EFCC Fake News

This post is personal, yet it has a wider lesson. There has been "fake news" about my association with the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (the EFCC), which refuses to go away. Yesterday it returned to me through another minister. For 20 years, my old city Church has been independent. We chose independence (from the EFCC) for two reasons:

• Congregationalism worldwide was entering a new phase, with new dynamism and greater theological diversity. Our Church chose a progressive direction. This made a comfortable fit with world Congregationalism, though not with local Congregationalism -- the EFCC wanted uniformity. But we believed that a new direction was essential for revival, and this was correct. Our move to independence proved itself.

•  The second reason for independence is combined with the first. As we parted with the uniformity of local Congregationalism, the EFCC put pressure on us to conform. But this led to conflict with its own principles, above all the principle of the autonomy of the local Churches. We wanted to put a stop to interference.

OBSERVATION: I have had no connection with the EFCC in 20 years -- no continuing links, no continuing ties, in any form, anywhere at all -- although I would surely be happy if I happened to meet any one of them. The wider lesson of this post: theological direction can have a major, positive impact on a Church -- in our case (among other things) becoming more diverse in a diversifying world. But -- if anyone continues to associate me with the EFCC today, it is "fake news", and goodness knows why people persist in telling stories. You may search for "EFCC" here to find the names of the men above, at a gathering of the EFCC in 1980.

POSTSCRIPT: My old city Church is my controlling body by law. I suspect -- with reason -- that some are seeking to say no, the EFCC is my controlling body. This is not so.