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National Dialogue Makes Local Impact LOUISVILLE, KY, JULY 26, 2002 -- Christians in Louisville recently participated in a remarkable event. Local congregations from each of the three major branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement assembled together for worship and fellowship. The next evening, local church leaders gathered in small groups to openly discuss some of the issues that unite and divide them, and to affirm their desire to take seriously Jesus' plea for the unity of believers. The event was scheduled in conjunction with the fifth meeting of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue. The Okolona Church of Christ hosted the joint assembly on Sunday night, June 16, 2002. Acappella highlighted the assembly, and Jimmy Sites (Church of Christ) presented a devotional message on Christian unity. Presentations were also made by three of the Dialogue members, which focused on the initial fervor for unity that characterized the American Restoration Movement. The presenters were: Doug Foster, professor at Abilene Christian University (Church of Christ); Henry Webb, retired professor at Milligan College (Christian Churches/Churches of Christ); and Robert Welsh, president of the Council on Christian Unity (Disciples of Christ). The assembly was followed by a dessert buffet provided by the Okolona church. Eight local churches of Christ were represented. Approximately 50 local elders, ministers and other church leaders from the three movements met with the twenty Dialogue members on Monday night, June 17, at Southeast Christian Church. After a brief devotional, they split into discussion groups of 6 or 7, led by members of the Dialogue. At the end of the evening, each group summarized the content and tenor of their discussion for the whole assembly. Several of the groups focused on the statement of confession and affirmation of faith produced in a prior meeting of the Dialogue. A few of the groups spent their time dealing with one or more issues of division between the movements. All considered possible measures to follow-up on this initial contact between local churches. The tenor of discussion in each of the groups could be described as "charitable and frank." The joint assembly and discussion groups came about as a result of contacts made by John Mills (Christian Churches/Churches of Christ), a member of the national Dialogue, to several ministers in the Louisville area to find out whether they had an interest in a joint assembly and were willing to make the arrangements. David Kenley, Director of Pastoral Care for Christian Church Homes of Kentucky (Disciples of Christ), Tom Mobley, President of the Louisville Bible College (Christian Churches/Churches of Christ), and Arnis Pape, minister of the Westport Road Church of Christ, agreed to coordinate and promote the event. These three leaders in consultation with other participants are engaged in evaluating the success of the effort and discussing plans for future contacts between local churches and leaders. -- end -- by Arnis Pape 02-73 Council on Christian Unity |