It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Local churches. (Discuss)

The "Local Church" Living Stream Ministry, the local churches, and some related organizations have been the subjects of controversy. The "local churches" (called The Local Church by critics and outsiders) are Christian churches that are established and meet based upon the ground of locality; that is, the principle that all Christians in a city or locality are members of the one church in that locality. A separate article describes the local churches in general, including an explanation of the names "local churches" and "The Local Church", their beliefs, practices, and history. This article discusses the controversy surrounding the churches. Because this article discusses the controversies, and because critics of the local churches refer to them as "The Local Church", this article will use the name "Local Church" in the context of controversy. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... Living Stream Ministry (LSM), founded in 1968, is a Christian publisher of the ministry and the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, associated with the local churches. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ...

What is meant by "local church"?

The term "local church" is typically used in Evangelical circles to refer to assemblies of Christian believers organized near each other at the "local" level. Typically when the term "local church" is used within the organization associated with Witness Lee, it is used in contrast to all other groups claiming to be Christian. In other words, Witness Lee's group contends that as soon a group chooses a name to identify itself, then it loses both its local aspect and its unity with other Christians who meet without a name, such as Lee's group. In reality, the vast majority of Christians do not see the importance of these distinctions and they do not see themselves as divided because of a name or united because of the lack of one. The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ...

Outside the organization, the term "Local Church" refers to the group of churches related to the Living Stream Ministry (LSM) that call themselves "the local churches". Some critics claim that the local churches were started by Witness Lee, a coworker of Watchman Nee who moved to the United States in the 1960s; however, those in the local churches, including Witness Lee himself, trace their practice of church life directly to Watchman Nee, his numerous publications on the topic of the local churches (see References below), and the hundreds of local churches that Watchman Nee himself raised up in China. Within the movement, it is known generally as "The Lord's Recovery," despite insistence that the movement never name itself to outsiders. See local churches for further explanation of the name(s) of the group. The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... Witness Lee (李常受 Pinyin: Lǐ Chángshòu) was born in Chefoo, Shandong Province, China, in 1905, to a Southern Baptist family. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ...

As Witness Lee never claimed the name "Local Church" for the movement, and since the name was applied by those outside the movement, the term "local church" cannot be considered a trademark or trade name of any organization and remains in the public domain. This was decided in The Church in Houston (Complainant) v. Jim Moran, Light of Truth Ministries, in which Witness Lee (李常受 Pinyin: Lǐ Chángshòu) was born in Chefoo, Shandong Province, China, in 1905, to a Southern Baptist family. ...

"the Panel conclude[d] that Complainant has not met its burden of establishing that it has rights in the mark 'The Local Church.' The mark is not registered, and therefore enjoys no presumption of validity under United States law."

The Local Church lost its suit in court. However, when Mr. Moran died of a heart attack in 2003, his entire estate, including all published website material was donated to LSM by his estranged sister. This material has since been removed from the public.

Summary of allegations made anonymously against the LC

This section attempts to objectively cover a number of allegations posited by critics of the Local Church.

The allegations listed here are the ones most commonly cited. Unknown persons, ostensibly biased towards the Local Church, have posted content to this page countering that some of the criticisms here are slanderous and unsubstantiated, and are calculated to bias the minds of newcomers to keep them from making an objective, experiential evaluation of the Local Church.

• Allegation of Trash Journalism: Since so much of these allegations are not proven, referenced, have no basis in fact, or are not verifiable (which normally would mean the page should not even be posted). Yet there is percieved by some critics an intrinsic value in posting these unverifaible claims since they so thoroughly annoy the local church members and can confuse new comers. Some critics hope that through paralysis by extended analysis and debate will enable indefinitely this page to remain in wikipedia for public viewing.

• Alienation from family that does not attend the Local Church: Unlike many mainstream Christians, members of the Local Church generally discourage, avoid the practice of, and do not recognize the celebration of Christmas in the traditional sense: that is carol singing, putting up Christmas trees and other decorations, and exchanging presents. This is for two commonly cited reasons: (1) the claim by some theologians that Christ was born in the summer rather than on December 25, and (2) the ancient origins in pagan rituals of what is now commonly celebrated as Christmas on December 25.

  This practice of avoiding the celebration of mainstream Christmas is not, in and of itself, a criticism; however, it does speak to something larger. Each year during Christmas and Thanksgiving, the Local Church holds conferences attended by thousands of members from across the world. Local Church members claim that these two holidays are the only time of the year that almost everybody has for holidays, and are therefore optimal for attendance. Critics, however, note that this prevents members of the church from spending time with members of their own family who are not in the church. (It should be noted that American members of the Local Church freely celebrate and encourage the celebration of the American holiday Thanksgiving.)

