The Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (FGBC) has graduated one of its leaders to heaven with the home-going this evening of Dr. David Plaster, at age 61.
Over three years ago, Dr. Plaster became pastor of the Grace Brethren Church of Columbus, after long-time pastor Jim Custer retired. Prior to taking the pastorate at Columbus, Dr. Plaster had served over two decades as a professor at Grace Theological Seminary, and over a decade in other pastoral positions. He received undergraduate degrees from the University of Lyon, France, and Grace College. He also received his Masters of Theology & Masters of Divinity degrees from Grace Theological Seminary, and his Doctorate of Systematic Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dr. Plaster was a spiritual and historical leader in the FGBC. He is well-known for his documentary of Grace Brethren history in the book “Finding our Focus“, a sequel to Dr. Homer Kent’s book, “Conquering Frontiers“. The history of the various Schwarzenau Brethren have always been of heartfelt interest to me, and it was encouraging to see Dr. Plaster take up the task of maintaining the FGBC’s history where Dr. Kent and Harold Etling left off. In 2008, Dr. Plaster participated in the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Brethren church in Schwarzenau, Germany.
Over the years, particularly in the 1990’s, certain historical Brethren distinctives became uncomfortable and outmoded in the minds of some, leading to various opportunities for conflict between a few FGBC churches. Much of that conflict can be traced to efforts by some FGBC leaders to be more broadly integrated into the larger evangelical landscape (and, to be fair, can also be traced to the ignoble character of some who labeled themselves as “conservatives”, as Dr. Plaster points out in “Finding our Focus”.)
In my view, Dr. David Plaster was a watchman: gracious in tone, but unflinching in his public analysis. In 1993, Dr. Plaster wrote in the Brethren Annual,
“But now we are at a crossroads. Either we renew our vision and move ahead as a team, or we could see the beginning of an ever accelerating process of dissolution and decay. Either we imbue a new generation with the vision of what God can do through the FGBC or else we will experience what I believe to be an inevitable decline.”
When a church fellowship loses a man like Dr. Plaster, much more than the man and his immediate influence is lost. A fundamental link to what the FGBC was, and could have been in the future, is gone forever. I believe that organizational fellowships (like the FGBC) and denominations (like the SBC) should help to align the parts of Christ’s body, the church katholikos, into a harmonious, productive facility for the gospel. Dr. Plaster evidenced that he believed the same thing.
Dr. Plaster also wrote in his book, “Finding our Focus”,
“…since 1992…there is much more focus on vision, church planting, and evangelism in the FGBC. But…discussion that might lead to any disagreements has been suppressed. There was no real forum within the Fellowship for the discussion of new ideas, theological questions and issues, and consideration of changes.”
Belonging to and operating within a “distinctive segment” (i.e., an organized fellowship or denomination) of the body of Christ is, more often than not, paramount to the long-term viability of a local church carrying out the work of the gospel. Obviously, any “distinctive segment” must be spiritually strong in order for its constituent elements to be spiritually healthy. Over the years I have observed that the effectiveness of the local church, and its Christians, is eroded more rapidly when it becomes homogenized with other broad, non-distinct entities, such as non-denominational Christian schools, parachurch, and lowest-common-denominator associations (think: Willow Creek). Certainly, there should be a concentrated emphasis on vision, church planting and evangelism in the local church. But these are fruits that are produced from certain roots. New ideas must be rooted in theological fidelity, and pass doctrinal scrutiny; otherwise the fruit is destined to be puny. Churches and their leaders require a forum where their theology is nourished, not suppressed. It was my impression that Dr. Plaster was an advocate of a strong theological center (not pragmatism or recipe-based church planting) as the fellowship-anchor for like minded, spiritually healthy churches.
Without a theological center testified by doctrinal distinctiveness, the people-in-the-pew risk losing their missional focus, and ultimately their identity as a unique and effective part of Christ’s body. At that point the local church is in danger of becoming a preferential commodity, like choosing between K-Mart or Target.
Across the landscape of today’s churches, we need more Dr. Plasters in leadership who desire that all Christians find and maintain their focus as they function in a specific part of Christ’s body.
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