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The Potter's House Christian Fellowship (aka, the Potter's House Christian Church or simply The Potter's House) was founded by Pastor Wayman O Mitchell in Prescott, Arizona in 1970. They have opened nearly 1400 churches under The Potter's House banner in over 100 nations. The first Australian church was established in the city of Perth in 1978.
Current church statistics
As of January 2006, the Potter's House Christian Fellowship and its affiliated ministries (including The Door, Victory Chapel, Christian Fellowship Ministries and The Light House) claim approximately 1,365 churches world-wide, with 392 in the United States, 60 in Australia, and the remainder internationally.
The mother church in Prescott, Arizona is headed by Wayman Mitchell. Some of the fellowship churches have over 1,000 attendees and the Prescott Mother Church itself has over 800. There are also newer churches with very few attendees. Expansion into new regions increases the number of smaller churches and thus brings the average across all churches down to about 80 attendees per service .
Church activity
The Potters House Christian Fellowship consists of members who identify themselves as being Born-Again Christians. The church has an evangelistic program involving open air preaching, personal 'witnessing', rock/rap concerts, Christian movies, skits and dramas. These events are used to evangelize to non-Christians. While the Potter's House welcomes those from other churches, it does not actively participate in proselytising Christians from other evangelical groups (sometimes called transfer growth), but rather focuses on the conversion of "unbelievers" (those who have not repented of their "sins" and trusted Jesus Christ as Savior or not "born again").
Potter's House sermons are accessible online in Australia and the UK
Church history
The Potter's House has its roots in the Jesus People Movement, a Christian revival (historically referred to as a spiritual "awakening") that swept through America in the early 70's. Wayman Mitchell originally began his churches under the affiliation of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and continued this affiliation until a disagreement with church leaders on ordination requirements for new ministers. Mitchell believed that a new pastor should be trained through 'discipleship' (mentoring) rather than by higher education, such as Bible colleges. By the mid-1980s Mitchell had a following of well over a hundred newly established churches, pastored by men who had been trained under him and sent out to minister without further formal education. In 1985, Mitchell gave up his official affiliation with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and took up a practice under Christian Fellowship Ministries (C.F.M.), the church he had established in Prescott. When Mitchell left the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, most of his newer churches went with him, and name "The Potter's House" was adopted.
Church doctrine
Potter's House Christian Fellowship is a fundamentalist Pentecostal church. They believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, with a particular focus on training and making disciples (mentoring), along with an emphasis on building relationships in the church. There are specific standards of personal conduct for those serving in ministry and the fellowship believes in teaching by discipleship. Much of the official Potters House doctrine adheres to the book "The Foundations of Pentecostal Theology" written by two Foursquare ministers, and published by L. I. F. E. Bible College.
The church claims to hold to the following doctrines: they believe in the historicity of the gospel narratives and an orthodox understanding of Jesus, creation over evolution, that biblical standards of morality and holiness apply to all members regardless of stature or position in the church and are enforced, 'submission unto headship', hold a pro-life stance to abortion, and proclaiming their message to those who are 'spiritually lost' and 'in danger of going to hell'. The church is classified Pentecostal' however the church does not participate in what they call "counterfeit themes", such as the Toronto Blessing or the Pensacola Outpouring. It also doesn't participate in "interdenominational services" (this is where several different denominations periodically have a joint church service together), though individual members are free to do so. This suggests that the church is not greatly influenced by mainstream Charismatic teaching, and thus could identify itself as Pentecostal, but not Charismatic. The fellowship also is opposed to certain aspects of the Ecumenical Movement such as the attempts to reconcile Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, as it believes that the teachings of the latter are basically contrary to the Bible.
Origins of the church name
The name comes from an Old Testament verse of the Bible:
- Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. (King James Version)
Because of its biblical origin, the name "The Potter's House" is often used by other independent church groups besides those affiliated with Christian Fellowship Ministries. Particularly well known is The Potter's House, Dallas, Texas, a largely African-American megachurch founded and led by T. D. Jakes.
Church conferences and Revivals
Conferences are a major part of the church's practice and administration. A conference is mainly aimed at instructing pastors but all believers are encouraged to attend. Most countries hold them once or twice per year and they can consist of up to 17 sermons by various fellowship pastors and evangelists.
- U.S.A.: Prescott, Arizona:- A conference is held twice per year with approximately 2500 claimed attendees.
- England: London:- A conference is held twice a year with approximately 1500 claimed attendees.
- Australia: Perth, Western Australia:- A conference is held once per year in March with approximately 1400 claimed attendees.
- South Africa: Johannesburg:- A conference is held once per year with approximately 900 claimed attendees.
- U.S.A.: Prescott, Arizona:- A conference is held twice per year with approximately 2500 claimed attendees.
Evangelistic meetings or "Revivals" tend to occur in most CFM churches every two to three months and consist of five services over four consecutive days from a visiting speaker.
Church stands
Bible schools, Church planting and discipleship
The Fellowship rejects Bible schools as a vehicle for church planting. The following are a few reasons given for this:
- Bible schools are claimed not to be biblical, and are viewed as a medieval institution left over from Catholicism, and are used in imitation of the world.
