OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

WCCC IN NEW ZEALAND

A high point of my recent world tour was to take part in the World Convention of Churches of Christ in Auckland, New Zealand. I am pleased to serve on the executive committee of the WCCC, which we hope will he an "umbrella convention" in that it will attract people from all segments of our Movement. This was the case in New Zeal-and more than at any other convention, which assembles every four years, for there was substantial representation from all three major wings, both in attendance and on the program. While Churches of Christ are still poorly represented in comparison to the Disciples and Christian Churches, I am hopeful that this will improve at the next assembly in Long Beach in 1992. We need to get the word out that this is an occasion of great fellowship, and once one is there he realizes how much we have in common and how much we need one another. A Disciples minister, for example, was telling me about his study group on the Campbell heritage. "We had a Church of Christ brother in our group and he really added a great deal to our discussion," he told me with pleasure. When another Disciples minister, who was in the study group that I lead, returned to the States he wrote as follows about me in a report to his church, which shows the impact that a new experience in fellowship among ourselves can have: 

"We attended the Heritage Breakfasts at the Railton Hotel, conducted by Leroy Garrett, from Denton, Texas. He is an unusual person, being a Church of Christ (non-instrumental) minister, (not a parish minister), but operates similar to Roger Carstensen, in that he publishes a monthly magazine, entitled Restoration Review. He said he decided years ago, to ignore the differences between the three churches. He moves among all the Campbell-Stone churches and has a wide acquaintance among all three. He has served on the faculty of a college of each church. Those of us who are familiar with the Church of Christ (non-instrumental) can well appreciate how unusual a person he is. He is an outstanding example, in that we must accept each other as Christian brothers and sisters, regardless of the differences between our three groups. 

This was the spirit that prevailed throughout the convention. The main lecturer, Lloyd Ogilvie, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, challenged us to take evangelism seriously, which underscored the convention theme, "Turning the World Upside Down." But the highlight was being with our people from all over the world. I fell in love with every one of them. I especially enjoyed visiting with Sir Garfield Todd, a native New Zealander and one time prime minister of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, whose story of faith and courage amidst persecution and imprisonment would qualify him for canonization to sainthood, if Disciples canonized saints. 

WE ARE CHANGING!

The Eastwood Christian Church and the White Rock Church of Christ, both in Dallas, recently shared in a "Fellowship In The Park," which because of the weather was held in the fellowship hall of the Church of Christ, which was filled to capacity in a glorious fellowship. Gene Shepherd, president of Dallas Christian College, and Charlie Coil, minister of the White Rock church, spoke on Restoration roots and their dreams of sharing in future activities.  

Two other Dallas area churches, First Christian Church (Disciples) and Richardson East Church of Christ, both in Richardson, held their First Annual Combined Thanksgiving Service, which was hosted by the Disciples' church. It was not only well attended, but the fellowship was so meaningful that they were all left wondering why they waited so long to get together. It is now set as an annual affair - as a starter for a restored fellowship.  

Some 300 leaders of Churches of Christ and Christian Churches (Independent) gathered in Akron in November for the sixth session of Restoration Forum. Now that the days of ugly debating and disfellowshipping are passing, they were able to enjoy each other's fellowship and study things of significance. Reuel Lemmons of the Church of Christ spoke on what the two churches are doing together, and Robert Fife of the Christian Church spoke on dreaming dreams together. As for dreams, I've long dreamed of such things as reported in these three paragraphs, and I've never doubted that my dreams would come true, but I wasn't sure that I would live to see it all begin to happen. It has at last begun. PTL!