Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
Further, it doesn't take much reflection to see how this principle cannot work and even is destructive. Because once a group of elders gets control, there is no way for the Lord to reform them if they go off the reservation. Everyone must continue to submit to them, regardless. The only option is to leave town, which is silly.
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In the Midwest LC's, TC used to say, "
gain one brother, and you have a church." TC needed a worker in every LC to make sure that church was loyal to TC.
Nearly all LC's had conflicts between the elders over their loyalty to HQ's. I eventually left for that very reason. Regardless of published teachings, in the LC system of leadership, the loyalty of the elders must be first to HQ's, then to the church, then to the Lord. Obviously that created serious conflicts with many elders. It explains why so many have left the program.
An independent eldership, on the other hand, serving God and serving the saints is the safest form of church shepherding. The Apostles obviously thought so. Ignatius, however, felt they needed supervision by the regional Bishop. Though I heard endless protests to hierarchy and the bishopric, careful study would always conclude that the job description of the Bishop identically matched that of LC "apostles."
This helps to explain why the "local ground of the church" was never really practiced. It could not be controlled by outside sources.