This means that folks in Raleigh need to email phone numbers to me.

I should be there at least from Oct 19 – 21 for a conference. It will be only me, and not the family for now.

You have been warned.

Otherwise, it’s not so much that there’s a lack of things to write, just writing somewhere else for now. So here’s my ICoC post for now. Who knows when another may come along.

In regards to the ICoC, no major change is going to occur for quite some time, if at all. As a group, reform was largely missed, though some individual locations have done quite a bit. There is no atmosphere for a new Kriete Letter as the monolithic whole is now three parts (four if you count Kip’s group). As a whole, churches appear to be growing.

Three metrics have been presented thus far to demonstrate ‘health’ in the ICoC as a whole. These are numerical growth, increased intra-denominational cooperation, and lack of harshness. The metrics I look at are quite different, but that may or may not be the subject of another post. I will not see things the same as many others, and I have come to accept that. I can help change things locally to a limited extent, but even then, it is not always worth it. As such, there doesn’t appear to be much reason to write about either ICoC, the historical ICoC, or Kip’s group. A discussion would likely devolve into arguing over definitions of words, which should be avoided.

One thing of note that can be said is more of a side note. The Drabots are in Portland talking to Kip’s Portland Church. The Drabots and Johnsons are long-time friends. From a personal perspective, it is encouraging that friends can reconnect though on different sides of an ideological difference. However, it also points to a problem in how we dealt with Kip in the first place.

We excommunicated Kip as a person without repudiating his doctrine. In other words, it was dealt with as a personal issue, addressed as a personal issue, and treated as a punishment to a specific person. It can be argued that his doctrine could not be repudiated because the issue was really his inability to accept less than kingship. While that is true, the main issue is that we did not address our own doctrinal problems. Quick action needed to be taken (and I called for it repeatedly) but an unwillingness to deal with what made him our king in the first place (amongst other things) provided very few options. So, it was basically, You said mean things and wouldn’t take them back and Stop taking our sheep. Important things to say, that is true, yet, without any doctrinal examination, it’s not going to really last. As others have said, we ended up trying to make the doctrine of Kip-Lite work (all the same doctrine, but Kip-Free. Now with UPC added for conviction!)

Case in point, Ron is in Portland. Steve Johnson is not Kip. Steve is milder than Kip. Ron’s issue was with Kip, not Steve. Ron and Steve are long time friends. Begs the question Why can’t we preach at each others churches again? Ron and Steve are swapping churches. Charlotte is Kip-Lite and apparently Portland is also Kip-Lite (or 2% reduced Kip), so why the harsh boundary, right?

Kip’s apologists are already using this line of reasoning to suggest that ICoC leaders are nothing more than power-mongers that were jealous of Kip. More than that, they are now able to make it into a doctrinal issue. Most of them are claiming that the ICoC has changed their doctrine about unity, discipleship, and global missions. These accusations are difficult to answer. If similarities are pointed out, the question is Why Did We Split?. In a sense, is could be asked why not fellowship Kip’s churches if everything is mostly the same? If the differences in doctrine are highlighted, the answer is It’s like we said, you changed your doctrine. It is problematic because it would be a new argument from the ICoC. There is no ability to point to the brother’s letter or anything else and say Here are the doctrinal problems.

With all of that said, though, there’s still not much that will change in the next few years. Kip will be on six continents in about 5 years. There will be another Salt Lake type leaving in 5 to 10 years. In 10 years, the numbers will begin to collapse of Kip’s SODM churches. The ICoC will probably settle into 1%-2% growth in the US and double digit growth overseas for the next 10 years.

The only major issue coming for the ICoC is a growing anti-US sentiment. Will it lead to a split? It’s possible. It will probably take place after certain major characters pass away, if it happens at all. It’s too early to say.

All of this has been said before, thus not much from me. If I don’t see you sooner, see you in October in Raleigh.