March 23, 2015
To the North
Atlanta Church
Family Dear Brothers
and Sisters – Many exciting things have been happening at our congregation over
the past year, as we fully embrace the LoveFirst vision, seeking to be a
Christ-centered, Diverse and Community Impacting group of believers. One aspect
of our move forward as a body of believers to fully live out the LoveFirst
vision is a renewed commitment to focus on the core Gospel message, while
de-emphasizing traditions and practices that create barriers to some who are
seeking to follow Christ. To this end, on February 15, as Don McLaughlin shared
with you an update on our LoveFirst initiatives, the shepherds communicated
some important messages to the congregation. Bill Long, our minister and
shepherd for more than 40 years, shared some observations about how our
congregation has, over the decades, been open to change in order to more
effectively reach our community. Then, Fernando Nasmyth, speaking on behalf of
all of the shepherds and ministry staff of the congregation, announced to the
congregation our decision to offer worship alternatives that include the use of
instrumental music. The text of both messages are attached to this letter. We
encourage you to read them. However, we also encourage you to listen to the
entire podcast of the February 15 worship at www.nacofc.org, as these
statements are much more meaningful in the context of the overall message that
was presented in worship that morning. By this announcement, we are expressing
our desire to be a congregation that embraces both worship through a cappella
singing and worship through singing accompanied by instruments (thus becoming a
“both-and” congregation). We truly do intend to be “both-and.” We want to
treasure and carry forward our tradition of worshipful a cappella singing, but
we also want to allow our fellow brothers and sisters to worship God with
instruments if they feel it will help them engage more fully in worship. For
many of you, this expansion of our worship options is welcome. For others of
you, this is disquieting. And for many of you in the middle, this announcement
may be forcing you to come to terms with something that you have avoided
addressing directly. We ask all of you, regardless of the perspective you
bring, to calmly and patiently study with us. After all, the heritage of our
community of believers (coming out of the Restoration Movement of the 1800s) is
a culture of Bible study, of seeking, and of respectfully questioning the
traditions and teaching of the prior generation of believers. The shepherds and
ministry staff have embraced this heritage, re-examining the scriptures afresh,
thinking critically about the biases and other influences that have affected
our historical interpretation of scripture on this matter, and seeking to
understand all in light of the Gospel message. March 23, 2015 Page 2 We want to
share with you the materials that have been influential to our thinking. Would
you join us for a time of Bible study? We have scheduled the following Bible
studies on this topic: Sat, March 28 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Youth Worship
Center Three Bible study sessions (the same lessons that will be taught in
April – below), but in one sitting. This is designed especially for Bible class
teachers and other volunteers who will be unable to attend the combined adult
Bible classes, but it is open to anyone. Sun, April 19, 26, May 3 9:30-10:15
a.m.; Auditorium Three consecutive combined adult Bible classes Many of you
have been asking about the practical implications of this announcement: What
will the worship look like? How soon will changes be made? Will I have a choice
as to the type of worship? What kind of instruments are we planning to add? We
do have a clear and definitive answer to one of the questions: We do not intend
to replace our a cappella worship service with an instrumental worship. We
intend to offer both/and. Thus, those of you are who are more comfortable
worshipping in an a cappella worship will be able to continue doing so. With
respect to the other questions, though, we do not have definite answers. Our
ministry staff is actively working on preparations and logistics that will put
us in a position to offer alternative instrumental worship settings in the near
future, though no firm timeline has been established. Our desire is that our
worship, in whatever form, is led and organized in a way that glorifies the
name of the Lord. We have encouraged the staff to take the time necessary to
prepare effectively for the new worship offering. Your shepherds and ministry staff
love the Lord and want nothing more than to honor God with our individual and
collective lives of ministry and worship. We are grateful for each one of you,
and we pray that we can continue to walk and grow in the Lord together. Let’s
diligently pray for one another as we move through this process of study and
change. Love First, The Shepherds of the North Atlanta Church of Christ
Statement of Bill Long to North Atlanta Church of Christ February 15, 2015 I
prepared a script last week, but God has been preparing my heart for 80 years
to say some of the things
Statement Regarding Adding Instrumental Worship February 15,
2015
Fernando Nasmyth,
Speaking on behalf of the shepherds of North Atlanta Church of Christ As the
Eldership considered the implications of our Love First Vision, we explored
various ways our congregation could be more intentional in drawing others to a
closer walk to God by introducing them to Christ and helping them to become his
faithful followers. One of the areas that we examined is the role worship plays
in helping us draw nearer to God, as individuals and as a congregation. In
addition, we considered how worship speaks into the lives of many in our
community not connected to a church but are seeking after God. We came to
understand that for many of our members, and their family and friends, our
current worship is not always adequate in inspiring them to a closer walk with
God. This led us to consider ways that we could more effectively use our
worship services to accomplish God’s mission for us. This examination, as with
all of our other areas of ministry, was done against the backdrop of Scripture.
In considering Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians about saving souls (I Cor.
9:22, “…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I
might save some.”), and considering our current worship offering, we saw a gap
as well as an opportunity. To fill that gap and take advantage of the
opportunity to reach more souls, we as an Eldership are embracing the freedom
found in following Christ, a freedom that does not require us to put firm
barriers in place except with respect to core gospel truths. This freedom in
Christ also requires us to constantly evaluate our attitudes and practices to
determine whether we are truly embracing the freedom of the gospel or whether
we are creating or perpetuating barriers and limitations that are not what God
intended. We as an eldership have come to the conclusion that our historical
practice regarding instruments as part of worship is one such limitation.
Having examined the scriptures together as a group and not being able to find
the kind of limitation that would justify our historical position on this
matter, we choose to embrace freedom, rather than impose limits, on the issue
of instruments in worship. Therefore, we are announcing today that in the
coming months, we will offer a worship service in which instruments will be
used in addition to our current a cappella worship service. In so doing, our
members and guests desiring to offer Glory and Praise to God in that
environment, will able to do so. Those desiring to continue to participate in
our a cappella worship service will be able to do so. Our commitment is to
offer worship services marked by excellence, regardless of your choice. We
believe that this decision, while difficult to accept for some, and much too
delayed for others, will allow us to create more opportunities for our members
and guests to honor God, and inspire others to give themselves fully to Christ.
As with other strategies we will develop to implement the Love First Vision, we
must continue to not lose sight of the mission, and that is to create bridges
to introduce others to Christ and grow together into a loving relationship with
Him and with each other. We ask for your continued prayers for our congregation
as we take the necessary steps in our efforts to grow in our relationship with
God, and are shaped more each day into the image of Christ, through the power
of the Holy Spirit. We must remain committed to undertaking the hard work of
staying united and working diligently to accomplish God’s mission for us, as
embodied in the Love First Vision.
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