GILMER, Texas--The United Church of God associate pastor who on Feb. 16 had made conciliatory remarks to his congregation about members of a nearby non-UCG congregation apologized for those remarks a week later.
Roy Holladay of Hawkins, Texas, pastor of the Gilmer congregation, read a statement to the congregation Feb. 23 that seemed to rescind remarks Associate Pastor Frank McCrady had made a week earlier to the same congregation.
"Dear brethren: After considering some of the things that I said during announcements on the Sabbath last week, and hearing Mr. [Aaron] Dean's sermon [in which Mr. Dean spoke about preparing for the Passover], I feel that I have said some things that I should not have said and have unnecessarily offended some in the congregation, for which I humbly apologize and ask your forgiveness. Your friend, Frank McCrady."
Word quickly spread about Mr. McCrady's apparent about-face, and speculation centered on what had prompted it.
Some who know Mr. McCrady say they do not think he was apologizing for the substance of his earlier remarks, in which he encouraged the Gilmer brethren to "bury the hatchet" with members of the nearby Church of God Big Sandy, pastored by Dave Havir.
"You can call them Havirites or Church of God Big Sandy­ites, but you'd better call them brethren," Mr. McCrady had said Feb. 16 while reading announcements. "Jesus Christ ... died for them just as much as He did for us."
The apology a week later came as a surprise to several Big Sandy members who said they had welcomed the apparently sincere attempt to help heal old wounds from the May 1998 events that resulted in two separate congregations.
Both Mr. McCrady and Mr. Holladay declined to comment for this article.