Seventh Annual Unity Forum . . .

HIGH ADVENTURE IN CALIFORNIA

The Seventh Annual Unity Forum was held July 5-8 at the Blaney Ave. Church of Christ in Cupertino, California, near San Jose. Sponsored by the Blaney congregation, the forum attracted large crowds and enthusiastic interest. Participants represented virtually every wing of discipledom, and even reached out to include a Franciscan priest who addressed the gathering on Unity and the Roman Catholic tradition. The building was overflowing the night the Pat Boone family appeared, with some 600 people joining Pat as he sang “We are One in the Spirit.”

Charles Shelton of Houston, who was formerly minister to the nearby Campbell Church of Christ, delivered a moving address on the spiritual foundations of unity, in which he said we are made brothers by the Spirit and that it is our mutual relationship to Jesus that makes us one, not doctrinal unanimity. Warren Bell of San Jose Bible College (Independent Christian) spoke on legalism, defining it as an effort to gain justification through a code of deeds. J. Ervin Waters of Fresno, longtime debater for the non-class, one-cup persuasion, but in more recent years a gallant peace-maker, gave a beautiful testimony of what it means to be a free man in Christ. He called for “unity now” through an acceptance of each other on the basis of faith and obedience to Jesus rather than on party lines.

Everett Ferguson of Abilene Christian College presented three lessons on the theological foundations for unity, drawing upon the book of Ephesians in a most reasonable and responsible way.”The closer we are to Jesus the closer we are to one another.” he said. He insisted that it is the mission of the minister to promote unity, but that in stressing unity he must not lose his concern for truth. He said that unity is God’s purpose in giving Christ to the world, and he pointed to Eph. 1:9-10 as not only the theme of the book, but the essence of God’s purpose in creation. Everett is as sensible and gracious as he is scholarly, and he makes a significant contribution to any gathering.

Jack Finegan was with us from the Disciples. He is a professor of Graduate Theological Union and pastor to the University Christian Church in Berkley. He proved to be more “conservative” than was supposed, and in dealing with Campbell’s Declaration and Address revealed strong sympathy for the unity plea and the Restoration Movement. He came across to the audience as a man who loves God, respects the Bible, and honors the traditions that have made discipledom a significant force in our culture.

Lloyd Moyer and Charles Holt are both of the non-cooperative or “conservative” wing of the Church of Christ, though in recent years the latter has moved more toward a “Christian at large” posture. Lloyd adheres to a patternism that holds him close to the position he has always held, but he shows a love and a willingness to exchange ideas that is refreshing. It is to his credit that he was willing to appear on the program. Charles is an angry man, but he sweetens his wrath with a love and concern that is captivating, and as a consequence he has his audience on his side even when they barely agree with him. While he is given to overstatement, which may be important in the outcries of a reformer, he is really, saying something important, which is that the church should be the flock of God rather than a corporate establishment that has the tail wagging the dog, and that elders should be the shepherds of the flock rather than corporate officials.

Professor Kenan Osborne probably had the most dynamic impact of anyone on the program, perhaps because he was the farthest from us on the theological spectrum, coming to us as a Franciscan priest and president of a Catholic seminary in Berkley. Many in the audience listened to a Roman priest for the first time in their lives, and if any were prejudiced they were surely disarmed by this mild-mannered gentleman that was obviously searching for truth as much, if not more, than any of us. And most were stunned by his descriptions of a changing Roman Catholic Church. Not only is the Roman church yielding its proud claim of being the only church, but even recognizing that other communion services are as valid as their own. Both bread and wine are now being served the communicants, lay folk are being given a greater role, the infallibility of the pope is being successfully challenged even by priests, and the church is meaningfully involved in ecumenical efforts with Protestants.

We were made more humble than proud when the priest found no pope in the New Testament and when he supposed that by 2001 A.D. there might well be no pope. By then, he said in answering a question from the floor, the only creed may be that Christ is Lord. To be sure, he said, the church of tomorrow will be unrecognizable as the church that now exists. The doctrine of the authority of the church is yielding to the authority of individual conscience in the light of the scriptures.

