text:
Here is a paragraph summary.
"I'm [Joshua Harris] going to cut to the chase and start with the announcement: My big news is that later this spring I'm going to step down from my role as lead pastor so that I can go to seminary. The school I'll be attending is called Regent College, and it's on the West Coast in Vancouver, B.C. My plan is to attend for at least a year with a good possibility that I will stay a second year to pursue a masters degree."
Go to this link to read the entire text or watch the sermon on video.
Postscript - Feb 6, 2015
Other demands and priorities have prevented me from posting about Joshua's announcement. I still plan to do so but not until I complete a lengthy piece on developments concerning the cover up of child sex abuse at Covenant Life Church since the Morales' trials last May. The latter should be finished some time in March. Then I will work on a separate piece regarding Joshua's departure from CLC. He remains the sr. pastor until mid-April. Lord willing I will be done before then. Both these undertakings will address very serious issues. I also plan to do a short post on SGM's attempt to silence me with severance in 2009 since people are asking if Joshua will get severance and if he will be required to sign an "Employment Conclusion Agreement and Release of All Claims" document.]]>
I've taken the 2014 figures and compared them to the 2011 figures. The contrast highlights the financial downfall that has followed the ethical downfall over the past four years. Here is a simple summary.
Total Assets
2011 - $6,234,757
2014 - $2,827,050
A loss in total assets of 3.4 million.
Operating Budget
2011 - $6,623,168
2014 - $2,910,648
A reduction in the operating budget of 3.7 million.
2011 - $2,542,367
2014 - $741,873
A loss in savings of 1.8 million.
2011 - $4,819,801
2014 - $1,590,800
A reduction in giving of 3.3 million.
Sovereign Grace Churches, Inc. forecasts a budget deficit of $190,000 in 2015. This despite the fact that employee compensation and benefits have been cut by 61% over the past three years.
The auditor notes that "SGCI has been adversely affected by the economic downturn, negative publicity from litigation, and the departure of over 30 member churches from the association." (Note 10, p. 19)
On the other hand, Mark Prater, the Executive Director for SGCI, posted about "all the faithful works of God in our family of churches this past year." That included a "clean audit."
"Because of Tommy Hill's and Mark Donovan's faithful work, we have received another clean audit for the last fiscal year, which is important in maintaining the trust of our donors."
The audit may be clean but SGCI is not. If Prater were honest, he'd talk about losing the trust of donors by the thousands which has resulted in the near financial collapse of SGCI. Giving was down again in 2014. And yet there is no repentance.
Lost trust must be regained, not maintained. That will not happened under Prater who is the highest ranking denominational officer. He continues to use spin and hype to mislead those that remain in SGCI. That's why you will never hear an honest overview of the Audited Financial Statements. You have to go look for them and study them and compare them.
SGCI is all about cover up even though the Lord Jesus Christ has exposed them time after time. He has done his own spiritual audit and declared its deceptive leaders unclean. Christ's dealings will continue in 2015 and may actually increase. More uncleanness will be revealed in the coming year.
Psalm 24:3-4 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.]]>
"Over the last three years Sunday attendance and giving have declined. Since 2011, Sunday attendance has dropped from 3,305 to 1,715, and giving has declined from $8.2 million to $6.2 million. Up until now, we have been able to keep in step with these realities through the departures of several pastors and reducing other expenditures. But in September of this year, giving took an unprecedented downturn, dropping from the norm by about 25% and remaining at or near that level since then. Very simply, we are a smaller church with less than expected revenue, and we need to reduce our staff to match this reality. … The elders, having consulted with the non-staff elder candidates and Financial Advisory Committee, are in agreement that we cannot sustain our present budget and that it's necessary to lay off two pastors." (Mark Mitchell, Nov 21, 2014)
Mitchell refers to "the departures of several pastors" over the last three years. That includes Brian Chesemore (2011), Mike Bradshaw (2011), Jon Smith (2013), Matt Maka (2013), Braden Greer (2014), Grant Layman (2014), Erik Sheffer (2014), and Ben Wikner (Dec 2014). This has saved Covenant Life Church (CLC) considerable money but not near enough to balance its 2015 budget. Two pastors still need to be laid off.
Mitchell also refers to "the reducing of expenditures." In FY (fiscal year) 2014 expenses were reduced by $894,543 from FY 2013. In the FY 2015 budget there were no plans for additional reductions. That turned out to be a grave miscalculation. CLC is now having to make 1.2 million in cuts they did not anticipate. Corby Megorden, the administrator, devised the FY 2015 budget based upon optimistic assumptions about increased giving. See my comments in Budget Crisis at Covenant Life Church after Attendance Drops by 1,600 People over Last Three Years for more details and analysis.
