John Gillespie was a faithful Methodist minister of some thirteen years until the mid 1990s. Concerns that the Methodist Church was drifting away from scripture and allowing a continual ingression of liberalism troubled him deeply. Staying quiet was, he felt, violating his conscience but speaking out could mean loss of job, income, home, and friends. It's not easy to be a dissident when you have a wife and six children.
The final straw came at the 1993 Methodist Annual Conference where, John says, “a direct challenge to scripture was promoted and upheld”. He explains that an “undefined statement celebrating the ministry of gays and lesbians” was announced. When asked what was meant by “celebrating the ministry of ...” He replies, “well that's just it - it was undefined”. What was happening can only be described as a two-faced attempt by Methodist hierarchy to placate both evangelicals and liberals in the lower ranks of the church. In a classic example of sitting on the fence they had made a statement, part of which said that they weren't going to explain what the statement meant!
As a Christian minister he feels that he should be able to promote what the Bible says, according to his understanding, about the issue of gays and lesbians. The homosexual lobby have their point of view and, after many years of suppression, are voicing it strongly. The double-whammy of disagreeing with the issue itself and of the way it was presented was a blow to him. Other issues had perturbed him: he tells of “a gradual move toward interfaith policies which undermined the supremacy of Jesus Christ”. All this convinced him that he could no longer carry on.
If you ask about when he left the Methodist Church he will reply vehemently “I didn't leave, I was put out!”. He explains how, at a Synod meeting in 1994 he “dissented publicly”. Later he was “tried and then told to leave”.
Following the Synod judgement, he announced this, which was not a surprise to his congregation. Most of them had been going through the same struggles of conscience. John says of them “They knew everything about what was going on all the way through this - they had been and were, at the time of my dismissal, very supportive”.
Someone once said, 'If you want to gauge how good a leader you are then just look behind and see who's following you'. John Gillespie must be a good pastor: “I did not consider ceasing to be their minister - I am committed to the people I look after. John says that “virtually all” of the people left when he did. Appreciative of them he recounts “We started Grace Community Church together - that was in the summer of '94". There were one hundred and fifty in the congregation when the new church began, and “a handful” stayed behind.
They met in a school hall to start with but soon began to experience hard times. In Cornwall the story is told that their fiercest criticism came from those that had stayed in the Methodist Church. Opposition is said to have been stirred-up against the new church and the Board of Governors at the school where they met together banned them from meeting there. John refuses to clarify the exact truth about this and glosses over some very difficult times saying “Yes, we moved from pillar to post for a while”. Whilst not denying opposition he says philosophically “well, that sort of thing happens - we take it in our stride”.
A tremendous boost came when they were able to take on their own building. John recalls “lots of folk in the church gave generously and sacrificially. A businessman, from several hundred miles away, had heard of their plight and gave them a large interest-free loan making the venture more secure.
Did this mean that their toils were over? No, it must have seemed as if they had just begun: the building that they hoped to move into was a run-down, disused potato store and needed a lot of renovation to make it serviceable. John proudly tells how “It was very hard work, but everyone pulled their weight”. Despite the hard labour that time is regarded reminiscently as an exciting but valuable experience “Yeah, it was really something” says John.
The whole thing caused quite a stir in the town and the local media became interested. The pastor reports that media handling of the matter was “fair”.
Now it is six years since they ‘started over' and, even though all the problems they've had, the congregation has nearly doubled in numbers. Other types of growth are evident: “We are very into mission” says John, “we've sent several of our people to Bible College and there's a new depth and maturity to people's lives”.
Many ministers, like John, are leaving the established denominations and either setting up on their own or transferring allegiance to one of the new church groupings. They are usually very successful in terms of creating an attractive, lively presence in their community and seeing vigorous growth. This is in stark contrast to the traditional organisations they leave behind. Many of the new churches are also involved in initiating grass roots social action.
Mike Frisbee is the leader of an evangelical free church in Christchurch, Dorset. He and his congregation were part of the Baptists until 1980. Again, disagreements over adherence to Biblical principles was the root problem which led Mike's church to draw up their own local constitution. Says Mike “A copy of this got into the hands of the Baptist Union”. This governing body reacted strongly. “We were no longer regarded us as 'true' Baptists and they asked us to leave”. Mike recalls “As they were the trustees of the building we had no choice. We formed a new church taking two thirds of the congregation with us”.
They already had links with New Frontiers International, the largest of Britain’s new independent church groups, and soon became part of their network. Terry Virgo, the leader of New Frontiers, distances himself from any suggestion that he would persuade ministers to leave denominational churches and join him. When people in Mike's situation have approached him his 'rule of thumb' has been “Can you operate with faith? If you feel there's no hope for success - if you're just going through the routine - then it's probably best that you get out”. He describes how the responses vary: “Some say 'Yes, I can carry on”, some say “My frustration is such that I can’t”. Mr Virgo says he “most certainly would not make a decision for anyone”.