- The church posits that Bible schools are unable to do the job of world evangelism. The world population is growing at a rate of seventy million people a year. That means that every day 194,444 people are added to the population, over and above those who die. The cost of training workers by traditional methods is prohibitive. Even if finances were available, the Bible school method is slow and inefficient that the church is not even able to keep pace with the rising population, let alone reach the world.
- The Bible school isolates the man of God from practical experience, which is meant to come through the church. For most students, the school begins to take the place of church commitment and worship. This leads to bad habits of discipline and isolates them from the very people they are preparing to minister to.
- All attempts to mass produce disciplines will ultimately fail. Men of God must be hand crafted.
- The requirements of Bible schools eliminate many who God would use. The requirements of money, previous education, and age would have stopped Jesus and the twelve disciples.
- The Bible school system puts the church on a standard of "mind" not "heart" rewarding wrong motives, and creating an elitist mentality of really having paid too high a price to reach the poor.
- Bible Schools tend to put those who can't pastor into the role of pastor trainers.
- The system builds into the church a clergy-laity mentality that denies the priesthood of the believer, and develops a mentality that some people need to be really committed, and others just need to be saved.
- Bible schools rob the church of dignity it was meant to have in the preparing of workers and reaching a lost world.
- They violate the indigenous principle.
- Practical experience while pastoring, tied to regular Bible conferences is a more effective use of God's money.
- Bible schools while not evil in themselves are not God's best method.
Church culture
Like many Pentecostal or Evangelical churches, members of the Potter's House claim to have undergone religious experiences that have deeply influenced their lives. Members describe how their 'relationship with God' has changed their lives for the better, and that they are now saved and were once lost. Almost all members would have their own personal testimony that they feel compelled to share with others. Many people claim to have been cured of drug addiction, alcoholism, and untreatable diseases.
Because the church has its roots in the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, it does not have much of the culture or attitudes of traditional Pentecostal or Evangelical churches from the Bible Belt in the U.S. South. As a result, the church embraces all nationalities and classes and practices no overt discrimination against any person based on race or social status. The church also has a special focus upon outreach to the poor and lower classes (also typical of other churches that have their roots in the Jesus Movement).
Criticism of the church
Among the critics of the Potter's House are Apologetics Index, Center for Freedom of Mind, and MacGregor Ministries for example. The Christian Research Institute gives a more measured critique. A variety of newspapers and television stations have reported on the group over the years; controversial cult expert Rick Ross, while not making a statement himself, hosts a series of articles critical of Potters House.
Potter's House advocates dismiss the critics' claims as unfounded. They suggest that critics are non-credible, small in number, and highly vocal. Rick Ross is a controversial figure himself and has attracted criticism.
Further, supporters of the Potter's House allege that some critics have ulterior motives and have engaged in deceptive tactics to inflate their apparent numbers on the internet. Potter's House advocates suggest that the church's militancy and outspokenness, which are not in and of themselves improper, are partially to blame for the negative reactions of those not used to such methods.
Nevertheless, there are signs of internal problems with the church that have been reported by those outside the movement. Ronald Enroth's book Churches that Abuse contains an account of abuse within the church. In January 2002, Charisma News, a Christian news magazine dealing mainly with Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, reported a major exodus of some 160 churches from the Potter's House Movement in the United States. The reason for the split, according to Charisma News, was "because of unhealthy control, and after (members) leave they are afraid to talk about their experiences." A former pastor interviewed in the Charisma News article, when asked about allegations of abuse, said "There are families who have not spoken for years, brothers who are pastors all the way to the Philippines who were separated by this group and had years of not even speaking, churches that have been deliberately split, children who don't talk to their parents."
See also
References
- Short introduction from Wayman Mitchell's Bio Site
- "Christian Fellowship Ministries Australia".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month=and|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Introduction to The Potter's House, Australia, W.A. website
- "Christian Fellowship Ministries Australia".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month=and|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "An Open Door" A Story of the Restoration of the Local Church
- "The Door Netherlands".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month=and|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Simpkins, Ron (1984). We Can Take the Land (A Study in Church Planting), pp. 275-276. Prescott: Potters Press. ISBN 0-918389-00-3]
- Apologetics Index article on The Potter's House
- Center for Freedom of Mind article on The Potter's House
- MacGregor Ministries article on The Potter's House
- Christian Research Institute article on The Potter's House
- rickross.com about Christian fellowship churches
- A critical site exposing Rick Ross and his attack on fundamentalist Christians
- The Potter's Club's critique of Rick Ross
- Potter's House forums about Rick Ross
- Apologetics Index critique of Rick Ross
- Cult Awareness Network's critique of Rick Ross
- Yahoo Group discussion on allegations of 'puppeteering' by critics
- Yahoo Group discussion on multiple I.P scam
- Yahoo Group discussion on multiple I.P scam
- Churches that Abuse
- Charisma News, January 2002
External links
- Born Again Christian Forums An online 'meeting point' for The Potter's House members as well as other 'Born Again' Christians.
- The Potters Club A website with copious amounts of Potter's House material.
- Wayman Mitchell Biography Page Contains online books written by Mitchell and about the Potter's House Church.
Church Directory
- Christian Fellowship Ministries Contains a comprehensive church directory, news, contact information and a formal Statement of Belief.
European Links
Australasia Links
American Links
Critics: