\nThe man at the microphone began to sob. “I’ve got to confess my critical\nspirit,” he said. “For years, I’ve griped and found fault with everything\nthat went on in this church. The music, the sermon, the attitudes I perceived\nin others . . .” He searched for words. His grief was palpable.<\/p>\n\n
\n“All this time, I thought the problems in this church were out there,” he\nsaid, pointing all around him. “God has finally revealed that the problem\nis in here,” he confessed while thumping on his chest. After several stumbling\nattempts, he asked in a barely audible voice, “Can you . . . will you forgive\nme?”<\/p>\n\n
\nThree people immediately came forward, embraced the man, and knelt to pray\nwith him. The pastor, long since resigned to tears, vocalized the congregation’s\nresponse: “We forgive you, John.” The next confessor stepped up to the\nmicrophone.<\/p>\n\n
\nA scene from your favorite daydream? Close. It’s a snapshot from a solemn\nassembly.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe Old Testament records at least twelve times when Israel’s leaders called\nthe nation together for reflection, confession and repentance. These were\nusually predicated by judgment from God on the moral laxity and spiritual\napathy in his covenant people.<\/p>\n\n
\nLeaders of every period of spiritual awakening and renewal have used these\nexamples as a template for restoring groups to a right relationship with\nGod.<\/p>\n\n
\nToday, church leaders have become reacquainted with the concept in books\nby Richard Owen Roberts, David Bryant, John Dawson, Tom White, and Neil Anderson.\nSeveral denominations now have staff trained to lead churches throught times\nof corporate repentance.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe solemn assembly has become a tool to heal and restore some troubled churches,\nas they come to terms with their destructive behavior, toleration of sin,\nand spiritual indifference.<\/p>\n\n
\nMost often, when the church faces deep, spiritual problems. When Grant Adkisson\nwas candidating at First Baptist Church of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, he received\na visit from “Mr. Jones,” a powerful man in the congregation who had forced\nout at least two previous pastors.<\/p>\n\n
\nJones told Adkisson he would do everything possible to prevent him from being\ncalled as pastor, and he made good on his word. The night the church voted,\ndozens of inactive members who had not heard Adkisson preach came to vote\nagainst him.<\/p>\n\n
\nWhen Adkisson still received a two-thirds majority vote, Jones filed a lawsuit\non behalf of his family and friends, stating they were the true First Baptist\nChurch of Pagosa Springs and demanded control of the property and assets.<\/p>\n\n
\nThe new pastor led the deacons and church into a process of church discipline,\nsomething they had never done before. They sought reconciliation and spent\nmonths trying to address wrongs, both real and perceived, among those who\nwere involved in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n
\nFinally, the church removed Mr. and Mrs. Jones from membership. This led\nto a second lawsuit against the pastor and deacons who had “run them out\nof the church.”<\/p>\n\n
\n“Our solemn assembly was a response to this season of testing, asking God\nto protect us from bitterness, to keep us broken before him, and to guard\nus from anger and hatred toward those who were suing us,” Adkisson remembers.\n“We also honestly sought to know specific ways we had grieved those who had\nturned against us. In several cases, we identified ways the church had neglected\nthem in a time of crisis or had not taken their ideas seriously. Unfortunately,\nour efforts to reconcile were dismissed.”<\/p>\n\n
\nIt was also a time for the church to seek wisdom about how to respond to\nthe lawsuits. “Should we give up the building and move to a storefront? Was\nit right for us to fight it out in court? We wanted to honor God, even if\nit meant losing all our personal assets.”<\/p>\n\n