As a result the FY 2015 Budget must be reduced from 6.5 million to 5.3 million in hopes such measures will balance the budget. CLC has an undesignated cash surplus (i.e., savings) of 1 million from which they can draw money if necessary. That total, however, is less than a two month operating reserve which is imprudently low. There should be a 3-6 month operating reserve. That is the wise and recognized standard.
Two weeks after his first letter, Mitchell sent out a second letter announcing the layoffs of Issac Hydoski and Joe Lee (see bios below) and outlining additional budget cuts in the amount of 878K. Here is his letter with my comments in bold letters.
December 5, 2014
Dear brothers and sisters,
I pray we'll all know the peace and joy of Christ this month as we reflect and prepare to mark his coming. What a marvel that the eternal God should take on human frailty to live among us and become our sin bearer. May we ever live in the good of this glorious truth!
I write this letter to communicate important details about our church's budget situation and the resulting layoffs. Though this is coming as we embark upon the Christmas season, we nonetheless felt it important to get this information out to you sooner rather than later.
Comments: Joshua Harris & Mark Mitchell planned "to share more specifics on the layoffs at an after-service Members Meeting on Sunday, December 14." They cancelled those plans and made the announcement via this December 5 email letter. They also announced the layoffs this past Sunday, December 7, but provided no details.
As I wrote to you* a couple of weeks ago, declining Sunday attendance and giving mean that we have to lay off two pastors at this time. With great sadness, I must let you know those two pastors are Isaac Hydoski and Joe Lee.
Comment: There is great sadness in the church. Both these men were caring and effective pastors. At no point in this letter, does Mitchell discuss the reasons for laying off these two men in particular. I think he and Joshua Harris have an obligation to do so in a candid fashion.
In my opinion, Kenneth Maresco and Robin Boisvert should have been laid off for various reasons including their central role in the conspiracy not to report Nathaniel Morales to law enforcement even though they knew Morales was a confessed serial child molester. Lars Liebeler, CLC's lawyer, left this out of his report to the church on October 12 and 26. So did Mark Mitchell. I've asked to talk and meet with Liebeler and the pastors about this matter but they are unwilling.
I met with Isaac and Joe last week to inform them, and then spoke with the church staff this Wednesday. Isaac and Joe are communicating with their care group leaders and care groups in close coordination with this letter going out to the wider church.
Comment: I don't understand why Joshua Harris, the senior pastor, didn't meet with Issac and Joe to inform them. It is his responsibility to "do hard things" under these circumstances. Mitchell could have be present but Harris should have taken the lead role in communicating their layoffs, answering their questions, and caring for them in that heartbreaking context.
This is very sad and difficult news for Isaac and Joe and their families, for those in the care groups they serve, and for every Covenant Life member. It brings a deep sense of loss and sorrow to us as a pastoral team. I encourage you to pray for these men and their families and express your love and gratefulness for them as I know you are eager to do. They do need time to pray and seek the Lord about their next steps, but in the meantime, please encourage them by expressing your love and appreciation.
Comment: This is very sad and difficult news ESPECIALLY for Isaac and Joe and their families. Joe and his wife Esther have five children. Issac and his wife Kelly have three children. Unless they find secular employment, the families will be forced to leave the church.
The severe decline in giving and attendance over the past three years is primarily due to the compromised leadership of Joshua Harris, Mark Mitchell, Corby Megorden, Robin Boisvert, Kenneth Maresco, and Grant Layman. They did not stand up to C.J. Mahaney and pronounce him unfit for ministry though he clearly was. Nor did they report known sex abusers to law enforcement with Mitchell being a possible exception.
The recent reports to CLC by Liebeler and Mitchell regarding the allegations in the civil lawsuit and incriminating evidence from the Morales trial also demonstrate their unwillingness to be open, honest and accountable. The reports were partial, misleading and woefully incomplete. Their conclusions regarding alleged child molesters were frightening and dangerous.
Isaac and Joe's last day of work will be January 15. Both men have served on staff for 12 years and therefore will receive 12 weeks of severance pay.
