now to hasten
Where Eternal glory waits.
Get up and march!

Verse 6:
Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No, there's a cross for everyone,
And there's a cross for you and me.

Bridge:
How will they believe If they have never heard?
How will they believe If they have never heard?
How will they believe If they have never heard?
How will they believe If they have never heard?

Ending:
How will they believe If they have never heard?
How will they believe

© 2001 Curtis L. Ferrell, 805 Crescent Drive, New Castle, IN 47362 (ASCAP)

NAC - Reflections

Now that the North American Convention is over and I am on my way home I have to time to reflect on the last week.

Overall, it was a positive experience. The opportunities for spiritual challenge and to connect with friends overshadowed the seemingly countless number of meetings that are part of my annual trek to Anderson. As I talked with others, it is apparent that virtually everyone else shared similar sentiments: The 2008 NAC is considered to have been a success.

Upon reflection, however, I wonder if perhaps the whole event has become too comfortable. It is a good experience, but hardly one that elicits much passion. The people who attend, many of them diehard fans who return regularly, come because it is an affirming environment. But, the overall trend of declining attendance suggests that for the vast majority of movement adherents this "campmeeting" is not a priority worth the expense and time commitment. The event has lost its drawing power, except for those who make it as an annual pilgrimage.

It is easy to delude ourselves into believing that this is the core, common experience of our movement. That may have been the case in the distant past when this "doctrinal practice" (as Strege would label it) was the primary means to define and unite our movement. In pure numbers and in proportion to our overall constituency fewer people are coming to the North American Convention. We fool ourselves to think that the high level of effort expended for it are in line with its real significance. Certainly, Church of God Ministries probably devotes more attention and activity to the NAC than anything else, but this may be misguided.

At one time in the Church of God, virtually everyone made it their goal to attend "Anderson Campmeeting" as often as possible. It was the "can't miss it" event of the year. But, this is no longer the case for the overwhelming majority. I was particulary aware of this reality when observing the General Assembly attendance and that an extremely small number of influential leaders and pastors were in attendance. The few that were made brief appearances and were hard to track down. Most did not take in the entire convention.

Am I down on the NAC?

Not at all. I happen to believe that corporate gatherings are one important aspect of our common identity and fellowship. But, I remain convinced that as our world has changed, so has our movement. An annual convention in Anderson as it is currently formatted is no longer relevant.

I am sure that the success of Sunday's global service will make it more difficult for many to see my case. The effective leveraging of technology is a positive step forward and has the potential to draw more people together across the Church of God. It was the highlight of this year's event. But, let's not be fooled, over the long run this still does not really address the need for drawing in the growing number of diverse congregations across North America and around the world.

I remain convinced that the proposal I outlined last year is still the best, realistic option available to us. We need more than cosmetic changes of the NAC. I doubt, however, that there is enough political will in the Midwest to relinquish the sacredness of our current format.

I will continue, however, to be a voice from the geographic fringes calling for fresh, new approaches to propel our movement into the future.

NAC - Wednesday

It's hard to believe the final day of the North American Convention has come and gone!

Today began with the final session of the General Assembly. As usual attendance was lower, and it made me wonder how legitimate the GA's authority is considering the extremely low participation. There was no earth-shattering business, although a new baseline budgeting process was approved. (For more details see twitter.com/chogblog)

Tonight was the final service, focused on missions. In the past this was the climax of the week, with attendance overflowing. Wednesday evening no longer has the same lustre - attendance was among the lowest of all week in my assessment.

Paul Sheppard preached and delivered a fitting send-off message, although he seemed far from the assigned text. UPDATED 06/30/08: Curt Ferrell sang another poignant song that I am assuming he wrote (Possible title: "Get Up and March"?). People were captivating by the words and the rhythm. (Curt: Please confirm the details for us!)

This service has traditionally ended with a "pass it on" candlelight ceremony. Since moving into the Kardatzke Wellness Center they moved from candles to chemical light sticks (not quite the same effect!) and the whole exercise was getting quite predictable. This year we all lit our sticks together after long colored ribbons were run through the auditorium and lifted after the benediction creating a joyous spectacle.

