The Local Church










    

    

    
I. Profile Report


    

      

    1. 
Name:
The Local Church.

      
[This movement is collectively known as the Local Church, but each
  congregation is identified by the name of the community in which it resides, eg., the
  Church in Anaheim, the Church in Milwaukee,
etc.
  The group was known in China by the name "The Little Flock" before the the communist
  revolution.


      

    2. 
Founder:
 Watchman Nee, born Ni Shutsu

      

    3. 
Dates of Birth and Death:
 1903 - 1972

      

    4. 
Place of Birth:
 China

      

      

    5. 
Founded:
 1920's in Shanghai, China

      

    6. 
Brief History:
 Nee, who was raised in a Christian setting, became involved at a young age with a
  branch of the Plymouth Brethren Church founded by John Nelson Darby. Deeply influenced
  by the Brethren Church's beliefs, especially its harsh criticism of denominationalism, 
  Nee broke from the exclusive Plymouth Brethren and began what would
  eventually be known asthe Local Church Movement. Through the Local Church Movement,
  Watchman Nee sought to end denominational divisions and bring about the unification of
  the church. Nee was succeeded in the late forties by Chinese-born Witness Lee, who
  serves as the church's leader today. Lee began to extend the movement throughout the
  East in 1948. The church was imported to the United States in 1962 when Lee established
  residence in Anaheim, California. The movement continues to expand world-wide, with the
  goal of establishment of one Christian fellowship in each incorporated city.

      

    7. 
Sacred or Revered Texts:

The Bible
. Watchman Nee wrote several theological treatises, but none is considered sacred.

      

    8. Cult or Sect:
Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" 
and "sect" are employed in popular discourse.  Since the Religious 
Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and 
appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious 
diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative 
concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes.  For a 
more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the 
concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our 

Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find 
additional links to related issues. 

      

    9. 
Beliefs:
 The Local Church movement was founded on the belief that a unified Christian Church
  must be organized geographically, rather than by denomination, with only one center of
  worship in every city. It rejects denominationalism and advocates a Universal Church in
  which church fellowships in every city participate in a simplified form of worship.The
  church considers itself to be part of a tradition of recovery of Biblical Christianity
  thatdates back to the Reformation, the rejection of denominationalism being God's latest
  instructionfor the recovery of the True Church. In beliefs, practice and organization,
  the local churches are similar to many liberal protestant groups. The local Church
  shares with the Plymouth Brethren an adherence to dispensationism, in addition toits
  criticism of denominationalism. The local Church rejects clericalism, encouraging equal
  participation of all members in local assemblies. The church's theology includes belief
  in a Triune God, that is, the unification of the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprirt in
  one being. Its fairly orthodox scriptural interpretation holds that Christ was born a
  God-man, ie., composed of both human and divine attributes. Man is characterized as
  atripartite union of body, soul and spirit, and also possesses the potetial for divine
  nature. In their practice, local churches place great emphasis on prayer-reading of
  scripture and baptismal regeneration.

      

    10. 
Size of Group:
 Membership is estimated at 150,000.

      

    11. 
Remarks:
 Witness Lee is the founder of the movement in America and is held in esteem both as a
  leader and as a teacher. However, he does not claim tobe the sole or authoritative
  mediator of the word of God. He holds no formal position of leadership or authority
  within the movement, but is an activespeaker and instructor. His written works are
  published by
Living Stream Ministry
, an independent teaching oranization of which he is the official head.

      In a 1985, after multiple attempts to get two authors to revise or retract statements
  about Witness Lee and the Local Church, the organization filed a lawsuit (
Lee v. Dudley et al
)against the author and sponsor of a 1977 publication that portrayed Lee as a cult
  leader.  The Spiritual Counterfeits Project, the group sponsoring the book, filed for
  Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The author, Neil Dudley, left the country.  The trial went forward
  without defendents present and the judge ruled that the book, entitled
The God-Men
 was in fact libelous and awarded a large sum to Witness Lee and the Local Churches.
  They, of course, never collected, but the legal judgment against these counter-culturists
  in some measure restablished the legitimacy of the Local Church.