Comments: That comes to roughly 17k each. Under these circumstances, I believe the pastors owe them a higher amount. These two men share far lesser responsibility for the demise of CLC compared to Harris, Megorden, Boisvert, Maresco, and Layman. Though staff pastors, Hydoski and Lee were never told about Nathaniel Morales in 2007 when these five men decided on their own not to report him to law enforcement.
Harris from his considerable wealth; Megorden, Boisvert and Maresco from their retirement accounts if necessary, should each give "12 weeks of severance pay" to both of these families.
We had planned to share this news in person at a Members Meeting on December 14. But as we looked more closely at the schedule and talked with Isaac and Joe about what would serve them, we elected to cancel the Members Meeting for this month and communicate via letter.
Comment: Their last day is January 15, 2015. Will Isaac Hydoski and Joe Lee be commended for their 12 years of service before the church and prayed for on a Sunday morning? The same for Ben Wikner.
One other significant change is in view. Corby Megorden will be voluntarily reducing his hours to half-time effective January 1 with a plan to transition off the staff at the end of Fiscal Year 2015.
Comment: That is August 31, 2015. Megorden is the Church Administrator responsible for implementing child sex abuse policies. He told Covenant Life Church on August 17, 2011 that the fear of lawsuits was a significant factor in whether or not the pastors reported suspected sex abusers to law enforcement. The facts show the pastors at CLC have been far more concerned with avoiding lawsuits then the reporting and prosecution of suspected and known sex abusers.
Several years ago, Corby was introduced to the concept of Business as Missions, and began to study the theology of work. In the past two years he has had an increasing desire to be used by God to help Christians develop kingdom-minded businesses that exist for more than just profit. He also desires to use his background in business, churches and non-profits to help these organizations define measurable goals, implement clear strategy and function effectively. His plans, therefore, are to continue to be engaged in ministry here at Covenant Life, just not on staff.
This decision to reduce his hours not only reflects his desire to pursue new ministry opportunities, but its timing also helps us meet our need to reduce expenditures.
The elders entrusted the decision about who to lay off to Joshua and me, and we acted prayerfully with all the wise counsel available to us through the elders, Non-Staff Elder Candidates and the Financial Advisory Committee. Sitting across from Joe and Isaac one by one and delivering this news is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
Comment: Where was Josh?
Joe, Isaac and Corby are beloved and faithful servants who have made wonderful contributions to the work of the ministry at Covenant Life. Numerous members have grown in the grace and knowledge of God through their friendship, counseling and care. Every pastor on our team feels a deep sense of loss as these three men prepare to close out their time on staff. Our hearts are full of love and gratitude for them, and we want to bathe them in prayer during this time.
Comment: I hope Harris, Mitchell, Megorden, Boisvert, Maresco and Layman ask Hydoski and Lee's forgiveness as the ones primarily responsible for bringing about the financial crisis at CLC and their resultant termination.
Prior to making the decision to lay off two pastors, we looked across our entire budget and decided to make a number of adjustments to reduce expenses. (We did this initially in the hope that we would not have to make pastoral or administrative staff layoffs.) These adjustments are summarized in the following table:
Comment: The pastoral team reductions include Erik Sheffer and Ben Wikner. "Shef" recently left to plant a non-Covenant Life Church. Wikner resigned as a matter of conscience. I will say more about these men later.
The 433K "Missions 'Freeze'" is the amount of money Covenant Life planned to give to church planting, local missions, and global missions. This is their "tithe" so to speak; but it was reduced from 10% in FY 2014 to 7% in FY 2015. Now it has been frozen at 0%. CLC has given nothing to missions since September 1.
This introduces an element of hypocrisy in my opinion. The Covenant Life pastors have taught and counseled people to tithe regardless of their financial circumstances. I'd not be surprised if members follow their example and cut out giving because expenses exceed income in their personal budgets.
The last line item is "Repayment of Legal Expenses 200K." I don't know if this repayment has been postponed or written off by legal representation. I do know CLC paid $303,077 in legal fees in FY 2013. It is hard to tell what they paid in FY 2014. If I were a member, I'd ask for a clear cut accounting of all legal fees since October 2012 when the original lawsuit was filed to the present.
The total amount of $1,241,000 met the agreed-upon goal set by the Board of Elders for reducing our overall Fiscal Year 2014 expenses in light of the September downturn in giving.
Comment: The last three months (Sep-Nov) giving has been down approximately 375K from what was budgeted and anticipated.
