OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

The Cross Lanes Church of Christ in Charleston,  WV published a  favorable report of Restoration Forum V which was held in Cincinnati last April, a gathering of some 210 people from Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. The minister, Keith Watkins, who attended the forum, wrote in the bulletin: "Even if the end result is that they will stay with their view of music and we stay with ours, but we at least recognize each other as part of God's family, that will be a far cry from where we are now." He also said that since our Lord wants us to be united we should seek to know and accept each other. He told of a joke that circulated at the forum, that they should all have worn name tags identifying their persuasion, for otherwise they could not tell each other apart. That illustrates what the Church of Christ would find generally true if we had more contact with the church at large, that we have far more in common with other Christians than we have differences. We must overcome our mentality of "unity by exclusion" that all these years has kept us apart from the church catholic.

We have information from the hoard of Mission journal that the publication is to close down with its December issue, "buried with dignity" as one board member puts it. Dignity is the right word, for the journal has had a long and impressive mission among Churches of Christ, demonstrating that our people have at least some appreciation for hold, innovative and responsible journalism. Mission has been a pioneer publication, and we owe much to those who gave it birth and saw it through to maturity. While it is sometimes as appropriate for journals to die as it is for men to, we will nonetheless miss Mission.

One more publication that is out on the growing edge and addressing itself to issues that concern or should concern Churches of Christ is The Reformer; edited by Buff Scott, Jr., 1003 Pilot Ave., Cherokee, IA 51012, subscription rate only $2.00 per annum. In the current issue the editor accuses the church of "proclaiming unity while promoting division," and he wants to know what we mean when we use the term "the Brotherhood." And Mike Hall has an article on "The Legalistic Mindset." Should you write for a sample copy it is likely that you would eventually subscribe.