UNITY MEET IN KENTUCKY

The Third Annual Unity Forum was conducted July 58 at Southeastern Christian College in Winchester, Ky. The first one, in 1966, was held at Bethany College as part of the celebration of the 100th year since Alexander Campbell’s death. The second one was at Milligan College as part of its centennial celebration.

Kentucky is a suitable place for a gathering of disciples who represent the splintered remains of the Restoration Movement that began in that state. Not only was it in Kentucky that Barton Stone, J. T. Johnson, and Raccoon Smith were trailblazers for the cause we love, but it was there that the union occurred between the Stoneites (“Christians”) and the Campbellites (“Disciples”), which made our pioneers one great Movement. This was, by the way, the first church union to take place in this country, making it an important chapter in the history of ecumenicity.

It thrilled my soul to see for the first time the place on West High Street in Lexington where this union was effected. The house is doomed to be razed by urban renewal projects in the near future unless concerned citizens, with a sense of history, can come up with some plan to make it an attractive historical shrine. The event dates back to the winter of 1831, the year that Kentucky sent Henry Clay to the U. S. Senate, who lived but a few blocks from where Raccoon Smith and Barton Stone united the Restoration Movement. In 1843 in the same city Senator Clay moderated the debate between N. L. Rice and Alexander Campbell, which lasted for sixteen days.

But the most important historical spot for our people in those parts is the Old Cane Ridge Meetinghouse, located about eight miles from Paris, Ky. Cane Ridge was one of several little churches pastored by Barton Stone as a Presbyterian minister. His ministry began in 1796, almost 15 years before the Campbells came to this country. When Stone left Cane Ridge in about 1810 he was no longer a Presbyterian. Neither were the churches he had served. It is a thrilling story of a people’s impassioned search for truth, and one feels close to it as he visits the old site.

Out of this history has come one of the most significant documents of our Movement, The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery. This was part of the result of Stone’s long search for freedom from ecclesiasticism. In it he called for a Bible-centered church government with the people themselves free to make their own decisions, apart from any separate councilor synod. He called for an end to party names and creeds and distinctive titles like Reverend. Most significant of all was the statement: “We will that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large.”

Part of our Forum programs was held at Cane Ridge, with Prof. Richard Pope of Lexington Theological Seminary (Disciples of Christ) and I as the speakers. Some of the group sat up in the loft where the slaves of Stone’s time sat, climbing up by a ladder from the outside. Dick and I sat on the elevated platform where Barton Stone, long before Alexander Campbell, first enunciated some of the great principles of Restoration. Dick spoke of how the spirit of Cane Ridge is the power of God that can make us one today. I spoke on Stone himself, showing how magnanimous he was in yielding the leadership of the Movement to Campbell, despite his own primacy.

We also recalled the great revivals held there, sometimes attracting upwards of 30,000 people. A modern Pentecost it must have been, with several preachers speaking at once and the Spirit manifesting himself in unusual ways. We observed that the Restoration Movement initially began in Holy Spirit revivals, and that it may take a return to Holy Spirit religion to make us a great force in the world. I pointed out that, if Stone’s emphasis on the Spirit had prevailed instead of Campbell’s stress on logic, we might have been a better balanced people. Head and heart had trouble getting together in those days.

The most popular part of the agenda at Winchester, however, was the sharing service on Lord’s Day morning. This was the case at Bethany and Milligan. Something special happens when we all, with different backgrounds, gather around the Lord’s table. It was a mutual ministry, with various ones saying what was in their hearts. In that moment we were brothers in the highest sense. This was unity. It taught us that it is indeed our mutual closeness to Christ that makes us one and makes “the fellowship of the saints” real.

This was followed by a most unusual celebration of the breaking of bread. Harry Bucalstein, who has come up through Independent Christian Church ranks, is a Jew by race. He conducted for us a Passover Seder just prior to the serving of the Supper. He went through all the ritual and drama of a Passover celebration in the orthodox Jewish home, which was of course the context in which Jesus broke bread with his disciples in that upper room. It reminded us of how Jewish the Christian beginnings were, and how Jewish Jesus was right up to the night of his betrayal.

I appreciated the contributions of our own Church of Christ men. Bill Waites of the Druid Hills congregation in Atlanta spoke on “Our Work in Inner City,” and Ross Dye of the 16th and Decatur Streets church in Washington, D. C., addressed us on “Our Heritage.” Both men showed a magnificent spirit, which cannot help but make things better in our divided ranks.

Of approximately 100 that attended the sessions the majority were premillennial brethren, who were our hosts. I rather think they got more out of it than any of the rest of us, one reason being their lack of such contacts through the years. Lavern Houtz, president of SCC, is to be commended for the fine program he put together and for the splendid way he executed it. We welcome him as a member of the committee that intends to carry on this good work from year to year until such time as our goal is at least partially realized.

It looks as if the fourth Forum in 1969 will be conducted in the Northeast, either in eastern Pennsylvania or New York, and will be sponsored by our own Church of Christ wing of the brotherhood of disciples. It is our time around since Disciples, Independents, and premills have all been hosts. We are hopeful that in 1970 the non-class brethren will sponsor it.

There is something delightful about one segment of our people inviting all the rest of us over to their house for supper and conversation. Somehow we learn to love each other in spite of ourselves. That reminds me of an amusing incident at one of these Forums. One brother from one of our very conservative wings explained that his elders were reluctant to encourage him to come. “If you are not careful,” they warned him, “you’ll get to where you like folks like that!”