First, let's acknowledge what an emotional time this is for us all. We don't need to shy away from our sadness and tears, or hold back on expressing our heartfelt gratefulness for each of these men. The Lord is with us in these times, and the Holy Spirit will move among us and minister comfort as we share both our sense of loss and all our questions.
Comment: The termination of Issac Hydoski and Joe Lee raises a lot of questions. I hope they are being asked and answered in a transparent manner.
Second, we are taking time to reorganize and redistribute the pastoral responsibilities that Isaac and Joe have faithfully carried out. We will be pulling together meetings with the Singles Ministry, Care and Counseling Team and the relevant Care Group leaders to outline next steps and pray. We know God is with us and will continue to strengthen the body for the work of the ministry. Relative to Corby's position, we envision hiring a single individual (non-elder) to serve as both Administrator and Controller.
Comment: For many years as a part of my responsibilities in SGM, I monitored the ratio of pastors to people and the ratio of support staff to people attending the churches. I did this to help the churches make sure they were not over staffed. I always counseled the pastors in my sphere to keep staff expenses at 50% of the budget or lower. That way you avoid getting into financial trouble and keep giving to missions high. Relative to this standard, Covenant Life Church was always overstaffed but could afford it because their members lived in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. In the FY 2015 budget, Megorden and the pastors planned on 62.2% of revenues going toward staffing costs. That makes me cringe.
In Sovereign Grace Ministries, the average ratio of support staff (non-pastoral employees) to attenders was one per 130 attenders including children. That meant a SGM church of 520 had four support staff employees on the average. Depending on size and priorities, a given church might employ an administrator, accountant, secretaries, Children's Ministry director, worship leader, information technology manager, etc.
Approximately 2,500 people including children currently attend CLC. That means CLC would employ approximately 19 support staff personnel using this long term average in Sovereign Grace Ministries. They currently employ 34 support staff. This is a major reason for their 1.2 million deficit. I feel for the support staff. They are not the ones responsible for the budget crisis but it may result in multiple terminations.
Lastly, we are moving forward with plans to affirm the Non-Staff Elder candidates early in the new year, so we'll be sharing lots more about this in the coming weeks. These men have been closely involved for almost a year now in helping the elders navigate the various challenges and have proved to be a blessing at every turn.
Comments: These 10 non-staff elders were never affirmed by the church per the proposed Constitution but "have been closely involved for almost a year now."
I invite you to speak with us and let us know how you are doing. Questions and concerns are to be expected, and we welcome the opportunity to talk with you. I also encourage us all to avoid speculation, turning instead to prayer. As Paul exhorted Timothy (2 Timothy 2), let's "pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."
Comment: "I also encourage us all to avoid speculation." I don't think speculation is a problem for Mitchell because he has all the answers. On the other hand, this letter tempts people to speculate because it fails to address vital issues in open, honest and accountable fashion. For instance, what criteria were used by Harris and Mitchell in deciding to lay off Hydoski and Lee? Let me illustrate.
Mark Mitchell told CLC on October 26,
"Ben [Wikner] was one of two pastors who disagreed with the decision by the elders to not place Josh, Kenneth, Robin and Corby on a leave of absence in May. The second pastor who had disagreed with that decision was Joe Lee. … As I mentioned Ben was one of the two dissenting pastors. His disagreement with this decision was a significant factor in his decision to leave the pastoral team."
In other words, Wikner and Lee believed Harris, Mitchell, Megorden, Boisvert, and Maresco should take a leave of absence while under investigation for not reporting Nathaniel Morales to police in 2007, etc. Wikner resigned as a matter of conscience when they were allowed to continue without a leave of absence. That is commendable.
CLC should give Wikner "severance" since they gave money to Brian Chesemore and Mike Bradshaw when they abruptly quit in August 2011, left the church and went with C.J. Mahaney to Louisville, KY. The Wikner's have six children. I also hope people from CLC help them out financially.
Furthermore, Harris wrote a letter to CLC in August that accompanied the budget for FY 2015 (see below). In that letter, he highlighted the top three budgetary priorities for 2015. Here's what he said about Joe Lee and the Care & Counseling Ministry.
Dear Covenant Life Church,
In preparation for a new budget year I'm writing to share our top ministry priorities and how these are expressed in our upcoming budget. … The pastors have prayed and sought to identify the most important priorities that will help us to advance our mission to "worship God, love one another and make disciples of Jesus Christ."
