|
2007
-
-
12/23/07 - Article - God Scatters
and God Gathers
"Tragically in 2003, the
International Churches of Christ (ICOC) were scattered by the hand of God –
not for one man’s sins or for the sins of the leaders, but for everyones!
This truth has been acknowledged by those who have been healed through
repentance and forgiving those who sinned against them."
..."Sadly for many disciples, most
ICOC churches remain in the Babylon of mainline Church of Christ theology.
Causing confusion, about the Spirit’s new movement as well as the
theological source of lukewarmness in the ICOC, are misleading reports on
“Hot News,” an ICOC website. In a derogatory article (Mike Taliaferro:
November 19, 2007) on Raul Moreno’s heroic decision (City Of Angels
Bulletin: October 21, 2007) to join our new discipling movement, Mike
Taliaferro deceivingly reported – “the ICOC churches have planted nearly 100
churches in the last four years,” “most of our churches have Discipleship
Partners,” and concerning the dream to evangelize the world in a generation,
“I do not know a single evangelist or elder in the ICOC who has renounced
the dream.” For the honor of God, these half-truths and deceiving claims
need to be addressed. Implied in the “100 church plantings” is incredible
numeric growth. Yet, some of the “100 church plantings in the last four
years” are from the dividing of congregations, such as the former Atlanta
International Church of Christ which splintered into nine, yes nine
so-called “new” church plantings! Likewise the Washington D.C. ICOC crumbled
into five so called “new churches.” This deception of growth was refuted
even by the ICOC’s own “Missions Memo” website of August 28, 2007. In their
words, “When the [latest] survey is completed, we expect to show a fourth
consecutive year of losses [in worldwide membership].”
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12/09/07 - Article -
Group
Discipleing? [sic] Yes!
"In our former fellowship it was 12
years before we founded a global charity. Therefore, with prayer – in this
only our second year of the new discipling movement – we are proposing a
“New Hope” organization led by Nick and Denise Bordieri, a shepherding
couple in the City of Angels Church. Prayerfully, when we evangelize the
over 200 countries of the world in this generation, there will be “New Hope”
projects for the poor and needy in every country on earth!"
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11/19/07 -
Editorial...
A HotNews Response to Raul
Moreno by Mike Taliaferro
"Recently Raul Moreno wrote a ‘guest
editorial’ so filled with half truth and misrepresentation that we felt it
appropriate to share our thoughts on the issue. This editorial is not an
official voice of the ICOC, but rather just our own opinion about
things...."
"Raul Moreno became connected with
Kip McKean and the Portland Movement several years ago. Members of that
movement are called to recruit heavily from the ICOC congregations. When
Raul tried to lead his ICOC church in Santiago, Chile, into Kip’s new
movement, he was disciplined for being divisive. The vast majority (90%) of
the membership stayed in the ICOC when he left. He recently wrote an
editorial to defend his divisive behavior. We take issue with several of
his statements.
For instance, in defense of his
departure, he says that, “I became convinced that the ICOC, for the most
part, that I was affiliated with was no longer a movement, whose dream was
to evangelize the world in our generation.” I’d like to state for the
record that I do not know a single evangelist or elder in the ICOC who has
renounced this dream. In fact, we are still taking up millions of dollars
for mission work around the world. We are still actively building up our
churches in over 150 countries. Africa, for instance, has a 30 year plan
that begins with the cities and ends with the villages. ICOC churches have
planted nearly 100 churches in the last four years. Yes, we hit a very
difficult patch in 2003. It was very challenging. But most of us did not
cut and run during the direst time in our history. While some ran off and
started “new movements” simply so that they could be in charge once again,
most of us stayed with the churches that we began and did not desert “the
army of God” that was still fighting in the field. We are still giving our
lives to evangelize the world, and we want to do it in our generation. If
it takes longer, so be it. The Holy Spirit is in charge. But we all want
to see it happen in our generation."
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10/21/07 - Raul Moreno
responds with his comments about
what happened in Santiago, Chile
"The
three Florida evangelists proceeded to mark me and another ministry leader
couple as divisive, thus disfellowshipping us. They also gave advice to those
they had swayed to avoid the disciples that had continued to follow our lead.
Indeed, there is a new congregation in Santiago, Chile. That church is the one
that decided not to follow their leaders. They even named one of their own as
their “new” leader. The congregation that I now lead is practicing exactly what
I have been teaching during my entire tenure in Santiago. We have embraced the
original ICOC teachings. The name of the congregation I still lead is the
Santiago International Christian Church. The new church is called the Santiago
ICOC only because the fourth and only dissenting couple of the leadership group
was the administrator, who as president of the board, carried with him the legal
rights and name of the church. Now, a month after this separation, the Santiago
International Christian Church is once again thriving and starting to baptize!"
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08/27/07 - Santiago
ICOC Church splits when local leaders join Kip's new movement.
Local Leaders
marked.
"On Sunday the
Morenos met with a group of about 30 in their apartment building, while the
rest of us (about 250) had a great worship in the regular facility. John
Hoyt gave a meaningful communion service, his first in Spanish, and John
Reus preached an inspiring sermon. We met, again, at 4:00 with the church
and at 6:00 with the Bible talk leaders. At this time, both Raul Moreno and
Kip McKean were marked for their divisiveness (Romans 16:17 and Titus 3:10).
