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Church History 201 Guidelines

Welcome to Church History 201.

Believe it or not, this is the exact place where Luther first posted the 94 thesis. We convinced him to add one.

This is the forum where the Church and its actions in history can be discussed. Since CH201, like the other fora in the History department, is not limited to participation along lines of theology, all may post here. This means that anything like Ecclesiology can be discussed without the restrictions of the Ecclesiology forum, and without the atmosphere of Ecclesiology 201 or the Apologetics-specific forum.

Please keep the Campus Decorum in mind when posting here--while 'belief' restrictions are not in place, common decency is and such is not the area to try disembowel anyone's faith.

If you need to refresh yourself on the decorm, now would be a good time.


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LOCAL Church History

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  • LOCAL Church History

    OK, I know this is a stretch, cause this forum is for REAL "Church History", but it's so DULL and EMPTY in here.


    One of the things I always love to do when I go to a Church as their new minister is to get the "minutes" to business meetings of the Church, get a fresh cup of coffee, and sit back and read.

    They are quite informative, as they often give insight into past problems, the manner in which the Church handled them, and other things.

    In one Church, I saw that they had FREQUENTLY talked about buying a new sign for out front. I mean -- this came up like nearly every 2 years over the previous 25 year period, and the Church Sign looked HIDEOUS. I suggested - "it appears this has been talked to death forever so, either let's DO it, or don't talk about it ever again".

    We did, indeed, vote to buy a new Church Sign, and it looked great and ended that discussion.

    On a more serious note, however, I remember reading the minutes of a Baptist Church that went all the way back to the Civil War. It was interesting to see that SLAVES of the members were being saved AND BAPTIZED in the Church, and it just outright said, for example, "Myra Jackson, the slave of Brother Broadus, was gloriously saved and baptized on Sunday Night....."

    Now, let's not get carried away with the issue of slavery -- my point is that in the deep south, it was, indeed, a way of life, but it wasn't the way it was so often portrayed, and it was interesting to read the unique way these slaves were welcomed into the Church in such tumultuous times.

    Also, there were a number of times in the late 1800's that drought was so bad that annual meetings were cancelled because of the concern that there wasn't enough food to feed visitors who would travel to the area, let alone the folks who lived in the region who were starving.

    Yet another note was the SERIOUSNESS with which SIN was addressed. It might seem silly or even funny to us, but members were called before the Church for things such as swearing or drinking or dancing. They would come before the Church and confess their sin and ask for forgiveness, and were always welcomed back into fellowship. This seemed to happen during a 2 year span in the late 1800's where an honest-to-goodness Holy Ghost revival was in progress. Sinners were being saved, backsliders were rededicating their lives, folks were being baptized -- and sin was being taken quite seriously.

    I think this was my biggest take-away.... where the Holy Ghost is "in power", sin is not just winked at or excused, it is dealt with, confessed, and forgiven.

    Then, of course, I would read where, 50 years later, things seemed "business as usual", and they were arguing about what color the carpet should be, of if they should have carpet at all, or whether they should pay the pastor more.

    It's interesting to know the history -- even in the short term -- of local Churches.
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
    I mean -- this came up like nearly every 2 years over the previous 25 year period, and the Church Sign looked HIDEOUS. I suggested - "it appears this has been talked to death forever so, either let's DO it, or don't talk about it ever again".
    For the next 10 years at that Church, the unintended consequence of my comment above was that, during business meetings, members would love to poke at me and say "ok, that sounds good - either let's do it or let's don't talk about it no more!" (That took the place of the standard "I move that we...." or "I make a motion that....")
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post

      For the next 10 years at that Church, the unintended consequence of my comment above was that, during business meetings, members would love to poke at me and say "ok, that sounds good - either let's do it or let's don't talk about it no more!" (That took the place of the standard "I move that we...." or "I make a motion that....")
      For my county's 350th anniversary, they published a history of the county in which all then-extant churches were invited to submit a history of their church.
      Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

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      I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

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