We believe the priority this year is to focus on growing healthy internally so we can make a greater impact externally. With that in mind here are three priorities for the new year's budget:
1. Revitalize Small Groups: …
2. Strengthen Student Life Ministries: …
3. Expand Care & Counseling Ministry: We believe a key to fulfilling our mission to love one another is creating a culture of compassionate care where we can both know and be known by God and others. We want our church to be a redemptive environment where weak, broken, hurting, suffering, and sin-weary people can find real hope and transformation in Jesus Christ and in community with one another. Joe Lee is not only building a team, but a church culture of care and counseling (which will include hiring a female counselor to help us more effectively ministry, in particular to women and those who have been victims of sexual abuse.
I hope you're excited as you read these three priorities. Understand, we'll still be pushing ministry forward in equipping people to know God's word, taking steps to advance missions locally and globally and seeking to make every Sunday a powerful time of encountering God and his truth. But these priorities are ones we specifically need to increase in this year's budget in order to make the progress we believe we need to make.
Harris says "Joe Lee is not only building a team, but a church culture of care and counseling." He refers to the funding and expansion of the Care & Counseling Ministry as a "top" priority" and a "most important" priority. He also says, "But these priorities are ones we specifically need to increase in this year's budget in order to make the progress we believe we need to make."
In light of these commitments, why is Joe Lee being terminated when the ministry he leads is so vital to the progress and well-being of the church? Joe Lee is not being laid off because he is a low priority. He is being laid off for other reasons. Harris must clearly explain those reasons.
In the love of Christ,
Mark Mitchell
*Since 2011, Sunday attendance has dropped from 3,305 to 1,715, and giving has declined from $8.2 million to $6.2 million. Up until now, we have been able to keep in step with these realities through the departures of several pastors and reducing other expenditures. But in September of this year, giving took an unprecedented downturn, dropping from the norm by about 25% and remaining at or near that level since then. That necessitated cutting an additional $1.2 million from the budget through layoffs and reducing other expenditures.
Comments: I wish CLC was prospering. I wish giving and attendance were increasing. I wish all the pastors were walking in integrity and Lars Liebeler had done an impartial investigation. But alas, the crisis at CLC is growing and it will increase in 2015. The elders and non-staff elders have made some terrible decisions. The conspiracy continues. Even greater difficulties lie ahead for the church. I genuinely wish it were not the case.
I've included some primary source material below.
August 2014
Dear Covenant Life Church,
In preparation for a new budget year I'm writing to share our top ministry priorities and how these are expressed in our upcoming budget.
The pastors have prayed and sought to identify the most important priorities that will help us to advance our mission to "worship God, love one another and make disciples of Jesus Christ." Now we're asking you to consider these plan, pray over them with us, give us your feedback and ultimately join us in fulfilling them. What God is calling us to is something we can only do together.
Each of us needs to own the mission in our hearts and each of us needs to fund the mission with our giving.
Three Main Priorities
We believe the priority this year is to focus on growing healthy internally so we can make a greater impact externally. With that in mind here are three priorities for the new year's budget:
1. Revitalize Small Groups: This year our Community Life team is leading to recharge our groups with vision, give more training and support to leaders, and provide more group options for members. We want our groups to be a place where God's word transforms lives, Christ's love is expressed, gospel community is build and disciples are made.
2. Strengthen Student Life Ministries: We want to prioritize making disciples in the next generation of our church by staffing to make our children's and youth ministries a place where students are equipped to know God and his word, engaged in our mission and excited to participate. In the past few years this team has been reduced, we believe we need to reverse that and increase it. (Our goal is to hire a new staff member to work with middle school students ad assist Dave Brewer with high school ministry.)
3. Expand Care & Counseling Ministry: We believe a key to fulfilling our mission to love one another is creating a culture of compassionate care where we can both know and be known by God and others. We want our church to be a redemptive environment where weak, broken, hurting, suffering, and sin-weary people can find real hope and transformation in Jesus Christ and in community with one another. Joe Lee is not only building a team, but a church culture of care and counseling (which will include hiring a female counselor to help us more effectively ministry, in particular to women and those who have been victims of sexual abuse."
I hope you're excited as you read these three priorities. Understand, we'll still be pushing ministry forward in equipping people to know God's word, taking steps to advance missions locally and globally and seeking to make every Sunday a powerful time of encountering God and his truth. But these priorities are ones we specifically need to increase this year's budget in order to make the progress we believe we need to make.
Against, each of these priorities is helping us grow healthy internally so we can make a greater impact externally. This year is about us strengthening and improving some key aspects of our "internal" church community so that we can advance our "external" impact on those who need Jesus.
