Reflecting on my
first year as FIEC’s Scotland Director these are some of the most common
misconceptions about FIEC that I’ve encountered.
1. FIEC imposes its beliefs
on your church.
This is sometimes expressed in the comment, ‘So if we joined
FIEC we’d have to accept its views on A, B & C’. Well no, you’d only join
FIEC if ‘A, B & C’ were your views. After all why would a church that didn’t
share the theological convictions and ministry vision of FIEC want to join?
FIEC would be the last group to expect a church to act contrary to its beliefs.
Indeed, should an existing FIEC church decide it no longer shares the
Fellowship’s views then, as an Independent church, it has absolute freedom to leave.
There are no impositions or ‘handcuffs’.
On the other hand, for churches that share FIEC’s core theological convictions and ministry vision, it is a wonderful family to be
part of. No stressing about what potential partners might really believe or deny,
no tensions in key areas of ministry practise, no anxiety about organising a
joint event with partners which could cause embarrassment. Instead, the
confidence of knowing your gospel partners are on the ‘same page’ as you are in
all the key gospel beliefs, while having the freedom to be different in every
other way.
FIEC doesn’t impose its beliefs on anyone – it’s a
fellowship of churches with shared core beliefs.
2. FIEC is preoccupied with orthodoxy and tradition.
As with any church group that is nearly 100 years old and
covers the length and breadth of the country, FIEC has no doubt had its
failings in these areas – along with its share of unfair stereotyping. However,
such a perception of FIEC is increasingly out of date. FIEC today contains a
broad spectrum of churches in regard to their origins, culture, formats and
activities. Indeed some of its churches are at the leading edge of cultural
engagement and contemporary mission in the UK today. Take a look at FIEC’s Together
magazine for examples.
FIEC is not, and never has been, a grouping concerned to
preserve or promote particular musical genres, fashions, Bible versions, or other
stylistic features of church life. The heart of FIEC is simply to be a family
of independent gospel churches, working together to go and make disciples for
Jesus in every community. Thus it’s a fellowship comfortable in engaging with and
learning from other gospel movements such as Newfrontiers or 9Marks. It’s why,
across the country, FIEC church leaders are active - and often leading
participants - in Gospel Partnerships, A Passion for Life, Word Alive and a
host of other cross-church ministries. It’s the reason why over 60 churches,
old and new, large and small, have joined FIEC in the past 3 years alone.
Correct doctrine is, of course, at the heart of genuine
gospel unity. So FIEC is unashamed to be concerned about it – but it’s a
concern tempered with humility and generosity as befits a family of over 500
unique churches.
3. FIEC is expensive
to join.
Firstly, FIEC has no joining or membership fees for
churches – it is possible to be part of FIEC and not contribute anything
financially. For some churches that’s the financial reality. Obviously, to be
able to serve its churches and run its ministries FIEC needs an income and to
that end churches are asked (not required!) to make an annual donation.
Guidelines are given for this based on the size of a church’s membership and
thus its likely resources and ability to contribute. Some churches give more
than the suggested donation, some less, some nothing at all.
‘Ok’, you may say, ‘but isn’t the suggested donation
quite significant assuming churches would want to pay ‘their way’?’ Well for a
church of 50 people the recommended donation equates to just under 40p per
member per week. As with the TV Licence fee you can either baulk at it or marvel
at what good value it provides! Like the TV Licence fee you might only use some
of the services it provides, but it’s good that the rest exists for the benefit
of those using other bits. It’s also noteworthy that the FIEC office and staff
run on a budget that is less than some of its largest churches.
Importantly, suggested donation levels to FIEC are not
gratuitous but fund strategic gospel workers and projects around the UK. Just
as a church’s overseas missionary giving goes to support gospel workers (in a
whole range of ways from salaries to administration) and gospel projects (from
church planting to training), so it is the case with FIEC donations. It’s why
FIEC encourages churches to allocate their giving to FIEC under their budget
for mission rather than under administration.