• Allegation of sexual impropriety: One important allegation is regarding the controversy surrounding Witness Lee's son, Philip, general manager of Living Stream Ministry in the 1980s. Some said Philip was his father's heir apparent to the entire Local Church organization. This sparked controversy in why Witness Lee's son was made the head of a large publishing organization. In the 1980s, Philip moved into a home on the same property as Witness Lee and his wife. The controversy began when Philip was accused of committing adultery with several different women at the Living Stream Ministry office in the late 1980s. Several leaders (most notably the 3 former elders of the Church in Anaheim, John Ingalls, Al Knoch and Godfred Otuteye) became concerned over the allegations and brought their concerns to Witness Lee. When Lee did not publicly discipline his son, they resigned their positions and left the Church as did hundreds of followers. Ultimately, Philip did resign his senior position, but no wrongdoing was ever admitted or proved. Ultimately was asked by elders to leave the church meeting, until he expressed repentence but of those who left some took up writing Local Church controversy page in wikipedia.

• Expense to Members of Trainings and Conferences: Critics claim that Living Stream Ministry drains members' expenses with numerous conferences and trainings. Followers, however, assert that they enjoy and benefit from these conferences. In fact, not only does LSM hold numerous conferences, but most large churches also hold at least one or two conferences a year. In general, the Local Church culture is one in which members love to meet with each other as often as possible, and they often willingly use their vacations to attend such conferences. In response to criticism, members counter that while there is no teaching that attending meetings makes anyone a "good" Christian, the Bible directs believers to meet regularly (Hebrews 3:13; 10:25). They believe that frequent meetings help them grow in their relationship with Jesus. However since no cost comparisons are provided this concern will vary according to house-hold budget.

• Calling on the Name of the Lord Compared to Buddhist-style Mantras: Critics claim that the practice of "calling on the name of the Lord" is similar to Buddhist mantras. Members find it hard to understand what is "Buddhist" about calling "O Lord Jesus!" They cite the innumerable passages in the Old and New Testaments that tell believers to "call on the name of the Lord". They further consider the critics' accusation akin to Paul's persecution of the early Christians, where he was authorized to arrest all who called on the name of the Lord (Jesus) (Acts 9:14). However some critics allege that Bhuddists call on the name of of the Lord and that the local churches saints, early Christians, and old testament peoples did it to be like them.

• Allegation of Un-Christian doctrine: Critics claim that the Local Church reverses the meaning of such essential beliefs as salvation, redemption, divine love, human nature and the Name of Christ. For example, the central doctrine of the group is "God became man that man would become God in life and nature, but not in the Godhead." As taught in the Local Church, this means that man must grow in the life of God until he is completely transformed into Christ's image, fully expressing God. Man's original sinful nature will never be recovered or "redeemed." Instead it must gain God's nature organically. Some critics claim that the local churches reverse the meaning of Un-christian doctrines, however the result of this double-negative is in fact to proclaim Christian doctrine.

Doctrinal differences need to be discussed in detail at a latter date or for now the critics in this article will present some conclusions in advance of proof such as members of the Local Church claim that all of Witness Lee's doctrines are based on the Bible [how dare they!]. They differ in interpretation in a number of points with other Christian groups, as does most of christianity with itself, but they claim fully to agree with everything in the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, so in short this is controversial because there is not one sitable issue, but it is wildly claimed there will be issues found from the discussions to be held later.

• Allegation of disdain toward Christianity and all things Christian: Critics claim that the Local Church blatantly hates Christianity, and even since they declare to be christians that they hate themselves!. Members unabashedly affirm their disdain for traditional Christianity as a religious system, whether denominational, non-denominational or eceumenical. It is not the believers into Christ from which they separate themselves, but the system of Christianity which they consider degraded. Individual members, however, have expressed some respect and admiration for the organization and practices of the Plymouth Brethren, the Religious Society of Friends, and certain Baptist congregations. Members of the "Local Church movement" emphatically assert that they love and receive all Christians as their genuine brothers and sisters, but believe that God is using the Local Church to carry out His will in this current age. They also claim to accept all true believers as members of the one universal Body of Christ. While the desire not to demoninate is not a theological concern for Plymouth Brethren, critcis claim this is a problem with local churches since they have a desire for oneness of all believers within a city, and critics don't want to go back meet in the local churches anymore since they have such disdain for the local church meetings.

