When Dave Williams and the ERC Administrative Council went around me to contact a person from the Faith gathering about its threat to remove Faith from the Conference, their letter gave the deadline of the ERC Administrative Council meeting in April for the people of Faith to express interest in maintaining a relationship with the Conference.
While Drew, the guy who received the letter, sent the letter to me, through a third party and I possess the letter, Drew and I have never spoken even one word about it to each other.
I left it to Drew and the rest of the people to take action on the, well, ultimatum from the Conference.
If I had been a betting man, I would have bet my house, and every penny I could get my hands on, that the rest of the gathering would not respond to the Conference's threat to remove it from the Conference role.
When George Jensen initially contacted me and told me that there was talk about rejecting Faith, I responded, in part, by telling him that, if and when a meeting takes place, the Commission on Church Renewal will find out, in a nanosecond, that I am the best friend the CGGC has in our gathering.
As far as I can tell, Evie may be neutral toward the Conference and the CGGC, but the rest of the gathering, if the people have any understanding of ministry beyond the gathering itself, DESPISE the ERC and the CGGC, based, I imagine, on the perception that the Conference was only ever interested in taking from the congregation.
Please understand that I have argued against that peception repeatedly but there is a long history that, in the minds of the people, supports their opinion of the ERC and the CGGC.
Anyway...
...I received word, through the ERC grapevine, that Faith has now been officially removed from the Conference.
I have received no personal contact via a phone call or even an email. Drew has heard nothing and I'm certain he would have let me know if he had. (He would be rejoicing.) But, based on the reliability of the source, I believe it.
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I have many thoughts and feelings.
Most powerful among them is fascination over trying to understand what the institutional CGGC actually does.
A truth in all of this is that the Faith gathering walks CGGC talk more passionately and intentionally than any other CGGC congregation I am aware of.
While I, personally, reject creeds and statements of faith, the fact is that, at Faith, we embrace the teachings of the CGGC. AND, WE NOT ONLY AGREE WITH THEM INTELLECTUALLY, WE WALK THE TEACHINGS IN CGGC FAITH STATEMENTS.
More to the point, we, more than any other CGGC congregation, incarnate the CGGC Mission Statement.
And, even more to the point, no one from the Conference or the CGGC has ever questioned our absolute loyalty to what the CGGC stands for and proclaims.
I continue to wonder what the actions of the ERC signifies.
What matters to the ERC? What truth motivates its behavior?
I came to understand a long time ago that I don't answer those questions well.
Whatever the truth may be, I think that the answers to the questions give little reason for people to hope for the future of the ERC and the CGGC--unless we repent.
We must repent.
I have an addition and correct of what I've written above.
ReplyDeleteIt turns out that Drew did get a letter, I believe it was from Dave Williams and, actually, he's not rejoicing. I haven't talked to Drew but he was described as being upset. As I heard more details, I'd say annoyed might be a better description.
Apparently, the Conference has been holding our check designated to assist in paying pastors' widows health insurance premiums until the Administrative Council made its final determination regarding Faith's status in the Conference.
Since the decision to 86 us, Dave returned the check, apparently with a note that Drew could send it back if we still wanted to give the money to the Conference.
I feel like the music is playing and the Conference is calling instructions to The Hokey Pokey!
What a lot of unnecessary brouhaha!
Haven't these geniuses heard of the newfangled device called the telephone? Or, is everyone in Harrisburg so cowardly that they can't speak to us? (Or are they shamed by their behavior? Hmmm.)
One of our guiding principles, from James 1, is that religion God regards as pure and faultless is to care for orphans and widows in their distress...
Of course, we were serious when we sent in the check.
Now, because the Conference insists on the most high-drama, circuitous way of handling things, Drew is going to have to go to the unnecessary trouble of sending the check back.
It strikes me that when an institution is run exclusively by introverts you get this sort of people avoiding silliness.
Is it any wonder that CGGC churches are closing and that 80% of what remains is in decline or stagnant?!?!