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On June 23, for the first time in 108 years, the Church of God Reformation Movement convened its annual meeting outside of Anderson, Indiana. The gathering took place at the Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with more than 2000 attendance. The theme for the Convention was “Be Bold.” Over the four days of the Convention attendees were challenged to Be Bold because Jesus is the Subject.
Pastor Marty Grubbs and the Crossings Community Church were wonderful hosts for this event and the Crossings Facility comfortably accommodated the large crowd. Attendees didn’t have to park and walk a long ways to get into the building and the sanctuary and meeting room where the General Assembly took place were very comfortable. And the Crossings lobby and atrium were large enough so attendees could move easily through the crowd to visit and fellowship with each other.
The Be Bold Convention sported a new format as the worship services and the majority of the other sessions all took place back to back in the sanctuary. From the beginning Informational Session with Dr. Jim Lyon to the closing worship there was a lot of positive energy and Spirit in every service and session.
On Monday evening Dr. Lyon set the tone of the Convention as he brought a message focusing on “Jesus is the Subject.” He stressed that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and to destroy the works of the enemy. From that he shared the story of a Church of God pioneer missionary, Faith Stewart, who founded a shelter for girls caught up in prostitution and the sex slave trade.
He shared that Stewart’s ministry was one that fulfilled what Jesus came to do in that it sought to seek and save the lost and destroy the works of the enemy. All of this set the stage for a challenge and initiative he presented on Tuesday.
In past years there has been a time of memorial where the Ministers who have passed over the previous year are remembered. Historically this has always been done during the General Assembly meeting; however, this year a video of the Ministers who have passed since last year’s annual gathering was presented in the Monday evening service and was very meaningful to everyone in attendance.
On Tuesday morning, Dr. Lyon, following up with his message from the night before, presented his initiative and challenge for the Movement for the next year. The initiative and challenge is a call to work together in a unified effort to combat human trafficking especially as expressed in the global sex trade. For complete details on this initiative go to www.jesusisthesubject.org and click on the CHOG Trafficklight link.
You may ask, why this? This is like trying to conquer world hunger and other such overwhelming tragedies in the world. In a sense that is true but we can at least make a dent in it, and every person who finds a way out of the slavery they are in, especially in sex trafficking, and finds Christ will be one soul saved and that is important in God’s economy.
This effort follows in the footsteps of Jesus ministry Who not only spoke hope and salvation to those who were hurting and in need, but He reached out and helped them by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and delivering the demon possessed. This initiative will help do more than just proclaim the Gospel to those held in this bondage—it will also help them be delivered. They must be able to hear the Gospel and make the decision in their hearts to accept and follow Christ, and also be able to find deliverance from their bondage and slavery. They need to be delivered so they can not only accept Christ but then be in an environment where they can be discipled and led to a mature faith.
Also, this initiative, in this writer’s opinion, is Jim’s attempt to put something on the table that will unify the Movement. And without question, the Movement is in a volatile time right now and there is a certain level of uncertainty and even some division. This could be a catalyst to help bring us together, focusing on something that is relevant and that we can all support, thus helping us move beyond our differences.
Tuesday was also filled with great times of worship and challenging messages from Michael Thigpen, Diana Swoop, and Marty Grubbs. Diana Swoop especially excited the Convention crowd as she declared, “The outcome has already been determined, therefore, we as the church can afford to be bold!”
The evening worship on Tuesday was especially inspiring as Sandi Patty led the worship with a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary choruses, assisted by a worship team composed primarily of her family, the Crossings Choir and Orchestra. Her worship leadership paved the way for Ann Graham Lotz, daughter of famous Evangelist Billy Graham, to speak. She brought a message that challenged the church of God to Be Bold and “exalt Jesus because there is no one else like Jesus!” Lotz returned again on Wednesday morning to address the Convention crowd in the morning worship service.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chair Rebecca New Edson convened the General Assembly. The Assembly was very well attended. No hard numbers were given during the meeting but most likely will be reported in coming weeks. Being in a different venue from that of the past (Reardon Auditorium in Anderson) where the GA has convened, it was hard to gauge or compare the numbers but from all appearances it was an increase over the past year’s assembly meeting.
In the budget report, Dr. Jim Lyon showed a graph depicting the steady decline in giving over the past few years. However, he was able to report that the finances of the Church are in stable condition and that we have no debt. The budget presented for 2014 basically did not change and remains around the 9-million-dollar mark.
Dr. Lyon also presented his four person leadership team that will be working hand in hand with him on a daily basis in leading the Movement. He has chosen Daniel Kartchner as the Chief Operations Officer, Bob Moss as the Chief Advancement Officer, Ben Schular as the International Ministries Director and Handel Smith as the Domestic Ministries Director. The vetting that took place in choosing these four persons to serve on this team promises that they will match and mesh well with Dr. Lyon. Throughout the entire convention Dr. Lyon and his entire team were readily available for conversation and fellowship.
The Assembly reconvened on Thursday morning when it approved a Marriage Resolution, one made in support of the initiative and challenge made by Dr. Lyon of combating the Human Trafficking business; a resolution to challenge 1000 churches and individuals to give a $1000 each over the next year to help combat sex trafficking; a resolution to appoint a committee to work with Dr. Lyon or his designee in planning the 2015 Convention, as well as study and develop a recommendation for the future of the Church of God Convention; a resolution to appoint a bylaws and charter review committee to review, clarify, and align the charter documents and bylaws of the Church, and a resolution to change the current bylaws requiring only paper ballots to be used as the means for voting in the General Assembly.
Wrapping up the 2014 General Assembly each of the Presidents of the Church’s four institutions of higher learning gave their reports about the progress and current state of each of their institutions. Each President gave very positive and encouraging reports about his ministry of the Church. In addition to the Presidents’ reports, Jeff Jenness of Servant Solutions (the former the Board of Pensions) gave a report about the Church’s retirement program. This past year has been a good year for their investments and they continue to expand and develop ways to serve the ministers of the church of God.
As for next year’s convention, the study Committee approved by the Assembly is to identify the site and dates for next year’s convention and bring them to the Ministries Council no later than September 15, 2014. They are to define and plan the program for the 2015 Convention and bring it to the Ministries Council by March 2015. It was not indicated when this information would be available to the Church at large, but it appears to be no later than March 2015.
This Committee is also assigned the task to study and develop a proposal for the long term future of the convention and pre-sent it to the Ministries Council by March 2015 for their approval or amendment and in turn will be presented to the General Assembly for approval or amendment in June 2015.
There was definitely a broader representation of individuals from across the Movement in attendance at the Convention and who participated in the General Assembly, which was one of the goals of this change. There were mixed reactions to the Convention and obvious glitches and challenges and changes that will need to be made for future Conventions, but in all it was a positive experience that brought new life, interest and excitement to the Church of God Reformation Movement.
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Sandi Patti and Choir Leading the congregation in worship |
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Dr. Lyon leading in prayer for the CHOG Trafficlight mission |
