Instead… drumroll, please… every single one of them plopped the exact same aging ministers from the glory days right back at the top. The very men who had spent decades perfecting the art of top-down control, ministerial privilege, and “because I said so” governance were dusted off, given new letterhead, and told, “Carry on, gentlemen!”
Nothing—absolutely nothing—changed.
The same learned patterns of dominance, the same “God speaks through me, not you” mentality, the same fear-based loyalty tests, the same endless fund-raising sermons—they carried it all over with gusto into their shiny new “remnant” entities.
Why reinvent the wheel when you can just bolt on a new name and pretend the old hubcaps still shine?
Not one of them seriously considered injecting fresh blood into the system. New ideas? Younger voices? Actual accountability? Perish the thought! The old guard “knew it all,” you see. They had sat at the feet of the apostles (or at least at the right hand of the one true apostle), so clearly they were irreplaceable. And conveniently, there just weren’t that many younger men stepping forward—either because the system had already burned them out, scared them off, or because the few who remained looked at the circus and thought, “Hard pass.”
So here we are, decades later: each splinter group still marching proudly forward under its old tattered and graying banner of “We Are the One True Church.” The ministers may be slower, the sermons may be shorter (or longer, depending on the painkillers), and the congregations may be smaller and grayer, but the structure? Untouched. The attitude? Identical. The claim to exclusive truth? Louder than ever.
Truly visionary leadership. A masterclass in innovation. If only the rest of the world could learn from such bold, forward-thinking stewardship of God’s government.
As for the Church, we are facing some real challenges this year, with eight full-time ministers retiring (six in the U.S. and two outside the U.S.). The challenge will be replacing these individuals. But I am happy to report that Ministerial Services has developed a plan over the past year to make sure that every congregation will have an assigned pastor. This has required the hiring of several men, younger men, I might add. Replacing pastors who represent hundreds of years of combined service is very difficult, but with God’s mercy and blessing, we plan to make sure that all our congregations have pastors. We believe it is impossible to put a value on what these men and their wives have contributed to the Church. But we are excited about the future pastors who are coming along. To fulfill the role of pastor, we look for men who have a good understanding of the truth, including a love for the truth and a love for the brethren. And we look for those who have a true heart of service.
Let me conclude this letter by quoting Hebrews 6:10, which I quoted in my sermon on the Sabbath in western Michigan. “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” This is an important principle. God promises not to forget our works of service.
Brethren, let’s not get distracted from our calling by the events unfolding in the world around us, but let us keep our focus on our need to grow spiritually by serving each other and on our need to preach the gospel in all the world. This is the true answer to the chaos we see unfolding in the world around us. This is where our focus must be as we look ahead to another year.
Sincerely, your brother in Christ,
Jim Franks
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