Bob Mumford at 78 (with video link)

At the height of the Charismatic Movement in the 1970s I had four favorite bible teachers: James Beall, Ern Baxter, Malcolm Smith, and Bob Mumford.
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Baxter went on to his eternal reward in 1993. Smith, twice-divorced, maintains a ministry out of San Antonio that I do not take interest in. Beall turned 84 this month and is pastor emeritus of Bethesda Christian Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

[My review of Beall's book, Straight Talk about the Holy Spirit, can be read here.]

Mumford, now 78 and living in Ft. Lauderdale, is head --- along with his son, Eric --- of a ministry called Lifechangers. That ministry provides teaching to the body of Christ and sponsors two ministry homes, one in Uganda and one in Ukraine.

I was pleased to find out that Lifechangers had produced a video Christmas card this year, featuring Bob and his wife, Judith. You can view that video here. (YouTube also has a 10-minute sample of a recent teaching by Bob. You can view that here.)

Now I do understand that the men listed had ministries that were to varying degrees controversial (Beall --- baptismal controversy; Smith --- twice-divorced; and Baxter and Mumford --- Shepherding/Discipleship controversy).

The benefits I reaped from their ministries, however, had nothing to do with those controversies. I learned early in life the necessity of adhering to the old adage: "chew the meat and spit out the bones." Their ministries blessed me by taking the Scriptures seriously and presenting them in an interesting manner.  I saw in each of them a sincere effort to "rightly divide the word of truth."
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Beall and Mumford kept their audiences interested by using humor in their teaching on practical Christian living. Baxter was a wordsmith with soaring rhetoric, and Smith had the gift of being deep and clear at the same time (not such an easy task, I submit).

There was a roughly two-year period in my life where Mumford's Tape-of-the-Month did much to sustain my spiritual life. All the controversy swirling about his ministry did nothing to abate my excitement each month when the tape arrived. That's because the tapes were not so much --- as some might suppose --- indoctrination into the Shepherding/Discipleship movement, as they were teachings on how to live out the abundant life Christ has provided for His people. (It is my understanding that one encountered the troublesome aspects of the Shepherding/Discipleship teaching in meetings that were "closed" to those not in covenant with that movement.)

Mumford also radiated a joy that had to be seen to be fully appreciated. I only saw him preach once --- in Bay City, Michigan --- but I came away from that evening with more than just some good 'meat' from his teaching (the Lord used Bob's sermon to correct a surly and ungrateful attitude I had been fostering). I also was struck by how truly happy the man looked.

That joy was underscored for me when I found out later that Mumford was at that very time on the losing end of a large lawsuit (you can read the details here). As I recall his words that night, there was no plea for money (none!), no snide remarks about his opponent in the lawsuit, in fact, nothing said about the lawsuit at all --- how different from the antics of many preachers today. But, there was that countenance that indicated a deep peace and joy within.

To be sure, Bob Mumford and his ministerial brethren in the Shepherding/Discipleship Movement (pictured to the left) made some serious errors. Bob owned up to his errors in the January/February 1990 issue of Ministry Today magazine (the stark cover featured his words in yellow, sitting on a black background: "Discipleship was wrong. I repent. I ask forgiveness.")

But, more importantly, Bob Mumford stayed true to his Lord and Savior. He is finishing the course strongly. I am thankful for him.

Mumford's most recent book, Agape Road: Journey to Intimacy with the Father (Destiny Image Publishers) can be sampled here. The complete archive of New Wine magazine, the house organ of the Shepherding/Discipleship movement, can be accessed here. A short, biographical sketch can be read here.

Davids comments on Anglican upheaval

News broke on Wednesday that conservative Episcopalian churches were breaking away from from the worldwide Anglican communion and forming their own province, the Anglican Church in North America.

Good reporting on this can be found in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the New York Times, and Christianity Today.

On September 15, Peter Davids, a prominent New Testament scholar and charismatic Episcopalian priest, was interviewed on this blog about tensions in the Anglican communion. That interview can be read here.

I reached Dr. Davids today and he graciously consented to provide insight on this week's news. His comments follow:

"It seems to me that there are two good parts to this (not unexpected) move. First, a number of Anglican 'splinters' have gotten together. This proto-province is made up Reformed Episcopalians and AMNA and other groups, as well as those, like the Diocese of Pittsburgh, affiliated with the Province of the Southern Cone. There are Anglo-Catholics on the one side and rather conservative Reformed on the other. That in itself is newsworthy and worth celebrating. Before this each splinter has remained separate and often out of fellowship with the others. Second, in forming a proto-province (it will only be after the convention in the summer and the acceptance by other Anglican provinces that it will be fully a province), these leaders are trying to influence the Anglican Communion rather than taking their Anglican marbles and sitting in a corner. They are not struggling within the Episcopal Church, but rather on the global Anglican level. If they succeed, it will transform the Communion, for it could lead to official recognition of a rival to the Episcopal Church, the sidelining of Canterbury (unless the archbishop embraces the new province), and the enhanced strength of the Global South provinces.

"However, it would be premature to call all of this a done deal. This is a fractious coalition that is made up of overlapping movements, diocese, and other jurisdictions. To be successful they will eventually have to unify their structures, which will mean some will have to give up power. Furthermore, while all are orthodox, they hold different ecclesiologies, e.g. some ordain women and others left the Episcopal Church over the ordination of women. Can they find a way to live together long term, especially as the rivalry with the Episcopal Church fades? I hope so, but only time will tell.

"Finally, let us not think that this spells the end of the Episcopal Church. TEC still has 2 million members (the Anglican Province of North America has 100,000). TEC is declining, but at present rates it would take about 1000 years for it to reach zero. It gets along perfectly well with the Anglican churches in the northern hemisphere (e.g. Canada and Great Britain), and it is well-endowed. Cultural shifts could even start it growing again. The question will be whether the Anglican Communion splits into two or whether the two parts find a way to live together with the Archbishop of Canterbury as the pivot. There are also plenty of orthodox believers and clergy in the Episcopal Church.

"So I welcome this news for what it is, hope that the new province coalesces and is recognized, but I do not see this as the end of the Episcopal Church or even the end of orthodoxy in the Episcopal Church. On the other hand, while competition has not been at all Anglican, it is surely rather American, which might mean that a competitive Anglicanism in the USA/ North America will end up strengthening both sides of the competitive rivalry."