OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

The Southwest Church of Christ in Dallas, which originated as a “walkout” congregation and then united with one of the oldest churches in Dallas that was in a declining condition, now has Jim Reynolds as its pulpit minister, who was formerly at Park Row in Arlington. It issues a bulletin that identifies the congregation simply as The Southwest Church, with Church of Christ nowhere to be found. In fact, one of the articles in the Dec. 11 issue was entitled “The Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints.” My, my, a piece on “The Holy Church of Christ” would be enough of a shock the first time around. Let us down easy! There is, by the way, another “walkout” church in Dallas, this one having walked out on the Prestoncrest Church of Christ. It is the same old story of brothers and sisters who have taken all they care to take. The moment of truth came when an elder walked into a class and perfunctorily announced that that particular class would henceforth disband. The new group meets not far from their old congregation, on the north side of the city and the opposite side of the metropolis from the Southwest Church.

Still more drama in Dallas. The Dallas News quotes the district attorney as saying he intends to send two Church of Christ ministers to the penitentiary for misappropriating over $400,000 from a charitable trust set up by the late J. W. Akin to aid Churches of Christ. This fund has been in the hands of those often referred to as “non-cooperative, anti-Herald of Truth” brethren. Due to the alleged irregularities a main-line Church of Christ in Dallas has filed a civil suit in an effort to take control of the fund which yields $200,000 a year in interest. A Dallas grand jury has indicted two brothers, both preachers, from a respectable Church of Christ minister’s family, charging that they have funneled money from the trust to their own accounts. The district attorney did not press charges against a third Church of Christ preacher, who is editor of the Gospel Guardian, because he returned $18,000 to the fund and helped the D. A. in the investigation. But a reliable source in Dallas informs me that the newspaper report is misleading, that nobody has actually stolen any money; but due to irregularities the main-line church is almost certain to “steal” the fund. So, a Dallas court is going to decide which of two parties within the Church of Christ gets dear old brother Akin’s money. I knew the old man personally. In fact, he helped me when I first went away to college, and I know he would be horrified. His own people divided, and now fussing over his money in court. I plan to attend the trial, and I’ll be telling you about it. Since it is in the hands of “the unrighteous” and not the brethren, there is a good chance that justice will be done. Justice has already reached forth its hand and placed the fund in receivership. Right now no one is getting anything from it. If our Lord were the arbiter, he might say, Give all that you have to the poor and follow me! That would be a change for both parties!

The Cahaba Valley Church of Christ in Birmingham has decided to select its elders by ballots from the members. A man must receive 80% of the votes to be elected.

The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in the U. S. invited hundreds of their youth to write letters to the pope on what they thought of the church and things. They told the pope that they were tired of being told what to believe with no questions asked, that they wanted more relevant teaching, and that they were generally bored with the whole thing. Would letters from our kids be all that different? That is, if they had anybody to listen to what they really think!