And after saying our final goodbyes we headed outside to experience the increasing humidity. Fortunately, the hot, humid weather is just about to kick-in here in Anderson and we will avoid it! Overall, weatherwise, this was one of the most pleasant conventions that I can remember.

Tomorrow I will write some final comments and reflections on this year's NAC.

NAC - Tuesday

Tuesday at the North American Convention marks the start of General Assembly.

My blow by blow account of the GA can be seen at my twitter log (twitter.com/chogblog). Probably the biggest "news" today concerned the budgetary struggle that Church of God Ministries is facing. Giving is down and for 2008 there will be a 10% spending reduction. But this is more than a one-time occurrence. It is part of an ongoing downward trend and obviously this could have severe long-term implications projected forward. Apart from this, the GA was positive. Although, in some ways it felt like we were all just going through the motions - our annual ritual.

Of course, the most touching moment of GA is the annual memorial service. This year saw almost 80 individuals recognized, including some very well known ones of our movement such as Gerald Marvel, Horace Sheppard, Gilbert Stafford, and Oral Withrow.

It was fitting that Rod Stafford (Gil's brother) was tonight's preacher. Sharing the pain he experienced over the past year, he gave a forward-looking message that included an audio segment from Gilbert's last sermon. This led to a conclusion centered around an annointing service, something led at the NAC last year by Gil. We all left experiencing grace and hope.

NAC - Monday

For me, the highlights of today centered around two conferences held in Byrum Hall.

First, was the annual Doctrinal Dialogue sponsored by the School of Theology. I believe that these types of experiences are extremely valuable, and we need many more of these forums for exchange and discussion. This year's theme was on the biblical view of creation, and featured a paper presented by Dr. James Christoph of Warner Southern College. (Papers can be downloaded from the SOT website). The content was very good, but perhaps too sketchy because of the time available and I found participants all danced around the issue to some extent knowing the controversial nature of the subject matter and the emotional responses it generates.

Immediately following there was an open forum with Ronald Duncan and his recent paper on congregationalism. Obviously, with my recent blog coverage I was especially keen to see what kind of reaction he would receive. I was particularly impressed with Dr. Duncan's genuine interest to generate dialogue, and his passion for the church. Despite what some may say, this is no top-down pronouncement. There were good questions and comments from the audience, with almost everyone affirming his observations and concerns. My only disappointments were that the attendance wasn't great (less than 70), and the people who disagree with his paper didn't seem to be present or at least engaging the issues.

Today's speaker was Cynthia James, Area Administrator in Northern California. She brought an amazing combination of thoughtfulness and energy to her message based on Ephesians 4:11.

This year from Monday to Wednesday the same person preaches both services. There is some confusion among convention goers as to whether these are the same sermons, but at different times and worship experiences. Apparently this is not the case (even though they are preaching from the same text), but for the future this needs to be clarified.

A look at the gathering area in front of the Kardatzke Wellness Center:

All we need are some rides!

General Assembly to be Twittered

Those of you familiar with this relatively new communication technology will be interested to learn that I will be twittering live from this year's General Assembly which will start on Tuesday morning.

Twittering is text messaging on steriods, and allows for the wide distribution of short messages to friends and other interested persons. Messages can be read in your web browser, on your cell phone, through an RSS feed, or on the sidebar of this blog's main page.

The new CHOGblog twitter can be accessed at:
http://twitter.com/chogblog

If you are unable to attend this year's GA you will be able to take advantage of live updates throughout the sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you are attending the GA you might still want to subscribe to the twitter to hear my comments and to feedback some of your own.

Admittedly this is an experiment. I doubt many will take advantage of it this year, but it will be a way to try out a new technology (and will keep me awake during those long, dry spots in the GA!).

NAC - Sunday

2008 will be remembered as a significant year in the history of "Anderson Campmeeting". Tonight's service marked an attempt to bring the North American Convention to the larger church since fewer people are actually making the trek to Anderson.