On Monday morning we had an inspiring congregational devotional and prayer
time. Between, before and after these meetings the staff in Chile
(unfortunately minus Raul and Lynda) and the group from Florida met to
study, pray and organize. "
...."In that same
devotional, it was necessary for us to mark Alfredo and Alejandra Anuch,
Raul's right hand couple, for their divisiveness. It feels contradictory to
mark church members, because we try so hard to keep them saved. But, we
understand that the scriptures leave us no alternative, in order that the
larger flock might be protected. The 250 disciples who remain in the
original church have high standards of unity, love, faithfulness and
devotion. This church has a great desire to reach Chile and beyond with the
gospel. They are an example and an inspiration to us all."
"When Jesus’ call to be sold-out is
preached in a lukewarm or dead church, the message will appear “divisive”
and “harsh” as many will choose to turn back and not follow Him. In some
cases, two churches will be created; one that is composed of only sold-out
disciples and the other church will be those who love the status quo."
"Yes, the term, “sold-out disciple”
is redundant. So, why do we use it? In 1980 shortly after the Lord started
the Boston Movement, I met a student at Harvard who said, “The only
difference between your conviction and my conviction on salvation is that
you believe you have to be baptized to be saved.” I said no and showed her
several of the passages about being a disciple. (A short time later, I made
“discipleship” one of the studies in our new study series.) In the world
back then and presently, so many people have so many definitions for
“Christian.” Yet in 1980 the term “disciple” was quite distinct. Sadly today
the term “disciple” has been watered-down. Therefore, since so many have
cheapened the word “disciple”, in order to draw a Biblical distinction, we
call those who follow Jesus, “sold-out” disciples, because as in the two
parables of Matthew 13:44-46, the individuals “sold everything” they had to
have the treasure of God, salvation."
"Today, I beg all true disciples of
our Savior Jesus to tear down all walls of hostility. I am especially
praying for those Christians who have gone to the unimaginable and
unbiblical extreme of disfellowshipping a movement of disciples who are
passionately pursuing Jesus’ dream to evangelize the nations in a
generation. I plead with you, tear down this wall of hostility and worship
with us!
Let us consider that God has “one
kingdom,” perhaps with more than one movement. And when by His grace we
dwell with God in heaven, I sincerely doubt that God will be okay with true
disciples neither talking with each other nor worshipping Him on autonomous
clouds! City of Angels Church, lets have the faith of Joshua. God has the
power to tear down any obstacle to the truth…no matter how high or how
wide."
"Our historical roots can be traced
from the Reformation Movement of Martin Luther in the 1500’s, to the
Restoration Movement (mainline Churches of Christ) of Alexander Campbell and
Barton Stone in the 1800’s, to the Crossroads Campus Movement (Total
Commitment Movement) of Chuck Lucas in the 1960’s and 70’s, and finally to
the Boston Movement initiated in 1979, of which many would consider me the
“founder.” In 1994 the Boston Movement officially became known as the
International Churches of Christ (ICOC). Then this past year after most ICOC
leaders rejected and opposed our efforts to call out a remnant to revive the
ICOC, God put on the hearts of my dear brother Steve Johnson and many others
to urge me to begin again. So last fall we officially initiated the new
Portland Discipling Movement or as some would call us, the “Sold-out
Movement."
..."In the past few years, it has
deeply saddened Elena’s and my heart to see many leaders of the ICOC return
to a more mainline Church of Christ theology. This was signaled by most ICOC
congregations in the United States dropping the “International” from their
name, so as not to be distinctive from the mainline Churches of Christ. As
in the mainline Churches of Christ, the ICOC in their “Unity Letter” states
their church government is “hyper-autonomy,” where all final decisions rest
with the local congregation. This doctrine effectively ends a sense of
movement and the joy of traveling from one ICOC congregation to another and
finding the same spirit and commitment. Also officially rejected was the
dream to evangelize the world in a generation. These decisions to depart
from the core convictions of the early days of the Boston Movement proved
the proverb true, “Without vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)"
"Pray for us as there
is so much work to do. LA has 20 million lost souls, 700,000 of which are on
the campuses. We will have disciples at UCLA, Cal State Northridge, Cal
State Long Beach, Cal State LA, Cal State Fullerton and Santa Monica Jr.
College. Vic and Aurora will lead our Campus and Teen Ministry. Of special
note, DJ and Kacie Comisford will lead the Hollywood Ministry which will
reach out to the 300 young people that move to Los Angeles EVERY DAY to make
it somewhere, somehow in “the Business."
"Today, “spiritual
Israel” is divided and scattered. Many are confused as they see nine
churches in Atlanta with International Church of Christ (ICOC) roots, eight
congregations in London, England and three in Brisbane, Australia. For years
I taught “one church, one city.” Now in April, Elena and I will lead a
mission team of 40 from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles to plant a new
congregation. Some detractors say this new planting is a “second church” in
LA, when in fact it is at least the fifth congregation with ICOC roots. Some
have gone so far as to preach that “starting a ‘second church’ is sinfully
divisive” and have marked and disfellowshipped me and everyone in the
Portland Church. They go on to say, “Never in the New Testament is a ‘second
church’ started even when things went terrible in Corinth.” Once more, if
like the mainline Church of Christ we attempt to find parallels to our times
only in the New Testament Scriptures and not the entire Bible, we remain
perplexed on how to move forward and can be led astray from the truth."
From
the biography: ..."In 2001, the oldest of McKean’s children stopped
attending church. This single event caused uncertainty in McKean’s
leadership among some of the World Sector Leaders. In the later part of 2001
the World Sector Leaders then forced McKean to go on sabbatical, though some
later regretted the decision."...
