Christian Chronicle (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 15, 1968 Page: 1 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Christian Chronicle and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Abilene Christian University Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
------
»
a
*
i
ft
/
S3
£
Christian
Number 23
Box 4055, Auitin, Tw« 78751
AUSTIN, TEXAS, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1968
‘HERESY’ CHARGES CLEARED
Churches in Greece
J
f
t
I
The fast growth of churches
in Africa breaking away from
Protestant and Catholic
"mother churches" was noted
' Jan. 12 in a report from the
New York Times. At that very
time, missionary Hilton Mer-
rit was in East Africa inter-
viewing one of. the experts
quoted in the Times article.
Here is what he found out.
e
r
g
e
Ralph and Gladys Burcham
(Oklahoma Journal Photo*)
r
n
8
I,
e
Vol. XXV
in
I
s
e
v
*
re Trouble
In Legal Red Tape
r
f A
Paul established the church,
20th century Christians may
be facing troubles similar to
the Walls.
Dal? Randolph, settled with coming booK Schism and Re-
his family in Greece after
evacuating from Amman, Jor-
tribes have separated from
the churches to form what
are now called the African in*
dependent churches.”
The new movements have a
wide spectrum of beliefs.
Some are very open to new
Sf
II
abohe,
f ■ ■
Cli roil icle
International Newspaper of the Churches of Christ
By Lane T. Cubstead
Chronicle News Service
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Mod-
Chrlstian College colleagues, and relatives, including Mrs. Scott
Burcham (left center) of Reed, Okla., mother of Ralph Bur-
f , -
: Ji Tl
• WU
* OCAS
influences; others are very
traditional. Some, known as
“Ethiopians” emphasize re-
ligious or political independ-
ence. Others, called “Zionist”
emphasize the work of the
Holy Spirit. Still other groups
center around a dominant Af-
rican Christ personality.
The forms the independent
groups take, however, should
not overshadow the original
inantly from 300 African cause of separation. One inde-
' -X”:' . :,V ■ ■ . ~ '
American Missionary Interviews Expert
On Fast-Growing African Independents
By Hilton Merritt
Emerging from centuries of
‘ t in the
throes of a Christian revolu-
tion. '
The cry of independence
which ushered 19 countries
from colony to statehood in
the last seven years is also
being experienced as an inde-
pendent movement among
pendent leader, David N.’ Ki-
mila, says, "European Chris- #
tianity ends with^the intellec-
tual and moral levels of life,
but it does not reach the emo-
tional part of African life
through myths, rituals, and
music.”____
Why Separation? —-
* Political and economic in-
equalities between mission-
aries and nationals have con-
tributed to the independent
groups.
"Tribal soils prove more
fertile than others to inde-
pendency," says Dr. Barrett.
"The ethnic nature of African
churches*-is shown by the
course of independency along
purely tribal lines.”
Suppression of peoples also
appears to contribute to out-
breaks. The Independent
movement mushroomed early
this century in South Africa
after the Natives’ Land Act of
1913 deprived Africans ,of
basic civil rights. By 1964
over 2,500 distinct separatist
bodies had been formed in -I
that country. I
(Continued on Page 4)
CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE (CNS)
ah International nawa^atharing system
to gain government permis-
sion for the Glyfada congre-
gation in Athens to meet.
(Continued on Page 3)
Ralph Burcham will tell
you.
"The Viet Cong are ruthless
killers—no respect for life
or property."
Burcham returned with his
family Saturday after 18
months in Saigon. He has no
illusions about Viet Cong, the
United States* mission there
or his attempt at missionary
work.
"We were engulfed by gun
battles," he said at Will Rog-
ers World Airport where he
was met by 150 friends.
"Some of our missionaries
lived less than a block from
one of the areas that was
overrun by the Viet Cong.
