In spite of our mistakes--and there were many--God blessed this fellowship and the church grew over the ensuing years as many hundreds of people of many different social, cultural and racial backgrounds were baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. People from all walks of life were drawn by the sincerity of the commitment of the disciples to the Word and the radically different lifestyle which reflected that commitment.
As time passed, we formed ever-closer relationships with other congregations of Christians who had similar beliefs, values and desires. What started out as one thing, however, slowly evolved into another so that by the late 1980’s and early 1990’s our fellowship became more and more organized culminating in the formation of the ICOC, which itself evolved and grew as an organization. Many great things were accomplished through God’s power and the collective efforts of the ICOC churches. Perhaps most importantly, churches were planted in almost every nation on earth and the Gospel was preached in some places where it had not been heard in generations.
However, much was also lost and changed in the process as this movement got seriously off-track: the organization of the churches (both congregation to congregation and within the individual congregations) became hierarchical and rigid; many mature Christians were made to feel less important and were valued less than young “zealots”; personal performance became the measuring rod; “discipling” often became a means of harsh rebukes and ungodly treatment of Christians; advice many times became permission; differences in matters of opinion were viewed as divisiveness and sin; false teachings crept in and some even nullified the word of God; congregational self-government was surrendered and was replaced by a hierarchy which was controlled by leaders in distant places who were not answerable to any local authority; free will offerings of money, possessions, careers, etc. became, in effect, taxes while the needs of poor people in our fellowship often went unmet and the priorities of the local congregation were often subservient to the priorities of the centralized leadership—in short the movement became more and more man-focused, and less and less God-focused.
Most of these changes were small and incremental. Most, if, perhaps, not all, were started with the best of intentions. But the accumulated result of many of these practices over time was that in many ways, shapes and forms, God’s word was nullified and God’s people were hurt. Many good people with a sincere love for the Lord were either unwilling or unable to live under these conditions and they left our fellowship. Some were driven away. Others stayed and endured and suffered the heart hardening consequences of these conditions. No one was unaffected.
Over the course of the past 12 months, through many discussions and much outpouring of hurts, offenses and apologies our sins, errors and mistakes have been exposed. God has indeed been at work, as He has always been. We have new leadership which has established congregational self-government in all matters relating to our congregation, while striving at the same time to preserve and maintain connections with other churches through our personal relationships, similar beliefs, values and desires. As a leadership and as a church we wish to repent completely of all of the practices and the ideology which caused us to err and to sin, and to renew our focus on God’s word as the source and pattern for our lives as individuals and as the body of Christ. We want to restore grace, mercy and compassion to their rightful place in our fellowship. As a leadership and as a church, we wish to apologize to those who have been hurt by our arrogance, self righteousness, harshness, judgmental attitudes, or other sinful attitudes and practices, and we simply ask for your forgiveness. If there is anything that we can do, please contact us.
Our God is a God of fresh beginnings. He is patient with us, not wanting to lose anyone. This promise is both comforting and inspiring as we individually and collectively look ahead. As a leadership and as a church we want to learn the lessons of our past mistakes and from our successes. In everything we want to be guided by this: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Ps. 127:1. We want our church to be pleasing to God: in the world, but not of the world; a place where the fellowship is deep, genuine and sweet; we want to meet each other’s needs; we want to raise our children to grow in their love for God and to lay down deep convictions that will sustain them throughout their lives; and we want to help as many as possible to know the Lord-both here and abroad. We want to dedicate ourselves to fulfilling God’s purpose for us in the time He has allotted to us and, in the end, we want to be with Him forever.
Times of change and transition can be unsettling and cause us to question our beliefs and convictions. As we look to the future, it is good to remind ourselves of our core beliefs and values. We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it is the duty of each Christian to follow its directives and to apply it to their daily lives. (2 Tim. 3:16-17). We believe that there is one God and one mediator between God and man, and that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. (1 Tim. 2:5; Jn. 14:6). We believe that there is a plan of salvation and that it consists of confessing that Jesus is Lord; repenting; being baptized (immersed) in water for the forgiveness of sins at an age of personal accountability; and that whoever is so baptized receives the gift of the holy spirit. (Acts 2:36-39). We believe that Christians are called to a lifestyle which is radically different than the standards of the world—that a Christian must walk as Jesus did. (I Jn. 2:2-4). This commitment will naturally lead us to call each other higher in terms of sacrificial living; generosity; personal righteousness; leading our families; reaching out to the lost world; and many other ways too numerous to list. We expect that every person who wishes to be a member of this congregation to be committed to supporting it—each member of the body is a “supporting ligament” which is joined together with every other member and holds the body together as it grows and builds itself up in love. (Eph. 4: 11-16). We believe in Biblical authority, and that such authority is in place to protect, unify, serve, love, and to prepare God’s people for works of service. Therefore, we are expected to obey our leaders and support them and submit to their authority so as to make their work a joy because they serve as men who must account to God for their leadership (Heb. 13:17); understanding at the same time that our leaders are to set the proper example as followers of Jesus. (I Cor. 11:1, I Tim. 4:12). We believe that the Church is the body of Christ and that the members of the body are interconnected and interdependent and that these “one another” relationships are vital to our spiritual survival. (Jn. 13:34-35; 1 Cor. 12:12-31; Eph. 4:11-17).
The challenge in composing any list of beliefs and values is: what do you leave out and what do you include? This is not intended to replace scripture, nor is it intended to place a different emphasis on Jesus’ call to discipleship than what the Lord himself has said. This is intended merely to re-state and reaffirm that the things we were taught that led us to say “Jesus is Lord” are still the things that we believe and practice. In all of the many individual decisions that we will make as the future unfolds, we reaffirm that our standard is the Bible, our example is Jesus and God is over all, through all and in all. (Eph. 4:6).