..."Also of note, in February 2003 Henry Kriete releases a letter entitled
“Honest to God.” In his letter Henry Kriete, advocated “a time for anger and
the overthrowing of temples: I believe the time is now.” The rebellion of
the Kingdom Teachers and the Kingdom Elders was consequently then passed on
to all of the members. Thousands left the ICOC confused and bitter."...
...."In October 2005, 65 leaders and elders from some of the remaining
congregations of the International Church of Christ wrote a letter
criticizing McKean."...
| KipMckean.com Editor's note:
many details and events have been omitted from this official
website. If you'd like to research further, please read the
kipmckean.com Timeline which contains an
outline of these events as they occurred, with links to the actual
documents. |
2006
-
12/28/06 - A group breaks away from the Central New York Church of Christ
(Portland Family) and
forms their
own church called the Syracuse Regional Church of Christ
"Because the CNYCOC accepts the leadership, discipling, and influence of
Kip McKean, stands in judgment of the unified family of the
International Churches of Christ, and supports the Chicago International
Christian Church with people and money. We left the CNYCOC to remain
with the International Churches of Christ in their mission to evangelize
the world.
The timing of our exodus was caused by the leadership of the CNYCOC, as
they demanded 100% support of their new direction by all members. As a
result many decided to make the major decision to leave and follow the
advice given by the former evangelist of the CNYCOC to “get our
spiritual needs met elsewhere”. Others left about the same time
because they became aware of the division already present between the
CNYCOC and ICOC churches, and chose to not follow Kip McKean and
churches receiving his influence."
-
1217/06 -
Portland Sermon -
Nothing is Impossible
- Sound Clip;
McKeans planning on moving to LA in March 2007. Steve and Lisa Johnson
will stay in Portland.
Future plans to begin a church in Brisbane, Australia; London and New York
City.
"Last
month was very challenging for Elena and me as we are striving to build a
new movement of sold-out disciples with the common motivating vision of
evangelizing the world in a generation. We were informed by the Santiago,
Chile Church leadership that they no longer wanted our discipling. They did
not want to be a part of our new movement, calling our new movement
“sinfully divisive” in starting “new churches” and fearing the loss of
relationships in the ICOC. Though we tried to assure them we have never
drawn any lines of fellowship, the decision was made to separate themselves
from us. This made us incredibly sad because of our love for all the Chilean
disciples. Yet we will continue to pray for them and wish them well. Then in
the midst of our sadness, the Lord encouraged us with two more new churches
joining this young movement – one in Tallinn, Estonia led by Argo and Anu
Lips and the other in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo led by Lola Lof!"
"A
united fellowship of congregations was not Jesus’ ultimate goal. “Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners…God our Savior wants all men to be
saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 1:15; 2:3-4) Too
many churches are content to have some baptisms with only the goal of
meeting the needs of members of the local congregation. Undeclared from
pulpits is the need for salvation by the thousands and millions in their own
cities. Though the apostles saw it to be essential to meet all the needs in
the local church in Acts 6, as a leadership they were determined to stay
focused on “prayer and ministry of the Word.” (Acts 6:4)"
...."McKean never acknowledged God's discipline through the brothers'
statement. Since then he has used his persuasive talents to take his new
movement to numerous cities and sent his disciples to other cities to draw
people out of churches so that he can once again have power and authority
over them. Perhaps some good-hearted disciples, out of a pure desire to
have their church be filled with greater excitement and zeal, are tempted to
embrace Kip's influence, not realizing that they are being (and will be)
used for Kip's agenda and divisive purposes. The message remains the same:
churches not aligned with him are dead and not right with God. Though he
acknowledges there are faithful disciples in other churches, according to
his own words, to be in a true church you must leave your church and come be
with Kip's new fellowship of churches of only "sold-out" disciples.
Seasoned leaderships from around the world, including commended brothers who
have known Kip for decades have condemned these simplistic and condescending
judgments regarding our family of churches."....
"Sadly, our fellowship is experiencing a similar bitter/sweet moment in
time. As most of our congregations are regaining our commitment to unity and
brotherhood one of our brothers has unilaterally decided that the fellowship
generally is so damaged that we will neither stay united, nor see the world
evangelized. I believe with all of my heart that he is absolutely wrong!
Like Paul’s judgment about John Mark, this brother feels the need to start
all over.
This
brother is Kip McKean. It profoundly saddens me that we have come to this
moment in time. I love and appreciate all that Kip has done for me and many
of our churches. He is a man of great vision and zeal, but I couldn’t
disagree with him more adamantly. I believe all we need now is faith and
victorious examples to inspire one another. (That is why I’m so proud of the
Greater
Baltimore
Church . God has blessed our faith
with inspiring progress .We have witnessed dozens of baptisms and
restorations and a rapidly growing attendance and contribution.)
I
have been one of Kip’s closest friends for more than 25 years and I have
tried hard in the last year to avert this parting of the ways. Doug Lambert
and I visited
Portland in May of this year to call the leadership
to repent of critical and condescending remarks that were constantly being
made about Churches and Christians in other places. I even went so far as to
offer help in editing the
Portland bulletin in an attempt to minimize these
offensive comments and characterizations. Though some changes were made and
Kip apologized publicly and privately, the reconciliation I had hoped for as
well as the consistent change in message from
Portland has not occurred. Tragically, in recent
months it has become clear that these efforts were cosmetic in nature. The
underlying conviction that Kip and the
Portland leadership maintain is that our fellowship
is collectively beyond hope and can best be used for ‘spare parts’ to be
build a whole new “movement”.
