FLOATING THE MAINSTREAM
Restoration History #12

Strengths and Weaknesses

• A people of the Book.
• More concerned about what the Bible said than those around us.
• Not pursuing the American dream but seeking the kingdom.
• Evangelistic and growing numerically.
• Cared for the poor and hungry.
• Race relations - still too much a part of Southern culture.
• The reputation that: “They think they’re the only ones going to heaven.”
• Many disputed more, prayed less, and forced conformity to a narrow view of doctrinal correctness.

The Impact of World War 2

• Post-WW2 decades push church into the mainstream
• Three factors:
  - Education
  - World Missions
  - Middle-class acculturation

Missions

• In 1946 the Broadway church called a national meeting to discuss missions cooperation.
• The “Sponsoring Congregation” Plan
  - Broadway in Lubbock, Texas, for Germany
  - Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, for Japan
  - Crescent Hill in Brownfield, Texas, for Italy

Women in Missions

• Sarah Andrews, Japan, 1916 - 1961
• Hettie Lee Ewing, Japan, 1926
• Elizabeth Bernard, China, Hong Kong, 1933-1971
• Irene Johnson-Gatewood, Germany, post-WW2

Education

• Impact of G.I. Bill
  - Abilene Christian College, Harding College, David Lipscomb College, Freed-Hardeman College, and Pepperdine College attendance increased.
• Between 1942-1964 eleven new Christian colleges are formed in the U.S.
• Funding came from churches, members, and business leaders.

If You Build it ...

• Attractive buildings are tools for evangelism
• Special programs for all members of the family
  - Responded to “Baby Boom”
• New ministries
  - Multi-staff
  - Education, youth, campus

Madison Church of Christ

• “You Can March for the Master,” Ira North, 1959
• Madison’s explosive growth made it the model for church growth techniques in many congregations in the U.S.
• North emphasized one-to-one evangelism

Jule Miller Filmstrips

• A recorded narrative with pictures
• Provided ordinary church members with an attractively-packaged "plan of salvation"

Christian Broadcasting

• Herald of Truth began national broadcasting on radio in 1952. Television in 1954.
• Batsell Barrett Baxter joined in 1959 as the speaker.
• Rise of new journalism
  - 20th Century Christian
  - Power for Today
  - Christian Chronicle (1943)

In the Mainstream

• Periodicals, broadcasts, lectureships and workshops created a mainstream identity.
• National recognition and influenced accepted
  - Celebrities (such as Pat Boone)
  - 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair Exhibit

Innovation and Change

• Growth meant innovative methods
• Financial cooperation to support
  - missions
  - colleges
  - media evangelism
  - para-church institutions (children’s homes, etc.)
• Suspicion: new methods are based on a desire for worldly prestige or attempt to control.
• Individuals might support innovations but not churches.

The Gospel Guardian

• Fanning Yater Tant, editor of The Gospel Guardian:
  • Opposed “sponsoring congregations”
  • Used the argument from silence
  • Threatened autonomy and non-denominational Christianity

Advocate vs. Guardian

• The debate rhetoric was so strong on both sides that a split took place.
• In 1954, B.C. Goodpasture, editor of the Gospel Advocate, called for a “quarantine” of the “anti-cooperation” faction.
• 2,000 congregations (120,000 members) maintained the non-institutional position.

The Winds of Change

• The Church was no longer culturally alienated - it was now “mainstream.”
  - Members were generally more educated and affluent.
• Innovation generated amazing growth and opposition
  - A tension for the Restoration movement
  - Innovations of an earlier age forgotten
  - Innovation to come questioned

• Ambiguous relationship with politics
  - Opposed Catholic President (1960)
  - Uninvolved in Civil Rights (1964)
• Theology remained rational and issue-oriented (for both groups in split)
  - The ancient order of things
  - Three-part hermeneutic
  - Argument from silence

What do we do when the mainstream goes the wrong way?

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Evening Sermon, 25 May 2008

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