A Really Good UPCI Letter...from MO DS

[Theophil]

January 8, 2008



To all of the Ministers of the Missouri District,

…….

I desire to include some comments in this letter concerning the upcoming meeting in Tulsa. This meeting is being promoted as a preferred alternative to the UPC. It is very clear that the men who have created this forum intend to start a new organization (although we're not sure who preferred them as their leaders, having conducted no elections that I'm aware of to this point). If these men still hold their UPC credentials, then this meeting is ministerially unethical. The Oklahoma District was not contacted or informed about this meeting. What pastor among us or them would approve members of his congregation seeking out a preferred leadership for their families while still in fellowship with that church?Let's be honest, brethren: this is an anti-UPC meeting. The Tampa General Conference did not initiate this meeting. This attitude has been brewing for quite some time. We have history to know what will come of this new organization if it ever gets off the ground. The creation of this group is not about vision, passion for the lost, or reaching the world more effectively. (Do we become more effective by becoming smaller?) Because its impetus is of a negative bent, it will attract discontentment that will chronically focus on what's wrong with the mother organization. What kind of an organization would we have if every time the majority voted in favor of something, those who didn't like the results left? If we appeal to the manual, how about starting with "We shall not contend for our individual beliefs to the disunity of the body"?
Some are curious about going to Tulsa, others may think it profitable for entertainment purposes, while yet others are sincerely interested in what Tulsa has to offer. I am respectfully requesting that none of our Missouri District ministers attend this meeting. If you decide to go, please be advised that your presence there will only lend credibility to their agenda and possibly insert confusion into your own spirit. Some who are leading this meeting have well-earned reputations for not finishing what they start, proselytizing, and wanting to be the kingpin of something. Some of the names printed on promotional materials for "Tampa" have been used without consent (another ploy previously used by some of the preferred leaders).

I do not want any licensed minister to feel that he has no choice but to leave the UPC. If you know someone who feels disenfranchised, please reach out to them. These are the greatest days for the kingdom of God. How sad it would be to miss the greatest revival the world has ever known because of discontentment through association. If we're going to fully reap the promised harvest, then it will take all of us and more to bring it in. Brethren, we are fighting a "scattering spirit" within our local congregations in this end time. Let us not feed this spirit on a national level and may we not contribute to the enemy’s agenda by sowing discord among the brethren. My prayer for our fellowship is that "we ... endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit until we all come into the unity of the faith ..." (W. T. Witherspoon).

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. I stand ready to help or encourage any men of God who are sincerely seeking God's will for their ministry or the congregation they are leading.

Respectfully submitted,


Stan Gleason
Missouri District Superintendent