"In
all of church history few groups, if any, have enjoyed over 20 years of
united success like we did. So whatever explanation you come up with in
regards to what happened to us, the reality is that we are still here, the
world still needs Jesus and we have to decide what to do. As for me, my
ambition is to motivate men and women to be totally sold-out for Jesus
Christ and to at least agree that every member in every church is supposed
to be totally committed to His mission. Like Paul said in 1 Corinthians
4:17, “This is what I teach everywhere in every church.” I am not saying
that Portland is a perfect church. I do not think there ever has been or
ever will be a perfect church. How could there be if you and I are in it?
But, God help us please, the standards have lowered so much in most ICOC
congregations. Where once we all agreed on what it meant to be a disciple,
men who know better are tolerating members not showing up for services, not
giving their money, not sharing their faith, dating non-Christians and the
congregations suffer because of it. Sadly, though there are a few baptisms,
the multiplication of disciples and churches has stopped and our cities are
getting more lost by the minute."
"A
few weeks ago, a dear friend felt compelled to write me and in an effort to
be constructively critical, offered the formula “Kip + a few disgruntled
people = new church.” I admit there is truth in this charge. Many brothers
and sisters unhappy with their congregations are asking me and others
associated with me to help them start new churches. I see this as an
improvement over staying in an existing church and being disgruntled or
falling away from God. This was exactly the position I took in 1982 when we
began sending men and women around the world planting new churches. Most had
been converted or grafted in from churches from which they had become
unhappy. So I have to agree and even advertise that if you are unhappy with
where you are and cannot resolve things, come with us. We are baptizing the
lost and creating a new fellowship of Christians excited about sharing their
faith. If you are happy (spiritually fulfilled and your conscience is clear)
in the congregation where you are now, you should stay there; seek and save
the lost from that part of the Kingdom. But if you are not happy, and cannot
“get happy,” perhaps you should consider joining us as we passionately
strive to obey Jesus’ Great Commission to go to all nations. "
-
10/31/06 - The Bay Area Christian Church (formerly the San Francisco ICOC)
emailed their congregation about an email
being sent to its members inviting them to join a new church being planted
with support from the Portland church.
"The support that these 3 people have received from the Portland Church
of Christ is not unusual. The Portland Church of Christ has decided
that anyone who does not join them in building their "new movement" is
"lukewarm". We confirmed their support of anyone who wants to
plant a church anywhere with one of their evangelists today. This is
unfortunate since we have been one of the only churches in the world who
have not publicly condemned them even though we don't agree with them.
The only reason we are putting this information on record is because of
these mass emails. "
-
10/22/06 - The Salt Lake City church which was recently planted from Portland
has now stated that
they "do not condone the conduct of the Portland Family of churches and their
split from the rest of our family." And that they no longer "want to be included
on any list that brings division not unity."
"As
the leadership of the Salt Lake Christian Church we firmly believe God has
placed us in a position as a bridge between the two sides of this argument.
And it is to this end that we will continue to work. When asked to sign the
unity proposal we declined, not because we thought it was a bad concept, but
because we value our relationship with the Portland family of Churches and
do not wish to restrict or damage our relationships. To that same end we
cannot condone the conduct of the Portland Family of Churches and their
split from the rest of our family. While included as part of their family,
on paper, and while we will do all that we can to support them in their
faith, we are disappointed that our church was included in a list of
churches that are forming their own movement. We do not want to be included
on any list that brings division not unity."
-
10/18/06 - Los Angels International Church of Christ
publicly marks Kip
McKean.
"Because of these unrepentant
deceitful and divisive actions, and after careful consideration, we are
publicly marking Kip McKean, the force behind these efforts, Sal Valasco,
the local leader of this faction, and whoever else promotes this action
with them."
-
10/15/06 - Article -
“Partners
In The Gospel”
"For these reasons, after several
agonizing days of prayer as well as counsel from the Portland elders and
evangelists, my decision at this juncture is to start over with whoever is
willing to help in building a worldwide movement for baptizing lost souls.
Learning from the past, we want to make it very clear that we are not
condemning those who do not consider themselves part of this movement.
Anyone who is a baptized disciple making every effort to walk in the light
is a brother in Christ and promised heaven. Participating in this new
movement is not an issue of salvation. This is an issue of building a
unified effort to preach Christ in every nation. Being a part of this new
movement is an issue of being able to go from one city to the next and find
a fellowship of disciples who speak the same language and are kindred
spirits."
...."Interestingly, while we were in
Hilo, an evangelist from the Los Angeles ICOC accompanied by the evangelist
and the two elders from Honolulu ICOC secretly met with the members of the
Hilo ICOC who did not want to follow their leaders decision to have Portland
discipling them. They formed a “new church” of about 20 members. This is
fine with us, yet these same leaders returned to their home churches to
preach that Portland was in sin because we believed in calling out a remnant
and forming new congregations. They are teaching, “Starting a second church
is divisive and unbiblical.” Yet this is exactly what they did. From a
historical perspective, if one has a conviction that you should never start
a new church, then he or she should attend the Roman Catholic Church as it
is the most direct link to the first century church. But we believe many
ICOC congregations have drifted in “life and doctrine” to such an extent
that it is time for a revolution of starting new churches composed of only
sold-out disciples."
10/08/06 - Sermon - You Might be Fighting
God - The Portland church splits the
San Pedro Sula, Honduras ICOC
church, and plants the Los Angeles International Christian Church in order to
split the LA ICOC Church.
Clip about the Split in Honduras and LA
Kip claims that only the Portland Church
is composed of only sold-out disciples. They are to build the visible
church.
