The Rise of the Portland movement: The Dumbing of the ICOC

Part 2: Kip’s Pawns – You’re Hired!

And so we find ourselves, at this point in our evolution as a brotherhood glumly staring into the future with trepidation. The Portland movement has spread their wings to the “farthest horizon” – the islands of Hawaii.

Here, sharp people of the university of Hawaii with the likes of a baseball captain and a professor of volcanology and a retired Navy Master Chief along with their wives becomes the “decision making couples” for the Hilo International Church of Christ. Let us note: none hold a degree in theology! The neon lights of Portland’s discipleship – Boston style – have become their inspiration. They like a moth drawn to a flame have followed “with eyes wide open” the fire of Portland International Church of Christ.

“In Hilo, the existing church leadership has called its membership [16 sold-out disciple members from a group of nearly 60] to the radical commitment” that is “to be a sold-out disciple and participate in all the worship services, a Bible Talk and in discipleship partner relationships.”

The stage was set for Kip and Elena McKean’s arrival in Hilo Thursday, September 14th 2006 “to rebuild the foundation of sold-out disciples” despite “a third of the congregation was against the new direction for the Hilo Church.” Sunday Kip preached a lesson entitled, “God Is On Your Side.” McKean reverie his recent trip to Hawaii in an article, A Tale Of Two Cities. He states: “I simply made the point that I was not calling people to be on “Portland’s side”, but to obey the Word and be on God’s side.” On the other hand he “told the “Portland Story” and preached about radically following Jesus.”

Here, we see the Portland movement descending into stupidity. How foolish for them to champion a document that has spliced the ICOC and gave rise to the “Portland’s side”. Incredulously, the Portland Story has redefined Biblical terminology! You interpret it your way; I’ll interpret it in mine. Furthermore, the co-boundaries of God’s side and Portland’s side are skilfully blended with stupefying ease.

Support for the rebuilding of the Hilo International Church of Christ spilled over to the Honolulu congregation, known as the Honolulu International Christian Church, which took effect from Sunday 24th September 2006. However, those islanders affiliated to the former ICOC who don’t want to commit to the flame of Portland were chastised by Kip as the “negative group” or “dissident group”. Here, the stupidity sweeping the Portland movement is a good dress rehearsal for what life is like under Kip’s leadership sins.

What about Douglas Arthur’s admonishment to Kip? What happened to Kip’s “Heartfelt Apology”? A Tale of Two Cities is a Dickens classic. However do you recall the fable of the Toad carrying the Scorpion across the river? It goes like this. “I am so sorry to everyone who is striving to be a dedicated disciple of Jesus. Please forgive my arrogance and disrespect in the Portland Bulletin articles and in my Sunday sermons, which are online. I do believe there are church leadership around the world that are trying very hard to restore the lordship of Christ and discipling.”

Now, even “Generation Y” has become aware of Kip’s nature. The ability to sting! What happened to the idea to picky-back Kip’s articles? Didn’t Kip felt “greatly honored” to comply with Doughlas Arthur’s suggestion “it needed to be critiqued by people outside the Portland congregation.” In particular “if Dough would do it”. Now remarks do the round … again … derived from Dough to Kip “spitting in the face of church leaderships that were trying to follow the Bible’s commands of discipling” and “You treated them like a stray dog that you kicked every time you passed by.”

The script of A Tale Of Two Cities states the “Honolulu elders and evangelist met at a separate location with the dissident group.” This is a tell tale story of the 1994 Indianapolis incident. Kip’s “one church – one city” policy will never allow God to “pull us together.”

Kip’s revisionism has polished the ICOC Unity Conference document, which entails “the decision to dissolve the world sector leaders group” during the Long Beach Unity Meeting in November 2002 to sound like a “forced resignations of the World Sector Leaders”. Perhaps the long-arm of the Portland movement is looking into reinstating a concept base on the WSL group in order to hold “God’s side” together.

Furthermore, there has been little debate for returning to the disciple relations as it was abandoned for the most part since HKL in February 2003. The fact is while we accuse McKean of annexing churches, more than 70 percent of the ICOC voluntarily handed over their collective brain to the Unity Proposal Group supporting Kip’s ideals of discipleship.

The question of an identity was not on the agenda until Kip McKean made his famous Portland Story. “At the 2005 World Missions Jubilee, the Portland church leadership believed that the time had come to begin calling a remnant of disciples to come together for God to use to evangelise the world in one generation. In response, disciples have moved to Portland from 24 different states, some church leaderships have asked for discipling, and several groups of disciples have left lukewarm churches to begin new congregations of sold-out disciples. Though there are sold-out congregations and disciples who are not aligned with Portland, our conviction is that in time God will pull us together.”

In reality, two mainstream ICOC groups do all our thinking and our agenda setting and many just limp lamely behind it. From “Portland’s side” without Kip McKean, it seems they cannot initiate any thinking projects!

By re-examining the Boston disciple approach is one of the main reasons we fear loosing our discipleship methodology. We are afraid of what we will become once our collective brain is taken away. Will we become like the “mainline” Church of Christ? Who will lead our policy interrogation? Who will construct and manage the complex web that is our governance matrix?

We look into the future and forget “how could the weaklings of the present rebuild what the giants of the past had been unable to uphold?”

McKean’s supporters – so dwarfed, intimidated and alienated by their strategist – warm to “do anything, go anywhere, give up everything for Christ”. In him they see someone they can “press on” to win the prize of global evangelisation in one generation. They see someone – a man of God, a leader, and a prophet – who can take them “From Here To Eternity.”

As the sun sets on the unity efforts of the two groups, the Portland movement and the United Cooperation Group, the “proven church builders” who served in a bygone era of Episode 1 scramble for the hearts and minds of ordinary ICOC folk. The majority look for light relief. In so much of 70 percent of the former ICOC now suspend their thinking capacity by embracing discipleship as truths we want to defend.

How did we get here? It is just a case of us mimicking the intellectual capacity of people who-wants-to-be-the-leader that has turned us into dolts!

Inasmuch as many would not like to believe so, this is the case. It is our refusal to be ourselves that has landed us in this predicament – being Kip’s Pawns! Although the majority is not for hire! It is the refusal of the ICOC membership to draw on its intellectual commonsense that has short-changed us.

The past year [2006] has been a period in which ICOC membership capable of intelligent conversation since the HKL turned into a global congregation of babbling fools.

If the strategists in the US ICOC ignore the dangers of the disciple approach as spelled out in Roy Davison’s article (Click on sidebar: Roy Davison) and lingering on Church of Christ Kingdom theology other fellowships in the world will make peace with the fact that this may be our future. Herein awaits us all a second wave of global persecution from outsiders as well as deepening the rift in the brotherhood of believers.

This perception is born out of reality.

Pawns march forward – one step a time. When blocked – they stagnate. However being dormant the rule of engagement awakens when unexpected chess pieces ventures within their reach.

Let us become keenly aware not becoming Kip’s Pawns. Let us not support discipleship relationships base on the bygone era of Episode 1. It is time for urgent thinking!

Are You For Hire?

Next weeks article: The rise of the Portland movement: Where Are The Churches?