OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

A friend of ours in the Denton area attended the Church Growth International Convention hosted by the Yoida Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, and on his return gave us the following information. Paul Chou’s church has 620,000 members, by far the largest congregation in the world. There are 50,000 house groups. Each group leader is to have been baptized of the Holy Spirit. One outreach of the church is prayer gatherings on Hallelujah Mountain where there are four services daily, with thousands at each service. It is for prayer and praise only. The central facility of the Yoida church holds 25,000, which is filled for seven services each Sunday. The main Sunday service is also beamed to 19 satellite stations, on and off site. There are over 600 paid staff people serving the church. The visitors heard Chou speak to 100,000 in Olympic Stadium, which were mostly his cell group assistants. When Chou spoke on prayer to a smaller audience of 20,000 he said that prayer is the key to the survival of his ministry. ‘The Holy Spirit is my senior partner,” he said.

Even though it is a denomination founded by a woman, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, meeting in their world conference in Indianapolis, voted against ordaining women to the ministry. A few weeks earlier the Christian Reformed Church, meeting in the same city, voted to overturn a 150-year old tradition against women preachers. They now allow each congregation to decide for itself if it wishes a woman pastor. The Indianapolis press did not fail to notice that scholars in both churches examined the same biblical evidence and came up with diametrically opposing conclusions.

The woman’s role in ministry in Churches of Christ is changing very slowly if at all. But Ouida was with me in a recent visit to the Pecan Grove Church of Christ in Greenville, Tx. when a woman taught the adult class and did it very well. She did not “usurp authority” over men or women but led the class humbly in meaningful dialogue. Women also lead in prayers in other parts of the service. Ouida conceded that it was new to her, seeing women take part in a Church of Christ service like that, but we were both led to wonder how it could be all that wrong. We figured that daughters should also be allowed to speak to the Father when the family of God gathers. But a number of folk have left that church because of the freedom it extends to the sisters.

I was at a Disciples of Christ congregation recently when a woman served at the Communion table, which of course is nothing unusual for that denomination. When she expressed thanksgiving, she said with moving reverence, “Lord, we come before your table with awe. . .” I told her afterward that it was the most touching prayer I had ever heard at the Table. It was the way she said awe. She meant it and we all felt it. I was left wondering how much we miss in our male-dominated worship in Churches of Christ where more than half the members cannot do anything in the service, and they are often the most intelligent, the most creative and poetic, and the most spiritual. Self-deprivation that can be called.

I had a great visit with some 20 students at Princeton Seminary in October, all of whom are of the Stone-Campbell tradition. They have begun what might be called the “Campbell Colloquium” which will meet periodically in reference to their common heritage. I told them their motto ought to be, “Let Christian unity be our polar star,” which was the great plea of Barton Stone. When I was a student there long years ago there were but two of us around, and we were tempted to keep it quiet that we were at such a place. Things are changing! My Princeton visit was followed by a weekend with the Liberty Street Church of Christ in Trenton, a great little church with one of the best day care centers around. I helped them in an anniversary celebration.