11^th Restoration of the Church Conference

Cathedral of the King, Manila

ICCEC-Asia

“PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS”

Session I – Introduction to the Conference

Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines, D. D.

We hope that in this 11^th gathering of believers, we can find the Church moving forward in being what God created her to be.

Today, the Vatican released a statement saying that they were regretting the fact, especially in Europe, that the Church was being persecuted, and that the Christian Church in the world is perhaps the most persecuted religion.  Secularism is fighting against the Church, belittling and putting her down. The Church finds herself, today, in a consequence of her own lack of faith in what God has made her to be.

The Church is the representation of Christ upon earth.  If we, as a Church, will function the way God intended us to function, I believe that we would see a different world around us.  But as the Church has lost faith in what God has done, we see the world moving forward, taking over and doing things.  If we were standing firmly in what God has empowered us to be, I believe that we would see some changes.

We look at history and a brief evaluation of the Church.  We look at the Church as that which begins somewhere in the ministry of Christ, a portion of it, because the Church was in existence before this.  We look at that which affects us most intensely.

The ministry of Christ was meeting the needs of the people.  It doesn’t seem like He was too interested in organization or in structure.  Christ came to be a manifestation of the character of God, the love of God to mankind, and to show us to be a witness of God’s power within His people. It is to set us free eventually from the curse of the sin of man and to bring us back to relationship with the Father.