THE SPIRIT OF MILLIGAN

Milligan College, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians, hosted the Second Annual Unity Forum, June 23-26. The first such forum was conducted at Bethany College as part of the celebration of the centennial of Alexander Campbell’s death. The Milligan forum was also a centennial celebration, honoring the college’s first century. The Third Annual Unity Forum will be held next summer at Southeastern Christian College in Winchester, Kentucky.

While it is not a hard and fast rule, these forums are intended especially for educators among all the various groups of the Restoration Movement. For this reason most of the participants are from the Christian colleges or state universities, or they are editors or publishers. Those leaders among us who are giving their lives to teaching and writing need to know each other, and to have at least one forum where they can quietly and freely express their views.

The Milligan forum, like Bethany before it, was blessed with outstanding representation from all our wings. From the Disciples there were Dr. Howard Short, editor of The Christian in St. Louis; Dr. Lawrence Kirkpatrick, secretary for the World Convention of Churches of Christ in New York; Farrell Walters, director of church relations, Bethany College; Dr. Richard Pope, Lexington Christian Seminary.

Independent Christian C h u r c h e s were represented on the program by Dr. Robert Fife, professor, Milligan College; Dr. Dean Walker, president of Milligan College; A. Dale Crain, Capitol City Christian Church, Lincoln, Neb.; Orvel Crowder, Hopwood Christian Church, Milligan College, Tenn.; and Kenneth Norris, president of Maritime Christian College, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Churches of Christ always have a larger proportion of representation at these gatherings since we have greater fragmentation. From the non-class brethren was Dr. Thomas Langford, professor, Texas Tech University; from the conservative Church of Christ was Charles Holt, editor of The Sentinel in Lufkin, Texas; from the premillennial wing was Lavern Houtz, president of Southeastern Christian College, Winchester, Ky.; from the mainline churches were Dr. Carroll Ellis, professor, David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Dr. David Stewart, publisher, Sweet Co., Austin, Texas; and Richard E. Smith, El Centro College, Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Robert Meyers, professor at Friends University and minister of Riverside Church in Wichita Kan., was scheduled to be on the program, and when he could not make it, Prof. Leroy Garrett, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, filled in for him.

The program was planned by Farrell Walters of Bethany, Charles Gresham of Milligan, and Leroy Garrett, with each man arranging for representation of those in his own background. These men alternated in presiding over all sessions.

Besides the Milligan College family itself, from whom the forum received considerable support, there were some 50 visitors to the campus for the occasion. In future years these gatherings will probably become much larger, but we believe something important is to be gained from the smaller forums such as Bethany and Milligan. In these meetings nearly everyone is a participant; everyone is in on the dialogue. Discussions continue right on into the dining room, where everyone eats together, and by making the effort one can manage to sit at a table with every brother present at the forum at least once. We hope we do not lose this intimate atmosphere as the forum grows from year to year.

The theme of the forum was “Renewal through Recovery,” defined by President Walker as a renewal by the Spirit, not a self-renewal He pointed out that we are to “recover” the mind of Christ for His church. “To renew the Church, one must recover the centrality of the fact, and the meaning of the event, of God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus, the only begotten Son. As Christ made visible the invisible God, so the Church makes known and visible the presently invisible Christ, who not only speaks, but is, the Word of God.” While President Walker emphasized a recovery of an understanding of the church as the means to renewal, Lawrence Kirkpatrick pointed to the Lord’s Supper as central to our renewal, while Dick Smith underscored a deeper appreciation of brotherhood.

Carroll Ellis, in a loving and brotherly spirit, spoke on the validity of the Restoration Movement, explaining that he believed the Churches of Christ had preserved the ideals of the pioneers more than the other Restoration groups. He appeared to equate the Restoration Movement with the Churches of Christ.

In response to brother Ellis, Howard Short entertained all of us by numerous quotations from various journals published by all segments of our Movement, which revealed that each faction supposed itself to be the true church, while all others were less than perfect. His point was to show that truth is not always so easy to come by, and that it is easy for us to presume too much. We hope we may publish his remarks in a forthcoming issue of this journal, for they are so relevant to the problems we face in trying to understand each other.

Thomas Langford touched all our hearts as he spoke sympathetically about the problem of arousing a greater concern for unity among the non-class brethren. While he has hope, he is a realist about the severity of the difficulties. He sees progress in the fact that “the age of debating” is passing, and in the fact that ministers show more concern for vital issues. Tom is good for any such forum, for there he stands before you, magnificently sincere, a young Ph.D. from a respected university, and one who chooses to stay and work with the brethren he’s always known and loved. His presence also serves to show that an intelligent, promising, young scholar (he was on his way to Washington to study for a year with the Office of Education) may hold views that the rest of us thought only fanatics and crackpots believed. Once you hear Tom Langford speak (and he never equivocates in taking his stand against the class system) you conclude that maybe there is something to the anti-Sunday School position after all. And of course there is!

But Thomas Langford makes it clear that he loves you and accepts you as a brother even while differing with you. He may let you have your classes, if you choose to be unscriptural!, but he’ll not let you walk out of the circle of his love. Such was the spirit of Milligan.

Another brother whose name I have listed in this report, but whom I will not identify in this context, referred to the many debates he had had up and down the country. But now he conceded that he was in no humor to debate, but rather to enjoy his brothers in Christ and to reason with them in love. It was his first experience at such a gathering, and his presence was hazardous in view of party politics, but he showed every sign of enjoying his freedom, so much so that he is not likely ever to turn back to that land where the lamp of brotherhood is not allowed to burn. While most of the forum probably disagreed with the thesis he presented, they all loved him for his simple faith and appreciated him for being a free man in Christ. Such was the spirit of Milligan.

At one of the sessions six brethren, representing six of our divisions in the Restoration Movement, spoke on the problems and possibilities of fellowship in his particular party. This within itself demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is doing wonderful things with us throughout our larger brotherhood. It demonstrated that no one or two men started this, and it showed that now an entire army of demons cannot stop it. It is God’s work and He shall give us the victory. Such was the spirit of Milligan.

As at Bethany so was it at Milligan. The most meaningful experience of all was when we sat together around the Lord’s table with brethren from all three of our major wings, addressing us. The three brethren themselves were most divergent in their theology (their opinions, that is), but they were one in Christ and in their love for Christ. So were we all. The brethren at Milligan, as at Bethany, were so gracious that they did not use the organ at this service. A Christian Church brother led the singing with out the instrument. We sang together, prayed together, honored Christ together. The speakers drew upon their own experiences as they referred to the Bible, the Lord’s Supper, and brotherhood as the means of our working together.

In this moment unity wasn’t something yet to be realized. We were enjoying it then and there. This was the oneness for which our Lord prayed. Why can’t it be like that everywhere, even amidst all our diversity?

Such was the spirit of Milligan!