Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 9
August 15, 1957
NUMBER 15, PAGE 11b-12b

The Promoters Try It Again

Reavis Petty, Poteau, Oklahoma

In the past two or three years, we have seen several places around the country where our pro-institutional brethren have employed some pretty rash methods in trying to sieze control of certain congregations. Even mob action (as in the Bakersfield, California, incident) has been resorted to. Brother has gone to law against brother, and just about every ungodly procedure one can imagine has been used.

On March 10, 1957, mob-action came to Poteau, Oklahoma. On this fateful day the church had come together, to fulfill God's command for such an assembly, not having the slightest hint or warning of what was in store for them. The usual Sunday morning song service and prayer had been engaged in — when a preacher from another congregation arose to his feet, took over the microphone, and seized control of the service. He had the aid and assistance of four men in the local congregation. He announced that he and these men were "taking over" the congregation. When one of our elders tried to stop this ungodly disturbance of the worship, he was taken by force and made to sit down.

The following week, two of the men guilty of this action made confession of their sin and publicly expressed to the congregation their desire for forgiveness. The elders of the congregation talked with the other men, but could find no willingness in either of them to repent of what they had done. Consequently, after due and prayerful consideration, the elders announced withdrawal action against these two men who had so violently disturbed the church and had prevented the congregation from partaking of the Lord's Supper on the day they invaded the assembly with force. Instead of repenting of the wrong they had done, however, these two brethren set to work to "draw away disciples after them", and persuaded a few of the weaker and more unstable brethren to follow them.

There is now a small group of these brethren, meeting in a rented building here in Poteau, and trying as energetically as they can to stir up trouble for the church. They will naturally try to get every preacher whom they can influence to lend whatever influence he can to their faction. They recently had Brother George B. Curtis to conduct a week's meeting for them. He came into Poteau, talked with no one but the faction, and spent a week preaching here, in their rented building and on the radio, abusing the church and misrepresenting the issues involved.

In spite of these things, however, the church in Poteau moves ahead. We sincerely regret and deplore the action of factious brethren in trying to split the church over "orphan homes" and such matters, but we are certain that truth will triumph in the end.

(Editor's footnote: One interesting side-light on the above took place just a few days before the rebellious faction tried to "take over" the Poteau congregation. At the Hogland-Clements debate in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the first week in March, some of the Poteau "pro-institutional" brethren privately invited Brother E. R. Harper to come to Poteau on Friday night (after the Fort Smith debate was to close on Thursday night) and give a full sermon in the Poteau church building on "the issues." Brother Harper agreed to do so, and announcement to that effect was made over the Poteau radio. Some of the brethren heard the announcement, and the Poteau elders approached this writer immediately, asking if he could follow Brother Harper at Poteau, taking the same amount -of time he took, and setting forth the truth on the questions discussed. When Brother Harper was informed that Yater Tant had been invited by the Poteau elders to follow him the same night he spoke in the Poteau building and agreed to come, giving Bible truth on the questions he was going to discuss — he cancelled his appointment.)