Gang,
I rarely comment on the happenings at the seminary because of my personal history with it as a past staff member.
(As you will see, this post is only peripherally about the seminary. Directly, it is about the members of the CGGC clergy who have an obligation to submit to the radical CGGC Mission Statement and faith documents.)
I believe that an important part of my call as a prophet is to speak for the Lord to our church, not to or about the seminary.
Since the days I was on the seminary staff, however, it has seemed clear to me that, under its current leadership, it does not intentionally support the Churches of God. In fact, what the recent first edition of the Scotland Campus Newsletter makes clear is that the seminary makes no bones that it supports "broad evangelical unity" generally and not the CGGC specifically.
Now, for the second year in a row, the Scotland Campus will be presenting an Advent Mass from the broad Anglican tradition.
Talk about capital B, Broad evangelical unity!
Think of the history of the Reformation. Which Protestant tradition was, by far, most distant from the beliefs that the Church of God has held most dear from its earliest days? Which tradition held on to more Roman Catholic beliefs and practices? By far!
As far as the seminary is concerned, I say, more power to you in your pursuit of evangelical ecumenism. You are precisely on mission as you welcome and practice Anglican piety and present this traditional Anglican Mass.
However, as members of the CGGC, we, in recent years, have gone out of our way to embrace a way that is radical and highly focused.
We are people committed by our new Mission Statement (2009) and We Believe (2013) a new animal, a 2013 CGGC Statement of Faith, to be people, as Winebrenner himself said it, of the "New Testament plan" and to have beliefs and practices dictated by the Word of God because the Bible itself is our "only" "rule." This is harsh and extreme theological language. Language that I did not compose. Language that came for the mountaintop!
So, with the Word as our ruler, show me an Advent Mass in the Book of Acts or in the Epistles and I will be the first person in line at the Scotland Campus to consume the religious products and services purveyed that night. If you can show me an Advent Mass in the Word, please do. Because, I've looked and I don't see one there.
As the people of the CGGC, we are now a people who talk a radical talk. That talk demands a radical walk. Winebrenner Theological Seminary is mismatched with the CGGC because both its talk and walk are hyper moderate and, at their core, extremely ecumenical.
I say this: To attend, or worse participate in, this Advent Mass is perfectly appropriate if you are an Anglican or if you are a supporter of the seminary who is not bound to the churchly authorities to which all CGGC people are bound.
But, if you are a CGGC member or clergy person, to even sniff that Advent Mass, will make you insubordinate to the radical things we now believe and claim we practice.
I didn't write the Mission Statement. And, when I had the opportunity, I opposed the new We Believe. As far as I'm concerned, the Statement of Faith was foisted on me through the popish behavior of the current regime in Findlay. In itself, it makes my skin crawl!
But, as long as I hold CGGC membership--and more importantly, ordination--I am bound by our radical talk. And, I will walk that radical walk.
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I believe that any CGGC person holding ordination who participates in the Advent Mass on the Scotland Campus should be defrocked on the grounds of insubordination to the authority of the General Conference in session.
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