Bruce Williams, one of the Nine has written about the Unity Proposal on LA’s website. Signers of the UP are called ‘courageous’ and ‘humble’. The clear implication is that those not signing are not humble. Considering that only three churches have put something on their website saying that they would not sign, it is strange that so much attention is given to the plan’s detractors. There’s 221 signers now, that’s about half. Mexico joined, so yes, that is the taste of crow in my mouth. Anyway, here’s the end of his article in full.

With all the upheaval that has taken place over the last several years, it has become difficult to know where a church leadership stands regardless of what name is over the door. At one time, these questions would have seemed moot because of the way the churches began and were shepherded; this enabled much continuity of thought and mind. There are many good-hearted brothers and sisters who want to know where churches and their leaders stand on the teachings and expectations outlined in the Plan for Cooperation. These are legitimate questions because we all have heard of some churches and leaders who have abandoned some of the basic spiritual principles of training and assistance that enables a church and its leadership to continue to grow spiritually and numerically.

Bruce Williams

In other words, we need to know who is one of us before we can be unified with you.

Surprising is that Bruce talks about churches abandoning the principles that allow churches to grow numerically while LA is still shrinking and hasn’t shown growth in five years (at least). More importantly, we now have one of the nine that is not abiding by their own advice to other churches:

6. How should those churches be treated that choose not to
sign up?
There may be many different reasons why some churches may not sign up. They are still our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to continue to respect, love, and cherish one another in the Lord.

Unity Q&A from March 11.

I understand that everyone wants to feel like visiting another church that used to be ICoC isn’t like walking into a snakhandler’s convention. Think about why. We were all mandated to be the same. Now that no one is mandating doctrines and practices, it falls on some agreement to ensure that we are all on the same page.

So what happens when one of these guys goes to a church with optional d-partners? Are they going to take them to task? Hey Atlanta, I think he’s talking to you and to the folks in Toronto and Vancouver (both churches).

I thought that I couldn’t get angry at the UP anymore. I think the Gang of Nine needs to muzzle him before he discredits the whole lot. He needs to make a public apology to Vancouver and Toronto at least. He should also apologize to the folks in Atlanta, New Mexico, and other places that have decided not to sign. What a jerk!

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