There is a pronounced rift between conservative churches of Christ and liberal churches of Christ. As one might expect, the liberals tend to try to be innovative, somewhat pushing the envelope. Conservatives seem unwilling to change, but at the same time grounded in the truth.
Nowhere is this rift seems so apparent is during winter in Gatlinburg. On one viewpoint there’s the liberal Winterfest, while at the otherside of the spectrum, there is the CYC – Challenge Youth Conference.
Originally Winterfest was the only youth rally sponsored by the Churches of Christ. I attended Winterfest during my college years… My role was halfway between a student and a chaperone…possibly a bit more of the former. I don’t remember much of it, except it was all a bit emotional. During one session we were told of a young man who lost his life before he was able to become a Christian. During that point I was emotional myself. Yet now I look back at it and it seems so trival because we have all heard that same story over and over before.
CYC arose from Winterfest’s liberalism. Conservative churches wanted a youth rally in Gatlinburg, but didn’t want the liberalism that Winterfest had become.
Since in recent years the church I attend had pushed CYC and did not mention Winterfest at all, I had assumed that Winterfest had all but died out. Not so. Today I got an email sent to the church’s email address from a representative from my alma mater sent to area churches inquiring about Winterfest and giving the opportunity to receive goodies…as in beanies for the kids. Winterfest is sponsored by the more liberal Lipscomb University…among other sponsors, while CYC is sponsored by the conservative Freed-Hardeman, Southern Christian and Faulkner Universities.
So now one must have to image what the storekeepers in Gatlinburg think when there are seemlingly two large youth rallies among the churches of Christ within (sometimes) consecutive weekends in Feburary.

“To Those Willing to Serve…” was the phrase used in church bulletins when listing men who publically lead the worship service in some capacity. Usually the listing came in a weekly listing of prayer leaders, song leaders, and Bible readers.
By my count my own church uses 12 people montly on the communion table (that’s 8 upfront, 4 “ushers” in the back). That’s 144 yearly. Then there’s 2 prayer leaders (opening and closing prayers respectively), and a scripture reader. That’s 156 men needed yearly to do this. Keep in mind we have 2 worship services on Sunday morning. This brings us to a grand total of 600 men per year needed to lead publically on Sunday mornings. That’s of course not including the preacher and song leader which is usually the same men over and over.
We have around 700 people who attend on Sunday morning. Of these I’m sure a good 400 or so are members and of these let’s say half are men. So that gives us a pool of 200 men to choose from. Why all the math? I wanted to point out a problem which seems to be effecting the church as a whole. The problem is you tend to see the same people leading prayers, reading scripture and serving on the communion table.
Of course not everyone is willing or capable of leading a prayer, reading scripture publically, or even passing a communion tray. However I do believe that most everyone could be capable of doing some of those things, given enough time and practice.
The problem is that due to apathy or fear members just don’t want to serve, but instead sit back in the pew and wait to be served.
“You must be proud of your son,” a member told a father of a son who had just got done leading a public prayer during worship service. As it turned out the father remarked that it was something he would never be able to do. Do we need an adult equivalent of “Young Soldiers” ? And I’m being told that there are some deacons who will not lead public prayers during worship services. Spiritual leaders indeed?

During my late teen years and early 20s I attended church camp with my home congregation. During those years I could just about place money on which camper would go forward during the invitation song and confess whatever sin they committed during the past school year. We would then pray and then have a huge hug/cry session to aleve the pain.
I think these people were hooked on emotionalism. When they are put in a highly emotional situation they react. However once the emotionalism fades, so does their faith.
“Lord, Sometimes I Just Don’t Feel Saved,” is the title of a book by Michael Moss. And sometimes we feel we need to have that special feeling somewhere in our own heart that lets us know that we’re saved. Once that fades some feel they have to go forward to renew their committment.
Time and time again I have seen the same people go forward over and over at church confessing real or imagined sin, while other people, people who NEED to go forward sit back on their pew and consequently engage in sinful activities on days other than Sunday.
Sadly, or maybe more appropriately realistically, the newness and geniuness of a Christian life has somewhat faded, mostly through negative life experiences with past jobs and church. My relationship with God hasn’t changed. However seemingly this whole hooked on emotionalism has been placed in the backseat and instead utilitarianism has taken its place. I’m not knocking emotionalism. I think for some people it has its place. But what I would like to see is more logic. Logical people examine themselves and ask “Is there anything I’ve done lately that would put me in an unsaved position?” If yes, then change your behavior.