Honoring Our History
She Is One: The Work of Christian Unity
In 1860, South African Anglican bishop John Colenso triggered a theological storm by questioning the historical accuracy and inerrancy of Scripture. In response, clergyman Samuel Stone wrote “The Church’s One Foundation” to reaffirm biblical truth. The hymn was part of a collection defending the twelve articles of the Apostles’ Creed, including the ninth article celebrating the “One Holy Catholic (Universal) Church.”
Fast forward a century to 1966. I’m at Bible Standard College. My journey to Open Bible had been a hopscotch through a panoply of churches. I grew up in a Disciples of Christ church, attended Presbyterian VBS, visited Church of Christ services with a neighbor, encountered Catholic worship while delivering newspapers to a hospital, first heard the word “saved” in a Nazarene Youth for Christ event, gave my life to Christ in a non-denominational Pentecostal church, and heard my first miracle testimony from an Episcopalian at a Full Gospel Business Men’s meeting attended by believers from nearly every tradition imaginable.
Imagining the Church as one was not on my radar…until I sang verse two of Stone’s historic hymn and read about it in the Bible. The hymn goes like this:
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation:
One Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
My church experience was checkered, but it etched an eternal truth into me: the Church is one! In her local expressions she may have spots like a leopard or stripes like a zebra, but she is one. Denominations may not always act like it, but Christ has only one body (Eph. 1:22).
Open Bible Churches (OBC) has intentionally pursued Christian unity throughout its history. Our roots reach back to the Azusa Street Revival of 1906, where the Holy Spirit broke down barriers of sectarianism and racism. Our leaders helped found the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942, provided leadership in the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America beginning in 1948, and participated in the historic Memphis Miracle of 1994, when Black and White Pentecostal leaders washed each other’s feet in a spirit of repentance and reconciliation. In 1997, Open Bible also led a reconciliation event with our sister fellowships, The Foursquare Church and Apostolic Faith. During my tenure as president, I was privileged to help launch Christian Churches Together, formally established in 2006, later serve as president of the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America, and see Open Bible continue its broader ecumenical engagement through Dr. David Cole’s ministry with the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue.
Christian unity…is born in the hearts of pastors who are called not only to churches, but to a city.
These and many other distinctives showcase OBC’s commitment to demonstrate unity in the Church. At the risk of diluting their importance, however, let me point out these were, and still are, primarily fellowship gatherings, where relationships are established and best practices are exchanged. Please note: revivals do not start in organizations. Community transformation doesn’t begin in fellowships.
To dress it in denim, the hard work of Christian unity takes place in communal intercessory prayer. It is born in the hearts of pastors who are called not only to churches, but to a city. Christian unity begins in cross-denominational intercessory prayer meetings, in city-wide Easter sunrise services, in pulpit exchange programs, in city-wide evangelistic initiatives, and in Convoy of Hope events that mobilize the churches of a city to serve the hungry, homeless, and needy. The spiritual DNA of a community can be altered only through united intercessory prayer, fasting, worship, and service.
History authenticates this reality. Watch the Sentinel “Transformation” videos or research the stories of Manchester, Kentucky; Hemet, California; Cali, Columbia; or Almolonga, Guatemala, to mention a few. Crime plummets, poverty is erased, corruption is arrested, and churches explode with growth.
When the power of genuine Christian unity is unleashed, demons are paralyzed with fear. The very “gates of hell cannot prevail” against the One Holy Universal Church. She is one!
About the Author
Dr. Jeff Farmer served on the Executive Committee of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America for over twenty years, the last seven as president and CEO. He began ministry as a youth pastor, then served as a bi-vocational church planter/senior pastor, during which time God equipped him for eighteen years in the corporate business sector. For over seven years Dr. Farmer served as president of Eugene Bible College, followed by sixteen years as president of Open Bible Churches. He and his wife of fifty-nine years, Ramona, have three children and nine grandchildren. Dr. Farmer has designed and co-authored three books: Servants of the Spirit, Heart for the Harvest, and Miracle Invasion.