The following pages include brief synopses of how each our teams will focus on accomplishing their part of the mission. The Coffee and Conversations with year will highlight the various departments and allow the opportunity to ask questions of the Team Leaders.
We look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in Covenant Life this year.
Grateful for your partnership in the Gospel,
Joshua Harris
For the elders.
Issac Hydoki
CLC Biography
At the age of 16 Isaac's life was changed forever when he sat down and read a simple letter from a friend that explained the good news of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Soon thereafter, he began to be discipled by members of Covenant Life, and he has been here ever since.
After earning a degree in visual arts from UMBC, Isaac worked for a handful of years as a freelance photographer, but his true passion was for the church. Several years of serving as a small group leader in the singles ministry gave Isaac a love for discipling singles and helping them to apply the gospel in a way that defines their lives, their work, and friendships.
He was invited to attend the Pastors College and graduated in 2001 (during which time his wife served him heroically by putting food on the table while he studied!). He then began working with the singles team as a pastoral intern and then a pastor. "Hydro" says what he loves most about pastoring in the singles ministry is, "equipping men to lead, and helping all believers grow in maturity in Christ through the application of God's Word into the details of their lives."
When work is done for the day, Hydro enjoys dating his beautiful wife Kelly, roughhousing with his two boys KJ and Tate, and trying to make his daughter Ella laugh. He prays each of them will one day be God-fearing, gospel-loving, church-builders someday like their momma and dada.
Joe Lee
CLC Biography
When Joe Lee's second-grade Sunday-school teacher asked him why he was going to heaven, Joe answered, "Because my dad is the senior pastor of the church!"
Sensing the opportunity, Joe's teacher took him aside and explained the gospel again. At that point, says Joe, "God's Spirit illuminated the truth of the gospel to my heart and allowed me to see that I was a sinner in need of a Savior."
Joe grew up in Northern Virginia attending Korean Central Presbyterian Church, where his father was a pastor for 26 years. We are grateful to Joe's father and the church for sending Joe to us with their blessing.
While in high school, Joe felt called to ministry but gave up that desire after hearing discouraging stories from pastors. He received a B.S. from Virginia Tech in 1996 and became a computer network engineer.
At Celebration East (a regional conference for Sovereign Grace churches; no longer being held) in 1998, Joe's desire was re-ignited when he heard Tab Trainor, then a student at what is now Sovereign Grace Pastors College, speak with joy and excitement about ministry. The Lord led Joe to the Pastors College in 1999-2000, and he joined the Covenant Life pastoral staff in July 2002. Today, he oversees numerous care groups and oversees the Biblical Counseling Ministry in the church.
Joe wants to help equip every member of the church to see themselves as ministers of the gospel and actively engaged in the lives of the people in their community.
Joe and his wife Esther have five children.
From: Mark Mitchell - Covenant Life Church
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 5:03 PM
Subject: Staff Transitions
Dear Covenant Life Members,
We pray this letter finds you well.
We're writing to inform you that Erik Sheffer and Ben Wikner, two faithful members of our pastoral team, will be departing our staff. Both men initiated this discussion with the elders a couple of months ago. They did so independently from each other and for different reasons.
Though we are saddened to see these two friends and co-laborers leave our team, both we and they believe this is the Lord's leading and therefore this transition is best for them, their families, and for Covenant Life Church.
It is possible that you have already heard about these changes and have been wondering why we haven't said anything officially until now. The reason is that we were still discussing the details of Ben's transition and seeking to communicate with and care for all the relevant parties before getting word out to the church as a whole. The details were finalized on August 19.
Ben came to Covenant Life Church having had ministry experience as a church planter and lead pastor in two Presbyterian churches, and has faithfully served Covenant Life since his arrival in January 2008. He has served as a shepherd over a number of care groups, has been a strong voice on the elder board, a leader over various ministries and a regular contributor to the Sunday preaching. Ben will be leaving the staff at the end of the year, so we will share more details about his transition at a future time.
Erik Sheffer, affectionately known as "Shef," graduated from seminary with a degree in counseling, relocated to Covenant Life in the summer of 2002 and has been on staff serving in various positions since then. He joined the pastoral team in the summer of 2006. He has overseen the pre-marital process, has been strategically involved in the discipleship of newly married couples, and has faithfully shepherded a number of care groups over the past eight years. Shef will leave the staff at the end of September.
