ICC Apologies Escalate; Teachers Support Kriete Letter

March 18, 2003

As a wave of change sweeps over many congregations in the International Churches of Christ (ICC), leaders of an increasing number of ICC churches have published apologies for their past behavior and leadership. Also, prominent ICC teachers have gone on record supporting the content of Henry Kriete's February letter calling for massive reform in the movement.

Some of the more notable church apologies include those from Los Angeles, South Florida (based in Miami), and Boston:

The Los Angeles International Church of Christ posted its apology in the last week of February, and revised it shortly thereafter to include mention of the Henry Kriete letter and to list the names of the LA leaders apologizing (these were not included in the first version of the letter). The Los Angeles leaders apologized for offenses including staff arrogance, weakening other churches to strengthen LA and "abusive accountability." On some subjects, the Los Angeles apology seemed measured and cautious, particularly in apologizing for "authoritarian discipling" without declaring that assigned discipling partners are unbiblical and need to be elminated -- as some other ICC churches have done. Also, the letter apologized that the movement's "one true church" teaching "has come across as exclusive and arrogant" without saying that the teaching is invalid and based on flawed doctrine. The Los Angeles letter deserves special attention since LA has been the headquarters of the ICC for over ten years.

The South Florida Church of Christ apology included a financial bombshell -- the admission that some of its Special Contribution funds had been misdirected to the Los Angeles church. The letter said it had become apparent during the Fall of 2002 that "two of our missions multiples were being used for ministries and special projects within the Los Angeles Church." (Note: annual Special Missions Contributions are usually done in "multiples" of 16-20 times members' usual contribution and are generally understood to be for the purpose of supporting overseas missions.) To fix this in the future, the South Florida church pleged full local oversight of future missions contributions. It will be interesting to see if ICC churches in other cities will be given a full accounting of their own Special Missions contributions.

On Saturday, March 16, the Boston Church of Christ "overseeing team" posted a public apology on the church's website. In one way, this letter went further than other ICC church letters by apologizing to people who had left, saying, "it is our hope that this letter will be made available to them either through the Internet or in some other fashion." The letter addressed eight different issues, but devoted the most space to the need for greater financial accountability in the church. The apology cited the need for "non-staff evaluation and review" of Boston church finances, including staff compensation (expenses and salaries). The overseeing team also conceded that "money was not always spent wisely" in the church.

Information on more ICC church apologies is available at icocnews.com.

In the wake of the many church apologies, two prominent ICC teachers released letters supporting the content of Henry Kriete's Honest to God.

Doug Jacoby responded positively to the content of the Henry Kriete letter, but disagreed with his decision to distribute it widely through the Internet (apparently Jacoby would have preferred it only go to leadership). Jacoby's response, apparently written just after receiving Kriete's letter, said that the movement's current problems needed "a trumpet blast, a clarion call, a blaring alarm" -- apparently not realizing that Kriete's letter was about to become just such an alarm. Agreeing with the major points of Kriete's letter, Jacoby noted that "most of the people we lose walk away due to our controlling leadership style, far more than any other factor." Mentioning that the "vast majority" of the movement's members had left over time, Jacboy declared that "[the movement's] culture of mistrust, monitoring, and even military style ministry moving has backfired and proven its own bankruptcy."

Marty Wooten did not agree that Kriete's would have been better distributed through proper channels, asking , "have not these "proper" channels been ineffective for some time now?" Comparing Kriete's letter with Martin Luther's 95 theses nailed to the doors of the Catholic Church, Wooten's response called it a "paper of the people." Since some leaders were reluctant to respond to the letter, Wooten wrote, "the real tragedy in the present turmoil is not the crisis, confusion, or the cracking of an illusionary and unbiblical unity, but the defensive response of those responsible." Wooten also addressed one cliche response the movement has typically made to the need for change (don't throw out the baby with the bathwater), saying, "this baby is sitting at the bottom of a very deep tub filled with extremely dirty water. It is imperative that our convictions not waver. Urgency is needed to remove the bath water before the baby drowns." He wrote that the movement's greatest mistake was abusing the "weak" in the church to focus on the strong.

Wooten also wrote knowingly of the new trend of some ICC leaders striving to apologize -- and to appear apologetic -- in fear for their jobs: "During the present storm many leaders, in fear for their support and position, are scrambling to convince others of their intentions to get on this narrow road." Warned Wooten, "Any attempt to use it as a manipulative tactic to advertise our humility and spirituality, or to keep one's job will only keep us on the broad road to destruction."