RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
I've heard folks ranging from Feminists to Fundy Baptists criticize Vision Forum ministries as tending towards a "home church" mentality. Is this the same Patriarchalism that Gary North criticized of Rushdoony?
Vision Forum and the Home Church Movement
- Thread starter RamistThomist
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Vision Forum promotes material in the 'Patriarchal' vein. In my experience, Patriarchalism, in an attempt to recapture male headship within the home, tends to blur the lines between the spheres of 'church' and 'family'. However, Vision Forum falls short of advocating the home church movement. To my knowledge they do not sell books by Barna or Viola.
Pilgrim Standard
Puritan Board Sophomore
My family has benefited from some of the products offered by Vision Forum.
We in no wise support or condone the "Home Church Movement."
My wife has been reading the autobiography of Missionary John G. Paton to our children on a regular basis, which she purchased from Vision Forum. This must be one of the best Reformed Missionary histories recorded I have ever seen. I highly recommend it.
Pastor Robert McCurley (FCC) gives an overview here:
John G. Paton Bigraphical Sketch - SermonAudio.com
We in no wise support or condone the "Home Church Movement."
My wife has been reading the autobiography of Missionary John G. Paton to our children on a regular basis, which she purchased from Vision Forum. This must be one of the best Reformed Missionary histories recorded I have ever seen. I highly recommend it.
Pastor Robert McCurley (FCC) gives an overview here:
John G. Paton Bigraphical Sketch - SermonAudio.com
Shawn Mathis
Puritan Board Sophomore
Since Doug Phillips helped create and still sits on the board of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, I presume that what the NCFIC states, expresses his views (or at least what he allows). The NCFIC is pointedly against home churches. I cannot find the quote since the website has changed recently but I distinctly recall they rejected home churches. Doug has said as much in a lecture I listened to at one time. And their confession states something similar:
"We deny/reject the two unbiblical extremes of our day: authoritarian, one-man leadership/one-man ministry that impedes the biblical functioning of the body, and leaderless house churches that disregard the biblical necessity of elders." (Article V).
The Patriarchalism question is a different issue but related. I know out in Colorado there are some that pick up on this belief and extrapolate a home church model. But I have not studied Patriarchalism enough to know much about it other than that Vision Forum and NCFIC promote something that could be called that. Here is Vision Forum's confession of the matter, The Tenant of Biblical Patriarchy.
A warning for those reading those tenants: not having a long historical context nor access to the actual practices of the writers of this confession, it may sound good at first blush but could mean something different when one digs deeper into their lectures, blogs and personal practices. With the creation of the WCF, there was already a long Christian heritage and even 100+ years of Reformed thought and practice that can be analyzed to further understand the WCF. These tenant have no such history making it harder to fully know what may be meant.
"We deny/reject the two unbiblical extremes of our day: authoritarian, one-man leadership/one-man ministry that impedes the biblical functioning of the body, and leaderless house churches that disregard the biblical necessity of elders." (Article V).
The Patriarchalism question is a different issue but related. I know out in Colorado there are some that pick up on this belief and extrapolate a home church model. But I have not studied Patriarchalism enough to know much about it other than that Vision Forum and NCFIC promote something that could be called that. Here is Vision Forum's confession of the matter, The Tenant of Biblical Patriarchy.
A warning for those reading those tenants: not having a long historical context nor access to the actual practices of the writers of this confession, it may sound good at first blush but could mean something different when one digs deeper into their lectures, blogs and personal practices. With the creation of the WCF, there was already a long Christian heritage and even 100+ years of Reformed thought and practice that can be analyzed to further understand the WCF. These tenant have no such history making it harder to fully know what may be meant.
Mindaboo
Puritan Board Graduate
I have also purchased a few books from Vision Forum. I've never run across anything about home church movements. I went to church years ago with a few of the families that write for them. None of them were home church people. I think they sell some great materials.
JoannaV
Puritan Board Sophomore
Is it possible he is ok with elder-led house churches? I remembered seeing a house church listed on the NCFIC website, I checked just now and indeed it is there, Home Fellowship of Richmond. I know the churches listed don't necessarily reflect all Doug Phillip's beliefs but that group has been listed for a long time and their name makes it clear what they are.
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DeniseM
Puritan Board Freshman
Vision Forum was started by Doug Phillips not Doug Wilson.
In fact, I think Doug Phillips no longer sells Doug Wilson's books on Vision Forum.
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