Early
Rumblings
In 2006,
I moved here to Roanoke and within days was asked by this district
why I had concerns with Rick Warren and the Purpose-Driven teachings.
Hope Community was also promoting Willow Creek materials and
teachings and I kind of took a stand that wasn't received well. Here
is a sample of an early email I sent out to the Blue Ridge district:
Dear
Pastors of the Blue Ridge FGBC District, June 14, 2006
Greetings
in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is Pastor Steve Mitchell of the
Garden City Grace Brethren Church. I want to first express great
gratitude to all of you who have welcomed me into this group upon my
arrival in Virginia about four months ago. I have truly had some
awesome fellowship and fun with many of you and have enjoyed, for the
most part, the three ministeriums that I have been able to be a part
of.
What
I am about to say, however, concerns what appears to be a pervasive
part that bars me from being able to have any future involvement with
this district unless a big change would take place. I want to lay out
several concerns I have as a result of witnessing some things on last
month’s visit to Hope Community in NC and I need to preface these
concerns by assuring you all that there is no personal problem with
anyone but these issues are grave enough to necessitate the writing
of this letter.
I
have taken many stands in the last few years concerning the
ever-growing acceptance of the Purpose-Driven paradigms and
philosophies of the Church Growth Movement as found in the materials
and practices of Willow Creek, Saddleback, and Neil Cole’s ministry
to name a few. The FGBC has truly been open to the influx of ministry
philosophies and so-called “church growth experts” that are
bringing a patently different set of views to the table concerning
how we should be shepherding in the flocks we minister to. Key
leaders in Winona Lake, from CE National and GBIM, as well as the
conference planners and FGBC newsletter contributors have given
glowing endorsements of Rick Warren, Hybels, and recently emergent
church teachers, Erwin McManus…We’ve even got a FGBC affiliated
merger church with his Mosaic International group as well as a recent
partnership between a GBC and Saddleback. This is also not to mention
a growing number of Grace Brethren churches who have joined and are
being urged to join Willow Creek Association.
Brothers,
I have been studying these ministries and teachings for at least 5- 6
years and work with the Apologetic Coordination Team which is a
coalition of discernment ministries who have taken great stands
against the unbiblical pitfalls of these paradigms and their looking
to the world for guidance in how to transform today’s church into
the pragmatic ministry machine that in some cases and far too often
waters down and dilutes the Word and the Gospel message, trading a
biblical polemic And bold proclamation of the Good news with a
seeker-sensitive, market savvy spiel that produces, in far too many
instances, shallow converts who hear consumer-driven sermonettes and
engage in endless activities to satiate their appetites for
entertainment.
My
father and I have spoken with the top leaders in our fellowship and
have written letters outlining some specific concerns and yet have
been downplayed and averted by many who used to be good friends. My
father has been a FGBC pastor for almost 30 years and has also taken
considerable flack for speaking out against some of the unbiblical
aspects of these ministries the FGBC seems to be increasingly looking
towards for guidance in ministry.
Case
in point, sadly, was what I witnessed at Hope Community this past
ministerium. Walking into the foyer and seeing the Willow Creek
Association’s Leadership Summit banner was disheartening to say the
least. Hearing a pastoral plug for the purpose driven worship seminar
he had just attended and then watching the intro video for the summit
was equally distressing. There was Bill Hybels, and an Indian
business and consultant, and Wayne Cordeiro of New Hope church from
my island home of Oahu, Hawaii. Trust me gentleman, you don’t need
to attend anything that guy teaches in that he is the epitome of
seeker sensitive sermonette ministry on our island. His church has
been involved with a dangerous therapy program called Cleansing
Stream, he routinely speaks with Hawaii’s worst false teachers, and
puts out a program that encourages people to go to all manner off
false churches including some with women pastors! Then the crown
jewel speaker that almost caused me to stand up and say “What’s
going on here?” BONO from U2!!
This
guy doesn’t claim to be a Christian, indeed denies that belief and
with colorful language. Hey brothers all I’m saying is that it
should speak loud and clear to us when the attending associate pastor
at Hope made the disclaimer at the end of the video clip. He said
something to the effect that of course Bono will have an edited
segment due to his propensity for profanity! Should that not tell us
something? Does this guy qualify to be a biblical leader who pastors
need to listen to? Yet this was chuckled at when mentioned.
