In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12)

"Worthy is the Lamb"was the theme of the International Leadership Conference in Chicago held this past week for our fellowship of churches worldwide. This theme recognizes our worship of Jesus Christ the Lord. It is also a calling to live lives worthy of the Lamb of God given as a sacrifice for our sins. It was a needed and important gathering as we met to determine the next chapter in the course of our history as a movement of Restoration churches desiring to glorify God through unity on scripture, mission, discipleship and ministry. Our core center of gravity has always been our reverence for the Word of God, our commitment to live as true disciples of Jesus Christ and our desire to seek and save the lost. We want to continue to be recognized by these Biblical essentials of faith.

We recognize we have unique strengths of purpose and conviction which we want to hold out to the world. Our appreciation for baptism as a participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is unwavering and necessary in a global society of pluralism. Our emphasis on the centrality of the Lord's Supper in worship for communion with a present God is non-negotiable as we share our faith with others. Our love for everyone and our appreciation for the limited time we have on earth will continue to define us as a people committed to world evangelism. The conference was a time to renew our unifying, cherished convictions.

But the conference was also a time to discuss our future based on the things we have learned from the past. There was a consensus of not renaming our fellowship but definitely redefining it. We are not flip-flopping on what united us over twenty years ago but we are maturing and becoming wiser. The drive, dreams and determination of youth caught fire for a generation following the upheaval of the decade of the 60's. A discipling movement was born out of campus ministries in the churches of Christ that eventually spread around the world. Our movement has come a long way in less than forty years. But we all realize if we are to go further with the blessing of God we had to allow the discipline and hardship of the past few years to produce repentance and a change of mind. It is so encouraging to gather and see that our minds have been changing in similar ways throughout the world. We attribute openness to the Holy Spirit as the reason for our unity. God is sovereign over our lives as we desire to please him and glorify him in every way.

Our maturing was evident as we heard reinforcement of foundational truths and openness to new ideas and direction. It was exciting to hear a surrender to God's leadership as it was stated repeatedly, "this is what we are learning and we do not know where it will lead us but we are faithful." We all intend to learn from history. Simplistic answers to the complex nature of our churches were not delivered but rather in-depth study and appreciation for the uniqueness of each situation was confirmed. Reports by churches around the world renewed our desire to work together as a brotherhood but as independent mature churches. Diversity of program or ministry approach was alongside our unity regarding mission. Our maturity is allowing us to have unity without uniformity and flexibility with foundation.

The best way to be specific about the conference is to share from my own personal perspective. Here are a few highlights for me personally. I traveled with Jack Reese the dean of the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University. He was the only speaker on the program this year from the mainline churches of Christ. His class on the Way of the Cross was one of the highlights of the conference. He contrasted the Jews'desire for signs and the Greeks'confidence in wisdom with the Way of the Cross. This perspective and contrast was a foil to understand the problems in the Corinthian church. The application today in our churches was obvious as we have divisions and factions because of our pursuing the way of signs or the way of human wisdom. The healing and unity for the Corinthian church and our fellowship today is the Way of the Cross. It was a tremendous exposition of scripture. Many of the brothers were convinced to pursue a graduate education in theology due to the mastery of scripture by Dr. Reese. I believe Jack opened the door for more speakers and teachers to help our brotherhood not be isolated in our thinking or instruction.

I was also a participant in two unity discussions on Thursday and Friday nights. The first session was small with brothers who had been involved in the movement from the beginning. I was the youngest participant and I am not that young. I had read the book, Crucial Conversations, in preparation for the meeting. A crucial conversation according to the book is any dialogue where the stakes are high, the opinions are strong and the emotions are deep. The conversation was direct and honest. The differences were discussed and everyone was spiritual and reasonable. It was a great first step in assuring unity among longtime elders, teachers, evangelists and missionaries. The small group was necessary for effectiveness. It was a great meeting. In similar fashion the same participants met with a much larger group on Friday night to discuss unity worldwide. Again, the conversations were gracious, seasoned with salt and fruitful. Total uniformity is no longer necessary due to our respect for maturity but the agreement and consensus on a variety of practical subjects concerning cooperation as a brotherhood was realized. Reports of this meeting are available from the Chicago church.

The conference was a confirmation that we are a part of something much greater than ourselves or our local congregation. We are connected worldwide as a brotherhood and Jack helped us realize we are connected with like-minded disciples outside of our fellowship. The future is inviting as we move forward in maturity and wisdom into this new century. We are laying a foundation in our churches which our children will build upon. It is an exciting time to be in God's kingdom and in our church here in Dallas.

This report would be grossly incomplete without recognition of the conference host. The Chicago church and leadership were instrumental in providing a conference which brought unity and focus to our movement. I am especially grateful for the behind the scenes efforts of one of their elders, Steve Staten, for his spiritual planning and leadership. May our conference next year in Seattle have the same impact and blessing!

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! ... For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore."(Psalms 133:1, 3)