I’ll Follow Kip, Says Johnson

“…wherever Kip goes, I go.” -- Steve Johnson; see full quote

September, 2005

“I’m a little conflicted at this moment,” began former World Sector Leader and now evangelist of the Savannah Church of Christ Steve Johnson, as he addressed fellow leaders at the International Church of Christ leadership conference in Seattle. Johnson said he had wondered whether he should speak at the conference, because Kip McKean had been removed from the speakers’ list after writing “The Portland Story”, an article calling for the replanting of ICC churches. Johnson took some ownership for the controversial article, saying “the fact of the matter is, Doug Arthur and I worked on that article with him [Kip] for four hours before it was released. So before I say anything to you now, I would at least like to own that.” Johnson also said, “…I don’t know that I’m going to see a lot of you after today.”

Johnson, who had served under Kip McKean in Boston before being sent out to plant the New York City Church of Christ in 1983, and later was chosen by McKean to be one of his World Sector Leaders, said he would continue to follow McKean during this new phase of the movement:

“…wherever Kip goes, I go. And that’s not because Kip is ever always right or sometimes even close to right: Kip’s my friend. Doug’s my friend too. And I believe if your friend takes you in the wrong direction, you’ve got to straighten him out, but you can’t do that if you’re not together. I needed Kip for the first few years of ministry…but I feel like he needs me now, simply as a friend. And whatever he does, I will support it as best I can and continue to keep a clear conscience.”

Johnson also voiced support for the discipling methodologies of McKean as he believed they had been effective, and stated his intention to use similar methods in the future:

“In Savannah [Georgia], I want to do exactly what I did in Boston in 1979 or in New York in 1983 – in regards to teaching people how to teach people how to teach people to become disciples. I’ve not come up, and I haven’t seen anyone else that has come up with a better mousetrap. And I assure you that when I see one, I’ll adopt it just like I did when I moved to Boston to be trained by Kip back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.”

Johnson ended his talk with a theatrical surprise ending, implying that the impending split in the ICC movement was caused by a lack of love. He talked about what he thought the apostle John would have said in similar circumstances. “John…was on the threshold of the Great Apostasy…and if you ran into John, all he had to say was, ‘Love each other.’ And I think it’s because they didn’t.” (applause, end of recording)

Source:

Steve Johnson, Forceful, Respectful Preaching, CD# 202, HMS Books, International Leadership Conference, Seattle, September 8, 2005.

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