Everyone involved with the ICoC is waiting for news from the World Missions Jubilee in Portland this past weekend. I’m sure that there will be a mention of the situation in Salt Lake City. Jay, the former minister there, mentioned moving to LA to receive more training in his last sermon. Those of us in the ICOC know that means, “Kip fired you.” Yet, it doesn’t appear that the congregation wants a replacement from LA. Who knows? The situation is fluid and the end is bound to be different from anyone’s conjectures.
Still, I imagine that sermons in LA will mention the weakness or lukewarmness of Salt Lake for months to come. With no one to really stop Kip from saying what he really wants to say, I imagine the article after the one about the Jubilee will belittle and criticize his former congregation. Then again, who can predict the moves of the Great One?
In other news, Seattle’s blog mentions the need for the Plan for United Cooperation. Me and other readers here commented to the post about other avenues of cooperation that were also encouraging. This prompted responses here and here.
First, congratulations on the baptism. I look forward to the day that my children come to the Lord. Second, I think it is great that a non-UP congregation works together with a UP congregation. I believe that this kind of cooperation, as well as cooperation with other Restoration Movement churches is critical for all of us. I believe in the efforts of those within the RM to bridge the historic gaps that divide us. We need each other. More than that, I believe that cooperation with non-RM churches is also critical. There should be no limit against working with other men and women that call upon the Lord. That is a subject for another column.
As someone that believes in unity, I think the UP is relevant to the discussion of working with other churches. When RM cooperation was mentioned during the formation of the UP, all that was said was, “any church can sign that desires to do so”. Would a document of this kind be any help to RM Unity efforts? I do not believe that it would.
I understand that the UP was primarily a tool to establish order in a confusing time. I disagree that order was more important to establish than righteousness. To my knowledge, we, as a denomination, have done nothing publicly to deal with our past and present teachings that led us to where we are now. I’m not talking about individual church efforts – I’m talking about high-level folks saying unashamedly that we are going in a new direction as a result of our repentance of shameful acts. Instead, order is still the number one priority. Those that disagree create varying amounts of disorder and it does not appear that disorder is tolerated.
Within the RM, though, we do not need order. We also do not need a call to minimum standards and clarity. It would be nice for all of us in the RM to get together in a room and vote that will be unified. However, lacking the efforts to even try to get us all in a room, there is a more excellent way. We should be looking for ways to serve one another instead of ways to get along with each other. When Jesus showed the full extent of his love, it was by taking the role of a servant. He went on the tell his disciples that people will know you are his disciples by the love for each other. Love wins the day. The Pharisees searched the Scriptures because they believed they were saved by their efforts. Jesus chided them for their short-sightedness. I pray that we do not become as short-sighted.
Small things happen. A new website, a few articles, VBS, and more. When we humble ourselves to let others love us, when we humble ourselves to love others, God works. Only God can bring us together by the call of His Spirit within us.
As far as Salt Lake, are we going to get them sign the UP like we did in Syracuse? I hope not. I hope that others, like the church in Denver, will choose to serve. The church I attend has folks that know members there. We should offer to help – not because we want more people on our team, but because it is the right thing to do.
As far as UP congregations, we need to serve them, too. It doesn’t matter if others signed with the hearts – there’s not a place to sign the thing anyway. Love covers over a multitude of sins, including the creation of divisive document.