Supporting FIEC financially is, along with all other
giving, a choice for churches to make. The money given, however, is a modest
component of most churches’ income, and it goes a long way in supporting a
national gospel vision.
4. You can’t be truly
Brethren / Baptist / Congregationalist etc … if you join FIEC.
A simple look at the list of FIEC affiliated churches
should be enough to dispel this myth. From its earliest days FIEC has contained
churches from Brethren, Baptist, Congregationalist, Mission Hall and other
Independent church backgrounds – none of which ceased to lose their identities by
joining. Brethren continue to worship in open communion services; Baptists
continue to be overseen by a pastor and deacons; Congregationalists still
baptise their children and so on. FIEC is what ‘it says on the tin’ - a
Fellowship of Independent Evangelical
Churches’.
Indeed FIEC churches continue to participate in many
other networks and affiliations such as Evangelical Alliance, Gospel
Partnerships, Affinity, EFCC, Grace Baptist Associations, Acts 29 and so
on. FIEC’s ‘uniformity’ is simply that
its churches are free from ties that would undermine the core beliefs of FIEC churches
(such as an affiliation to a grouping that accepts serious error).
FIEC does not detract from a church’s identity and
distinctives – it simply connects Independent gospel churches with shared
gospel convictions while respecting and honouring the diversity found in the
body of Christ.
5. You can do
everything FIEC does without joining.
Certainly FIEC is not the only place to fund and help
organise gospel training; it is not the only body concerned with supporting
pastors and their wives; it is not the only network that provides resources and
tools for church planters. Other groups are also promoting and supporting
women’s workers and Christian legal services are available elsewhere - the list
goes on. In many ways, churches live in a crowded market place today with
plenty of options and offers when it comes to ministry support and vision. That in itself is something to celebrate – no
one organisation, FIEC or otherwise, is the ‘be all and end all’ of gospel
ministry in the UK. No-one is suggesting for a moment that FIEC has all the
answers, is the complete package or makes redundant other providers of gospel
support. Churches will flourish aplenty outside FIEC and praise God for that.
But FIEC has a unique dynamic which for many churches
will be a key part of their gospel vision and strategy. For Independent
churches in the UK today FIEC provides the ‘Judea & Samaria’ part of their
mission strategy – along with ‘Jerusalem’ (their local outreach) and ‘the ends
of the earth’ (overseas mission). Today the UK is one of the neediest and yet
most gospel-resistant places in the world. How can local churches be part of
reaching its most unreached communities? How can local churches support other
local churches in often isolated and difficult places? By being part of a family
of churches that connects them.
Very practically FIEC brings together a wide range of ministry
services, resources and gospel initiatives – all linked to a vision that sees
the local church itself being the instrument at the centre of gospel renewal in
the UK. For Independent churches of all
backgrounds, small or large - FIEC is a hub to connect their different ‘spokes’
of energy, gifts, ideas, potential, resources, personalities, wisdom, and
shared desire to see the nation impacted again for Christ. So that the plenty
of one can help supply the need of another.
Churches could do all the things that FIEC seeks to do –
but FIEC helps to join those dots into a strategic national vision - and in
doing so connects churches to each other so that they can be that bit more than
the sum of their parts in standing for Christ.
SO JOIN US
If you are an Independent church with a desire
to be part of a national gospel movement with a vision to see the UK impacted
again for Christ – why not get in touch and join the 60 churches who have become
part of FIEC in the past 3 years.
You can check out our website or contact us for more information or to arrange
a meeting.
Luke 1 - Christmas is coming! 
Yet these are the very people God uses, and loves to use - confounding the wisdom of the world, confounding even our own expectations. As someone once said, ‘God doesn’t have a shelf’ – no-one is ‘over the hill’ in God’s plans, no-one is too ordinary to be used by God. 
Poor Zechariah, all those years of waiting and he almost blows it! But God is so gracious and will keep him right. We are such slow learners at times but fortunately God is an exceptionally patient teacher.
