COVER STORY A Master of Vision gifted with a unique ability to bring together the Body of Christ. "If we are serious and want to see real changes and the church become the kingdom organism that God desires, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back in history and say that this was the transition that changed history and restored the power and unity to the church. Bishop Dr. William L. Harris, IV
I COVER STORY The Man Behind the Vision f Bishop William L. Harris IV had not chosen a life as a minister, he might have made a great chief executive officer or a bi-partisan politician. He is a master of vision and has a unique ability to bring people together. Open his book Thy Kingdom Come to almost any page and you can feel the passion and urgency for change and a call for a prophetic shift in God’s kingdom. Read further and you will see that Dr. Harris sees the body of Christ reformed and revived and doesn’t buy into the gloom and doom perspectives that are being perpetrated throughout the world. He firmly believes that God has allowed the church to go through these stages and seasons to cause us to hunger for him in a greater way and to revive a sleeping giant. His radical vision of the Body of Christ seems to disturb many that are intent on maintaining old paradigms and religious institutionalism, as well as, many who are afraid of what this new vision of reform represents. However, the anointing and his vision of reform has opened doors all around the world. Bishop Harris has been traveling extensively casting this vision of reform. One pastor stated that everyone must hear this message of reform and goes on to state that Bishop Harris has a unique ability to motivate and strategically give direction to those who have been waiting for this defining moment of change. Consciously or unconsciously, Dr. Harris has been honing this technique for the last few years. Through the International Christian Apostolic Fellowship, he has created a platform of unity that has brought people together that have not fellowship or dialogued in years. Not only pastors and their congregations, but at his prophetic beckoning, he has also brought historians, theologians and presiding Bishops together from every major Apostolic organization. Those that have attended these think tanks and conferences have left with renewed hope, faith and belief that change is coming to the Body of Christ. To many Dr. Harris has been called a new generational leader, or you might say he is a mirror — what you see depends on who you are and where you stand. Bishop Harris puts it this way: "I serve as an instrument of change, many of the strategies and vision that God has given to me is not limited to me. Many had these same inspirations before me, so many say that they see much of them in me" Both his rhetorical style and his ingrained disposition tend to obscure rather than reveal. This is how Dr. Harris remains enigmatic no matter how much we see of him. As this vision of the <strong>ICAF</strong> is about to be revealed to the world Bishop Dr. William L. Harris, IV and his national staff is preparing to take charge of change and bring reformation to the Body of Christ worldwide. Reformation The theme too many of his speeches and sermons are about healing the Body of Christ and faith in Gods people becomes his home. He preaches: the seemingly unlimited power of people who are willing to trust, cooperate and compromise. Bringing people together for action, what he calls "organizing," holds "the promise of redemption." "Vision in the face of difficulty, vision in the face of uncertainty, a strategy for success. In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of the Body of Christ, a belief in things not seen, and a belief that there are better days ahead." If you delve into Dr. Harris’ book, you can find his positions and strategy to get the Body of Christ back on track. He stated that he believes that God is calling us to die to ourselves, to our own interest and preferences and prejudices, so that we may begin to live for others. Our dependence upon our history and traditions, which may be good in itself, can yet become a barrier between us and God, and certainly come between the unchurched and God. He believes that the church needs more than changes, it needs to be reformed. What we need is more than tinkering with our worship; it is more than turning structures upside down. The change the church needs is more than human effort of its membership redirected. It is more than a change of mindset, it is an openness of spirit, a readiness to listen – “to hear what the spirit is saying” to the church. And a readiness not simply to change but to be changes by God Himself. It is not be listening to a committee or responding to our organizations. It is by the kind grace of God alone and with the generous help of the Spirit alone that we can be RE- FORMED, and RE-NEWED. He also has a specific strategy to refocus the core of the churches leaders. He articulates a strategy to get the ministry back into the hands of the saints. He envisions a third day church arising with a new order of believers. He also outlines an economic strategy that will allow the church to be economically independent. And most of all he is pushing for a total reformation of our organizational structures. "If we are serious and want to see real changes and the church become the kingdom organism that God desires, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back in history and say that this was the transition that changed history and restored the power and unity to the church. – Bishop Dr. William L. Harris, IV
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