Monday, October 16, 2017

The Factions in the ERC

It would seem to be inevitable that, as the decline and putrefication of the ERC reaches the point that it can no longer be pretended away, divisions among its people would become more pronounced.

I came into the ministry young and idealistic...

...many, many...many years ago.

And, I was chagrined to see what clearly were well-established factions in the East Pennsylvania Conference of the Churches of God that appeared to me to have existed for some time.

Those groups continue to exist. But, as decline advances, I see some evolution in the makeup of the groupings within the Conference.

I see a fourth distinct group forming in response to recent events.

The four groups are:

1. What I have thought of, for a long time as, "The good old boy network."

This group consists of the hierarchs or the mountaintoppers, the people who hold the formal power in the Conference who may or may not be members of Conference staff...and their willing minions. The minions are the people who always say yes to and who unquestioningly embrace every fad and consume every Conference program and stand on the stage every year at Conference to give testimony as to how amazingly the most recent program has transformed them and their church.

This group has oodles of power. These people run the most powerful Commissions year upon year and they pastor many of the churches with the juiciest salary packages. A few are members of the laity.

While this group holds most of the formal power in the Conference, it is, by number, rather small.

2. The cynics. 

This group existed when I came on the Conference more than 40 years ago. It is deeply entrenched.

It consists of people who distrust the Conference hierarchy. Many, but certainly not all cynics, are the populists I've mentioned in a previous post. Some are not driven by worldview to that degree.

This group has never organized well but it consists of people who distrust the Conference hierarchy.

For most of them, the distrust is directed toward the existence of the hierarchy itself, not to the people who are hierarchs at any given moment. Therefore, for almost all of these people, the Administrative Council's decision to search for a new Executive Director will effect no change in attitude. They opposed the hierarchy itself, not Kevin.

This group has always possessed the power to say, "Uh uh," to the fads and programs of the hierarchs. And, they do exactly that.

Why did the old new 2015 Strategic Plan end up being only words on a page? Answer? In large part, the cynics hold the power to ignore what goes on on the mountaintop. And, in 2015, as they do, by principle, they didn't play along.

One thing I've heard from the Town Hall meetings, repeatedly, is that people were asking if the new plan will have teeth. Will the plan require pastors to attend seminars and obtain CECs, etc..

Here's what that question really is: Can this plan make the cynics play along and work with the good old boy network?

I've said, over and over, that the hierarchs are making the mistake of not courting the cynics.

I'm convinced that the cynics will not be moved by the supposed brilliance of the new New Strategic Plan. And, as things stand now, they'll do what they did with the old New Strategic Plan.

Now, what do you suppose will happen when the powers that be go to the congregation of one of these cynics who is popular with his/her congregation and tell the church that the Conference is going to remove their pastor from the pulpit because s/he didn't earn a CEC?

The cynics have little formal power in the Conference but they've been exercising real power for a long time.

(By the way, again, I'm not saying that cynicism is ever a good thing. But, it is a defining reality in the ERC.)

3. The apathetic.

Apathetic toward conference things.

Since my entry into the Conference some people have not cared.

People are apathetic toward the ERC for a wide variety of reasons.

But, bottom line, they are not inclined to get involved beyond their own ministry and congregation.

These people are not a problem for the hierarchs in that they don't stand in their way. On the other hand, they are not inclined to be on board and enthusiastic about new plans and dreams coming down from the eagles who reside on the peaks of the ERC mountain.

4. The skeptics.

This group has emerged as a function of recent events. The decline of the Conference is now so serious that the hierarchs felt the need to address it and to go on record with a plan they tell us they think will reverse the trend of generations.

There is a boatload of people across the Conference who are hesitant, at the very least, to embrace the new plan.

Some of them are in conversation with me and, based on what I'm hearing, many more of them are in conversation with each other.

At the very least, these people are not enthusiastic about the plan. Some of them are respectfully criticizing it among the ERC eagles. Many of these people are convinced that the plan will fail.

One problem I sense, among the skeptics, is that they are not unified in their objections to the plan. From what I'm seeing and hearing, there are, at the moment, nearly as many critiques of the new New Strategic Plan as there are skeptics.

A sad possibility is that the plan may become reality when many of the people of the Conference oppose it yet can find no serious alternative to it that has substantial support.

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So, what's the best thing for the Kingdom of God as far as the ERC is concerned.

