intro from former gcmer in NC

Welcome to De-Commissioned, a place for former members of the Great Commission movement (aka GCM, GCC, GCAC, GCI, the Blitz) to discuss problems they've experienced in the association's practices and theology.

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[ducknurse]

Hi, I was in gcm for about 7 years and experienced many of the same emotions. My husband and I left in 91, came back briefly in 92 and left for good in 93. Going to a different church was like a breath of fresh air.

However, many of our times with gcm were sweet. There were many leaders I knew at LT in 88 and 89, but wonder where they are. There was Tom Schroeder, who I know left...why, what is he doing now? There was a Lee someone from Texas A&M and also Rob Schiller. Are these guys still in the ministry.

The most lasting regret is the way that the "elder" position is so lauded. I remember my pastor saying to me "you don't want to marry some man who will never become an elder." My husband is not an elder in our church now...leadership is not his gift. But he is the best husband in the world. I thank God for the husband I met through gcm... Can you guys fill me in? And didn't Herschel Martindale have a son in the ministry too>?

[Lightbulb]

Ducknurse, the Lee you knew from Texas A&M was probably Lee Jarrell.  He left College Station to help plant or lead a GC church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Don't know if Lee is still with GC.  Herschel had a son, Tim, who was a pastor in Austin, and is now a medical doctor in the Waco, Texas area.

[exshep]

I recognize the name too. Details are fuzzy at best.  There were several Dallas area churches of which Grace Community  Plano TX is the only extant incarnation of the Dallas Churches.  I believe Lee did leave for another denomination.  I believe other Texas posters who should be able to chime in far more definitely than I can.  

One may ask where Hope Fellowship Denton TX falls in.  That was never part of the Dallas plantings in the 90s. It is  a recent incarnation spun off from Texas A&M.  Brother Patel came up from College Station after spending some time working before going into full time ministry.  I met some great brothers and sisters there.  They will be missed.

[namaste]

Hi, I was in gcm for about 7 years and experienced many of the same emotions. My husband and I left in 91, came back briefly in 92 and left for good in 93. Going to a different church was like a breath of fresh air.

However, many of our times with gcm were sweet. There were many leaders I knew at LT in 88 and 89, but wonder where they are. There was Tom Schroeder, who I know left...why, what is he doing now? There was a Lee someone from Texas A&M and also Rob Schiller. Are these guys still in the ministry.

The most lasting regret is the way that the "elder" position is so lauded. I remember my pastor saying to me "you don't want to marry some man who will never become an elder." My husband is not an elder in our church now...leadership is not his gift. But he is the best husband in the world. I thank God for the husband I met through gcm... Can you guys fill me in? And didn't Herschel Martindale have a son in the ministry too>?

Rob Schiller is at Michigan State now (at least he was this time last year) and is happily married with six children.  

Now, I have a question. What church in NC existed in the late 80s/early 90s???  Was it campus based?  If so, what campus (etc)?

[maranatha]

I believe that in the late 80's and early 90's there was a campus church meeting at UNC in Chapel Hill and one at NCSU in Raleigh....they eventually started meeting in a central location- but then returned to the NCSU campus to focus on ministry.  

Back then there was 1 pastor, but currently there are 3 pastors and 3 full timers that seem to provide the protection of problems of the past occuring again.  

There's also a campus ministry again at UNC and also a small and growing one at UNC in Wilmington.

From what I hear, there are encouraging servant-hearted leaders there.

[GD]

Rob Schiller left for a non-ministry job during the summer of 2006.  I agree he was a good guy.

[plaidcymru]

I attended the College Station fellowship from 1992-1993,but that must have been right after Lee Jarrell left. I live in College Station again currently and the fellowship here is much larger than it was back then. I hear they are running anywhere from 400-500 now. They are supposedly in a building campaign and currently working on some kind of a discipleship/training center. I occasionally run across students that attend over there. I did not have that great of an experience back in 92/93 with the GCM fellowship here and although I have been living in College Station again for the last 5 years,I have never once visited over there because the same pastors that were there back then are still in leadership their today. Im not saying that any of them are bad people. I just did not gel with them well back in the early 90's. As far as the teaching and the atmosphere over there,I have no idea. The fellowship at the University of North Texas in Denton had some controversy a few years ago because they invited Tom Short to speak on campus and he ruffled feathers. The GCM folks up there apparently defended him,but I dont know enough about Tom Short to have an opinion.