10/01/06 - Article -
Victor and Sonia Gonzalez,
Appointed Evangelist and Women’s
Ministry Leader
09/24/06 - Article -
A Tale of Two Cities -
The Portland church splits both the Honolulu and the
Hilo ICOC churches.
Clip About the Split - Clip from the
Sermon entitled You Might be Fighting God
Gordon Ferguson
met with the churches in Hawaii to discuss the recent events.
"Dying churches either must heed the
words of Christ and repent, like Santiago, or new congregations must be
planted to obey Jesus’ charge to “baptize the nations.” Let this be clear,
any existing congregation can repent if its leadership begins to call people
to obey Jesus’ vision, for the sole reason behind starting new congregations
is proclamation."
06/11/06 - Article -
A heartfelt Apology
06/04/06 - Sermon - Good Vibrations
After a meeting with other ICOC church
leaders, Kip is now redefining what the term "sold-out
disciple" means.
Clip 1
Sold out disciple now means that it's not an
action, it's a condition of the heart, but it will manifest itself in
action.
Clip 2
As long as you have the heart to strive to be
sold out, God is fired up about you.
Clip 3
Doug Arthur and Doug Lambert of the Baltimore
church spent some time with Kip this past week and spoke to him on several
issues regarding his writings and teachings in separating disciples.
Kip also tries to explain why there is a need to send a new mission team to
Chicago.
"Maxim
visited Portland before and during our Jubilee and was so encouraged when he
saw first-hand that the entire Portland Church was composed of sold-out
disciples, just as the Kyiv Church had been when he was baptized in January
1993. Maxim returned to Kyiv and more and more came to hear him teach about
“God’s dream to evangelize the world in a generation.” The Kyiv leaders came
to Maxim and “his group” and told them collectively and individually they
would be disfellowshiped if they continue to meet together. Maxim and “his
group” refused to compromise their Biblical convictions about world evangelism,
discipling and their association with Portland. Consequently, they were
officially disfellowshiped in December 2005. Thus their chance of helping the
Kyiv Church from the inside was taken away from them.
Responding to this now outcast
group of sold-out disciples’ pleas for help, I arrived in Kyiv on February 23,
2006."
-
03/02/06
- The Chicago
Church of Christ responds to the recent announcement that Kip McKean plans
on planting a new church of "sold-out" disciples in Chicago.
"A phone call from
Chris Broom of Syracuse, New York and an announcement on the web made us aware
that Kip McKean and the Portland International Church of Christ in conjunction
with the Central New York Church of Christ in Syracuse is preparing to plant a
church in Chicago. Some of our members have been encouraged to leave our
fellowship to join in this effort. While we gladly welcome any disciple of
Jesus who is committed to reaching the Chicago area for Christ, we feel
strongly that this action is divisive. Divisiveness destroys unity, hurts the
faith of individual Christians and harms God’s kingdom. The divisive tactics
being used by this group are more evidence of the continued sin that has been
addressed in the past. We denounce the division caused by the actions of this
group just as Paul did in Romans 16:17-19 and Titus 3:9-11."
-
The
Portland Church announces that it will be replanting a church of
"sold-out" disciples in Chicago.
"We along with
disciples from Wisconsin, Florida, New York and our sister church in
Portland will join a group of "sold-out" disciples already in Chicago to
plant the Chicago International Christian Church. This is not a replanting
of the Chicago Church of Christ. We have contacted the leadership of the
Chicago Church of Christ to try to set up a meeting to discuss how we can
mutually co-exist. If anyone is interested in joining this new church
planting, I can be reached at (315) 622-5282. Ultimately, the reason we
believe the Spirit is "blowing" us into the Windy City is the proclamation
of the gospel. Only through a church that implements Christ’s plan of
discipling will we evangelize the almost 9 million lost souls of Chicago, as
well as the Midwest states, who so desperately need Christ's love and
forgiveness." Chris Broom, Syracuse
-
02/26/06 -
Kip McKean visits the church Kiev, Ukraine and begins the "calling out" of
only "sold-out" disciples to start the new Kiev International Church of
Christ.
-
02/22/06 -
A new article on
gives a "behind-the-scenes" account as to how Kip came to the Portland church.
-
02/20/06 - The ICOC sends out a
Confidential Unity Proposal to church leaders for prayer and study.
Questions and Answers Document
-
Kip and
Elena speak to the Central New
York Church of Christ, February 17, 7:00 pm
-
The Portland Family Welcomes Steve and Lisa
Johnson!
"Jesus tells the church in Sardis,
“I know your deeds; you have the reputation of being alive, but you are
dead.” Of note, even in a dead church Jesus adds, “Yet you have a
few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.” (Revelation
3:1-4) These few, we are calling out to join us as a remnant of sold-out
disciples. Also during the workshop the challenge was given to the Portland
Church to send out plantings to two major cities in America this summer!
....Though tearing themselves away from Savannah, Steve
and Lisa will bring so much to Portland and our affiliated congregations.
Therefore Portland Church, we must be willing to sacrifice financially to
support them. Our Missions Contribution on March 12, 2006, will be devoted to
the Johnson’s salary as well as “seed money” to establish new congregations of
sold-out disciples. The elders are asking each of us to sacrifice at least ten
times our weekly contribution."
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2005
-
November 2, 2005 -
The
Brothers released a 2nd letter to Kip McKean, this time signed by over 80
brothers
-
"From our deep concern for your
soul and to protect the flock, we must continue to oppose you as long as you try
to divide disciples from one another. Out of reverence for God and love
for you and all of his people, we commit to obeying these Scriptures which tell
us to have no further fellowship with you until you repent:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause
divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you
have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our
Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive
the minds of naive people. Romans 16:17-18"
-
October 14, 2005 -
Concern
For All the Churches - From the Portland Leadership.
