Great Commission Association of Churches
[7][9][14] McCotter, whose family's religious background was with the Plymouth Brethren, has stated that his desire to form the movement stemmed from his belief that God had shown him in the Bible's Book of Acts a strategy instructing Christians on how God wanted to use church planting to "reach the world for Christ" within one generation.
McCotter dropped out of college to focus on ministry full-time, and was planning to move down to Pueblo, Colorado to continue his efforts; however, in 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War, he was drafted into the United States Army.
[7][9][14][17] In 1970, under the leadership of Jim McCotter, Dennis Clark, Herschel Martindale, and others, approximately 30 college-age Christians embarked on a summer-long evangelical outreach known as "The Blitz" to several university campuses in the Southwestern United States.
Led by Jim McCotter and Dennis Clark, it was formed to provide services such as publishing and fund raising for the developing association.
[25] In late 1986, founder Jim McCotter announced his resignation from GCI, stating a desire to utilize his entrepreneurial abilities in an attempt to influence secular media for Christ.
[17] According to a 2001 Ivy Jungle report as cited by John Schmalzbauer of Missouri State University, there were 6,900 college students involved in GCM.
[37] The statement was as follows: Great Commission Churches (GCC) is an organization that is part of the National Association of Evangelicals.
The GCC organization was formed over 30 years ago to serve a relational network of independent churches that began on college campuses in 1970.
For 50 years, God has worked through these churches to lead thousands to Christ and to equip hundreds of people to share the gospel.
In this Jubilee year since this church network began, the GCC Board took an action that we believe is part of God’s plan to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ.
First, although our mission to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is not finished, the work of the GCC denominational organization is complete.
GCC was formed as a denominational organization in 1990 to serve a loose fellowship of independent churches based on college campuses.
The GCC denominational organization, which has given stability to churches and built relational networks among pastors, has been like scaffolding to a permanent structure.
[10][47] In 2004, Boundless webzine (associated with Focus on the Family) published an article listing GCM as one of the "ten top college ministries across the U.S.", saying that their strategy of "seeking to incorporate students into the starting of a church based campus ministry" "has been effective to attract and involve thousands of students."
NLCF pastor Jim Pace, a GCM missionary, was a guest on Larry King Live and Good Morning America, CNN created a video of their memorial service.
[49] GCM missionaries are required to raise 100% of their support goal, which includes base salary, benefits, and ministry expenses.
[50] Great Commission Latin America (GCLA) is a Latin American outgrowth of Great Commission Ministries founded in 1974 by Daniel B. Sierra, a Cuban-American missionary from Florida Bible College and directed by Nelson Guerra since 1981, a native Honduran and former president of the Honduran National Association of Evangelicals.
[53][54] Great Commission Northwest (GCNW) is a regional association of North American GCA churches, spanning from Chicago to Seattle.
[56] During the 1980s, a number of ministries and organizations were formed and then discontinued by the late 1980s in an attempt to "penetrate key centers of influence,"[9][18] including: Americans for Biblical Government, Great Commission Academy, Alpha Capital, THEOS (The Higher Education Opportunity Service), Communication Forum, and Students for Origins Research.
[63] Subsequent criticism of the movement appeared eight months later in a front-page article by the Des Moines Register, in which campus pastors expressed concerns over "manipulation" and "a kind of brainwashing.
"[64] Throughout the late 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, similar criticisms were published by newspapers in Ohio,[65][66][67] South Carolina,[68] Maryland,[69][70][71][72][73][74] New York,[75] Illinois,[76][77][78][79] Toronto,[80] nationally across Canada,[81] and in other locations, particularly those near college campuses where the movement was active.
[93] In addition, William Watson, a writer of the book "A Concise Dictionary of Cults and Religions" defended Great Commission.
Watson wrote in a letter dated August 1, 1991, "I am convinced that the Great Commission Association of Churches, formerly GCI, is not, and has not been a cult.
Pile went on to say "I urge that current members and leaders of GCC be evaluated fairly, according to how they teach and live out their faith in the present.
[104] According to GCC, "During the late 1980s and early 1990s a concerted effort was made to reach out to people who felt that they had been hurt by GCI and its churches.
At the initial urging of Tom Short, the GCI leaders and pastors published a paper as part of a plan to follow the Biblical standard of humility and reconciliation in relationships.
This effort towards reconciliation, formally called Project CARE, was led by Dave Bovenmyer and was instrumental in building unity with Christians within and outside of Great Commission.
[105] As of 1994, many former members felt the Weakness Statement was not enough or that it left out other concerns, according to Ronald Enroth's book Recovering From Churches that Abuse.
[89] Dr. Paul Martin, director of Wellspring and a former member of GCI, is quoted extensively in the book and also notes his statements are now out of date.
[93][97] In September 2010, John Hopler, Director of Great Commission Churches, posted an Explanation of Criticisms on the GCC website.
