Discipling Fails to Fix Racial Issues in Atlanta

Another failure of the authoritarian discipling system the International Churches of Christ use has been exposed. From a recent post on the well-known ICOC Delphi Discussion Forum, a current member discloses that there are deep racial divides among the individual ICOC churches in the Atlanta metropolitan area. (The following quote is verbatim from the forum post.)

"Needless to say, all the churches handled it their own way. was unique but I can't say any better because of the results being quite fractured. And after it split up, the results varied from church to church in the different locations in the city. Some groups are deeply wounded and many in these groups won't have anything to do with the others. Some are almost all racially one color because of their location in the city being all black.

We also had a hidden racial issue in the church that surprised a lot of leadership. But, hey, this is !

A fragile shift toward unity is growing here but on a much more respectful and peer related level...not authoritarian. It will take a long time because many people are still very sensitive."

The Atlanta Church of Christ was reconstructed in 1986 from a Church of Christ with a Crossroads Campus Ministry. It was lead by Sam Laing who is currently leading the ICOC church in nearby Athens (and was a key player in converting and training Kip McKean at the University of Florida in the early 1970's). After the fallout of the Henry Kriete Letter of 2003, the Atlanta church decided to formally split into separate churches based on geographical regions. For almost eighteen years, it grew into a church of thousands and practiced and preached Kip McKean's authoritarian discipling model and was sold to both its members and potential recruits as a foolproof way to provide a structure for spiritual growth and maturity and numerical growth.

Atlanta, like most other cities in the Southern United States, has had to deal with the specters of slavery and racism for hundreds of years. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's showed that the city and its people were far from reconciling and resolving this issue. Blacks and whites could still live tougher civilly though, but the unspoken undercurrent of the past still remained.

Enter the ICOC with its racially diverse churches. This was and still continues to be one of its best attractions to outsiders. Some ICOC leaders, like Daryl Reed, Lead Minister of the District of Columbia Regional Christian Church in Washington, D.C. are espousing their insights about how to pull diverse groups of people together in the church and get them to work together as a family. (In fact, Daryl has been chosen to speak at the 2010 North American Christian Convention, sponsored by the Christian Church branch of the Restoration Movement!)

So why is there disunity between the Atlanta congregations now? It has been clearly shown that the discipling methods the ICOC has used in the past and continues to use are authoritarian and force each member and each congregation in the group to conform to the norms of the leader. (An excellent description of this in action is the book The Discipling Dilemma.) In the past, it has been Kip McKean. Currently there is no one clear leader of the ICOC. Each church claims to be autonomous. However, there is an emerging body of leaders over the churches that choose to be part of the so-called "Cooperation Churches". Several of the churches in Atlanta are part of this group (Athens Church of Christ, North River Church of Christ, Atlanta Metropolitan Christian Church, and Atlanta Church of Christ in Gwinnett), but many aren't (Greater Atlanta Church of Christ, North River Church of Christ, Cornerstone Church, Marietta Christian Church, and the Northview Church of Christ). With the same forced unity that is pushed by the authoritarian discipling system, it's not surprising to see that major issues among the people in the formerly unified Atlanta Church of Christ, and not just only racial ones, were glossed over for the good of the stability and growth of the group.

Sadly, the solution these churches use to solve their problem is more discipling from an outside authority. In a report from the ICOC Cooperation Churches entitled Elders Service Team Addresses Crucial Shepherding Issues, the problem with the Atlanta Cooperation Churches is mentioned:

"In Atlanta a mediation team of Bruce Williams, John Causey and Wyndham Shaw was asked to assist in resolving issues between 5 cooperating congregations."

(Note: there are only four churches listed as Cooperation Churches in the list linked above.)

Bruce Williams is the Lead Evangelist of the Los Angeles Church of Christ, still the largest ICOC congregation. Wyndham Shaw is an elder in the Boston Church of Christ. Both men have been part of the ICOC going back to the 1980's and have held high level positions in both the era during and after Kip McKean was leading the movement. A recent quote from Shaw is troubling when it comes to the belief that the ICOC without Kip McKean is more open-minded (emphasis mine):

"You know, love for the truth without heart for God and people is legalism. We do have to watch that. We can get so caught up in knowing every scripture and proof text of every issue that's out there in the cultural, philosophical, and religious world - the urban legends - that we become arrogant. We become self-righteous. That we think knowing the truth will save us, rather than loving the source of truth, Jesus - and what he has taught us to set us free. Let's don't become legalists, church. Let's don't become people that are arrogant because we think we're better than others.