Shef feels called to start a new church in Damascus. Though this is not a Covenant Life church plant, we pray God's blessing on him, his wife Jerusha and this new season of their ministry. We love this man and his family and believe God will use this parting of ways to multiply gospel ministry.
Please pray for the Sheffers and extend your love to them as they move on from our church and staff. If you would like to correspond with Shef, don't hesitate to contact him at his e-mail address email@example.com.
We will pray for Shef and family during our service on Sunday, September 28, and for Ben and family later in the year.
Please reach out to anyone on the pastoral team if you have further questions.
May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts.
Joshua & Mark
On behalf of the Elders
Erik Sheffer
CLC Biography
Erik Sheffer says he and his wife Jerusha "had a conviction that it was time to stake our claim" in a Sovereign Grace church. With degrees in tow (he an M.A. in Counseling; she an M.Div.), the couple left Boston and Gordon Conwell Seminary and moved to Maryland in May of 2002. They initially ruled out Covenant Life because of its large size, but "Providence and wise counsel" soon overrode their reluctance, says Erik.
Erik's involvement at Covenant Life Church ramped up quickly in the summer of 2002 when he took a job as manager of the Audio and Bookstore ministries. In 2004 Erik was asked to oversee all of the church's ministry teams and leaders. At the same time he led a few Beta groups and a Care Group from 2004 to 2005. Over time, however, the Lord began to make it clear that his role in the church was to change drastically.
"I realized more and more, only through the help of many, that God [was] calling me to pastor his people. Sadly, it was a long road. I didn't heed God's call because of sin—fear of man, unbelief, etc. But through God's grace and the care of many people, I am here today," Erik says. Erik studied faithfully with the Sovereign Grace Pastors College class of 2006 and joined the Covenant Life pastoral staff in June.
Erik, and the other pastors in the Family Life ministry, oversees care groups, leads discipleship groups, counsels, and develops new resource materials for the ministry. He says he is most passionate about "building with and caring for God's people," as well as discipleship, counseling and studying God's Word.
Erik and his wife Jerusha married in 2000 and have six children—Karis, Jotham, Mercia, Jedidiah, Titus and Jubilee. Erik enjoys spending time with his family, the beach, games, reading and basketball.
Ben Wikner
CLC Bibliography
Ben Wikner is one of the newer pastors at Covenant Life, having served on staff since 2008. Prior to coming here, Ben was a pastor in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Temecula, CA from 1999 to 2005. Of this ministry background, Ben remarked, "I'm so grateful for all that I experienced coming from a reformed, high church background like the OPC." He continued, "It served me exceedingly well for my ministry training, but God definitely brought us here to serve Covenant Life, and it has felt a little like coming home to us."
Ben was born in South Korea, was orphaned and then adopted into a Christian family in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Suffice it to say, identity was a dominant issue for Ben growing up, but when he was 19 years old, God revealed himself to him and Ben committed his life to follow Jesus. One of the things Ben is most grateful for is his secure identity as God's precious and beloved son, through his Savior Jesus Christ. Such wonderful truth, as well as his own experience, has given Ben a real heart for orphans, adoption and vulnerable children.
Ben holds a BA from Covenant College, and a M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in California. It was at Covenant College where he met his wife Erin and first sensed a call to pastoral ministry.
Ben now serves with the Family Life team of pastors where his responsibilities include pastoral oversight for a number of Care Groups, teaching classes, leading in various missions and being the resident (former) Presbyterian.
The Wikners have six children, which keeps them busy, tired and humble. "But," commented Ben, "We wouldn't have it any other way. We are so amazed and grateful that we get to pastor our children as well as to serve this church."]]>
From: Mark Mitchell
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 6:00 PM
To: [Covenant Life Church Members]
Subject: Budget Outlook
November 21, 2014
Dear church family,
Earlier this year when we affirmed our budget, we said that we would update you as the year unfolded if giving decreased and we needed to make adjustments to our plans. In the providence of God giving has decreased, and I'm writing today to share how we're seeking to be good stewards in response.
Comment: The budget was affirmed by the church in August. It runs for the fiscal year, September 2014-August 2015. Corby Megorden, the church administrator, wrote the following in his introduction to the budget.
"One could make a case that it [the budget] is optimistic, given that membership has decreased over the past few years, and the average giving per member has dropped also. However, in prior years we have experienced giving that exceeds this budget with fewer members. If the average members were to give at the rate they did in 2009, 2010 and 2011, this budget will be attainable. It is our hope that the vision for Covenant Life defined here will appropriately challenge and inspire members to investment of their time, talent and treasure."