I
believe that on further investigation into what the Willow Creek
Association, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and other current fascinations
of the FGBC actually teach, it becomes all too clear that our
fellowship, our ministerium, our district and the individual
congregations and ministries of any who would begin down this road
will inevitably end up like the thousands of others who have
swallowed these principles and endorsed these men. The Word of God
will certainly not be the focal point and our individual flocks might
even degenerate to the point that they would think a rock star
training them would be a good idea.
I
am making this stand on my own at this point. I do however counsel
everyone to read Pastor Vic Young’s Oxford paper and heed the
timely and profound warning therein. It eloquently lays out concerns
that I happen to share with him and I urge everyone to take it to
heart. His paper has its finger on the pulse of this issue. Well
Done!
Please
understand once again that this is no personal attack or grievance
based on any bone to pick with anyone. I have just observed the
effects of this same phenomenon literally all over the world in my
missionary travels and as I stand internationally with a growing
coalition of men and women who have stood on the Word of God, weighed
these winds of doctrine, and found them severely wanting. I am
currently at the point of exhorting any pastor, leader, layperson,
Christian to repent from what Willow Creek and others are spreading
and asking us to be a part of.
No,
I will never send my fellow ministers to the Leadership Summit where
the truth and the very fiber of biblical ministry is so compromised.
I must also refrain from involvement in this ministerium until and
unless there is really a stand taken in the face of this. Following
the Church Growth Movement into the Emerging Church is dishonoring to
our Lord and the high calling of being a pastor. Until my fellow
pastors in this district will stand and say enough, then I bid you
adieu with heavy heart. I have made too many stands in this area and
have many people waiting to see if I will bend or compromise. For the
sake of Christ and the Word, my family and ministry partners, and the
saints of Garden City GBC, I cannot just attend these ministeriums
and say nothing, nor can I continue to support what’s going on as
long as good men are remaining silent on this issue.
So
now what? Well, I just had to share this concern with you. I am
including an extensive collection of articles from others and myself
in the ACT Team I represent. Careful reading of these materials will
fortify and explain my concerns and why I believe that the FGBC
should have no involvement with these groups whatsoever.
I
am also free to talk to any of you as I have a great deal of
affection for those of you I’ve met. I want to dialogue on these
matters and I am also available to do seminars of any length for you
and your congregation. Its important I believe to get familiar with
what’s really being taught and to know the biblical teachings
concerning ministry and pasturing. If anyone wants to learn from
Bono, buy his albums but don’t take his words to heart as to what
real leadership is.
I
love you all and hope to hear from you,
Pastor
Steve Mitchell Garden City GBC 2
Tim. 3:16-17
Contact
me at office: 540-427-0103
Home:
540-904-5420
Online
articles for study and consideration:
This
letter and following correspondences resulted in me being put “on
trial” alongside of Pastor Vic Young at Camp Tuk-A-Way the month
after I wrote this. I had several other correspondences with folks at
Hope community after this and it was agreed that we disagree. Vic
Young departed from this district about two months after this meeting
because guys from Hope wanted to play videos from the Willow Creek
summit at our ministerium meetings. I stayed in this district to
continue to try and share my concerns which were also privately held
by most of the pastors that currently sit around the table at our
ministerium today.
At this
Tuk-A-way meeting I gave each pastor a CD of a two-hour 45-minute
spoken sermon about my concerns regarding Rick Warren, Willow Creek,
and the new phenomenon (at the time) called the “emerging church”
or “emergent” teachings. Here is the transcript of this sermon
and I can send you a CD if you want but this is the first and most
seminal treatment of my concerns at the time. To date, over 10,000
hits are on this sermon online and this article started the whole
rumblings about me in the fellowship. I've also had lots of agreement
and favorable response:
this
sermon was posted December 2006 and went web-wide. It was available
on mp3 but I cant find it now. If you are interested I can give you a
copy on CD but above is the transcript and boy did it hit some nerves
but I hope you can read this concern.
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