Mike Allen, a son of the evangelist and author Jimmy Allen, has published a memoir of his life growing up in the Churches of Christ as the son of a famous revival preacher: Growing Up Church of Christ
The book is written in a distinctive style. John Dobbs said it well –
Reading Growing Up Church of Christ is like reading someone’s journal … short anecdotes about … well… growing up Church of Christ. I am not sure that those who have a faith family outside of ours will understand the significance of most of it.
Exactly.
This is a book for those of us who grew up in the Churches of Christ. Mike’s snippets of memory bring up a flood of memories — Bible camp, VBS, gospel meetings, revival preaching, devos, Sunday night church, and all.
He writes without retrospection, that is, he reports events that happens while he was 12 from the perspective of a 12-year old. As a result, the Church as it existed back then is judged as a 12-year old would judge it.
The book culminates with his decision to leave the Churches of Christ and attend a community church. But he makes that decision without reporting how he felt about the decision or its impact on the rest of his family. Instead, he concludes,
At this church, we lead a small group. We sometimes disagree with senior minister. We sometimes disagree ith the junior ministers. But we understand now. That’s life. That’s lifein the Kingdom of God. This great big body of believers that stretches all the way around the world. Believers in Christ. Trying their best to please Him inside churches that fit.
What do you think? Are you okay with that?
I enjoyed remembering with Mike growing up in church, with church friends, preacher kids, and all that made the Church of the 1960s the Church of the 1960s.
But this is not a reflective work. It gives stories and remembrances that may well prompt serious reflection by the reader, but Mike only opens up the events of his life, not the inner thoughts and turmoil — only hinting at what it must have been like to experience what he experienced.
But then, for many in his intended audience, we know exactly what it was like.
I’ve been following Mike’s blog where he posts anecdotes from his book once or twice each week. You can see it at http://growingupcofc.blogspot.com.
(Re-submitted after the crash.)
So many of us could write about our life as younguns in the COC but far too much would be negative. How our parents tried to keep the negative from us and do positive things anyway. Having those visits to our home to straighten out our parents did leave a bad taste for the leadership.
I want to read his book, but it took a lot of nerve to write it. I admire him for that.
Things are changing for the better or we would be going somewhere else.
Our children and grandchildren will not be treated as we were and expected to remain in attendance.
“We sometimes disagree with senior minister. We sometimes disagree ith the junior ministers.”
“What do you think? Are you okay with that?”
I am absolutely okay with disagreement. To expect otherwise is for me the height of arrogance and immaturity. I think this is a great challenge for today and the next generation in the churches. Worldwide, more than at any time in history, people have Bibles and can read.
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I don’t understand the criticism of this book. I think if someone wanted to leave this church, they probably made a good decision. I can’t be part of any religion that says “we are the only ones saved”. Well, Churches of Christ have existed only since the mid 1800s. So if they are the only ones saved, everyone else throughout history that was born before the mid 1800s is not saved. Correct? I have a hard time buying this.
It appears Mike decided to stop think about himself in the context of people who do the same thing in small groups and think of himself in the context of all of the people in the world who believe in Christ.
Most coC don’t actually say that they are the only saved, but many do think that way and there are some who are developing a greater mindset in this direction as we speak who are distancing themselves from the conservative coC for being too liberal. We have a hard time seeing beyond ourselves as we tend to get in our way by having our way and thinking that that way is the correct way. Most coC believe that the coC was in place all through all of the centuries, except that they didn’t decalre themselves as the “coC”, but were small individual assemblies who probably met in homes. Why the difference between us now and then is never delved into, but the coC as we know it is the same as it ever was, but different. It doesn’t make sense, but hundreds of thousands of people buy into it so it must be correct.
Shon,
The Church of Christ was one of a few like the Church of God that was named in the Bible back then. No baptist, methodist, or many others were even mentioned.
Remember ‘The Churches of Christ salute you”. How that was quoted in the 40-60’s.
During the times we had great debates with all the big denominations and no sparing of their feelings or quarter given the Churches of Christ was number one in adding new members.
All others were going to hell if they didn’t join us was the clear and often stated message and folks left the others and joined us, or, were not attending anywhere and became members just in case.
There was a debate nearly every Saturday night and how we whupped them with our many charts and verses quoted.
Folks like those that speak boldly their beliefs and we sure did that.
Today we debate among ourselves far more than with others and are wishy washy to not make anyone mad or have hurt feelings. How different times were back then.
Makes me think of Paul speaking boldly as did others even to their detriment and I wonder if our stopping that strong stand taking that is the reason we are losing members so rapidly.
Perhaps the cofC finally realized just how much can be agreed on and how much the disagreements with other churches were blown out of proportion.
Bill Patterson wrote Search for True Discipleship in Church History. While the threads may be tenuous at times, it certainly dispels the myth of a magic name (cofC) as the only path to heaven. Alexander Campbell preferred “Disciples” . If some would read more of the restoration history and the “Great Awakening” time it would help a great deal. But that would perhaps take too much time and effort; it might even get in the way of some of our desired prejudices. Their desire to be submissive to the will and word of God often puts many of us to shame. I grew up cofC and even when that submission to the word caused me to (openly in a mens business meeting) to oppose my father’s service as an elder — we cried together (Dad and I); he KNEW my love for him was subservient to our common love for the word, he respected that.
The spirit of rancorous debate (early 2oth C) drew lines that did little to serve the cause of unity; and the ensuing spirit of bitterness would have the early reformers (restorers) spinning in their graves. We as a fellowship would be well served to recall and examine the clarion call to unity of the mid 19th Century and once again call for the continuing search for a Biblical center line in love, grace, and mercy.
http://www.amazon.com/Search-true-discipleship-church-history/dp/0940999390
I have had numerous discussions with those who promote church of Christ as the only scriptural name, even as they admit that there were no singurally defined names in the scriptures and there are lost people with the church of Christ and even for some reason Assembly of God falls short as a name. Many people point to “churches of Christ salute you”, but miss the point that the word “church” didn’t come along until hundreds of years later and was put in to replace ekklesia, which means basically “congregation”. When we read “churches of Christ salute you” it shoud be read as “congregation of Christ salute you”, which indicates that aside from the plural nature of congregation in people, that it is not refferring to groups, but rather the one group of the saved.
I truly think that if we stopped using church and used congregation more we would understand our place in the whole easier and this would cut down on many of our dividing points. We would stop dividing ourselves up and see that we are a part of the larger membership and our efforts would be directed towards God’s will and not ourselves and our individual proprietary groups.