A Stinging Critique of ERC Leadership, Offered to Me Without Intention

Gang,

As you know, I am in communication with many people around the CGGC and, as you might imagine, the largest number of those people are of the ERC.

A few days ago, I received some comments about ERC sessions from someone who was present during a portion of the recent Yay God sessions. 

And, after those comments steeped for a night or two, it struck me that they are profound and that they hit at the essence of one of the key dysfunctions of the ERC and the General Conference from the highest mountaintops to the lowest valleys.

My friend said, essentially in passing:

A lot of excitement about church planting in North and South Carolina. Not much talk about failed church plants. I remember last year the great ado about the Fusion plant in Manheim, and I don't think it is meeting anymore, or if it is only on a limited basis.

Bingo!

 

One of the core traits in my Characteristics of the CGGC Brand is Cynicism. 

 

In the CGGC we are all cynical.  Disaffected members of churches are cynical about congregational leadership, pastors are cynical about the congregations they serve or congregations they have served in the past.  Many pastors are cynical about conference and denominational leadership. 

 

And, based on my time in Findlay and in ERC Commission membership, it occurs to me that the place cynicism exists with greatest intensity is in leadership's cynicism about the parts of the CGGC body that does not participate in its good old boy network.  I am also struck by the lack of respect leaders show to those people.

 

In the two sentences I quoted, it is evident why so many are profoundly cynical in regard to leadership:  Our leaders can't be trust to speak truthfully to us.  If fact, they set themselves apart from accountability to the larger body.

 

Year after year Conferences meet and, year after year, the phenomenon my friend described repeats itself.  We hear accounts of Pentecost-like blessing of the Lord on our leaders and the ministries the perform.  Yet, year after year, our numerical and spiritual decline continues.

 

Oh, how some of us yearn for the day when a leader stands humbly before the body to describe his/her dreams and efforts and also states transparently,

As for what I dreamed last year, there have been some disappointments.  Here are some of them....  And, with the Lord's help, and with your continued prayers and support, I will devote much of my energy in the coming year to understanding how what I dreamed last year was not blessed by the Lord and how, in years to come, I will be able to walk more humbly and faithfully in His will.

That never, ever happens in the CGGC.  There is no honesty.  There is no transparency.  There is no accountability.  There is no respect for the body--for the eldership.

And, let's be clear.  The Lord is not blessing what our leaders have been doing and the body becomes increasingly cynical about leadership.

The body has to stop the move toward cynicism by calling leaders to account.  And, leaders must begin to humble themselves before the body and, more importantly, before the Lord.

May the Lord have mercy on us.

We must repent.