READERS' EXCHANGE

 

“Timing is everything.” I was made aware of this last week at the Pepperdine Lectures. So many of the ideas expressed were familiar to those of us who have read your articles and Carl Kethcherside’s articles for the last 20 years...l just wanted you to know that your ideas are being presented (rearranged and possibly reexamined) but they are a joy to hear being widely accepted. - Colorado

I am a descendant of Alexander Campbell. My maternal grandmother was a Campbell. We collect everything we can about our religious heritage. Please send sample copies of your journal which we have heard about. - Sonny Balchelor, Luray, VA.

Correction

I was interested to see that you had listed Brookvalley as a church who had dropped “of Christ.” We have not separated ourselves from the “churches of Christ” and have not dropped the name from our sign. The other elders and I agreed that I should drop you a note. Jim Bevis was the minister at Brookvalley for a number of years and I was elder most of that time. Jim and I had many conversations about the name. His position was to separate and mine was not to separate. At no time did the elders agree to drop “of Christ.” We were surprised at your article but noticed that our stationery reads “Brookvalley Church.” Our bulletin also reads this way. The name will be changed when new stationery is ordered. I understand Jim Bevis’ position, but the other elders and I disagree with him and still disagree. If you are trying to influence a person (or a congregation) you do not do it by separating yourself from them. I would claim that Brookvalley approaches a traditional church in your book, The Stone-Campbell Movement. I do not think it proper to refer to many of the positions of present day churches as traditional. We need roots and a connection to the Church of the Ages and the church of Christ root is a good and valid root. A church without an identity with like churches is like a Christian without a congregation. To try to exist as a congregation without a sense of history is very dangerous, it seems to be. —Jack Pinkerton, Atlanta, GA.

(This response from an elder of the Brookvalley Church of Christ in Atlanta clarifies a reference to said church in “When a Church of Christ Changes Its Name” in our January 1985 issue, which told the story of the Quail Valley Church of Christ in Houston changing its name. Jim Bevis was referred to as minister at Quail Valley and former minister at Brookvalley. I am very pleased to make this correction, for I agree with the elders at Brookvalley that they should be the Brookvalley Church of Christ. —Ed.)