• Pray-Reading: Critics claim that Local Church members worship the published words of Witness through their practice of Pray-Reading. Members "pray-read" non-inspired spiritual works, such as the words of hymns and the words of Witness Lee as well as other Christian writers. They strongly defend the pray-reading of the Bible based on verses such as Ephesians 6:17-18 that mentions taking the Word of God with all prayer, and verses such as Jeremiah 15:16, Matthew 4:4, and 1 Peter 2:2 that talk of eating, drinking, and breathing the words of God from the Bible. Pray-reading is sometimes described as "Buddhist" by critics because it involves repetition in which critics say the mind can be distracted from Christ by Satan. Critics claim the local church christians who frame bible versus are worshipping these words, other critics claim that praying over outlines is worshipping paper. Some critics suggest not praying over outlines and study guides for light, it is safer not to even read them. Still some claim that local church christians repeat some words as many times as Bhuddists therefore they must want to become Bhuddists.

• Allegation of Having Numerous front organizations: Critics claim that the Local Church has placed several "front" organizations to hide their identity from the unsuspecting public. "Front organizations associated with the local churches include Living Stream Ministry and Bibles for America. Anonymous critics claim that they must be hiding something and the Local Church is a front. Some critics claim they have numerous fronts to hide things, for example the registered christian publisher Living Stream is really publisher of christian books, the agency Bibles for America is a front as they actually distribute bibles!

• A related allegation that there is extreme secrecy involving identifying the organization, and that no name is ever given to inquirers. In response, "Local Church" members point out that they reject the name "Local Church", and have always taught that the Christian Church should not bear any name. See discussion on names in the article, the local churches. Members rarely ever use that name to refer to themselves and thus rarely use the name with outsiders. This secrecey is very extreme in that the local church members don't even know that they are in the Local Church, they think they are in the local church, but critics know the difference. Critics claim because they don't have a name some members think they are in baptist or pentecostal or other denominational meetings and don't even know it! Critics state there are many more secrets which can not be posted because they would no longer be extremely secretive.

• Lawsuits against critics: In 1977, two books, The Mindbenders and The God-Men were published accusing the "Local Church" of being a cult. Organizations and individuals associated with the Local Church have successfully sued certain critics for libel on these and different occasions. Critics consider this an abuse of libel laws to silence free speech. After defendants exhausted their finances and resources, The Mindbenders was eventually retracted and withdrawn from publication with a public apology, and The God-Men was determined in court to be “in all major respects false, defamatory and unprivileged, and, therefore, libelous.” However, the trial was uncontested when the defendant declared bankruptcy the day of the trial, and could not appear in court. Also, the author of The God-Men moved to Denmark immediately before the trial. The decision was thus delivered in default. The Statement of Decision is the legal record of the verdict of the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Alameda. Regardless of these uncontested victories critics find any local church victories as controversial.

Currently, the Living Stream Ministry is acting as the legal plenipotentiary on behalf of member churches which it legally names "The Local Church." The Apostles Creed (in Latin, Symbolum Apostolorum), is an early statement of Christian belief, possibly from the first or second century, but more likely post-Nicene Creed in the early 4th Century AD. The theological specifics of the creed appear to be a refutation of Gnosticism, an early heresy. ... Icon depicting the Holy Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea holding the Nicene Creed. ... The Athanasian Creed (Quicunque vult) is a statement of Christian doctrine traditionally ascribed to St. ... The Plymouth Brethren is a Christian religious movement that began in Ireland and England in the late 1820s and was made prominent by John Nelson Darby, Dr. Edward Cronin, John Bellett, and Francis Hutchinson who felt that the established Church had become too involved with the secular state and had... The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as Quakers or Friends) is a loose knit religious or spiritual movement founded in England in the 17th century by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity. ... A Baptist is a member of a Baptist church. ... The Body of Christ is a term used by Christians to describe believers in Christ. ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... Living Stream Ministry (LSM), founded in 1968, is a Christian publisher of the ministry and the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, associated with the local churches. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and new religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...

Resources online

Some of the resources available online are listed here. By no means is this meant to be an exhaustive listing of resources for any particular point of view.

