More than 500 sign ‘Pact for Peace’ at forum
JOPLIN, Mo. — About 1,100 people attended the 25th Restoration Forum – the final one planned – at Ozark Christian College on Sept. 4-6. The event drew members of instrumental Christian Churches and a cappella Churches of Christ from 30 states and Canada, organizers said.
The forum’s president, Matt Proctor, harkened back to the first such meeting at Ozark Christian in 1984.
“The seeds of unity sown in those early years have come to harvest before my eyes,” Proctor said. “We who come behind you are grateful.”
Twenty-one speakers, panelist and devotional leaders focused on the theme “In All Things, Love.”
A total of 531 people signed “A Pact for Peace” based on Jesus’ prayer for unity inn John 17. The pact, which can be seen at www.poeministries.org, included confession, repentance and a three-fold resolve to leave divisions behind, love peace as God does and live as peacemakers.
Closing ceremonies included a responsive reading of “A Pact for Peace,” kneeling in prayer and the singing of the Doxology. Seventeen advocates for Christian unity were inducted into the Restoration Forum’s “Honor Roll of Unity.” They include Mike Armour, Rick Atchley, Tom Burgess, Chris DeWelt, David Faust, Doug Foster, Ken Idleman, Victor Knowles, Marshall Leggett, James North, Marvin Phillips, Jerry Rushford, Bob Russell, Rubel Shelly and Calvin Warpula. Frederick Kershner and William Pile were added posthumously.
The forum’s president, Matt Proctor, harkened back to the first such meeting at Ozark Christian in 1984.
“The seeds of unity sown in those early years have come to harvest before my eyes,” Proctor said. “We who come behind you are grateful.”
Twenty-one speakers, panelist and devotional leaders focused on the theme “In All Things, Love.”
A total of 531 people signed “A Pact for Peace” based on Jesus’ prayer for unity inn John 17. The pact, which can be seen at www.poeministries.org, included confession, repentance and a three-fold resolve to leave divisions behind, love peace as God does and live as peacemakers.
Closing ceremonies included a responsive reading of “A Pact for Peace,” kneeling in prayer and the singing of the Doxology. Seventeen advocates for Christian unity were inducted into the Restoration Forum’s “Honor Roll of Unity.” They include Mike Armour, Rick Atchley, Tom Burgess, Chris DeWelt, David Faust, Doug Foster, Ken Idleman, Victor Knowles, Marshall Leggett, James North, Marvin Phillips, Jerry Rushford, Bob Russell, Rubel Shelly and Calvin Warpula. Frederick Kershner and William Pile were added posthumously.
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