OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

It is gratifying to see so much peacemaking going on in the non-class Churches of Christ. Some of these brethren are taking the lead in showing us what the apostle meant when he said that it is love that unites everything in perfect harmony. A recent expression of this was evident at the Rochelle Road Church of Christ in Irving, in the heart of the Dallas-Ft. Worth complex, in the form of a unity forum. Some 25 leaders from several persuasions of Churches of Christ accepted Rochelle Road’s invitation to a one-day sharing bee, the theme of the meeting being “What values should we be stressing in the church today?”

Half of the morning was given over to mutual sharing, with each one present taking a few minutes to tell of his own pilgrimage with the Lord. It was remarkable how much talk there was of grace, trust, the gospel, and Jesus. It was obviously a gathering of a new breed of leadership among us, men sickened by sectarianism and determined to lay hold on “the gospel of the grace of God.” In listening to such testimonials I was reminded of that line of scripture — “and when they had seen the grace of God.”

This was followed by presentations by Leon Fancher of Mena, Arkansas and Foy Richey of Plano, Texas. In speaking to the theme, Leon observed that the church’s greatest task today is to elevate Jesus, finding new meaning in the promise “He that hath the Son hath life.” He also pointed to the power of prayer, the Spirit-filled life, and the meaning of worship as values to be pursued.

Foy is a hospital chaplain as well as a minister to Westview church in Plano, near Dallas, so we were not surprised to hear him stress the healing and service values. What he called “life and death issues” include racism, drug addiction, war, abortion. He spoke of the Christian experience as “the celebration of life.” He thinks the church needs to be more concerned with fruits and less with roots.

With Larry Brannum, minister to Rochelle Road, chairing the proceedings, we had what everyone agreed to be a delightful experience, made all the better by a luncheon together.

To say that we need hundreds of such gatherings at the grassroots level is to put it mildly. It is imperative that we get with it and get acquainted for Jesus’ sake, and be the brothers and sisters that he intends us to be. But what thrilled me was that all this was inspired by a non-class congregation, the very ones that we have supposed to be too sectarian to have such interests. It all shows that with all that the Lord is doing with all of us it is a new ball game.

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The much larger gathering at the ACC Preachers’ Workshop is really something to write about, but the ground rules of that particular gathering are such that we cannot tell of it in the same way. President Stevens did reveal that he and J. D. Thomas might have postponed the affair had they a way to inform all of us, the weather being so inclement. It was so bad, being the worst ice storm in west Texas in two generations, that they thought hardly anyone would show. But 600 or more showed, ice or no ice! There would have been twice that with more favorable circumstances. Those who came were rewarded, for the presentations were of high quality and the spirit that prevailed was the finest ever. The Abilene brethren are to be commended for allowing open and free discussion of vital issues. If we are a free people, we cannot afford to do otherwise.

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Some 900 churchmen met recently in Houston to discuss the future of the church, the spokesmen of which generally agreed that the church of the present and the future will find its power in the fellowship of small groups. Modern denominations are now irrelevant, they concluded, and the church of tomorrow must turn to the nurture of individuals rather than the preservation of systems. Tom Skinner, the black chaplain for the Washington Redskins, spoke of the need of a Savior for losers. We’ve had testimonials as to what Jesus does for the movie star or the successful business man, but what does the church have to say to a bankrupt person or one in a wheelchair. The church must make love to God, which is the meaning of worship, he said, but this can hardly be done in a congregation of thousands.