OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

The Old Meeting House in Bethany, W. V. has been named a historic place by the National Park Service and will henceforth be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1850, it served as the meeting-house for the Church of Christ in Bethany until 1915 when a larger facility was erected. Originally this congregation met at Brush Run, the first of the Campbell churches, and it moved into Bethany in the late 1820's. The lot was deeded to the congregation by Alexander Campbell. The present old structure is a model of the 19th century church architecture, and it is built upon the foundation of the first building. In 1966 the old place was opened for the first time in many years for a Lord's Day service involving folk from some eight different groups of Churches of Christ-Christian Churches in what was the first of a decade of annual unity forums, held mostly on college campuses.

The Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) in Canada in their 1976 Convention passed Resolution 4, which calls for their people "to work toward the realization of unity within and between the several bodies having their historical roots in the Campbell-Stone Movement, namely, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Church of Christ, and the Christian Church, known as unaligned, or Independent." As a result of this resolution the Christian Churches of Western Canada have proposed that a regional convention he held for the purpose of spiritual enrichment and inter-fellowship between the three bodies named, and that said convention be under the auspices of the World Convention of Churches of Christ.

In a subscription drive correspondence the U. S. Catholic states that it realizes that its readers are puzzled about the Confession and not really satisfied with the Mass, and that there is an effort on to make these more meaningful. It says it draws ideas not only from Father Theodore Hesburgh, but also the likes of Ralph Nader and Billy Graham. With that kind of openness the U. S. Catholic will soon be in the class with mainline Church of Christ journals!

Speaking of Billy Graham, our national radio-TV program, Herald of Truth, recently sent out an appeal for funds for radio time in Spain on the grounds that if we didn't raise the money the Billy Graham people would get the time. One of our subscribers, Jim Smith of Ft. Worth, wrote the Abilene sponsors that he did not want to contribute on such a motive as that, for he would like to see both the Graham people and the Church of Christ folk get time. He also wrote: "Standing before the Judge, I would rather accept a person as a brother in Christ, and be mistaken in doing that, than for him to be a brother and for me not to have treated him as such. The latter would be the worse mistake."

The Central Church of Christ in New Orleans is now around four years old. Sometime back they issued a statement as to their intentions, signed by the charter members: "We, as baptized believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, have united as a congregation of the Lord's church with love for God and for each other, with kindness, mutual understanding, and fellowship. We are pledged to God's way through Christ. It is our desire to commune with God, to be filled with his Spirit, and to show the risen Christ in our lives. We look forward to continued fellowship in the brotherhood of Christ and to mutual edification by pursuit of common goals consistent with God's revealed will. We encourage honest, continuous study of his written word that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask for your prayers, as you have ours, as we work together for the cause of Christ."

The University Church of Christ in Austin, which sponsors the Biblical Studies Center at the university, has begun a program of helping divorced people. This has been long overdue among our people. We are encouraged to get this word from Austin and to learn that some positive steps are being taken to show our divorced brothers and sisters that Jesus still loves them and that they are still within the fellowship of his Body on earth. Their bulletin, Single Again, may be had by writing to 1903 University Ave., Austin 78705. We now have numerous preachers among the divorced.

The Forest Hill Church of Christ in Amarillo, Texas recently made a few changes in their assembly, for one Sunday at least. They cut the sermon to half its length and doubled the time for singing! If that were not enough, they had singing by special groups. It just goes to show that we can change.