Through the use of technology tonight's service was broadcast live to over 200 churches in a number of countries around the world who watched this service and participated in simultaneous communion. Actually, live broadcasting of the services is not new, with streaming live video having been available for several years now. This service was a milestone because it was a deliberate effort to have people congregate in various locations to watch and express unity through the Lord's Supper. It was called the largest gathering in the history of the Church of God.

The experience exceeded my expectations. It was obviously well planned by the CBH team, taking into consideration the unique needs of audiences at distant locations watching on video screens. This was not a normal service with worship followed by preaching. Hosted by Jim Lyon and Robbie Davis it was a diverse celebration that also featured some live worship from Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City, and several other live and taped greetings from other CBH locations globally.

The communion experience itself was unique as the platform participants sat around tables and took the elements after sharing Scripture read in several different languages.

Without question this will become a regular event of the NAC and its new tradition and highlight.

I have never seen so many communion sets in one place:

NAC - Saturday

Even though Saturday is the official first full day of the North American Convention, it is still a low-keyed time compared to when things start picking up Sunday when even more people arrive.

For me, today was spent primarily in meetings pertaining to Area Administrators. This included a session with writer Milfred Minatrea, author of the book Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches.

Despite last night's Anderson University sponsored celebration, Saturday evening marks the true keynote service of the convention. Without introduction the service began with Church of God historian Merle Strege setting the tone with some reflections on our movement's struggle to put unity into practice. Curt Ferrell is this year's evening worship leader and as part of his contribution shared again his powerful song, "One Body, One Spirit, One Lord". This was a signficant climax that followed and made up for what seemed to be first night jitters and technical glitches.

General Director Ron Duncan was our speaker tonight and focused on love as the key to unity, asking us to consider "What kind of church do you have?" The significance of Duncan's message went beyond words. Following his sermon he led in a public demonstration of the unity needed in God's church. Three denominational leaders plus GA chair Bob Moss (representing other church communions) were seated on stage while Duncan, and leaders from the National Assocation, the Hispanic Concilio, and Native American Council washed the feet of these four men. It was a significant act that leaves a strong impression on us as we ponder the implications of unity within a largely fractured Body of Christ.

Fitting to tonight's theme, it was interesting to see in attendance a contingent of individuals from one of the conservative splinters of our movement:

NAC - Friday

For me, Friday at the North American Convention, was an opportunity to connect with a number of friends and associates including my Area Administrator SHAPE cluster.

The convention itself kicked off this evening with the annual Anderson University service, a gathering of celebration centered mainly around music. This Gaither production was jam-packed with singing, musical performances (including by NFL player / singer Ben Utecht), and brief personal stories from Ann Smith, Mort Crim, Dr. Lauren Dungy-Poythress, and Bill Gaither). The highlight was a powerful AU choral rendition of "I Then Shall Live", a song with profound lyrics by Gloria Gaither set to the tune of Finlandia. This year's convention theme is "Celebrate Unity", and tonight's service celebrated God's Gentle Strength.

In striking contrast to tonight's biblical theme was a T-shirt message spotted in the crowd:

I must be in the Midwest!

History of the NAC

As thousands head to the center of our universe this week, I would encourage the reading of an article published in the Anderson Herald Bulletin newspaper and available on the Church of God website. The article gives a very brief, but informative overview of the development of our annual gathering, from camp meetings to the North American Convention it is now.

Off to the NAC

You will probably notice that I have been somewhat quiet here on CHOGBlog for the last month. As I previously indicated, I have been extraordinarily busy as a whole host of responsibilities, challenges, and deadlines have converged on me. There are some topics I want to address here (including some further thoughts on congregationalism), but have had to set that aside for the moment in order to retain balance and sanity.

Tomorrow I am off to the North American Convention of the Church of God in Anderson, Indiana, which begins this weekend. While for me the NAC is packed full of meetings and obligations, I am looking forward to allowing this also to be a time of refreshment and spiritual nourishment. As I have done in the past, I will be blogging daily on my experiences.