It seemed unreal to see a Roman priest receive a standing ovation in a Church of Christ, and the most moved of all was Jim Reynolds, minister at Blaney, who, along with Stan Harbour of San Angelo, Texas, coordinated the forum. The following Sunday morning Jim told the Blaney congregation that Professor Osborne, along with all the forum, had changed his whole perspective and consequently his life. He urged the congregation to awake and realize what is going on in our changing world, insisting that they disabuse themselves of the stereotypes they have of Roman Catholics and other religious neighbors and to realize that the Holy Spirit is at work making us all brothers. Jim wants our folk to be as honest as was Osborne, and to get with it by lending a helping hand in what is going on, which God is going to accomplish anyhow, with or without our help.”Big Jim,” as he is affectionately called, even by Pat Boone, is a lovable guy who somehow seems better suited for quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams than as a gentleman of the cloth behind the sacred desk. In any event he is hardly a typical Church of Christ divine. Before an audience he agonizes within himself, tearing away at his soul as he struggles for meaning in all that he thinks and says. I’ve added him to my list of heroes.”Big Jim” is something else, and his vivacious Donna must have been a mail-order job right from heaven, for she is as refreshing as rain on a hot day. No phonies, those two.

There was some question as to whether Pat Boone could make it, but he called a few hours before he was to appear to announce that he would be there with Shirley and all the girls. It was a sacrifice for him to interrupt his busy schedule and come to the forum at his own expense, but that illustrates what is going on these days. Pat led songs, told stories of recent experiences, and fielded questions from the audience. While he did make several references to the Spirit-filled life, there was no charismatic emphasis. Interviews with the audience revealed that what impressed the audience most was his joy-filled life and his radiance in the Spirit.

Before Introducing Pat I asked how many in the audience had read his A New Song, and it seemed that most every hand went up. I explained to Pat that we had kept his appearance sort of secret, announcing it only in nearby churches and not in the press. Too, Pat had to fly back to Los Angeles earlier than we had planned, so we had to move the time of his appearance from 7:30 to 7:00. Even before 7:00 the building was packed with standing room only. I was pleased to hear him talk about the Christian home, young people, what drugs are doing to youth, and how careless parents are leading their children into sexual sins through their own bad example.

The four girls, Cherrie, Laurie, Debbie and Linda, sang for us, as did the family as a group. It was high adventure for a unity forum. They showed by their example, as did Pat by his words, that unity is oneness in the Christ and is realized through the joy of the Holy Spirit.

I sat with Shirley behind microphones for an interview, asking her the questions that her sisters in the Lord have been asking me across the country. How does she account for the change in her life that led to the saving of her marriage? Learning to be submissive to her husband and by laying her pride and self-will at the foot of the cross. She stressed her conviction that woman’s liberation comes through submission to her husband as her head in the Lord, and explained that this would be a major point in her forthcoming book on the liberated woman.

How does she overcome her frustrations and anxieties? By relaxing and not trying to do it herself, yielding to the Lord and letting him put it together. How does she feel about the Church of Christ after Inglewood and has she and Pat left us? She explained in some detail the Inglewood excommunication, revealing not only understanding but a love for all those involved, and the fact that she had showed up that night, “coming to my own people here tonight,” should be evident that she had not left us.

Shirley’s role was the most touching, not only to the women but to the men and youth as well. She really zeroed in on the needs of the audience, for they saw a woman who was really free in the Lord through submission, and one so anointed with love that she moved above those distractions that usually disturb femininity. In closing I assured her that “her people” loved and admired her, a judgment confirmed by a tearful and an applauding audience.

My own role in the forum was to preside over the sharing sessions each morning and to sit on a panel dealing with the question as to whether there is an answer to the instrumental music controversy. James Ferguson, director of the Bay Area School of Preaching, found his answer in all instrumentalists giving up their practice and yielding to the silence of scripture. I explained my position of being non-instrumental but not anti-instrumental, meaning that I do not make it a test of fellowship. I argued from Rom. 14 that the only possible solution is to allow each one to decide the question for himself and to receive one another without making one’s choice the basis of the reception.

The audience was of very high quality, with responsible and influential people in attendance from all over California and from several states. There was not one untoward incident, but there was much prayer and praise, togetherness and mutual sharing. The forum was as open as the Grand Canyon, with everyone present free to ask or say whatever he pleased. As I told the Blaney people, they have set such an example before our folk in those parts that they have issued what is tantamount to a mandate to move up higher and see afar off.

I stayed over Sunday and addressed both the Blaney and the nearby Campbell congregation that cooperated in the meeting. It was announced that the Eighth Annual Unity Forum is tentatively set for Tulsa. — the Editor