A Precedent for LaLa Land from the Old Country

Kudos to the Christian leaders who have so rightly discerned that recent events at World Vision are far more damaging to the evangelical church than the loony visions, thuggery, cult-like leadership techniques, and all-round high crimes and misdemeanours of church leaders who actually have real influence on real people in our churches.  Indeed, these Valiant for Truth non-haters might be interested to know that there is precedent for this move by World Vision among Christian parachurches.   Two years ago in the United Kingdom, the Rev. Digby St.John Crimond, of the Re:Alignment (formerly St. Olaf the Sublime, Cricklewood) introduced a change in policy for his own parachurch group, Myopic Globe, when he opened the ranks of its employees to atheists for the first time.  Here is an excerpt from the article written on the controversy in the March 2012 issue of the UK Christian monthly, Outraged! Magazine:

Asked by our reporter about the decision, St.John Crimond asserts that the "very narrow policy change" should be viewed by others as "symbolic not of compromise but of [Christian] unity." He even hopes it will inspire unity elsewhere among Christians.

St.John Crimond took pains to emphasize what Myopic Globe is not communicating by the policy change. "It's easy to read a lot more into this decision than is really there," he said. "This is not an endorsement of atheism. We have decided we are not going to get into that debate. Nor is this a rejection of theism, which we affirm and support."

St.John Crimond said Myopic Globe board has faced a new question in recent years: "What do we do about a chap who applies for a job at Myopic Globe who holds atheist beliefs which are perfectly legal and even espoused by leading bishops within certain denominations? Do we deny them employment?

"Under our old conduct policy, that would have been a violation," said St.John Crimond. "The new policy will not exclude someone from employment if they have legally rejected the existence of God."  

St.John Crimond said the new policy reflects Myopic Globe's parachurch and multi-denominational nature."Denominations disagree on many, many things: on divorce and remarriage, modes of baptism, women in leadership roles in the church, beliefs on evolution, etc.," he said. "So our practice has always been to defer to the authority and autonomy of local churches and denominational bodies on matters of doctrine that go beyond the Apostles' Creed and our statement of faith. We unite around our [Trinitarian beliefs], and we have always deferred to the local church on these other matters.  We are simply no longer insisting on the first three words of the Creed. Three little words, people.  Three. Little. Words.  That's all."

The reason the prohibition existed on atheists in the first place? "It's kind of a historical issue," said St.John Crimond. "Atheism has only been a huge issue in the church in the last century or so. There used to be much more unity among churches on this issue, and that's changed."

And the change has been painful to watch. "It's been heartbreaking to watch this issue rip through the church," he said. "It's tearing churches apart, tearing denominations apart, tearing Christian colleges apart, and even tearing families apart. Our board felt we cannot jump into the fight on one side or another on this issue. We've got to focus on our mission. We are determined to find unity in our diversity."

St.John Crimond was adamant the change will not impact Myopic Globe's identity or work in the field. "Myopic Globe is committed to our Christian identity. We are absolutely resolute about every employee being followers of Jesus Christ. We are not wavering on that," he said.

"This is also not about compromising the authority of Scripture," said St.John Crimond. "People can say, 'Scripture is very clear on this issue,' and my answer is, 'Well ask all the theologians and denominations that disagree with that statement.' The church is divided on this issue. And we are not the local church. We are an operational organization uniting Christians around a common mission to serve the poor in the name of Christ."