A Meeting At Haynes St. In Dayton, Ohio — And Some Results
It was my privilege to preach in a meeting at the Haynes & Parrott Sts. church of Christ in Dayton, Ohio. The congregation is one of the oldest in the Ohio Valley. Through the years she has suffered abuse and misrepresentation. She has done much good for the cause in assisting smaller congregations and establishing other churches in that area. Back in 1958 or 1959 she had to withdraw from a disorderly member who had abandoned the church and refused to worship with the saints. Everything had been done to try to restore the erring one, but to no avail. The person then went to another congregation and was accepted into full membership without repenting of her sins. The Haynes St. brethren, in their effort to do what was right and to show these brethren that they were wrong in accepting this withdrawn from member, made a statement to the effect that they were "withdrawing fellowship" from that congregation. This was a poor choice of words and has been the occasion for much misunderstanding, misrepresentation and heartache in that area since.
During our meeting, I spoke on the subject of "fellowship" which was followed by a "question and answer period" and the brethren concurred in the lack of wisdom and judgment in making such a statement, which had been twisted and perverted by her enemies. Thus, they made public their withdrawal of such a statement. A letter had already been sent to all congregations involved, asking that all previous letters on the subject of fellowship be disregarded. They also fortified this withdrawal or retraction of the statement in an open meeting at Haynes St. on Wednesday night following our gospel meeting. The Haynes St. brethren have been able to take the misrepresentations and "smear campaigns" without retaliation in kind. They are a good group of God's children with a bright future.
Some months ago, some agitators within the church at Haynes St. began a movement to split the church. They were aided by the local preacher who charged the Haynes St. church with erroneous teaching, viz., "Haynes St. has become a little vatican" in the Dayton area. A group formed after withholding their contributions for several weeks and then went out as a group to form a congregation. There was no need to form a faction as they did, for there are a number of good sound churches in that area where they would have been welcomed.
During the open meeting on last Wednesday evening, both congregations were present. The statement "withdraw fellowship from another congregation" was discussed and retracted. At the conclusion of the service, the preacher for the faction, repented of the false charges he had leveled against Haynes St. Several of them made vain efforts to justify the division over "bad attitudes" or "minor skirmishes" and the like. They did not answer the question put to them on why they did not simply identify with another sound church, rather than form a faction.
Haynes St. is filled with God-fearing people who face the future with great opportunities before them. The State of Ohio purchased their present location for a "clover-leaf" approach to the new super-highway which passes through Dayton. They have purchased lots on which to build an accommodative and attractive building. They need a good preacher soon. May God bless them and their kind because they are among some of God's finest,
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