    

    

    

    
II. Links to Local Church Web Sites


    

    

    
Living Stream Ministry


    The Local Church does not have an official home page, but Living Stream Ministry is
  the official publication office of the church.  This web site includes the group's
  statement of faith, an extensive bibliography of the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness
  Lee, a schedule of radio broadcasts, and significant other materials about the group and
  it's teachings.  The site is also available in Spanish and Chinese.

    
http://www.lsm.org/lsm


    
Amana Christian Bookstore


    The Amana Christian Bookstore is located in Berkeley, California. It is a evangelical
  bookstore specializing in the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.  Also
  accessiblefrom this site is the full transcript of
The Experts Speak
 (see bibliography below).

    
http://www.hightruth.com


    
A Brief Biography of Witness Lee


    This brief biography of Witness Lee is excerpted from
The Stream
, a twice-monthly publication of Living Stream Ministry.  One can also order an on-
  line subscription to thisperiodical from this site.

    
http://www.intersurf.com/~economy1/LeeBio.htm


    
Light of Truth Ministries


    Jim Moran founded Light of Truth Ministeries in 1989 with the duel goals of research
  and reporting on the "beliefs and practices of Witness Lee and The Local Chruch."  While
  Moranclaims objectivity, his approach is squarely in the counter-cult tradition. To
  his credit, heoffers a page of links to
 web sites of Local Church members
. (counter-cult)

    
http://www.mcs.net/~jimmoran/index.html


    

    
"Local Church"Cult Research Site


    This is another counter-cult site that focuses on The Local Church.  Much of the
  material consists of testimonies of former members and the tone of many essays appear to
  be more anti-cult than counter-cult.  There are also links to explicit anti-cult
  materials.  This is an anonomous site.  Aside from the name "Dazuma" in the Cal Tech
  address, we were not able to learn anything about the author from the site.  (counter-
  cult)
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~dazuma/lcinfo/


    


    

    

    
III. Selected Bibliography


    

    

      

      

      Laurent, Bob. 1997.

      
Watchman Nee: Man of Suffering
. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing.

      

      Living Stream Ministry. 1978.

      
The Beliefs and Practices of the Local Churches
.  Anaheim, CA

      

      

      Living Stream Ministry. 1978.

      
The Co-Workers in the Lord's Recovery:The Beliefs and Practices of the Local Churches
. Anaheim, CA:

      

      

      Living Stream Ministry. 1995.

      
The Experts Speak
. Anaheim, CA:

      
[This publication presents the testimony of the expert witnesses in the
Lee v. Dudley et al
 trial.  The expert witnesses included are well established scholars of religious
  movements: Edwin S. Gaustad, H. Hewton Malony, J. Gordon Melton, John A. Saliba, and
  Rodney Stark.  The full text of
The Experts Speak transcript
 may be accessed from the web site of the Amana Christian Bookstore.  See also: Lee V.
  Duddy et al. Statement of Decision .  Superior court of the State of California in and
  for the County of Alameda. June 26, 1985].


      

      Melton, J. Gordon. 1985.

      "An Open Letter Concerning the Local Chruch, Witness Lee and the God-Men
  Controversy,"Santa Barbara, CA: Institute for the Study of American Religion.

      

      

      Melton, J. Gordon. 1996.

      
The Encyclopedia of American Religions
. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. Fifth Edition. pp. 500-501.

      

      

      
Anti-cult polemics:


      

      

      Duddy, Neil T. and the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. 1981.

      
The God-Men
. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

      

      

      Sparks, Jack. 1977.

      
The Mind Benders
. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

      

    

    

    

    

    

    
Prepared by Lisa E. Brooks

    New Religious Movements student, Fall 1996

    Last modified: 04/24/01