The church in L.A. practicing the vision of the oneness of the Body of Christ

ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 31^st, 1962, the church in Los Angeles prayed in the new year together. According to Witness Lee, “We mostly prayed, ‘Lord, give us an increase.’” The desire for increase had been the primary burden of the twenty one days of prayer that preceded the conference on the all-inclusive Christ. Almost immediately after the turn of the new year, the Lord began to answer those prayers. But the gathering of believers into the church life quickly posed new challenges to the young church.

Prior to the all-inclusive Christ conference, the brothers and sisters had invited believers, friends, and acquaintances, and, over the course of the conference, made connections with a number of Christian groups. As a result, during the months of January and February, Brother Lee was invited to speak at several congregations, mostly in Southern California and the Southwest. One of these groups was a Brethren congregation in Whittier, just outside of L.A.

Witness Lee also responded to invitations to visit congregations in San Gabriel, Chula Vista, and Reseda. The group in Reseda, which had Pentecostal leanings, appreciated the ministry of Watchman Nee and some had attended meetings of the all-inclusive Christ conference. After the conference, the Brethren group from Whittier and the Pentecostal group from Reseda expressed a desire to join with the church in L.A. and meet on the ground of oneness.

Aside from their shared appreciation for Nee’s ministry, the two groups could hardly have been more different. The Brethren group held the study and teaching of Biblical doctrine as their primary focus. Their style of worship was characterized by solemnity, dignity, and propriety, and to their sensibility, “religious enthusiasm” was perceived as “wildness.”

One of the leading brothers in the congregation from Whittier was Karl Hammond. He so appreciated Nee’s ministry that he personally labored on the private publication of The Normal Christian Church Life—Nee’s text on the arrangement of Christian work and the practicality of the church life. Hammond’s edition would later prove instrumental in bringing seeking believers into the Lord’s recovery, particularly in Texas. Personally, however, Hammond was skeptical that Nee’s vision for the church could be carried out, which was consistent with Brethren pessimism concerning the possibility of restoring the church as it was in the First Century. Nevertheless, Hammond retained an interest in Nee’s ministry, one that made him an advocate among the Whittier congregation for further fellowship with Lee and the brothers in L.A.

The believers from Reseda came primarily from a Pentecostal background. Their meetings had been held in the home of a brother named John Meyers in the San Fernando valley. Meyers’ home included a plot of land and a shed, from which he carried out a small-scale printing operation for the distribution of a Christian magazine entitled A Voice in the Wilderness. The magazine included articles derived from the ministry of Watchman Nee and other Christian teachers. In contrast to the Brethren group, the believers in Reseda enjoyed an expressive form of worship, with singing often accompanied by tambourines and speaking in tongues.

Brother Lee, who had extensive experience with both Pentecostal and Brethren believers in mainland China, was concerned with whether the two groups could merge. 

Leading brothers from both groups and from the church in L.A. met in January of 1963 and agreed to proceed slowly. Brother Lee urged them to “give up all the different kinds of opinions and keep the basic things,” that is, the faith that is common to all believers. For the sake of harmony, according to Lee, it was necessary that all parties not make an issue of secondary matters such as head coverings or the methods of baptism. If the brothers could let go of these secondary things and practice the genuine oneness, there would be a great testimony for the Lord in Los Angeles, a testimony the Lord would surely bless.

The leading brothers continued to meet through February, and, at least among the brothers from Whittier and Reseda, enthusiasm regarding the prospect of joint meetings was rising. Karl Hammond affirmed that “variety in unity” should be the principle adhered to in the church life, while another brother stated that the three groups should give themselves to one another unreservedly, as in a marriage. Still, Brother Lee was not convinced that the brothers were prepared to drop the secondary things that threatened to divide them. On February 9th, he spoke to the brothers on the teaching of Romans 14 and 15 concerning receiving the believers in and for the practice of the church life in oneness. The Apostle Paul, he told them, had a liberal attitude toward all the believers and their sundry practices. What was needed in the church life was “variety in unity rather than uniformities in division.” Because the demand for uniformity resulted in division, Lee told them, variety had to be allowed.

In a meeting in Glendale on February 16th, one of the brothers, eager for joint meetings, urged the three groups to begin meeting together immediately. This, he said, would “explode” all the divisions and set up a shining testimony to all the believers in the Los Angeles area. Another brother cautioned that an immediate joining together might result in a “spiritual fight.” After another meeting on February 20^th, the brothers from the three groups decided that the first joint meeting would be held on the Lord’s Day morning of March 3rd.

