A Crumbling UPC 'Fesses Up, AI is not working

[Chateau d'If]

I recently watched a webcast, called "HM Live," over on the upci.org wesbsite. The webcast consisted of Carlton Coon, who is the UPCI general Home Missions Director, interviewing David Bernard, the General Superintendent of the UPCI.

As I watched, and listened, my jaw hit the floor. It is very evident that the UPCI knows that the Apostolic Identity campaign has been a complete failure.


Coon: You know I was talking to…Brother Hanscom and I…who is our Director of Multicultural Ministries, were talking yesterday about one of our Korean pastors who is a wonderful man…but his observation was that every time he begins teaching lifestyle change to his new converts, they’re gone. Well, my response to Brother Hanscom was that it’s taking a long time… to bring people to where they’re good stewards of life, and where they’re and where…they’re living things we feel to be important to Apostolic Identity. And some of it, I think, is our expectations of there being a quick fix….but conversion doesn’t give people all of the principles of life that they need.

Bernard: Right.

And that forces us…the solution is to be very biblical…

Coon: Right:

Bernard: As a home missionary I had to be very biblical. I’m asking major life changes. I’m asking for a new convert that’s in a live-in relationship to move out of that relationship. That’s a huge thing. And in our culture, the question is “why? Why should I have to do that?”

So, therefore, since I know I am going to be making lots of demands, in a sense, through preaching, and teaching, and love, and counsel…I don’t want to add anything that’s really more cultural than biblical. I have enough on my hands that’s biblical without having to put my cultural, or even personal, expectations. So, a lot of things I delay. A lot of things I don’t even deal with. And, I think your appeal…when it goes more to the Bible…that’s your best chance of that convert changing their way of life.

Coon: I know when I taught our new converts class that was our basis of operation. And when we got beyond scripture…to things that maybe would be my preference…people would begin to ask, “well, now, everything else has been Bible-based…why is this suddenly important and it’s not Bible-based?”