Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
The reader should not get the impression that TC "controls" the LC's by visiting them. Very little of that has ever happened. TC primarily works thru the other full-timers in the region, and secondarily thru the elders.
That was like a wet slap in the face. Later on I understood his "perspective." He was regularly with all those other full-timers in Cleveland. He had lots of fellowship and encouragement with them on a regular basis. He really didn't "need" me anymore, nor did he need any of the other brothers we were with locally. I thought that was pretty sad, but indicative of the system we were in.
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As I mentioned in a previous post, in my view, the relationship between "the work" and the church is the source of many problems in the LC system. Essentially the coworkers/fulltimers don't know their place and are not put in their place by the elders. The elders have abdicated their responsibility to shepherd the flock according to the local needs. The system allows the coworkers to run roughshod over the elders and the local churches. What happened in Rosemead in the 1980s was some push back against this kind of system.
If the elders in the local churches put "the work" in it's proper place it would be treated like any other ministry - subject to constant vetting and consideration whether it was necessary and timely for the churches in their care. The presumptuousness and assumptive behavior of "the work" towards the local churches would end and normal boundaries set up.
But as long as the idea of coworkers being apostles with authority over the elders and thus the churches exists the system will persist.