-
October 10, 2005 - Chris and
Sonja Chloupek write
a letter to the Portland Church about their desire to start a new church in
Phoenix
-
October 9, 2005 - Here is
Portland's
response to the Letter from the Brothers
-
October 3, 2005 - A group of
Brothers have sent a
letter to Kip about his divisiveness.
-
October 2005 - Cosmo Girl! -
"My family was sucked into a cult"
-
September 25,
The
Phoenix Valley Church of Christ now warns it's members to stay away from
Kip, the Portland Church and Chris and Sonja Chloupek
"In view of the current actions of the Chloupeks, Kip and the Portland
church, we as your leaders urge you to obey Paul's admonitions quoted above from
Romans 16:17: "Keep away from them." Any fellowship or
contact should be totally discontinued as of today. We are saddened to bring
this matter before you, but we are totally resolved to biblically deal with
divisiveness and unbiblical teachings that affect our members. Thank you for
your understanding and cooperation."
-
September 8, The South Florida
church
hands
out a letter to the members on Sunday, September 4
"The weak need our support and
confidence, not derision or abandonment. Anyone who stirs up controversies and
divisions is divisive. We pray that Kip will change and recognize the hard work
and perseverance of so many who have led the churches in the good times and bad.
We pray that he will not create divisions in the local churches with his
rhetoric or any actions he may take in the future. We pray he will help the weak
and bear with those who are struggling in their faith."
-
September 6, Henry Kriete weighs in with his
own letter about the condition of the
ICOC and it's leaders
-
September 6, The LA leadership is
now distancing
themselves from Kip Mckean, "We, here in LA, did not believe that
"The Portland Story" reflected the spirit in which the Lord desired to
initiate unity. Rather than a spirit that included threats, intimidation
and arrogance, we believed that our brotherhood challenges needed to be tackled
by a collective plan, not one that focused on a single congregation or person as
the primary source for answers."
editors note: In this
article Al and Bruce claim that they did not know about
THE
PORTLAND STORY article distributed on August 21 Sunday service in
Portland because they returned to their local church for Sunday
service. If you read the timeline of events from Kip's article
entitled
Upsidedown21 Report, it's
quite clear that THE PORTLAND STORY was read by Kip during the Church
Builders Workshop on Thursday August 18 before his Preach
the Word speech, and then in Kip's Friday evening speech entitled God
Became a Dying Man, Kip gave the "calling-out" orders.
Did Al and Bruce miss these two other opportunities to hear Kip's plan?
Back to Top
-
September 6, Brian Felushko,
Evangelist, Vancouver Church of Christ offers an alternative
proposal
-
September 5,
San
Diego Church says, "Although we are committed to making disciples here
in San Diego as well, it saddens us to say that his [Kip] divisive statements
are clearly doing more harm than good, and we are absolutely opposed to having
anything to do with it here in the San Diego Church of Christ."
-
The Orlando Church publishes a
small article about the unity initiatives in a recent
newsletter
-
September 4,
St.
Louis Church warns others about Kip and their desire to NOT join the LA
Unity Plan
-
September 4, Phoenix
Church warns others to not follow Kip
-
September 4, Kip
responds to the LA Call to Unity
-
September 2, the Seattle
church publishes an article
asking,
"We appeal in particular to the Portland leadership group to
consider and act on these observations carefully and thoroughly. We do believe
that the Portland church is a zealous, happy place, but we implore them to make
remedy and apologize for behavior affecting disciples beyond Portland’s
borders—for disrespecting, judging, for condescension, for one-size-fits-all
demeaning words, for ignoring Matthew 18 protocols in specific church
situations, and to renounce reckless accusations and opinions foisted as
doctrines."
-
September 1, LA Church publishes
a question and
answer page about their Call to Unity. (version
2)
-
August 28 - Boston Elders
issue
a warning. "Kip's actions are divisive and arrogant and must be
opposed."
-
August 27 - Disciples Today
website removes the link to The Portland Story
-
August 25 - Los Angeles Church
calls for Unity (original version) amongst the ICOC churches.
Several days later this
plan was revised
Back to Top
-
August
25 - Disciples Today website posts THE
PORTLAND STORY from the Jubilee with a stern warning as an introduction:
"[DT Editor's Note: DisciplesToday.net publishes articles by
brothers and sisters whom we believe want to build God's church, not tear it
down. We publish articles that are Scripture lessons on the Teaching
Channel. On the Commentary channel we publish articles from people who
have different points of view, but believe the same basic things about being a disciple
of Jesus. We will never all agree on every approach, method or
opinion. We must be mature enough to agree in Jesus and respect each other
in all other areas -- especially while disagreeing on opinions. In
order to truly reach the world with the gospel, we must be mature enough to
accept the truth from each other with grace.
Before you read articles on the
Commentary Channel, we implore you to read 1 Corinthians 1-3 and Romans 14
and 15. If you can read other disciples' viewpoints and strong
convictions about opinions without judging the other person and without looking
down on them, then please read, pray and ask God to use you to forge
unity among us. If you cannot, we respectfully request that you not read
these articles so that you will not stumble or cause others to stumble.]"
-
August 21 - Kip draws the line in
the sand at the recent Jubilee. Read the
Portland
Story, and listen to the sermon.
-
Henry
Kriete has been speaking out against Kip recently. Quote:
"I believe Kip is delusional and arrogant.
