wfn.org | Meeting promotes renewed dialogue within the Stone-Campbell movement

["Disciples Off. of Communication"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

Date: July 16, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
E-mail: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

Additional contacts:
	Dr. Mike Armour: 214-823-2169
	Dr. Robert Welsh: 317-635-3100
	Mr. John Mills: 330-225-5268

99a-49
	
	CINCINNATI (DNS) -- Nine ministers and church historians met on June 25 in 
Cincinnati in the interest of restoring dialogue across all three streams of 
the Stone-Campbell heritage.

	The meeting was an ad hoc gathering, with no official sponsorship. Its purpose 
was to explore opportunities to lessen the impact of the division between the 
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), non-instrumental Churches of Christ and 
independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.

	The meeting allowed the participants to become personally acquainted with each 
other and to set an agenda for future talks among them.  Three additional 
meetings have been scheduled, one in November of this year and two more in 
2000. 

	The participants hope their discussions can set the stage for a much larger 
gathering that would bring together dozens of leaders from all three groups. 
The upcoming meetings will serve to identify where the three groups still share 
common ground after a hundred years of division and to pinpoint areas of 
divergence. 

	The Cincinnati meeting was put together through a network of mutual 
acquaintances after Richard Hamm, general minister and president of the 
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), publicly expressed interest in renewing 
dialogue with the independent Christian Churches and the Churches of Christ. 
John Mills, long-time minister in the independent Christian Churches, took the 
initiative to bring the nine-member gathering together. 

	Representing the Disciples were Richard Hamm, Robert Welsh and Peter Morgan. 
Welsh is president of the Disciples Council on Christian Unity and Morgan is 
president of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society in Nashville.

	Participants from the independent churches were John Mills, and two well-known 
historians, James North of Cincinnati Bible Seminary and Henry Webb of Milligan 
College.

	Attending from the non-instrumental Churches of Christ were Mike Armour, 
minister for the Skillman Church of Christ in Dallas; Doug Foster, professor of 
church history at Abilene Christian University; and Phillip Morrison, editor of 
Wineskins magazine. 

	The participants repeatedly emphasized their interest in finding ways to 
remove rancor and abrasiveness from discussions of differences among those who 
are heirs of the Stone-Campbell movement.  At the same time they freely 
acknowledged that they did not see themselves as "official representatives" of 
the particular churches. 

	Toward the end of the day the group adopted a statement of purpose to guide 
their future gatherings.  The statement reads, "To develop relationships and 
trust within the three streams of the Stone-Campbell movement through worship 
and through charitable and frank dialogue, ‘that the world may believe.'" This 
last phrase draws upon the words of Jesus in his prayer for oneness among his 
followers.

	The participants also agreed to expand the next three meetings to include 18 
people -- six from each branch of the movement -- to provide a broader array of 
perspective. Future meetings also will be enlarged to a two-day format. 

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