One hot August day in 1889 a line was drawn dividing the Christian Churches of the Restoration Movement. This division was the result of changes in “the way church was done,” such as instruments accompanying worship songs and new methods of raising money. In 1906, the non-instrumental Churches of Christ officially recognized this line of division separating them from the Christian Churches. The US Census began listing the non-instrumental Church of Christ as “distinct and separate” from the Christian Church. That very same year, a college for the non-instrumental Churches of Christ in Abilene, Texas, Abilene Christian University (ACU), first opened its doors.

This past February, one hundred years later, ACU hosted the Restoration Forum XXIV. This forum, held in a different location each year, is an annual gathering for those of the Stone-Campbell heritage interested in keeping the unity dream alive. GNPI’s Executive Director Emeritus, Ziden Nutt, gave a message on “Ways We Have Come Together – A Legacy of Unity.” Ziden was also inducted into the Restoration Forum’s Honor Roll of Unity. This is an honor given to men and women, both past and present, because of their love for all brothers and for their noble efforts to heal and unify as Jesus prayed.

Ziden recently commented, “I feel extremely passionate about unity and what can happen when people work together. It makes me think of John 13:34-35, ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ I guess it is because I have seen many people (of different denominations) work together and the synergism that comes as a result is so powerful.”

There are many leaders today who have this same point of view.  In fact, a spontaneous round of applause swept through the auditorium during one session at the Restoration Forum when speaker Royce Money, President of ACU, said, "For those of us in the Restoration Movement heritage, I doubt if many people have looked at us in the last 100 years and said, 'Behold, how they love one another.' But we're going to do better in the next 100 years. We're going to do  better right now . . . Unity for the sake of mission is essential if we are to successfully carry the light of Jesus into a dark world."

Dr. Douglas Foster (pictured above), Professor of Church History and Director of the Center for Restoration Studies at Abilene Christian University said, “Good News Productions, International has been a key partner with missionaries in Churches of Christ around the globe in helping teach the Gospel. No account of the missionary work done by our two communions can fail to mention GNPI and how it has aided hundreds of missionaries from both a cappella Churches of Christ and Christian Churches.” 

GNPI has established a pattern of partnership among a cappella Churches of Christ and organizations by:

Producing teaching series with:
Dr. Clyde Austin, Larry Stephens, Ken Bolden, Sam Shewmaker, and others

Producing with ministries like:
Oklahoma Christian University, Children’s Relief Fund, ACU’s World Mission Workshop, Mission Resource Network, Restoration Forum, etc.

Producing missionary field reports with:
Dr. Monty Cox, Wendell Broom, Russ Lawson, Shawn Tyler, and many others

Producing special programming with:
Oneal Tankersley, Larry West, and others

In one African country, a government official was wary of GNPI’s involvement with other churches in a project that would help farmers. He pointed to the history of wars in Ireland where Protestants and Catholics fought and to the Middle East where Muslims and Christians were fighting. His picture of the church needed to be restored.

The project went forward and people from several fellowships agreed that GNPI should develop the messages. As long as the guide was the Bible only, everyone could agree on the overall purpose, and the outcome was unity. The end result included Muslim fathers writing letters saying,  “We know you are Christians, but the materials you are sending us help our families and teach our children better ways. Please continue sending us the programs!”

Jaime Swift, regional director for GNPI-Africa is another example of how GNPI continually strives toward unity. Jaime was a Church of Christ missionary in Kenya, Africa. He and his family were about to leave the mission field when the position of regional director for GNPI-Africa became available. Jaime had been an avid user of material from GNPI in his ministry and believed in its effectiveness. He and his wife, Ginger, are a living testimony to the fact that God intends for us to work together. Through Jaime, God continues to bring about unity and friendship in unlikely ways.

In the process of reaching out to a hurting world, God has used your partnership with Good News Productions, International to bridge the gap and restore unity. We have an ongoing determination to get back to the original beauty and purpose of the bride of Christ; to be a church that will unite to help hurricane victims, to financially support evangelism on the front lines of the battle – the mission field, or to accomplish whatever God calls us to do. One definition of ally is “anyone shooting at the same enemy.” There is something inherently good about rallying the troops for a common goal – a goal to restore unity and love the hurting, unbelieving people of our world so that they are not distracted by division, but instead, clearly see Jesus.