Church Updates, Corrections, and a Missionary Remembrance
Mark A. Taylor offers several updates from Christian Standard, including an apology about article illustrations, a correction for a conference speaker, news about Great Communion observances, and a request for megachurch survey information. The column closes with a moving remembrance of missionary martyr Phyllis Rine through a note from Helen Schaub.
- Christian Standard apologizes for a misleading illustration choice connected to articles on emerging churches and Restoration Movement thought.
- The column corrects information about the Evangelizing Smaller Churches Network Conference and shares Great Communion updates.
- A letter from Helen Schaub recalls the death of missionary martyr Phyllis Rine in Africa in 1964.
By Mark A. Taylor
This week’s items have little relationship to each other except that (1) they’re important, and (2) they don’t fit anywhere else in the magazine. So, please forgive the somewhat random nature of this, but keep reading.
Apology and Correction
The first is an apology, not for two articles we published, but for the way we illustrated them. William R. Baker’s comparison of emerging churches with Restoration Movement thought (November 23 and 30) is valuable to consider. But by positioning images of Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone over the shoulders of Dan Kimball, Brian McLaren, and Spencer Burke, we seemed (at least to some readers) to say we endorsed everything the latter have written or stand for. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we appreciate the readers who pointed out the faulty implication.
The next is a correction. In my column December 7, we listed the wrong keynote speaker for the January 30 Evangelizing Smaller Churches Network Conference sponsored by Iowa/Nebraska Christian Convention. David Bycroft, one of the most popular speakers in our lineup of ESCN keynoters, spoke, and we’re sorry we left out his name.
By the way, check out the new ESCN Web site at www.escnetwork.com for complete information and improved registration procedures for the remaining spring conferences.
Great Communion Celebrations
In this space January 18, I shared the exciting news about the Great Communion observance planned for Pittsburgh October 4. Here’s another: Cincinnati Christian University will host a Great Communion celebration on its campus that evening at 7:00 p.m. Tell us about your Great Communion service, and we’ll share the details.
Megachurch Issue Survey
Our megachurch issue will be published April 19/26. Every year new congregations qualify for the list of “emerging megachurches,” those whose weekend worship averaged 1,000 or more in the previous year. If your church is one of these and you were not included in last year’s list, please tell us today. Send a note to ch***************@*********ub.com, and we’ll e-mail you the survey so your data can be included this year.
Remembering Phyllis Rine
Finally, we want to share part of a note Charliece Fierbaugh received after her article about missionary martyr Phyllis Rine was published here November 23. The letter came from Helen Schaub, who also served in Africa with Phyllis.
She “was a close friend,” Mrs. Schaub wrote. “We were together, locked up in a hotel room on November 24 (1964) when the paratroopers landed and gunfire was heard. We were ordered out into the street. The gunfire came as we were fleeing. I was one step ahead of Phyllis, holding hands with my two young sons. She was hit as we ran and she bled to death in the street. This is something I will never forget.”
Indeed, it is something all of us should always remember.
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
