Churches of Christ in Decline: A Response to Carl Royster

Posted on January 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

The compiler of Churches of Christ in the United States posted a defense of his decision in his blog. I wrote the following response in his comment section. It’s a moderated blog, so it won’t be posted on the internet until approved.

Brother Royster,

I’m posting here to directly respond to your decision to exclude churches with both instrumental and a cappella services from the directory. Let me explain my thinking, and perhaps you can correct me where I am in error. Continue reading →

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A Lover’s Quarrel: Shooting Our Wounded

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Garrett’s ninth wish for the Churches of Christ is —

Let us cease shooting our own wounded

We sometimes reject our sisters and brothers in Christ when they need us most. It may be when they are going through a divorce, or when once divorced, they plan to marry. …

We’ve been known to shoot our missionaries in the field if they become “liberal” or depart from the party line through exposure to the larger Christian world, leaving them to get home the best they can. …

We haven’t been pastoral to our troubled people. A preacher with gnawing doubts has to keep to himself.  …

Our Lord sought to redeem the wounded rather than to condemn them. We was compassionate and merciful towards the ostracized of society. He even died for them. We must learn to be like them.

Continue reading →

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What Is a “Church of Christ”? A Supplemental Directory

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Jay F Guin

In a comment on the last post, Matt Dabbs said,

I will even put a post on my blog or create something online as a supplement to the directory to inform people of the contact information of those churches because let’s face it, people do want to know how to contact those churches to ask for support or to visit when they travel.

Matt,

I 100% agree. There are countless fundraising needs in the Churches of Christ: missionaries, disaster relief agencies, universities, foster care agencies, orphanages … They all need access to mailing lists. The omission  also places a serious burden on those who need to raise support or who want to invite churches to lectureships, youth rallies, and the like.

What would motivate anyone to put a burden on missionary and disaster relief fundraising? (Oh, right, “accuracy.” I forgot.)

PLEASE prepare the list and keep it maintained. I’ll help anyway I can.

Readers,

Please send Matt, http://mattdabbs.wordpress.com/, contact information on any partly instrumental churches you know about. 

Continue reading →

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What Is a “Church of Christ”?

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

The point has been well made in the comments here (thanks, CDG) and elsewhere that the numerical decline of the Churches is of far greater significance than the decision of some editor to remove 20 churches from a book that very few people will read (it’s like reading the phone book, you know). It’s true.

But I and the readers of this blog have known for a long time about the decline. Nor is it much of a surprise after decades of being plateaued, with ever-increasing divisiveness and sectarianism. What did we think would happen?

No, the decline is a well-established fact reported here months ago, and I posted a series of articles on how we should deal with the decline. What’s new is — Continue reading →

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On Small Groups, Part 2

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Anyway, let’s cover some of the practical issues small groups present —

* How do we divide the church into groups?

There are as many ways as there are churches. Some divide geographically. Some divide based on personality profiles. Some divide by age or Bible class. Some divide by life stage — the ages of their children. Some divide by ministry talents (those wanting to work with abused women join one group, those wanting to help in addiction recovery join another).

We started with multi-age groups in an effort to help our members get to know each other better. But we found that most (about 80%) of our members prefer common-age groups. They were looking to make friends. And common-age groups allow young leaders to learn to lead people of their own age. Continue reading →

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Yeakley States that Churches of Christ Are in Decline; Richland Hills In No Man’s Land

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Several months ago, Flavil Yeakley, the unofficial statistician for the Churches of Christ, released a report called “Good News and Bad News for the Churches of Christ.” Although the numbers showed the Churches to be in decline (as reported first in this blog), the text of the report did not mention this fact, and many articles and blogs emphasized just the good news.

The Christian Chronicle now reports that 21st Century Christian’s 2009 edition of Churches of Christ in the United States shows a statistically significant decline — Continue reading →

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One in Jesus Has 250,000 Hits!

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

What can I say? I’m an odometer watcher. I just love it when a whole bunch of zeroes all roll up at once.

I thought I’d be lucky to get 10,000.

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On Small Groups, Part 1

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I get emails. This one is from an employee of one of our more conservative colleges —

Hi Jay,

I just recently encountered your blog and have enjoyed what I have read thus far.  Always like to be made to think!

I specifically read some of your entries regarding small groups.  I am trying to learn more about it from a Biblical standpoint…really, I am looking to read counter-arguments to the side opposed to having them.

Would love to hear your thoughts on that if you have the time. Continue reading →

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Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: Living Water (En Gedi)

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Jay F Guin

In the wilderness, water is very special. The Jews see God as the One who brings water. In the desert, water is life.

Episode is filmed in a wadi canyon near the Dead Sea in the Judean wilderness — En Gedi. 

David hid in the desert fleeing from Saul, eventually finding the “strongholds of En Gedi,” a place fed by a spring in the midst of the desert.

(Psa 63:1)  O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

David sees life as a desert and God like an oasis. Continue reading →

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A Lover’s Quarrel: Knowing Who the Enemy Really Is

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Garrett’s eighth wish for the Churches of Christ is —

Let us realize who the enemy really is.

I doubt that I need to explain this one. We savage sister congregations that are trying their best to honor God. We destroy the reputations of preachers who are just a smidgin less conservative than us. We rally opposition to institutions that do tremendous good because they dare be less perfect than us.

Yes, we often spend far more energy attacking one another than attacking Satan.

Do you recall the story of Gideon? 

(Judg 7:22a)  When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. 

How does God deal with his enemies? By encouraging them to attack each other. We seem to be using the wrong strategy altogether. We may not even be in the right camp.

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