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CHURCH FIGHTS AGAINST
LABELS Whatever one thinks about the Des Moines
Gospel Assembly Church, one thing is sure. It is a congregation that does
some pretty unusual things. It was unusual when members, in 1979, sold
or took second mortgages on their homes and gave big chunks of money - for
many members, $20,000 or more - to pay for a new church that they would then
build with their own labor. The reason: Believing that
Christ would return by the 1990s and that the small number of Gospel Assembly
churches were the true "remnant" within an "apostate
Christendom," a big, new church was needed for the influx of converts
before the end times. And it was unusual for the church at 7135
Meredith Drive to publish a six-page advertising supplement that appears in
some editions of today's Des Moines Register. Written by the Rev. Lloyd Good-win, 64,
the church's pastor for 30 years, the supplement condemns labeling a church
as a cult and strongly denies that the Des Moines Church is a cult.
"Good Churches Discredited as Cults" is the heading, for a series
of Goodwin articles contained in the supplement. It insists that lists cult-watchers have
drawn up of characteristics of cults and their leaders are also descriptions
of characteristics of biblical figures, admired religious leaders through the
ages and of Christian congregations. In a Thursday interview, Goodwin called
the advertising supplement "a six-page teaching supplement." He
said it expresses a "divine mandate" to counter the efforts of
false accusers who would like to disrupt the harmony of good churches. "Thousands of dollars," was Goodwin's
reply when asked what the advertising supplement cost the church. He declined
to disclose the figure. Jolene Porath, who handled the account in The
Register's advertising department, said the cost was confidential. Unique Move "I don't think any church in the
history of the United States has done it," said Goodwin of the extensive
nature of a supplement to get a specific message across by an individual
church through an advertisement in a major newspaper. He insisted the supplement "is not a
defense of me and my ministry." He said it is an effort "to put
things back together. Churches have been in a tailspin the past 10 to 15
years." Goodwin said he is combating "a
general spirit of accusation everywhere. Children have lost respect for
parents, citizens have lost respect for leaders, and church members have lost
respect for elders and defy au-thority. The Bible teaches us to submit to
those who have authority over us." Goodwin charged that there has been a
"complete turnaround" in American attitudes toward morality and the
role of churches and pastors. Someone must rise up against this or this
nation will be (like) another Sodom and Gomorrah." There is "a prevailing attitude that
the church has nothing to offer," he said. Through his newspaper supplement,
"here comes the church forward very boldly, authoritatively and wisely
(to inform the community)." "Many allegations have been made
against me over 30 years," Goodwin acknowledged. But he said the Apostle Paul also was
falsely accused. "People around the city have told our
people that we are a cult and the pastor is a dictator. There's not a pastor
of any length of time I know of who has not had allegations made against him
and his conduct, even if they are not so." In a recent Saturday night sermon at
Gospel Assembly, Goodwin said, "Just because a minister is
authoritarian, that doesn't make him a leader of a cult. Just because
individuals love their pastor and even worship the pastor, it doesn't mean he
is building a cult." But, he said, "If he demands worship, that
makes him a cultist." Shouting for emphasis, Goodwin declared,
"This church is not a cult. We preach salvation only through the shed
blood of Jesus Christ. Just because some churches have more discipline than others
doesn't make them a cult." Many in the crowd of about 250 shouted
"Amen." In the
sermon, Goodwin said the church was under attack and "charges of cults
and improprieties are being bandied about. "Some people were
"sowing seeds of hatred, distrust and division," he said, but he
declared the church would be victorious. |
