I feel bad for people sitting in the pews when resignations like this are offered. They leave more questions than answers. The Bible was clear about the God’s direction and destination of Phillip. So I am not sure that citing that passage from Acts in a sermon before a resignation that leaves more questions than answers is helpful. Ministry leaders, when led of the Lord, should resign with grace, but there also needs to be some level of clarity.
As far as PCC goes, there are a lot of awesome young people there. I hope they know that they can find many friends here on SI who will pray for them.
Is this a gossip column, a school president basher, a scandalizing of a good pastor, or what.? As I read Dr. Jackson’s announcement, there are specific reasons for the move and great respect for the school and the work of the Hortons:
[Dr. Neal Jackson] A little over two and a half years ago I had the wonderful opportunity and privilege to become the pastor of the Campus Church. The last two and a half years have been the best years of our lives and ones that we will always cherish. When we moved to Pensacola, having lived much of our lives in Atlanta, you gave us the greatest gift that could ever be given—your love. For that we will forever be grateful.
This past Sunday I preached from Acts 8 about how that God very specifically moved Philip to a different ministry opportunity. God has made it very clear to Tracy and me over the last few months that He is directing us to a different ministry. This decision was never our intention. Our intention was to stay here the rest of our lives, but we must follow the Lord when and where He directs us.
We came here with the highest respect and admiration for the Hortons, and as we leave, our respect and admiration for them has only grown and increased exponentially. They are truly modern day heroes of the faith that we love dearly.
[Dr Arlin Horton] God led Dr. Jackson to this ministry two and a half years ago, and it was our hope and desire that he remain as the Campus Church pastor until he retired. It has been a privilege to minister alongside of him these brief years. We believe God has a perfect will for his life, as well as for this ministry.
Why is the leadership here taking opportunity to make the denigrating remarks against the ministry of PCC or to attaint the character of God’s servant? This bent to trash another’s ministry in judgmental fashion might well be done to the average tenure of pastors or against other strong leaders of Christian schools.
Has this improved SI?
Open our eyes, Lord. Luke 24:31,32,45 KJV <·)}}}>< Silverghost °Ü°
[Jim Peet] Looks more to me that the Hortons run it
I don’t think anyone is under the illusion that it is a “real church” in the Biblical sense of the word with a pastor chosen by the congregation or a group of men, etc.
Do we really need to go through this again? Thank you, Joe, for your irenic approach. There are thousands of Christian young people at PCC, hundreds of whom are preparing for a life of vocational ministry. Regardless of the location or organization of the institution, they will all sit under preaching of some sort at least 7 times per week. Let us pray that such preaching might be biblical, expositional, cross-centered, and Christ-focused.
Faith is obeying when you can't even imagine how things might turn out right.
[A. Carpenter] Do we really need to go through this again? Thank you, Joe, for your irenic approach. There are thousands of Christian young people at PCC, hundreds of whom are preparing for a life of vocational ministry. Regardless of the location or organization of the institution, they will all sit under preaching of some sort at least 7 times per week. Let us pray that such preaching might be biblical, expositional, cross-centered, and Christ-focused.
It’s true. There are enough threads “out there” (esp. the PCC board) that will evaluate this whole thing to the “enth” degree. Probably no one will ever know the whole entire reason he resigned. But it really doesn’t matter, does it?
Let’s pray for PCC. Pray that the leadership will do the Lord’s will in each matter. (as we should for each of our Christian colleges).
[A. Carpenter] Do we really need to go through this again? Thank you, Joe, for your irenic approach. There are thousands of Christian young people at PCC, hundreds of whom are preparing for a life of vocational ministry. Regardless of the location or organization of the institution, they will all sit under preaching of some sort at least 7 times per week. Let us pray that such preaching might be biblical, expositional, cross-centered, and Christ-focused.
It’s true. There are enough threads “out there” (esp. the PCC board) that will evaluate this whole thing to the “enth” degree. Probably no one will ever know the whole entire reason he resigned. But it really doesn’t matter, does it?
