Leroy on the “Lunenburg letter”

The following was written by an elder quasi-mentor of mine, Leroy Garrett. Leroy has for nigh unto 50 years been working for theological understanding, unity in diversity, and growth among all three branches of the Stone-Campbell (American Restoration) Movement. By reports, in his earlier years, he was not as influential; somewhere midstream, he [...]

Protected: Follow-up: unity singing event

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Fours, quads and other misbegotten lists

Yesterday I mentioned the Foursquare Church and called into question its choice of items to form its four corners. Contained in the quote below is another list for your consideration:
The so-called “Quadrilateral of authority”: experience, reason, tradition, and scripture … is a modern invention. For Wesley and his preachers, the Bible was the [...]

Enter to worship … leave to serve

“Enter to worship … leave to serve” is a saying that I’ve seen over quite a few entryways to church sanctuaries (a/k/a “auditoriums”). I think it was in vogue in the Church of Christ during the boom of the 40s and 50s. New construction during those times seems often to have included engraving [...]

The 70s, 80s, and 90s

Sunday evening, I’ll have the opportunity to lead a song or two at a city-wide unity meeting in Rochester. The repertoire is to be drawn from songs written since 1970 (from the host church’s hymnal).
I found the list of songs that fit this bill to be woeful, I’m sorry to report. The 70s [...]

Specific corporate changes

Might there be changes I’d like to see in churches that already feel they are doing things differently. Why, yes!
Let’s start with the Lord’s Supper. Those churches that feel (perhaps to our surprise?) they are already pretty progressive in this area might be doing something like coordinating the preceding prayers with a song [...]

A Once-Ailing Word Is Healed

Those churches that have the gift of thoughtfully approaching method and doctrine are likely to think they are more progressively different than they really are.

Capital offense

“The Church of God initially called itself the church of God to indicate its understanding of unity. To my knowledge, no one has traced the shift from church of God to Church of God.” So wrote Susie C. Stanley, in her chapter “‘Bumping’ into Modernity,” in The Primitive Church in the Modern World, [...]

Laity

It struck me at the oddest of times yesterday morning that the clergy-laity system (with which I quarrel, and which exists in nearly all churches with which I’ve had any connection whatsoever) has at least one redeeming quality. “Laity,” I supposed, may be derived from the Greek latreuo and/or leitourgeia, which are probably related [...]

Where do you worship?

Asking about where one worships is sort of a code-phrase.