The road to ReMission

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Jeremie Beller is my designated driver.

No, I don’t drink.

But when we travel to events such as the recent ReMission conference, my friend always volunteers to take his truck.

This is part of a series exploring the identity of Churches of Christ. Read more here.

It’s a nice, sturdy pickup — a white 2017 Chevrolet Silverado with 175,000 miles on it. Still, I don’t think Beller’s love for his personal ride motivates him as much as stories he’s heard about my driving prowess. Or lack thereof.

“No one ever wants you to drive,” said my wife, Tamie, who took the wheel of our “Just Married” vehicle way back in 1990.

Actually, I did steer us away from the church on our wedding day. But then we stopped at a nearby Dairy Queen for treats. My bride kindly offered to switch seats before proceeding on the honeymoon.

Did I mention that I’m mostly blind in my left eye?

Beller and I made the 340-mile drive from Oklahoma City to Little Rock after Sunday morning worship at our respective congregations.

Beller, dean of the College of Bible at Oklahoma Christian University and opinions editor for The Christian Chronicle, picked me up at my office.

Speaking on a panel at ReMission are, from left, are Jeff Cary of Lubbock Christian University in Texas; Monte Cox of Harding University in Searcy, Ark.; Carson Reed of Abilene Christian University in Texas; Jeremie Beller of Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City; Garrett Best of York University in Nebraska; Leonard Allen of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.; and Dyron Daughrity of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

Jason Thompson, one of ReMission’s organizers, graciously offered to put the Chronicle in attendees’ swag bags. So Beller helped me load boxes filled with 600 copies into his truck.

Then I grabbed my roller bag and my laptop, and we hit the highway.

An hour or two east on Interstate 40, Beller spotted a Love’s Travel Shop. We stopped for gasoline and a restroom break. I bought a Baby Ruth candy bar.

Beller chose a bag of frosted animal cookies, his go-to snack on the highway. We’ll see if we remain friends after I just shared that.

At some point, our mutual friend, David Duncan, called. Duncan preaches for the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston and serves as vice chairman of Oklahoma Christian’s board of trustees.

Like us, Duncan was headed to ReMission. We planned to meet him for dinner at Texas Roadhouse that night, so he was checking in.

Bobby Ross Jr., Jeremie Beller and David Duncan enjoy dinner at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Little Rock, Ark.

I hit the “speaker” button on my iPhone. Duncan was reared in the tiny Texas Panhandle town of Canadian and regaled us with random Lone Star State trivia. If I could remember any of it, I’d share it.

Both Beller and Duncan work with churches that would be considered traditional in nature. I mean that in terms of a cappella singing, individual songleaders as opposed to praise teams and distinct gender roles.

Yet each returned for a second year to ReMission, organized mainly by church leaders with progressive stances on those subjects.

I’m a journalist — and an inquisitive friend — so I asked Duncan and Beller about their reasoning.

“If we don’t know each other, then we are never going to be able to learn from each other,” Duncan said. “I think one of the best things we can do is to open up and talk and be friends with each other.”

Raymond Kelcy and Hugo McCord — both now deceased — were renowned Bible professors during Duncan’s student days at Oklahoma Christian.

Attendees praise God during the ReMission conference in Little Rock, Ark.

“They were best friends,” Duncan said. “And in the open forum every year, Raymond Kelcy would get up and explain something. Then Hugo McCord would come up right behind him, and he would say, ‘Raymond is a good man, but he’s wrong.’”

Kelcy and McCord, Duncan recalled, “truly loved each other and considered each other brothers and friends.”

What we label as “conservative” and “liberal” within Churches of Christ would not translate to the wider world of Christendom.

Related: ‘We lost our mission’

At least that’s how Beller, congregational minister for the Wilshire Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, sees it.

“What I have appreciated about ReMission is, they’re very clear about their belief in the inspiration and authority of Scripture,” Beller said. “And they are very open and honest about a belief in traditional Judeo-Christian sexual values.”

In an unplanned stop at Walmart in Russellville, Ark., Bobby Ross Jr. picks out two new shirts.

At the Chronicle, we strive to cover the full diversity of our fellowship — the right, the left and in between.

That’s what drew me to Little Rock to report on ReMission.

If only I hadn’t left my dress shirts hanging in my car in Oklahoma.

Thankfully, we found a Walmart in Russellville — midway between the Arkansas state line and the conference site — and I invested $50 in two new shirts.

Beller made me proud. I just knew he’d try to sneak another bag of frosted animal cookies into the cart. But he refused to give in to the temptation.

BOBBY ROSS JR. is Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Chronicle. Reach him at [email protected].

Filed under: Arkansas bobby ross Jr Churches of Christ David Duncan Inside Story Jeremie Beller Little Rock Opinion ReMission Restoration movement Top Stories travel