What does a church do when it is afraid of its core message being discovered and ultimately rejected? It starts covert congregations that don't reveal their affiliation with the parent church, in an effort to "win the souls over" first before telling them about their real doctrine and beliefs. At least that's what the New Apostolic Church did in New Braunfels, Texas. Apparently they took former "District Apostle" Richard Freund's words to heart when he said:
"You cant walk up to a guest and say, Do you know you've never had your sins forgiven? Do you know you haven't been sealed with the Holy Spirit? Now surely those things are true, but that isnt any way to draw souls. Thats going to make them think we think were better than we are. And thats not getting the foot in the door. The foot has to go in the door quietly and nicely and then win their hearts and then comes the time to talk about how it should be and how it is and what we believe."
They called themselves the "Compass Congregation", led by New Apostolic "priest" Patrick True, with a website (now defunct) that preached "God's message" and "Christ's message" (are they two different messages?), encouraging people to come dressed however they felt comfortable. What was interesting to the denizens of the NACBoard was that no mention of apostles was ever made, nor was their affiliation with the NAC to be found anywhere on the website.
A few of us wrote to Pat True with some questions about the Compass Congregation, but he chose to ignore our e-mails because in typical NAC fashion, silence always makes a situation better. Basically all we wanted to know was A) if this was a case of Pat True striking out on his own, or did the hierarchy know about it, and B) if Compass Congregation was eventually going to be a NAC congregation, when were they going to tell their new members about apostles being necessary for salvation and forgiveness of sins? Those simple questions proved too difficult for Pat True, so queries were sent up the NAC chain of command.
In less than 2 weeks, the official word from on high was pronounced by church media representative Peter Johanning, relaying the official excuse as offered up by "District Apostle" Leonard Kolb:
"The story behind Compass (New Braunfels) is as follows: This rector (Pat True) asked if he could try an experiment. The word 'apostolic' strongly denotes Pentecostal in the southern regions of the USA and we believe has deterred people from visiting our congregations. His idea was to make a sign called Compass Congregation (in larger letters) of the New Apostolic Church (in smaller letters) to see if it would attract more guests. This rector professes our faith and our apostles and in no way is trying to create an independent organization. His aim was to experiment with signage and some of the organizational matters to open the way for better guest attendance."
This is nonsense. If the Compass Congregation website is any indication of the "signage" used, there was no mention of the New Apostolic Church at all anywhere in their name or logo. If the perceived problem was with the name, when were they planning on introducing new members to the NAC? Besides, a google search shows that Pentecostal churches don't seem to be hurting for new members in the Southwest, so I don't see how that could be a problem. And the NAC is a Pentecostal church, despite their silly denials - they claim their "Godly authority" comes from people who flopped around on the floor and had visions and made prophecies in the 1830's. That's Pentecostal by anyone's definition.
So after some initial embarrassment for the NAC hierarchy, Compass Congregation's future is unknown. The real slap in the face was to the NAC reformers, who lately are seeing a return to the hardline days of the Kraus 70's, with "apostles" all the way up to the "Chief Apostle" telling members that if they don't like the NAC the way it is, they should leave. That's great advice, and they're well within their rights to say such a thing. If only they'd stop lying and tell the truth when approaching new marks.
It seems disingenuous at the very least that when they want to lure in new suckers, they feel the necessity to hide their true beliefs, and incorporate some of the initiatives the reformers have been seeking all along - more talk of Jesus and less talk about "apostles", praise bands, less insistence on black & white "uniforms" being worn, etc. When you're dealing with people who lie for a living, I suppose you should expect that lying is second nature to them, where telling the truth becomes an option that is reserved for a later day, after the "foot is in the door".
And the hierarchy wonders why that flushing sound is getting louder and louder with each passing day.
The NAC Compass congregation continues to meet. I am trying to find out more about what is going on. It's interesting that the San Antonio perishoners declare that they are "not aloud" to attend the Compass services, so I have been told. I thought Christ was "inclusive" and as Paul said often, paraphrasing..."that all would be saved." If other NACs are not 'allowed' to attend, then that would be a closed door, not an open one. Interestingly enough, the District Elder's daughter is the primary piano player for the Compass church and his wife attends there regularly as well rather than attending the Austin congregation where they are officially members, while he continues serving only in the traditional churches of Texas! If anything is facinating, this would definitely compete with the most facinating of topics.
ReplyDeleteThere's that old authoritarian NAC we all know! Telling people what they can and can't do, that they're "not allowed" to go to another congregation. I would love to see half the region show up there one day simply because some self-important idiot in a black suit told them not to go.
ReplyDeleteI still wonder why they refuse to acknowledge this mission, or whatever it is at this point in time. And I'd love to hear their explanation for why they fail to give those looking for reform in the NAC the opportunity to serve and worship in an environment that might be more suitable and enjoyable for them.
In any event, if they're not telling guests and potential new members that they're affiliated with the NAC, they're still LYING. I guess they've never learned that nothing good will ever come out of that. And don't they realize that if the "Compass Congregation" becomes a success, it will be because it's nothing at all like the NAC?