\nOther churches, though, have held a solemn assemblybefore<\/em> major problems\nbroke out.<\/p>\n\n \nRick McKinniss has served as pastor of the Kensington Baptist Church in\nKensington, Connecticut, for almost ten years. During his first eight years,\nthe church grew and went through significant changes.<\/p>\n\n \n“We were headed in the right direction,” he says, “but a divisive undercurrent\nwould come up periodically. It was so subtle you really couldn’t even call\nit contention, just a constant annoyance. But we lived with a sense of\nunsettledness during most of that time.<\/p>\n \n“The other issue was mistrust between the congregation and the leadership.\nTheir mistrust included me, but focused more on our deacons and elders. I\ncouldn’t understand it, because we have as fine a group of leaders as any\nchurch our size in the country.<\/p>\n\n \n“Neither of these issues were obvious interferences to our growth, but both\nhad the potential to wreak havoc. So we used the solemn assembly as a pro-active\nstep rather than an act of desperation.”<\/p>\n\n \nEvery church Leadership interviewed prepared with an extended period of teaching\nand prayer.<\/p>\n\n \nVillage Chapel in Renton, Washington, had been asking God to reveal sin and\nrenew their hearts toward him for several years. “We finally realized that\nnothing is discussed more and acted on less than prayer,” said senior pastor\nRussell Snyder. “We set aside a week for corporate prayer and fasting, shutting\ndown every other ministry during that time.”<\/p>\n\n \nRick McKinniss led his church to reflect upon congregational history. “We\ndiscovered four patterns of sin. One was an unbelief that limits God to staying\nwithin our expectations and comfort zones. Another was not welcoming people\nwho were different. A third pattern revolved around authority—its misuse\nby leadership and a residue of distrust among the people. The fourth was\ncritical speech against one another.”<\/p>\n\n \nMcKinnis noted, “One result of these sins was that our church had lost almost\ntwo entire generations of young people. That realization really got people’s\nattention.”<\/p>\n\n \nSo he preached for ten weeks on these specific issues as well as the concept\nof corporate confession. During those weeks, the church had three special\nprayer meetings. “By the time we got to the solemn assembly, the anticipation\nhad been building. People were ready, I mean really ready. It was now something\nthey owned.”<\/p>\n\n \nGrant Adkisson began with a lengthy sermon series, then preceded the assembly\nwith twenty-one days of intensive home prayer meetings. That period culminated\nwith three days of fasting.<\/p>\n\n \nThat varies for each congregation, but it always involves public confession\nof sin.<\/p>\n\n \nIn Kensington, Connecticut, the assembly was a two-hour service of worship,\nScripture reading, corporate and individual confession, repentance, and “the\nrenunciation of strongholds.” McKinniss adds, “I had prepared a liturgy and\nwe listed the corporate sins in a program. We concluded with a covenant of\nrenewal, celebrating around the Lord’s table.”<\/p>\n\n \nRon Owens, from the office of prayer and spiritual awakening of the Southern\nBaptist Convention, strongly urges congregations to conclude with a Communion\nservice. “That’s what 1 Corinthians 11:28-32 is all about,” he says. “Corporate\nrepentance is a prerequisite for participating at the Lord’s table. An article\nfrom the 1880s in The Georgia Record,<\/em> the SBC’s oldest state newspaper,\ntalked about a church preparing for weeks in anticipation of celebrating\nthe Lord’s Supper. Christ gave us the Supper, in part, to facilitate regular,\nongoing times of corporate confession.”<\/p>\n\n \nGrant Adkisson and his church leaders at Pagosa Springs chose to hold the\nsolemn assembly on Saturday to allow as many people as possible to attend.\n“Although we didn’t take a head count,” he says, “almost every active adult\nmember was present when we began at 8:00 a.m. Since we had prepared for months,\nand everyone was clear about why we were there, I didn’t preach. We didn’t\nsing. We went immediately to prayer.<\/p>\n\n \n“Then we invited people to speak. Some read Scripture they were certain God\nwanted them to read. We asked that if God had revealed sins they had committed\nagainst the church, they were to confess and repent. Most did this silently,\nbut several confessed aloud.<\/p>\n\n \n“Then we asked for people to share what God had been saying about ways that\nwe, as a body, had sinned. Several confessed sins against a former pastor.\nThe church still owed him compensation. So we drafted a letter of apology\non the spot, wrote a check for twice what people remembered owing him, and\nasked for his forgiveness. A secretary slipped out and put it in the mail\nimmediately.