The joint meetings took place in rented rooms at the International Order of Oddfellows Hall, near downtown L.A. Arrangements were made for various practical matters such as ushering, book sales, and the children’s meeting. At Lee’s encouragement, the brothers and sisters attempted to practice the principle of meeting in mutuality described in 1 Corinthians 14, rather than relying on a brother to give a message. Holding prophesying meetings in mutuality had been a strong burden of Watchman Nee, one that he had never succeeded in implementing in mainland China. Lee hoped to achieve a breakthrough in this matter in Los Angeles.

With members from all three groups in attendance, Lee had asked that two banners be affixed to the walls of the meeting room—“Unity versus uniformity” and “Unity with variety”—as if to remind the attendants. Lee, who was present at this first meeting, described it as “rather good.”

Difficulties arose the following Lord’s Day. Lee was out of town, having traveled to New York City with his wife for an interview to obtain permanent residency in the United States. As members of the three groups met a second time, chaos erupted. Some from Reseda began to speak in tongues. Perturbed by this, some from Whittier quickly called a hymn to stop them. As they sang, however, a sister from Reseda began to play a tambourine. Some from Whittier ordered her to stop, sparking a conflict that spoiled the atmosphere.

In a telephone call to Witness Lee in New York, Hammond described the Pentecostals’ wild behavior and his strong disapproval of it. To Hammond, the playing of the tambourine was particularly egregious. Lee asked what essential difference there was between the tambourine and the piano. A piano, technically, was a percussion instrument, just like the tambourine. Hammond could not be conciliated.

Upon his return, Lee met with the leading brothers from Whittier and found them to be implacable over the playing of the tambourine. Lee pointed out that the preference for a piano over a tambourine was simply a matter of culture. If they could not find it within themselves to adopt a general attitude regarding the playing of musical instruments, he told them, the joint meetings were doomed. The brothers from Whittier noted that a majority of those meeting at Oddfellows Hall had sided with them, and that, because of this, those from Reseda were the ones who should yield. They presented Lee with an ultimatum: Pentecostal practices must cease or those from Whittier would stop meeting.

Lee subsequently met with the leading brothers from Reseda, who proved no less willing to yield than the brothers from Whittier had been. Lee later recounted,

"I spoke with those who practiced speaking in tongues. I said, “Brothers, I have learned that last Sunday some of you spoke in tongues and played the tambourine.” When I said this, they became very touchy and replied, “Brother Lee, those brothers don’t know their spirit. When we spoke in tongues, they called a hymn to stop us.” I replied, “Brothers, from the very beginning I told you that in order to have a joint meeting with the leaders from different backgrounds, we all had to drop our practices and opinions. But if you insist on speaking in tongues and playing the tambourine, eventually the others will stop coming to the meetings, and you will be the only ones left. What then would be the use for us to come together?” Then they said, “Brother Lee, do you like the playing of tambourines and speaking in tongues?” I said, “It is not a matter of what I like or don’t like. It is a matter of having the church life.”

–Witness Lee, The Kernel of the Bible, Anaheim, California: Living Stream Ministry

^‍In the end, those from Reseda insisted on playing the tambourine and speaking in tongues, and those from Whittier attempted to stamp out their practices. Those from Reseda believed not only that their practices were scriptural, but that they were, indeed, “the biggest item in the Lord’s recovery in the last days.” Those from Whittier were equally adamant that such practices were inappropriate. Before long, almost all the brothers and sisters from Reseda stopped meeting with the church in Los Angeles. The brothers and sisters from Whittier continued to meet jointly, though a number would later leave based on doctrinal disagreements.

The unpleasant experience at Oddfellows Hall compelled the leading brothers in L.A. to consider how to go on. Some viewed the failure as an indication that the church was not sufficiently mature to carry out meetings in mutuality. As a result, the brothers decided to replace the prophesying meeting with a ministry meeting. The brothers also decided that the three groups should meet as churches in the cities where they were, and come together at Oddfellows hall for ministry.

In the wake of the events at Oddfellows Hall, the brothers in L.A. published a public statement that articulated what they stood for. For Brother Lee, the experience raised questions about whether Christians in the U.S., given all their differences, could come together to practice the church life. If they couldn’t, perhaps he would have to build a new model of what the church life could look like.