Gerald Coates, leader of Pioneer, the UKs second largest new church stream, is also aware of the difficult choices that ministers up and down the country are having to consider. “It's difficult for people in leadership to leave - they have loyalty issues to face - perhaps more toward the people than toward the organisation”.
Mike Frisbee has seen much growth since 1980. He talks excitedly about it “Since then we've planted a new church in Bournemouth which is now autonomous - having its own leadership team. We effectively halved our congregation to do this but now the groups have increased to a size so that both are about to plant out again”.
Would John Gillespie join New Frontiers or Pioneer? He states that so far, he has not felt any urge to do this although he has become a member of two national evangelical support groups. He says, “We are thankful for groups like New Frontiers and think they all do good work”.
These dissentions do not always lead to ministers and their congregations 'getting out'. Tony Higton, International Director of the Church of England mission CMJ, had to face the issue in 1984. In a frank interview he called attention to fundamental flaws existing in the traditional denominations. “It was not only the official beliefs of the C of E, but also the actual beliefs that I had problems with - yes, they do differ”.
Despite the operation of these double standards Tony considered the matter and “prayed about it” over a long period. He came to an uncustomary conclusion: he says, “God called me to stay put but not stay quiet”. He did “stay put” and, when the opportunity arose, he became a member the General Synod hoping to make his opinions more widely known.
Tony gained notoriety for his media clashes with, among others, liberal bishops, the Gay Christian Movement, and the Royal Family. Criticism increased, especially in the late 1980s, when he and his wife Patricia set-up the pressure group Action for Biblical Witness in Our Nation (ABWON) which sought to challenge perceived unbiblical belief and practice in the church. ABWONs unprecedented stand disturbed many people.
Although able to appreciate both sides of the argument and “having every sympathy with those going through struggles” Tony errs on the side of caution. “History proves that we need to be very careful about opting out, after all, it brings division”, he says. “Some people leave far too easily - I think it should be avoided if at all possible”. Referring to himself as a “dyed-in-the-wool Anglican” he adds “Although I would generally encourage ministers to stay, I would not make a decision for anyone”.
John Gillespie now prefers to look to the future and talks of “exciting plans” for expansion. “We hope to be involved in planting churches throughout Cornwall - and we're seeing it happen”, he enthuses. His run-in with the establishment turned-out well in the end but the experience of ministers feeling trapped and having to consider leaving he regards as “unfortunate situations” and says that he is “saddened by it all”.
How does the Methodist Church view John's actions? Spokesperson, Geraldine Ranson, speaking from their press office said of anyone that leaves “We are saddened to see them go”. Do these 'leavings' ever make the hierarchy think of changing their policies?' Geraldine replies “There are two thousand Methodist Ministers in Great Britain. If one leaves and the other one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine stay we don't see that as a reason to change policy - everyone's entitled to their own opinion”.
And what of John's assessment of the established denominations? Firstly, he is very emphatic that “There are many great people in them - many fine men who are doing their best”. But regarding the structure, particularly that of the Methodist Church itself, he is not so tolerant, “Because they are not keeping to the Bible”, he says, “means that they are theologically awash. They cannot experience God's blessing until they are again rooted in scripture”.
Membership of the Methodist Church in Great Britain has halved in the last thirty years. A figure which is mirrored in all the major denominations. Contrast this with the remarkable growth of new churches, an increase of over one thousand three hundred per cent in the last twenty years, and you must agree that the traditional churches are doing something wrong. In using a purely commercial or business-based evaluation of the situation it could be described as a Public Relations disaster. And it is in the word 'public' that the solution to this problem might be found.
Terry Virgo feels that to get out of the mess they are in the denominations should look to their relations with the public. He reckons that people “outside the church can easily spot double-talk and insincerity”. He maintains that “people are looking for something, but the established denominations don't give answers to anyone'.
By way of illustration, he relates an incident that he recently observed. “We were being interviewed on television at our home church and discussions over various issues were taking place. If we said anything that they thought controversial the interviewer and film crew were quick to retort, “we can always find a bishop who will say the opposite - one who will have another opinion, and this troubled us”.
Mr. Virgo is implying that if a group of Christians stick to their guns over what they believe, although initially unpopular, they gain respect in the long term. In the age of political correctness, it is a hard road to travel but, as the new churches have proved, worth it in the end. Sadly, this simple concept seems beyond the understanding of the decision makers in the established denominations. But if they continue in their failure to grasp it there will be more people like John Gillespie who will take their chances with starting over. The only thing worse than this is the possibility that they will have no one left who feels the need to do it.