This issue is filled with a heavy discussion of Ken Pagaard's vision. This is followed by a discussion on Leadership presented in an interview with Graham Pulkingham originally published in Sojourners magazine. The cover art illustrates Ken's vision -- Love.
Ken's vision for community can really be summed up in the phrase, Unconditional Love. Community living was the laboratory for learning to love one another as Christ loved us. This wasn't an easy life -- but it was good. One of the statements made by Ken was that Community was not a means to an end; it was the end itself. Evangelism, discipleship, worship; all of the activities of the church were meant to be a result of community. This may have caused controversy in our city and in other American Baptist Churches, but this wasn't controversial in those of us living in community at that time. As we get to the end of the page, we do begin to move into an area that was to be controversial throughout the remainder of the life of the Ministering Community; Inner Healing.
Here I would like to interject a few thoughts about Inner Healing as I understand it and the controversy surrounding Ken's involvement. There was not controversy at First Baptist Church itself. We understood that prayer could bring healing in the area of unresolved memories that kept us from moving forward in our healthy maturity. I, along with others, were involved in the Inner Healing Ministry. Yet, I believed in and consulted Psychologists and Psychiatrists. The first problem that Ken encountered was that he really felt that he had no peers in his understanding of how Inner Healing should be performed. This led him into conflict with the elders. In the beginning, I think that all of the elders supported Ken, yet they expressed some concerns; he was spending virtually all of his time to ministering to some very needy women. Some were concerned that Ken was neglecting the pastorate of the church and others that he was spending too much time with these women; did this not work with men? I confess that I had concerns, yet I trusted Ken very much; he was my mentor and my friend. I remember when Ken had his "confrontation" with the young men in Westby Household -- his Mt. Moriah -- Akeda moment. This controversy continued to swirl around Ken and eventually was at the heart of the death of The Ministering Community. It was tragic. The next two pages will finish this part of the issue.
The poem above is by Judy Lind. Judy was introduced to us by Mabel Dannenberg, a leader from the First Baptist Church of El Centro. Judy was going through some troubles when she came, but stayed with us and became a steady member of the church for several years.
The next article is a continuation of Graham Pulkingham's interview and it introduces another controversial issue in our community; leadership. The issue of how leaders were chosen was not a major controversy in itself; we really believed that leaders were ultimately chosen by God and ratified by the church. The controversy was really over three issues: 1) How much authority rested on individual leaders (the Elders), 2) How were decisions really made, and 3) were there any checks and balances. The third issue was the one evident within the eldership. If the Elders sensed God's leading in an area -- such as Inner Healing -- could Ken override the elders decision, or did he need to listen (and obey)? Graham's interview deals with some of these issues from his perspective.
The next two articles, one about life on a Kibbutz and the other a historical lesson from Jamestown (by Clay Ford), are presented in the following pages with really no commentary. There really discuss commitment to the common goal which is understood to come from God.
Finally the last two pages conclude the issue. None of the three articles along with the "in the Family" section need much commentary. Of course, Larry Clark actually functioned as the Assistant Pastor of the church (I have no idea of what his title was -- if he had one). Margaret Oliver and Pat Escalante were two women members of the church. They weren't in leadership positions, but they were good members. I personally remember Pat with a lot of fondness -- a good lady.
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