Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom
It also makes me wonder how many of those churches that split off remain reminiscent of the LC vs those who have moved on completely.
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I spent time in the west coast and Ohio LCs. I think what Ohio is saying is probably true - the Ohio churches were not as doggedly accepting all things coming out of LSM.
The last time I was around a west coast LC was in Tacoma about 7 years ago. I couldn't believe how rigid they were for LSM and Lee then. The first part of the one meeting I attended was very good, with lots of robust singing from all the members. But the 2nd half, after a refreshment break, was exclusively WL and the prescribed reading for the week. There were zero testimonies that were apart from this narrow prescribed reading. No one stood up to convey some simple experience of Christ they may have had recently.
At least in Columbus in the 1980s, there were plenty of fresh testimonies of the experience of Christ. So I don't know if that was just a Tacoma thing or if was something that happened later on to all the LC.
In Scottsdale, the ones who formed the gathering here broke from the LC before the mid-1980s. We used to get their monthly newsletter in Columbus while they were still in Seattle (they didn't relocate to Scottsdale until very late 1980s). It was called "The Christian." Several in Columbus read it back then. So, Columbus certainly was not completely aligned with all things LSM back then.
I wonder how other groups meet that left the LC, that is, what gathering format they practice. Scottsdale continues to practice the "open meeting" format where members are free to function, call songs, testify, ask for prayer, etc. Several bros rotate giving the Sunday messages. This functioning is so very rich, and I do miss it when I visit other groups.