SEVERING THE UMBILICAL CORD

As an editor among Churches of Christ for almost three decades I have observed that there is one thing especially that interests our people, the changing scene. Especially in recent years, a time of incredible change for heirs of the Restoration Movement, folk want to know what is going on. In this article I want to share with my readers one important aspect of the changing scene: a view of some of our people who have “severed the umbilical cord,” as one of them put it, which means that they no longer consider themselves a Church of Christ. We are left to wonder. however, as we take a closer look, if this is really the case. It may be that they have moved to a position that places them closer to what the Church of Christ is really supposed to be, and they may contribute far more to the renewal that is taking place than they realize. Maybe they haven’t “left,” after all, as they suppose, but are arriving at a more defensible posi­tion of what we should be, and may be leading us rather than forsaking us.

If our printer can successfully reproduce it, we will show you an ad that appeared in a Ft. Worth paper by Mid­Cities Chapel in Arlington, Texas. The ad is signifi­cant in that it faithfully represents “the Plea” of our people throughout our history for non­sectarian Christianity, and while the ad implies that the chapel is not really “Church of Christ,” its stance bears faithful witness to where we should be if we are not.

The Arlington group, you will note, refuses to wear any sectarian name. Some call them a “Church of Christ,” the ad says, since they are acappella, but they do not accept this denominational appellation anymore than that of Presbyterian, Plymouth Brethren, or Baptist, with whom they also have things in common. So they are truer to the plea than the rest of us in that in practice as well as theory they are Christians only and refuse to be labeled anything else. They baptize only believers by immersion, they say, but this does not make them Baptist. They break bread weekly, but this does not make them Plymouth Brethren. They are governed by elders and deacons, but this does not make them Presbyterians. And they are non-instrument in their singing, but this does not make them Church of Christ. Ah, the hallmark we have carved out for ourselves!

The logic is persuasive. The only way to be non-denominational is not to be denominational, and that is simply refusing to wear anyone, distinctive name that sets you apart from other believers. At the Mid-Cities Chapel they are simply “a Christ-centered fellowship bringing people to Jesus.” Who is closer to the Scriptures, after all, those who leave or we who stay?

These folk came out of Churches of Christ, if that is the way to put it. They are of course still a church of Christ or the Body of Christ, with an indisputable non-denominational position. When we wear the one name “Church of Christ,” and paint it, type it, engrave it, emboss it, and utter it on everything we do and say, we are a denomination, all disclaimers to the contrary not withstanding. But our brethren in Arlington, who have in one way or another cut the umbilical cord, are not a denomination.

Many of these brothers and sisters at the chapel were once a part of the conservative, sometimes called “anti,” Churches of Christ, who are well aware of what it means to be sectarian. Like Thomas Campbell, they grew sick and tired of the jarrings and janglings of sectarian strife and turned their backs upon the whole sordid mess. Now they are free, and, as the) put it, “We believe that Christianity is a living relationship with a living person Jesus Christ.” They are back - or up - to where the Campbells started. But where are we with our party name and our sectarian standards of fellowship?

Limiting myself to what came across my desk in a single day (instances are numerous all over the country), there is another public witness coming from Christ’s Church in Roswell, New Mexico in the form of a brochure entitled “Greetings from Christ’s Church,” and these people were also “Church of Christ” (Should I use quotation marks?). Christ’s Church or Church of Christ? Grammatically there may be no difference, but theologically there is a vast difference, for it takes a group from a clearly ­defined denominational status (Everyone in Roswell knows what a “Church of Christ” is) to a non-denominational status.

An attending letter from one of the ministers, my friend and brother Stan Harbour, longtime reader of this journal and an Abilene graduate, is the one who provided the title for this essay. He says that they have peace and happiness now that they have cut the umbilical cord. Cutting away the one sure mark of Church of Christ identity, being acappella, many of the old-timers have left them and returned to a bona-fide Chruch of Christ. They have introduced both a piano and a flute. Not only will all the powers of Nashville be against them for such behavior but Plato as well, for the old philosopher, believing the flute to be vulgar, forbade its use in the education of youth in his ideal republic.

But Plato and the flute aside, this is one of the few groups that have left us that has adopted instrumental music. Stan writes that he grew tired of teaching false notions about music, and he believes the free Churches of Christ who seek to make the acappella position a true mark of our heritage are making a mistake. It is a Church of Christism, he insists, and not a part of the Stone-Campbell heritage. He says believers from many backgrounds now make up their membership, which began with 34 and has grown to 114. I visited this group sometime back and found them to be deeply spiritual and dedicated to being a ministering Body of Christ, apart from any sectarian impediments. Writes Stan: “I am convinced that unless ‘liberal’ groups cut ties with the ‘movement’ in order to unite with the Movement, they will only make themselves miserable fighting the institution.”

Some of the groups that have cut the umbilical cord have continued to calf themselves Church of Christ, even when they consider themselves liberated from Church of Christism. The Burke Road Church of Christ in Houston, whose bulletin arrived at our house today, was one of our first congregations to become what I have been calling open and free, a pilgrimage that began almost two decades ago. They have been one of our most innovative churches, though they have always been acappella. They have a woman youth minister, the first among us insofar as I know. Their fine facility has long been open to numerous humanitarian activities, and they have mutual sharing sessions. They are always doing something different, the recent bulletin telling of a “telephone prayer chain” among the members is an example.

I just called my friend and sister in the Burke Road church, Gay Graham, to get a description of this prayer ministry. Inspired by Evelyn Christiansen’s What Happens When Women Pray (Women was later dropped and changed to We), the sisters resolved to improve their church’s prayer life by forming a chain of those who would pray for specific people and problems when requested to do so. When the chairman receives a request she first prays herself, then she calls the next one, and this continues until all the concerned ones have prayed. The last one calls the chairman to let her know the chain has been completed. This may happen at anytime of day. It has an ecumenical touch in that the sisters (a few men are in on it) may call other churches where prayer chains exist and request that they also pray. This they did for a lad that broke his neck, the request being that God would be glorified. The boy’s healing turned his father toward renewal. Gale says they pray requests not answers, for they don’t know just how the Father will answer their prayers, but they pray believing He will answer.

This is something gloriously new, a praying Church of Christ, for as a people we have given little place to the power and excitement of prayer. So if that ‘is cutting the umbilical cord, I say let her rip!

But the most innovative church of all is the Church of Christ in Valdese, N.C., which has not only moved to a freer and more open position generally, but becomes the only church among us that I know of that has women leading in public worship. Richard Blackwell, the minister, writes: “We started allowing our Christian sisters to lead in public worship. For this practice and our refusal to condemn the other churches around us, the congregation has been repeatedly and unmercifully attacked.”

It is to be pitied that our people have to persecute those who veer from tradition. They little realize that such a vindictive and oppressive spirit is far more a departure from the rule of Christ than women serving in the pulpit. We must mature to the point that we can allow churches to differ without castigating them. It is possible that one church may be justified in what it does, depending on where it is in its pilgrimage, while another church would not be. In any event we do not have to pass judgment. We are rather to cultivate that love that tends to be blind to the weaknesses of our sisters and brothers.

Whether we call all this, and much more that could be told, cutting the umbilical cord or simply a move in new directions, it is imperative that we recognize that these avant garde churches are not all that different. They are still our brothers and sisters, and Jesus Christ is the Lord of us all. We must further realize that we may have something to learn from them. After all, who are we to say just who is and who is not a Church of Christ. The Scriptures tell us that the firm foundation of God stands and that the Lord knows those that are his. I’ll buy that. - the Editor

Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth.

--Matthew Henry