January 13, 1999

Association ousts church
for charismatic practices
___MARSHFIELD, Mo. (ABP)--A Missouri Baptist association has kicked out Calvary Baptist Church in Marshfield, a church which split last year over practices including speaking in tongues and being "slain in the Spirit."
___Webster County Baptist Association voted to withdraw fellowship from the church over its charismatic worship practices.
___John Shuler, the association's director of missions, said he supported the action, which passed by a vote of 102-2. "When it's detrimental to the fellowship and harmony of the association, action has to be taken," he said.
___Calvary's pastor, Roger Hicks, disagreed, saying the association's vote violated the Baptist principle of local-church autonomy. While Hicks acknowledged his views on charismatic worship have changed, he said they do not violate teachings in the Bible or the "Baptist Faith and Message."
___The vote to expel passed with little discussion following a report by a doctrinal-review committee appointed by the association's executive board.
___The committee said Hicks confirmed that the church accepts speaking in tongues, being "slain in the Spirit" and miraculous healing since a revival last January, which he described as a "powerful outpouring" of God's spirit.
___Hicks said his views began to change radically two years ago, when a professor talked about revivals in Shantung, China, in a class he took at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. He returned to Marshfield and read a book on historic revivals before concluding those experiences were different from his own. "I was lacking a deeper walk with God," he said.
___Hicks said Calvary intends to continue membership in the Missouri Baptist Convention and Southern Baptist Convention. "Based on the 'Baptist Faith and Message' and the Bible, I don't see any conflict," he said.

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