<\/p>\n\n \n“Finally, after almost nine hours, we asked people to write down what they\nsensed God would have us do about the building and our assets. It was unanimous.\nEarly on, everyone had thought the best thing would be to turn over the\nfacilities and not fight it out. But sometime during the weeks of prayer\nor the time of fasting, God impressed upon us to retain ownership and allow\nhim to do something significant. We left that evening with a great sense\nof joy and anticipation.”<\/p>\n\n \nThe aftermath of a solemn assembly is as varied as the congregations that\nhold them.<\/p>\n\n \nOne church in the Midwest had a dramatic response to the solemn assembly.\nThe people repented for the inappropriate firings of four previous pastors.\nThey sent letters to each former pastor, asking forgiveness for the pain\nthe church had caused them.<\/p>\n\n \nBut now, four years later, some old behavior patterns have returned. The\nnew pastor sometimes wonders if his days are numbered.<\/p>\n\n \nRick McKinniss, on the other hand, says his congregation experienced a new\nfreedom in worship, and a greater acceptance of differing musical styles.\n“Our worship services have expanded from sixty minutes to over ninety minutes,\njust because people want to worship longer.” The church has also seen people\ncome to faith in Christ, including people from occultic backgrounds. Two\nprayer meetings born out of the solemn assembly are still well attended.<\/p>\n\n \n“Our whole framework for decision making has changed,” says McKinnis. “We\nare out of space, and we called a twenty-four-hour fast to pray about this\nchallenge. More than seventy people participated. We are seeking direction\nfrom the Lord before we act, and this is restoring trust in our leadership.”<\/p>\n\n \nThe result of the solemn assembly in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, was even more\ndramatic. The assembly was held less than two weeks from the court date.\nFour days after the assembly, pastor Grant Adkisson got a phone call that\nthe plaintiff, his wife, and teenage daughters had been in flight to another\ncommunity and never arrived.<\/p>\n\n \n“We began to pray for their safety. We prayed on through the night. Then\naround daylight, we got another call that they had been found—and all aboard\nthe plane had been killed.<\/p>\n\n \n“We were utterly crushed. God had so broken us that not one person expressed\nrelief or was glad or vindictive. They had once been part of our church.\nOne daughter’s Bible, given by a Sunday school teacher, was found at the\ncrash sight. When we came together the next Sunday, it was a time of agonizing\nand weeping. And fear.<\/p>\n\n \n“Even the unchurched folks in the community were shook up. In a small town\nlike ours, everyone knew what was going on. I had an old mountain man stop\nme in the post office and say in a loud, rough voice, ‘I hate that that family’s\ndead, but it taught me one thing. You better not mess around with God’s business\nor God will take care of things, won’t he, Preacher?’ “<\/p>\n\n \n“We went to court, and the suit was dismissed. The rest of the group associated\nwith Mr. Jones started their own church on the edge of town. We continued\nto seek healing in those relationships. In some cases we were successful;\nin others, we were shut out.”<\/p>\n\n \nThat was ten years ago. We asked Adkisson how it had affected the church\nlongterm. “With so many new families, the memory has faded. I think we should\nhave implemented an annual service, like the Passover, to remind us of how\nGod moved in such a dramatic way. On the other hand, that congregation still\nhas a depth of prayer and worship I’ve never seen elsewhere. But the price\nfor all this was utter brokenness.”<\/p>\n\n \nCorporate repentance helps churches deal with past issues that affect present\nhealth and future direction. In cases where the solemn assembly was seen\nas an event, effects were short-lived. In congregations that used the service\nas the beginning of a new pattern of relating to God and one another, the\ntransformation has sometimes been dramatic.<\/p>\n\nHow do we prepare for a solemn assembly?<\/h2>\n
What does a solemn assembly look like?<\/h2>\n
What can we expect to happen long term?<\/h2>\n
Would a solemn assembly help our church?<\/h2>\n
Where can we learn more?<\/h2>\n