[Indiana]

Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!

This is more of a hypothetical question I'm posing, because I wonder if some on here would not perhaps take the table with us and/or meet with us.

I'm supposing that believers that wouldn't enjoy the Lord's table with us might have two reasons:

1. They might not want to have anything to do with a group who has some "background" or any vague resemblance to the LC

2. They might say we were just another division because we are not on the genuine ground of oneness

So here's a brief history and description - at least what I know of it - regarding the "Scottsdale Church" (that's what's on the sign out front. Not sure, but the official legal name may still be "The Church in Scottsdale" if that makes any difference). The group formed up in the Seattle area in (I believe) the early 1980s and Bill Freeman was a key person. In the mid to late 1980s the group broke from the central control of the Church in Anaheim and many felt of the Lord to move down to Scottsdale, AZ.

There was a robust number of around 200 saints (a rough guess, maybe more with the campus fellowship) in Scottsdale until 1998, when Bill & Patsy Freeman left the group. A number left with the Freemans. I started meeting regularly here about that time.

For me these have been the very best two decades of my Christian life by far! The group here is very open to all other believers. There is no official affiliation with any group, yet we enjoy fellowship with everyone. There is no one person we look to for ministry and a wide variety of authors (including Nee and on occasion even WL), speakers, song writers, etc. that are shared between us - if there is something genuinely of Christ, we want it!

The meetings have an open format similar to the LC, but no restrictions are placed on what can be shared whatsoever. If someone has a fresh experience of Christ, an insight or even a problem they need prayer for, they are free to share. (The singing and expression of the love of Christ is awesome!) Legalism is very actively suppressed (since many have felt its sting over the years) - I marvel at the freedom in Christ that we have.

Personally, I see this group as having all the upside of things that were promoted by "The Recovery" and none of the downsides!

So again, if you were in the area, would you come and enjoy the Lord with us and take the Lord's table with us? (all are certainly welcome)
And please, I would also appreciate an explanation of why or why not.
Thanks!

Hi Sons of Glory,

This sounds like what Brother Lee described in 1963 in messages he gave in the church in Los Angeles when the brothers were encouraged to visit other places and join them in practice of the oneness in the Body of Christ.

Also, in Texas Don Rutledge and Benson Phillips practiced this way, with no expectation to get others to meet with them.

Witness Lee 1963:
"I believe in unity, but I do not believe in uniformity. Perhaps the saints in the church in Los Angeles meet in one way, and the saints in other localities meet in other ways. Do not try to make every place the same in everything. One local church may practice in one way, and another may practice in another way, yet they are still one. They are in the oneness, the unity. All these things seem complicated, but actually it is quite simple. In the early days, the Christians were very simple. They had no forms, no organization, no division, no regulations, etc. But they had the living Spirit within them. Wherever they went, they just gathered together to worship the Lord according to the leading of the Holy Spirit within them.

"Today we should also make everything simple. Wherever we go and wherever we are, we have to be one with the other saints. In any place you should not separate yourself from other saints. As long as they are not divisive, you have to join them and be one with them. We may say that we are free, that we are not denominational, and that we are not sectarian, yet we are separated and would not come together as the one expression of the Body of Christ in this one city. This shows that we are wrong, and this is a real test to us, proving that we still have something that is not of the Lord. If we are really for the Lord and are absolutely of the Lord, we will come together in our locality as the one expression of the one Body of Christ. There is no reason and no right for anyone to keep his group separated from others. This is the test. (The Life and Way to Practice the Church Life,p.105-107)