Let’s pray for PCC. Pray that the leadership will do the Lord’s will in each matter. (as we should for each of our Christian colleges).
Thank you Aaron and Becky! For SI to countenance this thread’s acid remarks against PCC, the Church, the president and the leaving pastor, sitting as it were in judgment, is appalling to me.
Open our eyes, Lord. Luke 24:31,32,45 KJV <·)}}}>< Silverghost °Ü°
[A. Carpenter] Do we really need to go through this again? Thank you, Joe, for your irenic approach. There are thousands of Christian young people at PCC, hundreds of whom are preparing for a life of vocational ministry. Regardless of the location or organization of the institution, they will all sit under preaching of some sort at least 7 times per week. Let us pray that such preaching might be biblical, expositional, cross-centered, and Christ-focused.
It’s true. There are enough threads “out there” (esp. the PCC board) that will evaluate this whole thing to the “enth” degree. Probably no one will ever know the whole entire reason he resigned. But it really doesn’t matter, does it?
Let’s pray for PCC. Pray that the leadership will do the Lord’s will in each matter. (as we should for each of our Christian colleges).
Becky, I don’t think anyone is really analyzing why he left. Its more a question as to why he went there in the first place.
[Garry Geer] Becky, I don’t think anyone is really analyzing why he left. Its more a question as to why he went there in the first place.
Why is that an issue tor us? Seems like there’s an awful lot of meddling going on here, and not much love of the brethren. This thread seems to be off track for what is said in the article. More of an opportunity to criticize, than to comment on what may be good.
Open our eyes, Lord. Luke 24:31,32,45 KJV <·)}}}>< Silverghost °Ü°
Is this a gossip column, a school president basher, a scandalizing of a good pastor, or what.?
For SI to countenance this thread’s acid remarks against PCC, the Church, the president and the leaving pastor, sitting as it were in judgment, is appalling to me.
Seems like there’s an awful lot of meddling going on here, and not much love of the brethren. This thread seems to be off track for what is said in the article. More of an opportunity to criticize, than to comment on what may be good.
What remarks are you referring to? There has only been one or two comments about PCC that could even remotely be considered negative, and one of them was not even a secret. It is well known.
As I read Dr. Jackson’s announcement, there are specific reasons for the move and great respect for the school and the work of the Hortons:
Which statement was this? The one that I read had reference to some nebulous “clear leading” but no specific reasons. Did you have another statement in mind that we could link to with these specific reasons?
Silverghost, I understand your concern that things may turn into a gossip session, etc.
There some important questions that this whole event raises..
the changing role of the Christian college in fundamentalism the continuing tension between pragmatism and principle the belief in the sufficiency of Scripture in sanctification do Christian colleges have an unspoken authority over local churches, etc.
The PCC change of staff is more symptomatic of bigger issues that have been dealt with in other places by those far better than I.
I just looked at this thread seriously today. I’m confused.
[Jim Peet] Looks more to me that the Hortons run it
[Silverghost]…Why is the leadership here taking opportunity to make the denigrating remarks against the ministry of PCC or to attaint the character of God’s servant? This bent to trash another’s ministry in judgmental fashion might well be done to the average tenure of pastors or against other strong leaders of Christian schools.
After Silverghost’s comment, others chime in and hand-wring for awhile about the attitude of this thread. And then Silverghost says this…
[Silverghost] For SI to countenance this thread’s acid remarks against PCC, the Church, the president and the leaving pastor, sitting as it were in judgment, is appalling to me.
Did some posts get deleted?
The only thing that could be said critically of Jim’s post is that it could probably be on a thread dedicated to that question. Other than that, it’s a legitimate question for discussion.
If there were other posts that tried to insinuate some internal PCC politics or scandal was behind the pastor’s departure, that’s OK. If they were deleted by moderator action, that’s OK. But at least leave some kind of placeholder post stating a moderator deletion took place. Without it, the thread makes no sense at all!
4 posts were deleted but they all pertained to the opening link that was not working at the get go.