References

• J. Gordon Melton (1985). An Open Letter Concerning the Local Church, Witness Lee and the God-Men Controversy, The Institute for the Study of American Religion. (full text online)
• LSM (1995). The Experts Speak Concerning Witness Lee and the Local Churches, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 0870839187. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (1991). What Are We?, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 0870836005. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (1980). The Normal Christian Church Life, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 0870830279. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (1997). Further Talks on the Church Life, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 0870830031. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (1973). The Orthodoxy of the Church, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 0870830074. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (1968). The Glorious Church, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 0870837451. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (2001). New Believer's Series: Meeting, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 1575939665. (full text online)
• Nee, Watchman (2001). New Believer's Series: The Body of Christ, Living Stream Ministry. ISBN 1575939800. (full text online)

Critical perspectives

Some websites which are critical of the movement, usually by Evangelical Christians, can be found online here: The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ...

• The Berean's on "Church of Recovery"
• "Local Church" Information Site by Daniel Azuma
• Apologetics Index: The Local Church by Anton Hein

Local Church perspectives

• The Lord's Recovery - A History of the Lord's Recovery, as written by those inside the movement. Of particular interest is The Present Recovery which covers the recent history from an insider point of view.

• Living Stream Ministry Online Publications - A significant collection of Living Stream Ministry publications online.

• Contending for the Faith - Responses to critiques, information regarding cases involving the The God-Men and The Mindbenders, and current litigation involving Harvest House Publishers. Specifically, one should note the arguments for the alleged Biblical basis for the current litigation.

The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... The term local churches (地方教會) was originally used by Watchman Nee (倪柝聲) to describe Christian churches that form based upon the teaching of the ground of locality; however, its use to refer to any collection of independent Christian congregations in a city has become more popular in recent years. ... Living Stream Ministry (LSM), founded in 1968, is a Christian publisher of the ministry and the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, associated with the local churches. ...

Information regarding lawsuits

• Critical view - The Spiritual Counterfeits Project Newsletter, which includes their final thoughts on the trial.

• Defense by LSM - A thorough treatment, with a copy of the statement of the decision.

The Spiritual Counterfeits Project (also known as SCP) is a prominent Christian evangelical parachurch organisation located in Berkeley, California. ...

Old information regarding The Mindbenders

• The Mindbenders by Jack Sparks - A POV treatment of the controversy surrounding The Mindbenders and its eventual retraction by Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 1980, four separate lawsuits were filed against Thomas Nelson in Anaheim, Dallas, Atlanta, and Cleveland, for a total of $37 million. When Thomas Nelson's liability insurance was near exhaustion, Thomas Nelson opted to settle out of court and issued a retraction as part of the settlement, which appeared in several newspapers. This retraction does not comment on alleged errors in the book; neither does it apologize for its content. Further, the retraction was issued by Thomas Nelson, whereas Jack Sparks did not issue any retraction.

Information regarding the current case with Harvest House Publishers

Sites in support of the Local Church:

• Defamation Action regarding Harvest House Publishers' Book written by John Ankerberg and John Weldon
• Response to Harvest House Corporate Statement - Response to Harvest House's comments below.

Sites by Harvest House: In this suit, The Local Church officially uses the name "Local Church" to refer to itself as a legal entity. The Living Stream Ministry acts as the sole decision-making organ, or headquarters, for all the various churches and business ventures.

• Harvest House Corporate Statement on the Local Church/Living Stream Ministry Lawsuit - A brief statement about the lawsuit regarding the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions (henceforth ECNR).
• Harvest House Frequently asked questions regarding the lawsuit
• Harvest House Publishers and Authors Address Newest Allegations from The Local Church and Living Stream Ministry

Texas Judiciary Opinion

On January 5, 2006 the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas issued this opinion:

"This is a libel suit brought by a church against a publisher and two authors after the church was included in a book about “religious cults,” as that term is defined in the book. The publisher and authors moved for summary judgment, which the trial court denied. This interlocutory appeal followed. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(b) (Vernon Supp. 2005). Because we agree that the passages in the book that refer to the church are not, as a matter of law, defamatory, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment that the church take nothing from the publisher and authors."

In conclusion, the court stated:

"Because the allegedly libel statements are not defamatory, as a matter of law, we sustain the publisher and authors’ first issue on appeal. Accordingly, we need not address the remaining issues and decline to do so.

"We reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment that the church take nothing from the publisher and authors."

History of controversy

The following is taken in part from a 1984 copy of the SCP Newsletter. Please note that the source of this material has a decided (negative) bias against the Local Church.

Related links

• Local churches
• The Lord's recovery
• Living Stream Ministry