On the other hand, do not let anyone shut you up, back you up, or keep you from standing up for what you know the truth is that people need to hear. You see, that's the extreme I'm afraid we got to. 'Oh, well, you we're a little overzealous about who you thought was saved and lost.' Let me say something: the religious world is still just as lost if they do not get the truth of discipleship, of baptism for the forgiveness of sins, by immersion as an adult, as they ever were! We may not be the only ones that hold that conviction, and that's true! And where we find people, we should embrace that, but we can not change the width of the gate or the narrowness of the road that leads to eternal life."

Wyndham Shaw, Elder/Evangelist - Boston Church of Christ (sermon delivered at the Worcester County Church of Christ) - "Love of the Truth" - March 28, 2010 - [42:28-43:55]

It's clear that in Shaw's mind that the only way to unify is through "the truth of discipleship" coupled with the "right" baptism.

In addition, how could the leaders not know that racial issues permeated their congregation? For one, sins of racism were likely confessed by converts and that information was passed up the discipling hierarchy to the top leadership. Secondly, if the leaders had winning Atlanta for Christ in mind instead of building up their own kingdom, they would have known about the culture and city's history, so expecting racial tensions should be near if not on top of the list of concerns that the church had to deal with as it was growing in the 1980's and 1990's.

Ultimately, the intervention by these powerful and influential leaders outside of Atlanta will just put duct tape and a fresh coat of paint on the same problems that have existed for almost the last quarter century. Since the ICOC only has the proverbial hammer of discipling, every problem looks like a nail. And the only solution is to bang away until objects sticking out of the wood have either been driven into it or pulled out and tossed away. The sad part is that almost eight years after the Henry Kriete Letter, Atlanta and the other ICOC churches haven't bothered to dig into the tool chest, particularly reevaluating the driving forces of the First Principles studies, incorporating the role of the Holy Spirit into the individual disciples' lives, and seeking help from the outside to dissolve the sticky tar pit trap of authoritarian discipling and legalism that traps them all.

The Replanting of Boston

Kip McKean has thrown down another major gauntlet to his old ICOC. In his Good News for October 31,2010, he mentions the planting of a new church in the United States in 2011. The target? Boston!

"Coltin & Mandee Rohn will be sent from LA to plant a sister church in Boston, Massachusetts. They will be accompanied by a shepherding couple from LA and ten disciples from New York City, and be discipled by the Smellies in New York City."

This planned planting has deep implications. First, it's setting up a "sold-out" church in the same city where the "Boston Movement" got its name. This is where Kip ceased from being a campus minister in charge of a campus ministry to a lead minister in a church. Later on, he was appointed the World Missions Evangelist in the ICOC. (He currently holds the same title in the ICC.) There will be two churches in the same city: the original Boston Church of Christ and now a new "Boston International Christian Church" (the name is to be determined). Long-time members of the Boston Church of Christ will now have an alternative church in their city fighting for their attention. Second, the Boston Church of Christ is known for a lot of long-time leaders and members who have been completely entrenched in McKeanism and its doctrines. Many specific doctrines of McKeanism have sprouted in Boston, including discipling for every member, "Christian = Disciple = Saved", and "disciple's baptism" (among others). The new church planting may start to draw significant numbers or at least curiosity from "old timers" from the heyday in the 1980's. Third, Boston is still a major metropolitan area with many influential college campuses. It stands to reason that many of these campuses that have banned the Boston Church of Christ will allow the new "sold-out" church on their campuses - but likely only for a short time. Time will tell what will happen, although planting a new church in Boston will certainly raise some eyebrows in the ICOC churches in New England and perhaps in the entire movement.

The couple chosen to lead the new Boston church planting, Coltin and Mandee Rohn, were converted into the International Christian Churches directly at the City of Angels ICC in Los Angles. Not much is known about them, but a video of Coltin (and special guest Mike Patterson) has been found online. (Coltin is sitting next to the cameraman and Mike is sitting diagonally across the table.) Remember that this is the man who will be fully trained and chosen to assume Kip's mighty spiritual mantle in Boston once more.

Spiritual Pornography - the Blog

Many years ago, the domain kipmckean.com was bought and was used to house information about the International Churches of Christ, particularly the time line and personal details of Kip McKean. When McKean started the "Sold-Out Discipling Movement", his group bought the domain kipmckean.org and put information there that put him in a good light. Somehow the old domain kipmckean.com expired or was bought by the International Christian Churches and now both the dot-org and dot-com point to the same site.

So what happened to the information? It's moved to a new web site, spiritualpornography.com. It's a WordPress blog and it should be easier to find information. Plus, it has a great new look! Hopefully more information will be posted to it soon.

Caught In The Act

A classic video of Kip McKean recently surfaced on YouTube. It was recorded during the ICOC's zenith (March 5, 1995 to be exact) and offers an insight to the false Jesus he teaches, but the delivery methods of his heresies as well.

