Tulsa: A Description from a Coordinator of the Meeting

I just preached a very unique conference last week with two great Men of God. On one hand I had one of the Assistant General Superintendants and on the other hand I had one of the Coordinators of the Tulsa meeting.

For all the talk about 'recruiting' and 'stealing members' and 'unethical' that abounds I have to tell you that this isn't the spirit of the coordinators at all! They are kind gentlemen that are simply providing a grass roots meeting to discuss what steps to take to maintain an Apostolic atmosphere without the diminishing of Apostolic distinctives.

I spent several days with them and - AMAZINGLY - not one time did they ask me to come to the meeting (I'm personal friends with most of the names on the mail out and have never been asked or recruited to come) or to drag others with me if I should decide to go.

We had several candid conversations about recent events and I asked the coordinator point blank if the meeting was going to be a 'preaching' type meeting, a bloodbath or what... only to be told that what they want to do is NOTHING that would require anybody to leave the UPC. They simply want to talk options, hear suggestions and reiterate our goals as Apostolics.

I know this will seriously upset some people to know that it will neither be a...

• Gripe session
• UPC bashing meeting
• Flashback to the vicious splits of days gone by or
• A 'let's march out and make a statement' type meeting.

It's a meeting to gather suggestions and find a way to network men together who have begun to lose faith in the direction the Apostolic movement as a whole is going.

And, for what it's worth, I've talked to many who are involved or going to this meeting and have yet to hear any viciousness in their voices. Just a little sadness for the most part.

Thus, what most have surmised, heard gossiped about or interjected their own fabrications about... simply isn't true.