I corrected the link and deleted the 4 posts. 1 post said the link wasn’t working, … 2 provided the correct link … and the 4th was mine saying I corrected the link
The moderators are aware of all of the deletions. *******************
I am not surprised at all. The others who have made comments regarding the Campus Church not being a NT church are correct. The way for PCC to avoid the criticism would be to quit playing church and let the Campus Church function like a true NT church should function.
I do think the situation calls for a bit of sensitivity, but we’ve got a few in this thread that have demonstrated way too much sensivity. I think this is where I recommend cookies and milk again. It’s very relaxing.
Nobody’s attacking PCC or the Campus Church by raising questions about how it’s organized. We all know it’s unique. How to do a church that is part of a campus is kind of a tricky question (as well as how do you accomplish all your objectives without one). BJU’s solution is less than ideal… don’t call it “church” but sort of do a Sunday morning church service anyway and require everyone to attend. PCC’s solution… “Campus Church” that is not organized the way a church normally should be. I’m not crazy about either approach, but I don’t have a better idea, so PCC & BJU—I dip a cookie to you both. Blessings to you as you try to walk that and all the other fine lines you are expected to walk.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Discussion
NewClarity vs Code?
As far as PCC goes, there are a lot of awesome young people there. I hope they know that they can find many friends here on SI who will pray for them.
NewIs the Campus Church a real church?
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewIs this Gossip and Scandalizing?
Has this improved SI?
Open our eyes, Lord. Luke 24:31,32,45 KJV <·)}}}>< Silverghost °Ü°
NewJim Peet wrote: Looks more to
NewWhy is it whenever PCC comes up, someone has to criticize it?
Faith is obeying when you can't even imagine how things might turn out right.
NewA. Carpenter wrote: Do we
Let’s pray for PCC. Pray that the leadership will do the Lord’s will in each matter. (as we should for each of our Christian colleges).
NewBecky Petersen wrote: A.
Open our eyes, Lord. Luke 24:31,32,45 KJV <·)}}}>< Silverghost °Ü°
NewBecky Petersen wrote: A.
NewShould we be meddling?
Open our eyes, Lord. Luke 24:31,32,45 KJV <·)}}}>< Silverghost °Ü°
NewSilver, Quote: Is this a
NewSilverghost, I understand
I understand your concern that things may turn into a gossip session, etc.
There some important questions that this whole event raises..
the changing role of the Christian college in fundamentalism
the continuing tension between pragmatism and principle
the belief in the sufficiency of Scripture in sanctification
do Christian colleges have an unspoken authority over local churches, etc.
The PCC change of staff is more symptomatic of bigger issues that have been dealt with in other places by those far better than I.
NewDeletions?
The only thing that could be said critically of Jim’s post is that it could probably be on a thread dedicated to that question. Other than that, it’s a legitimate question for discussion.
If there were other posts that tried to insinuate some internal PCC politics or scandal was behind the pastor’s departure, that’s OK. If they were deleted by moderator action, that’s OK. But at least leave some kind of placeholder post stating a moderator deletion took place. Without it, the thread makes no sense at all!
Unless I’m missing something.
New4 posts were deleted
4 posts were deleted but they all pertained to the opening link that was not working at the get go.
I corrected the link and deleted the 4 posts. 1 post said the link wasn’t working, … 2 provided the correct link … and the 4th was mine saying I corrected the link
The moderators are aware of all of the deletions.
*******************
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewNot a shock
NewNot so sensitive, please
I think this is where I recommend cookies and milk again. It’s very relaxing.
Nobody’s attacking PCC or the Campus Church by raising questions about how it’s organized. We all know it’s unique. How to do a church that is part of a campus is kind of a tricky question (as well as how do you accomplish all your objectives without one).
BJU’s solution is less than ideal… don’t call it “church” but sort of do a Sunday morning church service anyway and require everyone to attend. PCC’s solution… “Campus Church” that is not organized the way a church normally should be.
I’m not crazy about either approach, but I don’t have a better idea, so PCC & BJU—I dip a cookie to you both. Blessings to you as you try to walk that and all the other fine lines you are expected to walk.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.