The more I look for analogies, the more I’m drawn into the implosion of the UBF. It’s not because I like to watch failures, but because of the similarities.

The UBF expereinced a split when concerns about the top guy were answered with being kicked out of the church. The kicked out leaders formed their own fellowship. At some point (I’m still trying to get the history straight), after Samuel Lee passed away, a reform movement began known as Campus Ministries International.

In reading about CMI, I picked up their copy of a ‘Discipler’s Guide’ and started reading it. Remembering that they are a reform movement in reaction to Samuel Lee, I was struck that even for a reform movement, the methods and level of control in a member’s life was even more than my ICC history. It was less control than the UBF (AFAIK), but still more control than I would think healthy. The thing is, that none of it appears intentional. The guide doesn’t say ‘tell them what to do, pick out their future spouses, manage all their time.’ It does, however, give encouragement to total participation to the church’s events.

Outside of that, hearing the testimonies of those that attend their conferences sounds like a who’s who of the ICC responses from the conferences of old. The only thing missing is the overuse of the word awesome(r) or the use of the word flat for emaphasis. I kid you not.

The point of this post? Without outside perspective, reform is relative. I’m sure that all the leaders in the CMI tell themselves that they aren’t like Samuel Lee. They’d be right. Major leaders post on messageboards, there’s discussion about life in the church, etc. In the end, though, it appears as just a kinder, gentler UBF with a different name.

I initally thought that my church’s idea of changing our name was a bit silly. I figured that real change was more important than a superficial one. I now see that a name change is not superficial. In fact, it was mentioned by a couple reports of MOAC 2004. There’s a certain power in a name (another Wild at Heart reference). I hope we do, especially in light of the changes made . I hope it won’t be a CMI style change and I don’t think it will. There is definitely a trend here to look to our Restorationist roots.