First, I think that the Good Old Boys need to humble themselves and face the reality that the Town Hall meetings have been moderately attended at best and that far more people are either cynical, apathetic or skeptical about their plan than support it.

ERC decline has been taking place for about eighty years.

The hierarchs are in panic mode when they suggest that they can develop a plan that will, 

1. Be effective, and
2. Be supported,

in this time frame by this method. 

The cynics need to engage...before the plan is in place. Their thing has always been to let the hierarchs do their thing and not participate.

Honestly, for this to happen, it will be the Good Old Boys who need to reach out.

The apathetic need to engage and understand that the church is a body that exists beyond themselves and their own ministries.

The skeptics hold all the best cards in this hand.

This is a new faction made up of people who used to be Good Old Boys who are disillusioned or cynics who are giving engagement in the Conference a, if only brief, chance to work.

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Skeptics,

Eternity is a long time.

Generations of decline and decay cannot be reversed through a mere Strategic Plan, particularly one composed with this haste in this panic and through this process.

Don't vote no on this thing, simply say, "Not this. Not now."

You, my skeptical friends, hold the key to the future of the ERC.

3 comments:

  1. Bill the biggest and most important thing you left out is God's judgment (or decision) about the ERC. In my opinion the ERC is not the highest authority.

    From being in ministry for many years, I've seen that there are different types of death that happen to a system or organization or denomination. A friend shared these types of death - there are four.

    1. Natural death: When something lives its full cycle of life and then dies, i.e., plants, animals, humans, buildings, etc.

    2. Warfare: When war, persecution, satanic intervention, or aggression causes people's lives to be cut short.

    3. Inevitable and consequential judgment: When God cuts a life short because of sin. Some examples are King Herod, Ananias and Saphira, etc.

    4. The Father's sentence of death: This corresponds with the Father's will and command before the full cycle of life is complete. That which has been born of God, anointed and protected is now sentenced to death. God has His own reasons and purpose for doing so-illustrated in the premature death of Jesus Christ at thirty-three years of age.

    Now with that being said, I personally can't just point my finger at the ERC and not own my own stuff. God's not only going to hold the ERC accountable but everyone, down to the person in the pew. We serve a just God and what he does is always just and fair and his decisions are always right and holy.

    Bill you pointed out four groups only - but there is a fifth group I would include but that is glaringly missing - is probably a small group who pray Spirit directed prayers for the ERC.

    Like you, I've lived through the sentence of death on personal ministry where everything was stripped away from me by God. I can look back now and see that God is just and fair ALL the time. What came out of that sentence of death was resurrection life. I first had to confess and own what I was doing was wrong and not according to God's plan - it was man's plan. It's looked good from the outside but it was not God ordained.

    One thing I can agree with you on Bill is that IF there is no confessing of sin - from top to bottom, God cannot and will not put his stamp of approval on any man made plan - period. Leaders go first and people follow.

    I may have missed it but who is owning their stuff with the 2015 New Strategic Plan? I look up to and respect leaders that have integrity (meaning they walk in truth) when they are wrong. The silence is deafening - where are the Spirit-filled leaders leading the way in confessing their wrong and owning their part?

    Where are the people's voice confessing where they have compromised and followed man instead of God? I'm sorry to say, but non of us can use the excuse we didn't know. We live under a better covenant where every true disciple of Christ can hear God directly for themselves and discern between the profane and holy.

    I'll end by saying, it's no longer church as usual - those days are over. For the last year now, I keep hearing God say, "Just watch me, just watch me - it's not the devil but me bringing order from the White House to MY true church, so watch and pray."



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    Replies
    1. Cindy,

      Thanks for your comments.

      I have been saying repeatedly that, as I say it, the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing the ERC.

      While I haven't talked about the Lord judging or cursing it, noting His lack of blessing is saying, essentially, the same thing.

      I didn't mention the group of people who are praying "Spirit directed prayers for the ERC," because I was not aware of this group's existence. I'm glad to hear about these people.

      Yes, I agree that without confession of sin to the Lord, and to one another, the Lord most certainly won't bless the ERC.

      Your question about who is owning their stuff in the old 2015 New Strategic Plan is crucial. No one, as far as I know, is. And, as a part of confession and repentance, they must. This is the way to walk in the power of the Spirit and to win over the cynics in the Conference.

      But, I've never known anyone in the Conference to take responsibility for errors of the past.

      We must turn to Him!

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  2. "We must turn to Him!" Yes, instead of denominational pleasers may we become Father pleasers. :)

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