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THE CHURCH OF GOD IN LOUISIANA HAS UNITED INTO ONE
When I became State Coordinator in Louisiana in April of 2012 one of the first things I did was to make a 25 year study of the congregations in Louisiana. I found out that we had decreased from 63 congregations to 55. We had only planted two churches during that time and only eight of our existing congregations were larger today than they were 25 years ago. I also had witnessed, while I was pastoring here, two attempts to merge the assemblies, and both had failed. However, there was still a desire by most of the church of God people in Louisiana to unite.
Much of the state income was being spent on our two campgrounds which were showing vast improvements, but our local congregations were not growing and winning the lost. The Lord gave me a plan to present to the people of Louisiana which consisted of three major propositions. 1.) Unite the two assemblies into one which was not only doctrinally correct, but also gave us a greater pool of servants from which to draw for Kingdom work. 2.) Take the two campgrounds from the sponsorship of the Assembly and let them become independent associations as Affiliated Agencies of the new Assembly. 3.) Have the new united assembly focus on Church Growth and Health, Church Planting and Pastoral health. I then presented this plan to the leadership of both assemblies and received approval to proceed.
Eight “town hall meetings” were set up across the state and I presented the plan and answered questions about the plan; these proved to be very helpful. In the fall of 2012 both assemblies voted to accept the plan and merge into one assembly. They also voted to form a Bylaws Committee by selecting six persons from each assembly to work with me in the writing of new bylaws and transitional plans for the new assembly. These people were great to work with and we sought Holy Spirit leadership all the way through. In September 2013 the two assemblies gave a unanimous vote to accept the bylaws and transition plan and put it all in place on January 1, 2014. We praise the LORD for His leadership and for the church of God people in Louisiana to accept His Plan.
The most exciting thing about the merger is that we are practicing what we have been preaching for years that the family of God is one, and there should be no division among us. We have a fresh outlook on state work that focuses on Church Growth and winning the lost while the campgrounds will continue their ministry as well. We loved each other even when we were divided, but failed to work together as we should have. This tendency to love each other while being divided seems to have been a trend in the Church of God Movement, and that may be one of the reasons we struggle and are not as effective as we should be. Often we have become “independent” and self-serving in our churches and our “groups,” failing to recognize that the church is not just a collection of independent congregations, but a body that functions together for the glory of God.
The merger serves as a witness to the world, especially here in Louisiana, that the church is one. Jesus said in John 17:21 that the world would believe that He is the Christ when they see the oneness of the family of God! It is the desire of the church of God in Louisiana to win the lost and show the unity of the family of God.
Our plan promotes a “true merger on oneness” in that it calls for all leadership to be selected by Holy Spirit leadership on the basis of the interest and ability of the leader rather than race or geographical location. We are convinced that this is what will work! God’s church must be directed by the Holy Spirit. Nothing else will work.
The Security of the Church
There is a glorious promise given by the mighty Builder, "The gates of Hades will not overcome it." He Who cannot lie, has pledged His royal word, that all the powers of hell shall never overthrow His church. It shall continue, and stand, in spite of every assault. It shall never be overcome.
All other created things perish and pass away, but not the church of Christ. The hand of outward violence, or the moth of inward decay, prevail over everything else, but not over the church that Christ builds. Empires have risen and fallen in rapid succession. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Tyre, Carthage, Rome, Greece, Venice—where are all these now? They were all the creations of man's hand, and have passed away. But the church of Christ lives on. The mightiest cities have become heaps of ruins.
The broad walls of Babylon are sunk to the ground. The palaces of Nineveh are mounds of dust. The hundred gates of Thebes are only matters of history. Tyre is a place where fishermen hang their nets. Carthage is a desolation. Yet all this time the true church stands. The gates of hell do not prevail against it.
--from J.C. Ryle, “The True Church,” a sermon preached in 1858
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