The Shepherding/Discipleship Movement
Perhaps the most controversial movement to arise within the charismatic renewal took place under the aegis of a nondenominational ministry in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, known as Christian Growth Ministries (CGM). Led by five men, Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson, Derek Prince, Don Basham, and Ern Baxter, these teachers conducted influential seminars and evangelistic meetings around the nation after 1970 that emphasized "discipleship" and "shepherding" to the masses of Protestant and Catholic charismatics that were looking for spiritual direction in the heady days of massive charismatic growth in the 1970s. Modeled after the tradition of "spiritual directors" in the Catholic Church, the Fort Lauderdale teachers called for every believer to have a spiritual adviser as a "covering" for advice and counsel.
The movement was popularized in the monthly magazine New Wine, which was edited by Don Basham. Through this magazine as well as millions of books, newsletters, and audiotapes of teaching missions, they spread the central message of the movement, that everyone should be connected to a leader above themselves and in turn disciple others. This "shepherding" system was considered to be an answer for the thousands of charismatics who were drifting from conference to conference and at times receiving questionable teaching and leadership. To these rootless and wandering masses, the Fort Lauderdale teachers offered "covenant relationships" between a "shepherd" or "covering" who would direct the spiritual lives of his "disciples." As the movement developed into a pyramid of authority, it became apparent that the top shepherds in Fort Lauderdale would ultimately have control over the lives and fortunes of thousands of people under their influence. Criticism was sure to follow.
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Moore, David
The Fort Lauderdale Shepherds. In 1975, five men: Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson, Derek Prince, Don Basham, and Ern Baxter, established "Christian Growth Ministries" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They spread their "discipleship and shepherding" teachings through New Wine magazine.
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By 1975 the movement's teachings were soundly rejected by many influential leaders, including Demos Shakarian and Pat Robertson. Soon the shepherding teachers were banned from speaking at FGBMFI functions as well as appearances on Robertson's 700 Club. The popular healing televangelist Kathryn Kuhlman went so far as to brand them as "heretics." Robertson accused them of "controlling the lives of their followers with the overuse of spiritual authority." An abortive meeting of the shepherding teachers and their critics in Minneapolis in August 1975 failed to resolve the issues. Despite this stalemate, the movement continued to grow. In the massive general charismatic conference in Kansas in 1977, the shepherding track attracted twelve thousand registrants, second only to the Catholic charismatic delegation.
The Shepherding, Discipleship Controversy Charismatic patriarch Dennis Bennett, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, and 27 other key leaders from the Catholic, Protestant, and Independent sectors of the Charismatic Renewal gathered in August 1975 to address the most significant controversy of the burgeoning neo-pentecostal movement. In a small, dimly lit, basement conference room in Minneapolis the men met to try to settle a growing furor over the teachings on "Shepherding and Discipleship." The dispute threatened to completely divide the Renewal that had been distinguished by its ecumenical character. The "summit meeting" that came to be known as the "shoot-out at the Curtis Hotel" made little progress in quieting the storm. Tempers flared, charges went back and forth and most left the meeting in frustration. The media soon picked up on the controversy and headlines only heightened the tensions that focused on the teachings of the "Shepherding Movement." The movement, also known as the Discipleship movement, was an influential and controversial expression of the Charismatic Renewal in the United States that emerged as a distinct, nondenominational movement in 1974. The movement developed in response to the increasing independence among many Charismatic Christians who were leaving their denominational churches and joining independent churches and prayer groups. The movement taught that every believer needed to submit to a "shepherd" or pastoral leader. This relationship was seen as essential for developing spiritual maturity and required a definite commitment to a pastor. The movement also taught that all pastors and leaders needed to be personally submitted to another leader to foster accountability. These emphases were seen by critics as an attempt to create a kind of "takeover" of the independent Charismatics, creating a pyramid-like chain of command with Shepherding leaders at the top; a charge which the movement's leaders always denied. The movement grew out of the association in October 1970 of four popular Charismatic Bible teachers: Don Basham, Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, and Charles Simpson. Canadian Pentecostal Ern Baxter joined the four in 1974. The five Bible Teachers were involved with New Wine Magazine, which at one time was the most widely circulated Charismatic publication in the U.S. The five were regulars at national and international teaching conferences that became so typical of the neo-pentecostal explosion of the 1960s and 1970s. All the men were also a part of the "cassette tape revolution" that was another feature of the Renewal that saw a proliferation of teaching tapes by noted Charismatic leaders. Three annual "Men's Shepherds" conferences in 1973–75 helped catalyze that emerging movement that developed into a network of churches under the leadership of the five teachers. The churches in this network were nontraditionally structured with an emphasis on small cell groups or house churches. Lay shepherds led these cell groups. The five teachers' popularity and New Wine Magazine's broad influence in the Charismatic Renewal gave rise to heated controversy in 1975–76 over the movement's teaching on authority and submission, and translocal pastoral care. While the controversy never entirely abated, it did quiet down by 1980 and the Shepherding movement grew and consolidated until it peaked in 1982 with 100,000 adherents and 500 associated churches. Internal struggles and external pressures eventually caused the movement's dissolution in 1986 that coincided with the cessation of the publication of New Wine Magazine. Today a smaller movement continues, called the Covenant movement, for the most part associated with the leadership of Charles Simpson. ■ —David Moore |
| Copyright | Copyright © 2001 by Vinson Synan All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. |
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