By Gary E. Weedman
I like the North American Christian Convention. I have attended since the 1960s and have many great memories of workshops, worship services, and reunions with old friends and former colleagues. I have participated in workshops and twice led morning Bible studies. I have fond memories of sermons that inspired and gave new perspective, of worship services that brought us into the presence of God, and of Communion services that helped us in “discerning the Lord”s body.”
So, I”m not a completely objective observer. I”ll try, however, to put on my administrative hat and consider this project like any other I”m called upon to evaluate.
THE MISSION
Any organization must be evaluated in terms of its mission. The mission page at NACC”s Web site includes a short history of the organization, describes the nature of the annual meetings,
and makes a strong disclaimer about not being a “denominational headquarters office.” While this page does not include the words “mission statement,” per se, an NACC mission statement surely would include the following two sentences found there:
The NACC is the connecting place, providing ideas, inspiration, and identity to New Testament churches, ministries, and their leaders.
The North American Christian Convention is an annual gathering of Christians for worship, preaching, teaching, fellowship, and networking.
Both sentences indicate purposes for the meeting. Those attending the NACC are the ultimate judges of how these purposes are met. I”m sure the organizers of the meeting have adequate evaluative data from attendees to draw conclusions about the success of each of the purposes. Not having access to that data, then, I”ll make my own observations.
The description that the NACC results in worship, preaching, teaching, fellowship, and networking is certainly accurate. A 104-page program booklet lists worship sessions, lectures, workshops, concerts, Bible studies, exhibits, and general information. In fact, a frequent complaint in the hallways is there is not enough time to take in more events.
The more traditional mission statement (“providing ideas, inspiration, and identity to New Testament churches, ministries, and their leaders”) is more difficult to assess. There are certainly “ideas” and “inspiration” aplenty””no problem there. The challenge is how to assess the “identity” part of the mission.
THE HISTORY
This challenge comes from the history of the NACC and the evolution of the churches originally connected to that history. The NACC was created in 1927 as a reaction to what was seen as encroachment of liberal theology and of “open membership” practiced by missionaries, especially in China. The majority of leaders of the International Convention (formed in 1917 and called the “General Assembly” since 1969) and of the United Christian Missionary Society (begun in 1920) were seen to be supportive, or at least tolerant, of the theological liberalism and practice of open membership.
The NACC originally was meant to be an alternative national meeting and not a replacement of the International Convention. Many persons attended both conventions for several years. But by the 1960s, the division between the supporters of the two conventions was fixed. By this time the conventions were not just alternatives to one another, they were at odds with one another; the two groups were virtually separated. Furthermore, the NACC now encouraged all members of the congregations, and not just the leaders, to attend.
Thus, the NACC has become the one entity that the greatest number of “so-called” independent Christian churches and churches of Christ identify. It is not just for one college, or journal, or those who worship a certain way, or hold to a specific millennial view””it is a preaching and teaching convention that represents all congregations in their diversity.
And diversity there is at the NACC””in musical style, in congregational organization, in views about the role of women, in views of affiliating and cooperating with other denominational churches, in views about missions methodology, and in what to call the leadership of the congregations.
The identity, then, is of a group that is held together not by theological creeds, consistent organizational structure, or consistent worship liturgy, but rather by a group of people from diverse congregations who “have no creed but Christ,” who mostly practice “in essentials, unity; in nonessentials, freedom; and in all things, love,” and who proclaim to the world that Jesus is Lord and Christ.
RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP
With such a mission as this, I see no need for a continued separation of the NACC and the National Missionary Convention. The majority at one convention also attend the other. When the two have met together the result has been successful. I know that colleges and agencies that are expected to attend both find the expense significant and unnecessary.
For the sake of responsible stewardship and to avoid needless duplication, I recommend merging the two.
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Gary E. Weedman is president of Johnson Bible College, Knoxville, Tennessee.
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