Writing in a Nashville paper, Steve North, an attorney in that city, pays tribute to his late father, Ira North, longtime minister to the Madison Church of Christ. He tells how his father told the church that they could find themselves another preacher if they did not accept the first black family that asked for membership. He might have told them that our first church in Nashville, dating back to the 1830’s, was from the outset half white and half black. And this they did without the preacher threatening them —for they had no preacher! I was especially impressed that Ira said to his son, in reference to his impending death, “Don’t take it too seriously.” If we believe that life really begins at death, that will be our attitude.

Ensign (2710 Day Rd., Huntsville, AL 35801) had an article in its January issue by Normal L. Parks that counted the cost of the Collinsville lawsuit and found it very expensive. But Parks concluded that the price would be a bargain after all if it led the Church of Christ to reexamine the Bible teaching on the role of older men and older women in the church and to listen to its own pioneers on the evil of an authoritarian eldership. We urge you to subscribe to this seminal publication, the rate being only 5.00 for the year.

While we regret chronicling the passing of A. V. Mansur of Bend, Oregon, we rejoice with his wife of 63 years, Elizabeth, that he is delivered from his long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Many will remember him as one of our great free spirits, one of his battle-crys being Let my people go!

Lawsuit in Little Rock

The lawsuit against the elders of the Sixth and Izzard Church of Christ in Little Rock may eventually have a more crucial impact upon our people than the one in Collinsville, Oklahoma, for it is more likely to expose the extremes to which we have gone in creating a dictatorial, authoritarian eldership that functions more like a corporate board than like shepherds of a sheepfold. In fact the behavior of the elders at Sixth and Izzard makes corporate executives look like pikers. In recent depositions for the court they have avowed that they have every right to meet secretly, that their deliberations and decisions may be strictly confidential, and that they have no obligation to tell the congregation anything. Even from the standpoint of common decency and ordinary courtesy this is incredible and we may presume that these same men are not such absolutists either in their own businesses or in affairs at home. But mark it well: the chickens are coming home to roost! By our inane and anti-scriptural insistence on “being under the authority of the elders” (Is this in the Bible?) we have produced this sort of thing, and we must all take part of the blame. Elders are to be leaders among equals and servants rather than lords. The court may in the end rule that it should not interfere in the affairs of a church, but the judge is likely to remind those involved of the principle of “the right to know,” which is a matter of Arkansas law indeed of universal law. If I belong to any society that I help support or have investments in or am expected to make decisions, I have the right to know what is going on, otherwise I cannot make an intelligent decision in reference to its affairs. Joe Brown, longtime member of the Little Rock church, is to be commended as a “freedom rider” for asking the court to compel the elders to reveal information that rightfully belongs to the church. Since he made every effort to get the elders to reveal the church’s business, he should not be bombarded with 1 Cor. 6, which urges brethren to settle their differences out of court. Tyrants in the church, who know nothing of the spirit of yieldingness, have taken refuge behind 1 Cor. 6 long enough. I also admire the way Joe Brown and his lawyer Bob Scott, also a member of the congregation, keep right on attending the church during this litigation period. “This is our church, too, and we can’t be run off,” they say. There is nothing like having folk around who love freedom in Christ even if it is difficult for those who choose bondage. I wish we had one or two like that in all our churches! —the Editor