ICC Divides: Core Separating from McKean Faction

"We believe that you began your new movement with 'The Portland Story' article calling out 'the remnant' to follow you." -- Statement by 84 leaders of the International Churches of Christ withdrawing fellowship from Kip McKean.

Revised: November 3, 2005

A split appears inevitable, as a core group of International Church of Christ congregations has severed ties with ICC founder Kip McKean of the Portland (Oregon) International Church of Christ. It seems likely that a faction of churches affiliated with McKean and Portland will continue to divide from the core churches.

A November 2nd statement from 84 ICC church leaders (PDF) announced that they would have "no further fellowship" with McKean unless he repented of "character sins" and "divisive tactics." The statement accused McKean of "dividing disciples and churches around the world," of "building a kingdom for yourself" and of telling a "self-advancing" revisionist history of the movement. The statement asserted, "We believe that you began your new movement with 'The Portland Story' article calling out 'the remnant' to follow you."

On October 3rd, a warning letter signed by 63 key ICC men’s leaders had been sent to Kip McKean, asking him to repent of his continued leadership sins and to stop the “self promotion and propaganda” coming from Portland. The Portland Church leadership (including McKean) responded with a letter on its website, defending its leader and methods and stating the intention to work toward similar goals as the core churches, “as in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas going their separate directions.”

Although the core group has expressed concern about the methods and sincerity of McKean, and McKean has expressed concern about the “lukewarmness” of the core churches, the split in many ways appears to be a turf battle. McKean has begun recruiting members away from the core, and has supported church “replantings” (i.e. competing churches) in core cities, as part of a systematic and centrally controlled plan to evangelize the world.

Supporting McKean according to a Portland-run website (1) as of October 6 were:

The Portland Church of Christ leadership and congregation
the Greater Baltimore Church of Christ led by Doug Arthur
the Savannah Church of Christ (Georgia) led by Steve Johnson, who has announced his intention to go with McKean
the Central New York Church of Christ (Syracuse) led by Chris Broom
the Montreal Church of Christ led by Danny Brisebois, and the Quebec City Church of Christ
the Salt Lake Christian Church led by Jay Hernandez
the Santiago, Chile church led by Raul Moreno
the Eugene International Church of Christ

The November and October letters to Kip McKean were signed by many prominent ICC leaders with long associations with McKean, including four former World Sector Leaders (Al Baird, Andy Flemming, Marty Fuqua & Scott Green); the former head of the ICC's book publishing service, DPI (Tom Jones); the former head of the ICC's media service, Kingdom News Network (Roger Lamb, who was McKean’s co-minister in Charleston, IL in the 1970s); and the man who originally invited McKean to the Crossroads Church of Christ in 1972 (Sam Laing).

These letters followed a month after letters from three prominent ICC churches (among others) opposed McKean: the Boston Church of Christ, the Seattle Church of Christ, and the Phoenix Valley Church of Christ.

Letter from a Concerned Relative

Recently RightCyberUp received an interesting letter from the concerned relative of a current ICC member. He couldn’t help but notice the irony and hypocrisy of core ICC churches shunning Kip McKean in their initial October 3rd letter. Although this site usually doesn’t publish letters, this one deserves an exception:

Today I read the letter of rebuke written to Kip McKean. I suppose my focus should have been on Kip and the many infractions which called the letter into existence. And, I suppose the indignation arising in my heart should have been directed exclusively at this unscrupulous and arrogant man. At first that was the case. At first I was focused on Kip and my indignation was directed at this man exclusively. But as I read further something very interesting happened. I started feeling sympathy for Kip and my indignation was redirected toward those writing the letter and the institution which they were representing. I couldn't help but recall the words from Galations 6:7, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." As I read further, I began to sense that Kip is simply being true to what the system of the ICOC has made him. The system sowed arrogance by claiming it holds all the truth and every other "church" has no truth at all. The system sowed divisiveness when it taught its incoming disciples that everything their parents taught them regarding Christ is false and so is everything that their former religious organization taught. The system sowed the principles of unethical recruitment when it encouraged their evangelists to take members away from local denominational and non-denominational churches.

And because the system sowed this stuff, they are now reaping it. But they do not like what they are reaping. They want to deal out this high pressure arrogant spirituality; but when the tables turn, they don't want to be on the receiving end of it. It is my sense that those writing this letter are brow beating a man for being exactly what they taught him to be. They are reaping in the behavior of this man exacting what they sowed in recruiting him. How could they expect anything else. To me, it is an ironic twist; but I sense they simply don't get it. Was it not Jesus who once said: "If the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into the ditch”? That is my perception of what is happening. All of Kip's infractions notwithstanding, I have more feelings for him than I do for those indicting him. Am I wrong for feeling this way?

Lest we give the wrong impression or risk getting misquoted, let’s be clear: we believe Kip McKean fits all the criteria of a cult leader and is a dangerous man. But we also have many concerns about the core ICC churches, their leadership, and the damage that can be inflicted on members and communities -- just as we have concerns about the congregations aligned with McKean.

Sources:

Brothers' Statement to Kip McKean (PDF), November 2, 2005.

Portland International Church of Christ Leadership, "Concern For All The Churches," portlandchurch.org, circa October 14, 2005.

Letter to Kip McKean from various Elders & Evangelists, October 3, 2005.

Kip McKean, "The Portland Story," portlandchurch.org, August 21, 2005.

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Notes:

(1) Information compiled from list of affiliated churches on upsidedown21.org, October 6, 2005.