I am also pleased to announce the First-ever CHOGBlog Get Together at the NAC:

Sunday evening
9:30pm
at Starbucks
(4235 Scatterfield Road, Anderson)

If you can be there, I would love to meet you!

Connecting through CHOGnews

Life has been extremely busy lately, so I haven't delivered yet on my concluding posts on congregationalism.

But, in the meantime...

Church of God Ministries has recently launched CHOGnews a monthly e-mail newsletter devoted to "News and Information about the Church of God". This is obviously in response to the demise of ONEvoice last year, and the desire for more communication to keep us connected. There is also a print version available as a PDF download for churches to copy and distribute to those without e-mail.

In our electronic age this is a long-overdue step, and certainly will fill a much-needed gap. It's not the only communication we need, but it is a welcome initiative.

You can subscribe HERE.

Blogger: Wayne Warner

Before I continue on my comments on congregationalism I want to highlight another Church of God blog worth noting. Wayne Warner, a retired Church of God minister who has done extensive writing. His new blog, "Warner's World", is a new avenue for him to share his provocative thoughts and ideas. I bring this up now because, in light of my recent discussion, I encourage you to read his post on "Church of God and Mutual Accountability".

Congregationalism - The struggle with individualism

In the next two posts I want to declare and elaborate on some of my thoughts concerning the recent discussion on congregationalism.

Interestingly, some of the opposition to Dr. Duncan's paper I've heard is based on the assertion that autonomy is not a bad thing and is a safeguard from the hierarchical, denominationalism that we have traditionally resisted.

While I have trouble finding this counter-argument promoted in Scripture, I easily understand why many have bought into it outright or have been strongly influenced by it. We live in a society that has elevated the individual to the highest position. "I" am the most important entity, and everything is viewed through this ego-centric filter. As a result, congregations are also seen as autonomous and independent.

Sadly, this heightened individualism and independence has been adopted by much of Western Christianity. Spiritual narcissism places the emphasis on "Jesus and me", with community values downplayed or almost ignored. Worldly values have crowded out biblical ones. It is no wonder autonomy is so highly regarded.

Certainly, our faith is personal, but it should never be private. Scripture consistently paints a picture of individuals as part of God's larger collective people: Israel, Kingdom of God, Church, Body of Christ, etc. While we encounter God as individuals, we live out our faith through our participation with and through God's People. As individuals our lives are to be interwoven with those of others: "each member belongs to all the others" (Romans 12:5b NIV).

The Church of God emphases on holiness and unity express an essential balance between the life of the individual and God's vision for the church. I believe, however, that we have had trouble fully developing our ecclesiology in practical ways. We were good at deconstructing the church as it was in the late 19th century, but poor at translating our ideals into tangible forms. Our abhorrence to organization prevented intentional developments, and instead resulted in haphazard creations that often lacked effectiveness. And it is not only with our national and regional structures that we have struggled to find ourselves, but even at the congregational level itself. It is important to remember that at the beginning of the Reformation Movement there was virtually no form to local congregations. Local church structures themselves were perceived as part of the problem, and this coupled with our eschatology and enthusiasm negated the formal establishment of congregations. Over time, however, the need for congregational structures became apparent and were developed, although as a reaction to necessity instead of proactive design for mission.

If we are going to grapple with the issue of congregationalism we must honestly address the underlying assumptions that have shaped our beliefs and practices. Then we can begin to find healthy expressions for church life. More on that in my next post...

Congregationalism paper - responses

I am somewhat surprised with the dialog that has been going on in response to Dr. Duncan's paper concerning congregationalism. I will write my personal comments on all of this in a subsequent post, but for now I want to share the buzz that I have been hearing on the matter.

Since posting the notification of the paper a few weeks ago, I have been involved in a number of conversations with people. You can read for yourself the various comments that were posted on this blog, but as you probably know only a very small percentage of readers ever take the time to actually post a comment. Some have e-mailed me privately, and I have been involved in several verbal discussions as well.

