Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Perhaps the ministry of WL and WN should be given some credit for this development, at the very least it should be noted that Christianity has moved closer to the expression propounded by WL and WN.
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Why should the ministry be given credit for something which had nothing to do with them? Should they be given credit for the 1950s "revival" in the Church of England, which saw the challenges of traditional "preacher/parish" tackled by the bishops? Seems unlikely, given the time period. According to accounts from bishops at the time, this move was entirely sparked by prayer and the Holy Spirit following the bombing of Coventry Cathedral in the Second World War. I doubt any of the people involved with this in Coventry at the time had ever heard of either WN or WL.
Funny, too, that when the WN/WL "saints" came to Coventry, instead of examining the status of the local church and finding out about this rich history and the very open practices adopted by the cathedral, they simply planted their own pathetically small group meeting, claiming the city as their ground. Claiming themselves as "the church in Coventry".
Perhaps as an aside, is there any audit-able research work required before a local church can do this? How long do they need to spend examining the local ground before establishing their "own" thing? Because in Coventry, there was no evidence they even looked around first.
It was this discovery which began turning me away from LC, witnessing the sad proud little state of the home meeting, while a few miles away lay one of the greatest hearts of Christianity I've ever experienced, a church WN no doubt would have fully enjoyed and supported. Yes, it had a name, it would be hard to "de-name" a Church of England property. But that aside, it was a beautiful example of Christian fellowship and the leading of the spirit. And all that work was effectively "nullified" by the saints who ignored it and claimed the city as their own. Luckily for the real church in Coventry, those LSM saints are making very little impact in the city, although their base is (of course!) very close to the University and they do reach a lot of Chinese exchange students there......... no doubt pollute them about the evils of the church of England before they get a chance to see for themselves.
Anyway, good stuff Aron, keep it up, enjoying your sharing. Sorry if this is a little off topic, I also had a million comments on your first couple of posts but others have said it better.