The 2006 Unity Efforts—Three Years Later

Three years ago I had the privilege of serving as president of the 2006 North American Christian Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Our convention theme, “Together in Christ,” highlighted the prayer of Jesus in John 17 where he asked the Father to bring unity to his disciples. We preached the great unity texts found in Ephesians chapter 4. We sang—with and without instrumental accompaniment—and worshiped the Lord. We noted the historic significance of the year 2006, 100 years after the U. S. Census Bureau first listed the a cappella Churches of Christ as a separate body distinct from the Christian Churches.

We acknowledged that we don’t have to give up our convictions, but we do need to give up our sinful pride. We asked the Lord to forgive us for, in Lynn Anderson’s words, being “divided far too long over far too little.” We acknowledged that our disagreements have not only been about musical instruments, but we have also been divided by doctrinal differences and cultural differences: large churches from small churches, rural churches from urban churches, new churches from older churches, black churches from white churches. We said, “It’s time for these divisions to end.”

The Christian Chronicle identified the unity talks between the Christian Churches and the Churches of Christ as its number one news story for 2006. Now that three years have passed, can we identify any lasting results of these efforts? Did anything really change? What else still needs to be done?

What Didn’t Happen

Our two branches of the movement didn’t merge in 2006. No one expected them to.

All of our disagreements didn’t disappear. We knew they wouldn’t. Our movement encourages liberty of opinion and congregational autonomy, and no one speaks for all of us. Some of our disagreements arouse strong emotions, representing century-long rifts rooted in deep cultural and theological differences and divergent approaches to the words and silences of Scripture. These disagreements won’t go away quickly, if ever.

Everyone didn’t become friends. In some quarters our divisions continue to spark rancorous debate. Some brothers and sisters, weary of the divisions, have decided any attempts at reconciliation are futile and a waste of time. Sadly, some have found their personal attempts to reach out to brethren on the other side of the keyboard repeatedly rebuffed, with even a friendly invitation to lunch rejected—a difficult response to understand when the Bible tells us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3).

What Has Happened

Thankfully, we can identify several lasting effects of the 2006 unity efforts.

For one thing, we know each other better. Because of the new flow of information across the lines of our movement, many have discovered capable preachers we hadn’t heard before, helpful books we hadn’t read, quality college campuses we had never visited, dynamic churches we hadn’t known about, and wonderful friendships we had been missing on the other side of the keyboard. Even in areas of disagreement, many of us have gained a better understanding of our brothers’ points of view.

• We are doing more together. New churches are being planted through the combined efforts of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. Our colleges are finding capable faculty members and students on both sides of the keyboard, and our scholars are connecting more than in the past. I continue to see friends from the a cappella churches at conventions and lectureships, some of them there as keynote speakers or workshop leaders. Campus ministers are working together to reach university students. Missionaries, Bible translators, and publishers are working together to spread God’s Word.
• We are listening more respectfully. In October 2006 I was invited to Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, to participate in a “Contemporary Discussion” with FHU faculty member Ralph Gilmore. More than 1,000 people—the vast majority from the a cappella churches—attended this gathering on a Saturday morning. In the opening session, I had the opportunity to speak about my faith in Christ, my confidence in Scripture, and my heartfelt devotion to the ideals of the Restoration Movement. In the second session, I listed 10 reasons I personally believe it is permissible to use musical instruments in worship and expressed my strong feeling that different opinions about musical instruments should not be a test a fellowship. Despite the fact that most of my listeners didn’t share my point of view about the instrumental music question, FHU officials treated me with respect and brotherly love; I was allowed to speak my mind; and I received numerous expressions of gratitude afterward from my brothers and sisters in the a cappella churches.

Rick Atchley, preacher at Richland Hills Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, looks back at 2006 and recalls:

“A lot of positive conversations were generated. Brethren in many towns reached across the street to get to know each other better. I have received countless reports of joint worship services and fellowships. I think the efforts of 2006 created a greater awareness of some strengths of each fellowship. For example, exposure to church planting in Christian Churches has greatly increased interest among Churches of Christ. And the efforts helped Christian Churches become more aware of some good things in Churches of Christ, like the Tulsa Soul-Winning Conference and the Pepperdine Lectures, and some of our universities. The number of students from Christian Churches in our area attending Abilene Christian University has risen dramatically, for example. I think the efforts caused some in our movement to reconsider the strengths of our restoration heritage. My sense is that many in both fellowships need to reflect more on the blessings of our shared history, and 2006 gave some a reason to do so.”

What Still Needs to Happen

Significant steps took place in 2006, but there is still a lot more to do.

Atchley says, “What needs to be done—in my opinion—is more intentional cooperation in ministry opportunities. We’ve had our share of joint worship meetings; now it’s time to meet and serve our neighbors together.” He continues, “When one of our missionary families at Richland Hills lost some support, I contacted Drew Sherman at Compass Christian Church (formerly Highland Meadows), and they agreed to pick it up. So now our two churches are doing more than our annual preacher swap—we are working together to advance the gospel in Africa. In fact, Drew and I will be going to Uganda together later this year to explore ways we can expand our mission works. I hope and pray that more kingdom projects like this will be the greatest outcome of 2006.”

A special one-year emphasis can’t unite the church, but Christ can. We’re pieces of scrap iron, but Christ is the magnet that pulls us together. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). The dividing wall of hostility needs to keep coming down, restoring unity with our a cappella brothers and sisters but also across racial and generational lines. In a lost and dying world, we can’t afford to quarrel like two lifeguards who get into a fistfight on the beach while a swimmer is drowning in the water.

As Atchley puts it, “While I think it is difficult to assess all the good that was accomplished, I am confident that heaven will reveal fruit that we could never have imagined. I can personally say that my own ministry was enormously impacted by the unity efforts from that year, and I get emails almost weekly from Christians around the world encouraged by fellowship moments that probably never would have transpired if not for those efforts.”

God is calling us once again to be a movement that shapes America and the world, but we can’t do it alone. We must preach the gospel, baptize new disciples, send missionaries to other lands, plant churches, feed the hungry, nurture families, bring dignity and hope to the poor, save marriages, teach children, care for the elderly, and change our cities. But this great mission is not ours to fulfill alone. As we learned in 2006 and continue to learn in 2009, we need to do it together.