Doctrine aside, I believe he is a false teacher based on his ethical failures,
deceitfulness and divisive spirit. I say to anyone and everyone involved with
him or in the same camp as him-run for your lives!"
-
The
Savannah Church hosted the World Missions Gospel
Jubilee June 24-26, 2005. Hear Kip's
comments about the Jubilee. Also see Kip's
article
discussing the Jubilee
-
Kip
& Elena spoke to the church in Worcester, MA on Friday,
June 10
-
June
3-4, reconstructed the
Salt Lake City Church
back into the ICOC
-
June
5 - Portland Mission Team to visit Salt Lake City. Kip and Elena McKean
will also be visiting along with 10-12 team members
-
May
25-30, brought the
Santiago Chile Church
back into the ICOC
-
The
Montreal Church - Danny and Gillianne Brisebois, leaders
May 5-11, 2005 - Kip met with leadership and the Church to bring them back
into the ICOC
-
Kip also met with Ghislain and Debbie Normand who lead the Quebec City Church
-
Kip
meets with several church leaders April 19, 2005 at a
Leaders Retreat in Maryland to
discuss the future of the ICOC.
-
March
25-27, 2005 -
Festival Latino in Portland
-
March
11, 2005 - San Antonio International Church of Christ - International Campus
& Teen Leaders Seminar Click Here to listen
to Kip tell about this service
Back to Top
2004
2003
2002
Back to Top
2001
-
World
Sector Leaders response
to McKean sabbatical
-
November
11, 2001 - LA Worship
Service Transcript, Kip speaks about the sabbatical
-
November - Kip and Elena Mckean step down from leading the LA Church of
Christ to take a sabbatical and work on family issues
2000
1999
-
Isaiah Pickett, Elder
Chicago Church of Christ - Transcript
of Marking
-
Andy
and Tammy Fleming appointed World Sector Leaders for Administration
-
175 HOPE
worldwide programs in 70 nations
-
Boston-Los Angeles-Moscow
– 25 churches in all 15 nations of the former Soviet Union and Mongolia
(17 disciples to nearly 10,000)
-
20,481 attend
LA Church service in one weekend
-
HOPE for Kids
reaches Summit goals: – 3 million children reached; – 1.2 million
volunteer hours; – 250,000 volunteer events in 107 cities with 100
corporate partners
-
Jordan’s
King Hussein (deceased) & Queen Noor named recipients of HOPE Unity
Award
-
18,000 people
attend Lagos, Nigeria service
-
ICOC
attendance nears 200,000
-
10,000 attend
recent service in Hong Kong, China
-
2,300 attend
10th Anniversary Service in Tokyo, Japan – the “Mount Everest of mission
work"
-
1st
International Youth Ministries Conference “Revolution X” – LA
-
Feb 25, 1999
- Kip McKean Sermon from Singapore
1998
-
October
- 50 state goal lost with the failure of the Fargo, ND church
-
LA Church has worship service at Rose Bowl with over 10,000 in
attendance
-
Night at the Rose Bowl - Kip McKean
-
Phil
& Donna Lamb resign as World Sector Leaders for family and
health reasons. Peter & Laura García-Bengochea are appointed WSLs
for Central & South America
-
Emergency
Missions Leadership Meeting – recommitment to prayer &
evangelism
-
HOPE
for Children places 200th adoption
-
Health
Corps Conference – Hong Kong, China
-
2nd
HOPE worldwide orphanage opens in Indonesia
-
HOPE
worldwide, along with the ICOC, provides financial, medical and
emotional assistance to victims of Hurricane Mitch
-
DPI: 1
millionth volume and Kingdom Kids Curriculum
-
KNN
receives first Telly Award for Excellence in first short dramatic film
“The Call To Fish”
-
Disciples
sent to 8 Middle East countries
Back to Top
1997
-
World Sectors financially sectorized
-
Tokyo
Church becomes the largest church in the past 300 years of Japanese
history
-
HOPE
Unity Award presented to Jimmy & Rosalyn Carter
-
Health Corps
Conference – Kingston, Jamaica
-
1st HOPE
worldwide orphanage opens in New Delhi
-
HOPE for Kids
Center opened in Hong Kong for Chinese immigrants
-
HOPE
worldwide sponsors largest blood drives in Brazil and Mexico
-
World
Missions Leadership Conference – Jerusalem
-
300th church
planted: Armenia
-
1st Kingdom
Campus Conference (ICMC) – Paris
-
ICOC website
launched as part of KNN
-
Churches
planted in every former Soviet Republic
1996
-
First
native third-world Elders appointed in New Delhi, India
-
Nationals
lead most churches in Russia, India, Africa, Central & South
America, China, Japan and Europe
-
Geographic
HOPE Leaders appointed
-
King
Sihanouk Hospital – Center of HOPE opens in Cambodia
-
HOPE
Unity Award presented to Mother Teresa
-
1st
HOPE Health Corps Conference – Los Angeles
-
100th
nation planted: Syria
-
Jerusalem
planting
-
ICOC
website introduced
-
Sydney
Australia - Oceania Conference - Keynote
Address
-
May 5, 1996 -
Special Mission Contribution Lesson
1995
-
January - International Sunday attendance exceeded 100,000
-
July - goal of
having disciples in all 50 states reached with the plantings in Fargo,
North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Burlington, Vermont
-
Church
Growth Today names LA Church the fastest growing church in North
America (2nd year in a row)
-
Nelson
Mandela receives first HOPE Unity Award
-
HOPE
worldwide registered with USAID
-
Baghdad planted
-
Morocco,
Turkey and Iraq plantings
-
LA
Church breaks 10,000 Sunday attendance
-
200th
church planted: Pakistan
-
World
Missions Leadership Conference – Johannesburg
Preach the
Word - Kip McKean; Johannesburg World Leadership Conference
Back to Top
1994
1993
-
Milan Mission Team members
marked and
disfellowshipped
-
Blackwells chosen to be WSL for Middle
East
-
Women
baptizing women
-
Bairds chosen to lead new Law
and Media World Sector
-
World
Missions Leadership Conference – LA
-
Discipleship
Publications International begins
-
Foundation
stone for Village of HOPE leprosy colony laid in India
-
1st
Immunization campaign – New York City
-
First
Kingdom Teachers appointed
-
December
15, 1993 - CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Report
on the International Churches of Christ - the Boston Movement -
Canada's fastest growing church)
- Kip McKean dodged
a CBC TV reporter who asked him about negative experiences of
former ICC members:
- Trish Wood:
"Mr. McKean? I'm Trish Wood from 5th Estate. I believe you
were talking to our researcher on the phone; could we ask you a
couple of questions."
