What Passes for News in the CGGC

FYI, I consider what follows to be a commentary on a crucial big-picture, values-oriented problem which defines the continued decay of the CGGC. It may seem nitpicky. And, I apologize for that. But, I'm convinced that, if we are going to change, we must address this issue. 

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I have a full-time job managing the Front End (i.e., the cashiers and baggers) in a Supermarket.

As all grocery stores do, our store prints a weekly circular which highlights some of the items the store is featuring during a given week, or that it is offering at a special price, during that week.

As a part of the ERC in the CGGC, I, with the help of a friend, still have access to what Conference mountaintoppers call Keeping in Touch E-Newsletter.

Every time I look at the Conference E-Newsletter, I can't help but think of the store sales circular--because they both perform the same task: They promote the organization's current specials.

For the store, it's a weekly thing

For the ERC, it's a listing, that is also published weekly, of rallies, retreats, workshops organized by the Conference and special events sponsored by local congregations in the coming weeks and months.

But, what the Conference calls news, is anything but news.

It's an ad. It is what every grocery store in the country publishes as a sales circular.

An advertisement. That's what the ERC calls News.

What the ERC calls news ain't news.

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I'm equally fascinated by what the CGGC General Conference calls news.

At the General Conference level, news is passed on through the CGGC eNews, a document published week, now as a blog in which comments are invited and published on the blog itself (after "moderation" by unspecified person, probably not Lance himself).

What passes for news from this source makes for a fascinating study. To be fair to Lance, the notion of the eNews as a source of CGGC news didn't originate with him but Lance has carried it on.

An example of what the General Conference thinks of as news across the denomination appeared some time ago when Lance was waiting for the bus (I'm guessing the school bus because I'm certain that Lance doesn't take Greyhound when he travels as CGGC CEO.)

The eNews news across the denomination that week was that Lance realized that he has issues with patience!

That's News, as the General Conference defines news, and has defined news for about ten years. And, its typical for the sort of news contained in the eNews.

Please understand.

I don't begrudge Lance the opportunity to reflect on his spiritual struggles. And, I think, as CEO, that knowing that Lance struggles in his walk helps the rest of us in our own struggles.

But is that news?

What appears as news in the eNews is a very peculiar definition of what news is.

And, in my mind much more importantly, it prevents the people of the CGGC from receiving what the rest of the world understands to be news from Lance's column.

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The truth is that, in the CGGC, there is no longer regular reporting of denominational events and happenings.

But, there is, in a way that is unique to its dysfunction, a Mt. Everest-esque pile of CGGC FAKE News.

The ERC advertises rallies, retreats and other special events but it never, ever reports on those events after they take place.

General Conference news amounts to the Executive Director's memories and ruminations but rarely accounts of recent events that have taken place in the body in the way a journalist journals news.

Why, in a body dominated by shepherd values, which emphasizes the importance of community, is this the case?

I suspect that the answer to that question can be traced back to Lance's recent observation in the eNews that 80% of CGGC churches are stagnating or declining.

Four out of five CGGC congregations are not doing well and this decay has been under way for generations and the rate of decay continues to increase.

If the mountaintoppers reported actual news--and, if they reported it honestly-- what would they be reporting?

-Workshops that were poorly attended and which accomplished nothing,

-Ministry reviews which document an increasingly rapid downward spiral,

-Increasingly long lists of churches unable to support full-time ministry,

-Lists of congregations that were flourishing nearly 200 years ago when Winebrenner or a contemporary called a village's sinners to repentance now holding final services and closing their doors.

Those are the events that are now the news in the CGGC.

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So, these days, News is a sales circular. Or, the CEO confessing spiritual struggles or memories of a former seminary professor.

But, it's never journalism.

It's Fake...News.

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I've tried to write this without being picayune and trivial but I don't know how well I've done.

Here's why this is spiritually meaningful:

One of the greatest shortcomings of the CGGC these days has to do with telling the truth.

There certainly are times that we lie to ourselves about ourselves.

But, I think, more often, we simply avoid the truth.

And, we can be very clever in doing that. We can be so clever that few people even notice.

Who notices that the mountaintoppers continually claim to be reporting CGGC news but that there is no reporting of what actually is taking place?

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The Word is clear that salvation is a result of repentance which is a result of godly sorrow.

I believe that if we actually reported news to each other we might be led to the place that we were confronted by the truth about ourselves and we might experience the sort of sadness that produces a repentance that leads to salvation.

But, if we permit mountaintoppers to substitute ads for future events and personal meditations in the place of reporting of what's really going on in the CGGC, we will never face up to the truth about ourselves and we will avoid the opportunity to experience the godly sorrow which, through the Spirit, produces the repentance that leads to salvation.

And, our decay will continue.

We must repent.