"They could hear the gun
shots—the screams of pain
and rage of men, women, and
children—pleading; more gun
shots, then the silence of
death. They shot women and
children without mercy—set
fires to their homes.” , c
Burcham and his family left
Saigon February 15 after Viet
Cong launched their Tet of-
fensive. A VC gun post held
a pocket for 36 hours less
than 50 yards from the Bur-
“ ' — • cham’s home. - -
“We were advised by Viet-
namese Christians to get out
while we could,” Burcham
said. "I left my heart in Viet-
nam, for I love the people
. ... I definitely want to re-
turn. S ■ ■
How the Burchams Were Covered
A Chronicle assignment to cover the arrival of the Ralph
Burchams in Oklahoma City fell to Mrs. Ona Belknap, Chris-
.Am mdM—tfcourii,.
restdent, ■ ... .....
Though not a word of her report appears as such this
week, Mrs. Belknap is largely responsible for the event being
covered on the front pages of both Oklahoma City papers
last Sunday.
It was she who released to the press a recent letter from
the Burchams describing their last dangerous weeks in Saigon.
Much of the Daily Oklahoman story is built on the letter.
The Chronicle reporter also helped keep photographers
and TV camera men informed of the Burchams’ arrival, and
she cajoled a policeman into opening a suite of rooms at the
airport for a news conference
Sent to cover a story for Chronicle readers,' Ona Betknap
helped assure its prominent coverage for a million other
people. ~
newal in Africa, movements
_____of renewal, protest and dissi-
dan, during the Middle East dence have been taking, place
fighting last summer, reports
that police have forbidden the
Thessaloniki congregation to
• meet publicly until govern-
ment permission is granted.
The church is filing a peti-
tion, but police have Sealed
the doors of the church build-
ing with wax. The Randolphs,
. the George Borsmans and lo-
4 cal Christians are meeting for
worship in private homes,
. . . I definitely want to
turn.”
Burcham also left his be-
longings. He and his wife,
Gladys, and son and daugh-
ter, Roger, 12 and Kathy 8,
■4SS£aepui?r Tton/ wSttTottS-
Church of Christ missionaries.
The Burchams came home
to Oklahoma City but they
plan to continue their battle
to bring Christianity to Viet-
nam. Burcham, an associate
professor of business educa-
tion at Oklahoma Christian
College, on leave of absence,
said he will “fill as many
speaking appointments as
possible."
Although forced to leave
(Continued on Back Page)
in Africa within the Protes-
tant and Catholic churches in
34 nations over the* last hun-
dred years. '
"Some 1,000 such move-
ments still remain within
those churches, but over 5,000
distinct religious and eccles-
iastical, organizations num-
bering around 7,000,000 nom-
inal adherents drawn predom-
WAITING AT THE AIRPORT were 150 friends, Oklahoma cham, and Mrs. J. J. Hamburger (right center) of Weatherford,
Okla., Gladys Burcham’s mother. (Photo courtesy of the Dally
Oklahoman.)
-
even though police advised
them not to.
The going may get rougher
still in Thessaloniki. It took
em-day Churches ofv Christ' three years of court battles
have two principal toe-holds
in Greece—in the capital city,
Athens, and in the northern
city of Thessaloniki (Salon-
ika). Recently workers in
both locations have had stum-
bling blocks thrown in their
paths:
• One of three American
ministers in Athens — Philip
Wall, who is supported by the
Van. Nuys, Calif., congrega-' _
tion — was arrested along slumber,^ Africa is
with his wife and several
young Greek men for prose-
lytizing in a village 200 miles
to the west of Athens. A trial
was held February 20 and all
were cleared of the charges.
• In Thessaloniki, near the
site of the ancient city where churches.
“On a scale unparallelled in
the entire history of the ex-
pansion of Christianity,” says
Dr. David Barrett in a forth-
j
7 A
'/ . 1__
Burchams Return, Leave Hearts in Asia
...... '■ . ■’ ■
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Straughn, Harold. Christian Chronicle (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 15, 1968, newspaper, March 15, 1968; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1320757/m1/1/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.