Overall, most people I've had contact with agree with Dr. Duncan's general premises. But, the stumbling block that I hear most people facing are the potential practical implications of all of this. There is a recognition that something must be done to overcome rugged congregational individualism, but naturally, considering our heritage, virtually no one wants to create a denominational monster complete with top-down hierarchy and rigid structures of accountability.

There are, however, other views as well. Certainly I have heard a couple of rare individuals who have expressed that maybe we need to become less congregational and adopt a more presbyterian (small "p") polity.

And, there are those who think Dr. Duncan is leading us down the wrong path. Some, it appears to me, are just plain suspicious of anything that comes out of Anderson, believing that this is an attempt to center more control in our national offices. Others, believe that there is nothing wrong at all with our congregationalism, and therefore this discussion is a waste of time.

Of course, there is large apathetic group that are so preoccupied with their own stuff that they don't care or see any value in the matter. Nevertheless, based on what I am hearing so far, this is an issue that touches a nerve for many people.

I think it is extremely healthy that we engage in this dialogue and confront head on some of the assumptions, both right and wrong, that have shaped our beliefs and practice.

More to come.

Doctrinal Leaders

In light of Gilbert Stafford's recent death, I was intrigued with an insightful post at Seminary Blog regarding "Doctrinal Leaders" in the Church of God.

Check it out.

Congregationalism paper

Several months ago I posted on the draft edition of a paper that General Director Ronald Duncan wrote concerning congregationalism. In case you have not already received a copy of the final edition, you can download it from the Church of God Ministries website.

I'd be interested in your comments.

Labeling

One of the most tragic results of a divided universal church is the increased tendency toward using labels as a way to perpetuate disunity. And, I am not just talking about denominational labels.

A sign of our times, particularly in the polarized political climate of the United States, is the large chasms that are created by using the labels "conservative" and "liberal" in political, social and religious settings. As a movement which has resisted dividing the church based on human categories, we too have easily succumb to this form of divisiveness.

Labels themselves are not evil. They are useful to describe things. The danger comes, however, when we use labels as a simplistic way to set ourselves over and above others, and to attack people who differ with us by resorting to pejorative attacks based on nomenclature. It is too easy for a liberal to put down a conservative, or a conservative to attack a liberal. It's a great way to shut someone up, instead of really getting to know them and their ideas.

Few even understand these designations. Many assumptions and prejudices are formed in people's minds surrounding these labels, and most are not grounded on any real understanding of the issues.

It should be no surprise to most reading this that the Church of God predominately tends toward conservatism. There are very few real liberals among us. But, of course, for staunch conservatives anyone who does not agree with their worldview must be a liberal. The fact is that most of the schisms and splits that have occurred in our movement are the product of conservative factions that have emerged.

Interestingly, Scripture promotes neither a conservative nor a liberal agenda, at least by current standards. These are human perspectives that are imposed upon the message of Jesus. What people fail to see is that liberals and conservatives are simply flip sides of the same coin. That is, they are actually more similar than they are different, simply because they share the same modern philosophical roots. While they appear to have different worldviews, looking beneath the surface it becomes clear that both liberals and conservatives are products of the Enlightenment, bowing at the altar of reason to the point of extinguishing the flame of the Spirit.

I consider myself as neither liberal or conservative. But, as a follower of Jesus I recognize that I have many brothers and sisters in Christ who might fit into either the conservative or liberal camps. Our goal should be to rise above the rhetoric and find our center and ground in Christ, and to avoid being taken in by those who promote a lordship outside of Jesus, such as conservatism or liberalism.

For us in the Church of God it is especially important that we put our unity teachings into practice and avoid labels that fracture the Body of Christ. Do we really extend our fellowship to "every blood washed one"?

As traditional denominational loyalty disintegrates in our society, perhaps ideological labeling is the new denominationalism that is dividing the church.

How committed are we to our message to do something about this?