He's speaking so fast that it's hard to determine what he's saying! Here's the transcript:

Well, you know this prayer needs to be prayed by disciples. And know this: you say "Well, why did Jesus need to pray for three hours?" It took him three hours to get his heart right. ("Amen" from audience) Does that help you relate to Jesus? ("Amen" from audience) You see, a lot of times we say "well, I don't want to do this" or "the leaders want me to do this" or "I've got to go on a mission team" or I "do this" or "do that" or "I don't want to be nice to my wife" or "I don't want to do that at work" or whatever, you say "What do I do about it?" Pray. ("Amen" from audience) Why do I pray? You pray not my will by God's will be done. ("Amen" from audience) "Well, how long do I pray?" Well, you pray until that's where your heart is at. Are you with me right here? ("Amen" from audience) See how that works? ("Amen" from audience) That's why prayer always works. You can't stop praying until you're there. ("Amen" from audience) I remember... (end of clip)

First, Kip claims that Jesus had "to get his heart right". From the perspective of Christ's humanity, He had hours left before He had to go through the stress and agony of the crux of His earthly mission: to die a sacrificial death, taking the sin of the world upon Himself so that we can have a relationship with the Father. He even sweated drops of blood! Now, were any of the feelings, thoughts, or physical reactions sinful? Absolutely not! Jesus is God. Jesus is perfect. Jesus can't sin. So how do we reconcile this immutable fact (one of the bedrock doctrines of Christianity) with Kip's claim that Jesus's heart wasn't in the right place? In McKeanist terminology, "having your heart in the right place" means that your feelings, thoughts, and actions correspond to what the discipling hierarchy and leadership expect, not necessarily what God expects. So either Jesus was in sin by not living up to Kip's expectations (Jesus would have "toughed it out") or Kip's assertion is incorrect and is heretical.

Second, notice that the list of things Kip says that involve God's will revolve around the leadership giving commands to the common disciple and the disciple not having "the right heart" to follow the command. Kip's rapid speech, hand gestures, and call-response with the audience manipulate his hearers to believe that Kip's misapplication of scripture is true and is a valid method to correct their hearts when they don't want to obey their discipler or leader.

Third, praying until you have a "right heart" by repeating a formula is not prayer - it's more like a mantra. Prayer is not a formula, it's communication from a Christian to God that builds intimacy between them. Many ex-members have been given the advice to pray about something until their "hearts are right" and most end up dejected and depressed because they can't get to the point where they feel like they can't get there. Ultimately, it's just manipulative tactics to give the discipling hierarchy and leadership power over everyone - with Kip McKean himself at the top.

Overall, this is one of many examples of Kip McKean's teachings that are ingrained in both the old International Churches of Christ and new "sold-out" International Christian Churches. It's a good example for people studying and attempting to leave and recovering from the movement to study though.

High-Profile Converts

One of the key targets the ICOC has consistently focused on was the conversion of "opinion leaders", people who have the power to sway others to join the church and follow their leadership. A special category of opinion leaders are celebrities. Actress Andie McDowell was part of the New York City Church of Christ in the 1980's and fortunately left the cult later on. Others, like musician and rapper Speech remain in the organization and have high leadership positions. Both the ICOC and ICC have recently gained some notable new recruits to their fold.

On the ICOC side, NBA superstar Deron Williams has joined. His wife is the daughter of former ICOC evangelist Nick Young. (Young was one of the ICOC's harshest leaders.) He plays for the Utah Jazz and his church home is presumably the Salt Lake Christian Church. (Don't let the label "Christian Church" fool you. It's still an ICOC church. In fact, it used to be part of Kip's ICC.)

You can see Deron in action here. (Unfortunately I couldn't embed this video.)

On the ICC side, Miss Arizona 2010 Brittany Bell has joined. She lives in Phoenix and is a member of the Phoenix International Christian Church. She recently spoke at a Women's Day event in the "Jereusalem" of Kip McKean's new movement, the City of Angels International Christian Church. Not much is known how she was drawn in. I believe she may be or have been a student at Arizona State University or another college in the Phoenix or Chandler area when she was met and recruited.

Here's a video of her being crowned:



I'm praying that they both be lead out of these cultic movements soon. The sooner they gain their freedom, the sooner they may get to know the true Jesus Christ of truth and grace and not be high-powered pawns in this game of politics with souls.

Spiritual Pornography - GraphJam Style!

Thanks for the director of reveal.org for the inspiration!

Mark Driscoll on Fundementalism

This video from Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) completely nails much of the underlying theology of the ICOC and ICC. It's too good to pass up. Enjoy!