- Kip McKean:
"Well, you know we have no comment, I appreciate…."
- Trish Wood:
"Could you just maybe explain to us why so many of the
ex-members of your church are suggesting that there was mind
control involved in their time in the church – can you explain
why people are saying that?"
- Kip McKean:
"We have no comment at this time."
- Trish Wood:
"But the questions really are about you and your role in
the leadership of the church. And many of the ex-members would
like to know why these things happened to them."
- Kip McKean:
"Well, I think you’ve talked to many of the ex-members,
so you have the information."
- Trish Wood:
"But they would like – and I think some questions are
appropriate for you to answer. Why are all of these people
suggesting that there was mind control being done to them, sir,
while they were in your church. Mr. McKean?"
Back to Top
1992
-
Church growth authority John Vaughan, first refers to the
“International Churches of Christ.”
-
The Dream
Super Churches - Kip McKean
-
Moscow Church baptizes 850 in
first year
-
First fifth generation church planting: Boston to London to
Sydney to Auckland to Fiji
- Time Magazine
"Keepers of the Flock"
5/18/1992
|
 |
1991
-
Moscow planted from LA: 100th church
planting.
Mission team of 17 is sent off from Los Angeles led by Kip & Elena
McKean and Andy & Tammy Fleming
-
RD1 (Red Dragon
One) - First
church planted mainland China
-
Kip
appoints Bob & Pat Gempel to lead HOPE Worldwide as their World
Sector Leader charge
1990
Back to Top
1989
-
LA.
World Sector Administrators chosen, Cecil Wooten appointed leader of WSAs
-
Boston sends out seven church
plantings:
-
LA, Seattle, DC, Honolulu, Manila, Bangkok
-
1989
Boston World Seminar "They
Hated the Dreamer" by Kip McKean. Last Boston World
Missions Seminar – 12,000 attend at Boston Garden
Back to Top
1988
-
New
York Church of Christ 5th Anniversary Service - Sermon by Kip McKean
- Make the Dream A Reality
-
Financial Leaders Meeting -
Kip McKean
-
Crossroads Movement disassociates itself from the Boston Movement
-
World
Sector Leaders chosen from couples Kip and Elena have trained
-
Tokyo
reconstruction (Kims and Gurganuses)
-
Denver
Reconstruction - Kip McKean
-
Munich planted (Randy and Kay
McKean)
-
Cairo
Planted
-
Release
of “Songs of the Kingdom,” 1st edition
-
Ron
Gholston, leader in the Boston Church,
wrote
a letter to Al Baird and Bob Gempel, elders in Boston,
pointing out "Anti-biblical" teachings and practices
regarding church authority. Ron is then disfellowshipped.
1987
-
January
- Bombay, India planted
-
August
- The benevolent arm of the church, later named HOPE was founded
-
November
- First Soviet Missions Conference in Stockholm – Andy Fleming
shares dream to evangelize former Soviet Union
-
"Remnant Theology" (remnant gathers in the 80's)
-
Reconstructions: San Francisco, Atlanta, San Diego
-
Mexico City planted
(Lambs)
-
Hong Kong planted
(Greens)
-
Boston
Women's Retreat - "Be Perfectly
United"
Kip McKean Sermon
-
The
worldwide LOVE offering begins
-
Boston
exceeds 3,000 in attendance
Back to Top
1986
-
The ABC's of Spiritual Leadership - Kip McKean
-
First Special Missions Contribution taken up, over $1 million
collected at Boston World Missions Seminar
-
LOVE
offering begins in London for the poor and needy
-
June - Johannesburg
planted
-
August
- Paris (Kims)
-
October
- Stockholm planted
-
Kingston,
Jamaica reconstruction
Back to Top
1985
1984
1983
1982
Back to Top
1981
-
Introduced the "key" or "pillar" church plan for
evangelizing the world by "planting" churches in key
metropolitan areas around the globe
-
Florida
Evangelism Seminar - No Fear in Love
and Church Growth
-
Midwest
Evangelism Seminar - Kip McKean sermon entitled Pharisees:
Blind Unbelief
1979
-
God
initiates his modern-day movement as Kip McKean preaches to the 30 “wouldbe”
disciples in the Gempel’s living room in Boston
-
Lexington Church of Christ calls Kip Mckean as it's pulpit
minister
-
June 1
- Meeting of 30 would-be disciples in the Gempel's living room
-
Became known as the Boston Church of Christ or Boston Movement
Back to Top
1977
1972
1967
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|
Timeline
