[OBW]

Originally Posted by Terry

Kaung rationale, how could an assembly of 200 call themselves the Church in New York City at the exclusion of all Christians in New York City not meeting with them.

Originally Posted by Freedom

This is just me hypothesizing now, but I think there is a very subtle distinction between the two groups. First of all, it seems like both groups would agree that there should be one church per city. It also seems that both groups would also say that they hold to the idea of rejecting denominations and "not taking a name". Where I think the distinction lies is that those in the LC believe they have to declare themselves as being the "church in X" in order to be the "church in X". It seems Kaung was more inclined to the idea that the "church in X" already exists and there is no need for anyone to declare themselves as such.

I think that there is something preferable in Kaung's apporach, yet there is something in there that still suggests the kind of exclusive view of the church.

Why?

Because both groups appear to conclude that they are unable to meet separately within the same city. Kaung, who saw no freedom to claim to be the church in a city with a very robust presence of Christian assemblies, could coexist with them all, but evidently not with Lee's group. It is not entirely clear whether that was strictly Lee's fault of being openly beligerent and forcefully subsuming the other group, or a position that they had such a similar understanding of the church that neither could separately meet in the same city with the other.

Of course it seems that Lee and the LCM got over that problem. They just added the following of the ministry of the age and defined the other away, even those who had been of their own group before they excommuncated them.

I do note that in the earlier days, the LCM would go to a city where a Kaung group was already meeting and begin by meeting with them. Then slowly they would insist on one thing after another until they either took over the original group, or found "ground" to ignore them and meet separately (pun intended).