Just the opposite has occurred. The giving rate of members has not gone up, it has rather drastically gone down.
In Psalm 16 David writes, "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places." God is in control and he is good and right now he is redrawing our "boundary lines" as a church when it comes to our size and budget.
Comment: The Sovereign Lord has greatly reduced the size and income of Covenant Life Church. Mark Mitchell gives no explanation for this "redrawing."
Over the last three years Sunday attendance and giving have declined. Since 2011, Sunday attendance has dropped from 3,305 to 1,715, and giving has declined from $8.2 million to $6.2 million. Up until now, we have been able to keep in step with these realities through the departures of several pastors and reducing other expenditures.
Comment: Attendance has basically dropped by half over the past three years. CLC used to do two Sunday services that were full. Now they do one service.
But in September of this year, giving took an unprecedented downturn, dropping from the norm by about 25% and remaining at or near that level since then.
Comment: 25% of $6.2 million is approximately 1.5 million. That means a 125k loss of income each month. Covenant Life is already 375k in the red after three months of operation on the new budget.
Very simply, we are a smaller church with less than expected revenue, and we need to reduce our staff to match this reality. While this is difficult we believe it's part of God's ongoing work of pruning us and focusing us as a church so that we can be more fruitful in the days ahead.
Comment: Covenant Life Church will need to reduce its support staff, not just its pastoral staff. It lists 34 support staff employees.
The elders, having consulted with the non-staff elder candidates and Financial Advisory Committee, are in agreement that we cannot sustain our present budget and that it's necessary to lay off two pastors.
Comment: Laying off two pastors will not nearly make up for the budget deficit. Cuts will have to go much deeper.
I realize this is unexpected and uncomfortable news that affects our whole church body. As the one with specific responsibility to implement the layoffs, my heart is heavy at the prospect.
Comment: I guess this means Mark Mitchell is not a candidate for being laid off. Is Joshua Harris a non-consideration too? Who decides which pastors get to stay and which ones are let go? On what basis will these decisions be made and will the church have any say in the process or decision?
We plan to share more specifics on the layoffs at an after-service Members Meeting on Sunday, December 14. We would appreciate your prayers for the whole staff in the interim.
Comment: From what I gather, Joshua and Mark will be making the decision. The other pastors will be left in the dark. It appears the pastors won't be functioning as a plurality and there will be no congregational input.
Also on the 14th, we will share plans to help the congregation get to know the non-staff elder candidates during January and move forward with an affirmation vote in January or February. Even as the Lord is taking away, he is providing new means of care and leadership for his people.
Comment: Non-staff elders are greatly limited compared to staff elders because they work full time jobs that are typically demanding. They cannot provide the same level of care and leadership and they often suffer from over-extension.
Finally, two notes about this coming Sunday. First, we're having a Coffee & Conversation meeting at 12:15 p.m. in the Edwards Room, and we invite you to come and ask any questions and share your thoughts with us there. Second, I'm preaching a message in our "Life Together" series on giving and its role in our community.
Comment: During October and November, the pastors have been defending themselves against charges found in the Second Amended Complaint (lawsuit) and against charges that arose from the Nathaniel Morales trial with the help of their lawyer, Lars Liebeler. That two month defense wraps up at the Coffee & Conversation tomorrow.
When we planned the series earlier this year we didn't know that giving would drop in September or that we'd be facing the prospect of laying off staff. I want you to know that the purpose of this message is not to trumpet the need for giving in hopes of quickly reversing the trend. We are entrusting that to the Lord. The purpose of the message is simply to let God's Word speak and remind us all of God's call to generosity and faith in regards to our resources—something that so many of you are already modeling.
Comment: I'm sure the pastors hope their defense against the conspiracy to commit and cover up sexual abuse has restored some trust. I have closely followed their defense. It's had the opposite effect upon me. The recent "independent investigation" by Lars Liebeler was neither independent nor an investigation. Liebeler did his review as the church's lawyer. As such, he was forbidden from sharing incriminating evidence in his possession against the pastors. He withheld it.
May God help us to process this news in keeping with the truths from God's Word throughout the "Life Together" series. We are God's dearly loved children, redeemed for his glory, and called by his grace to draw near to one another in enduring love and service.
Comment: 1,600 people no longer do "Life Together" at Covenant Life Church. Most of them were godly believers and church members. They lost confidence in their pastors and no longer attend or actively participate. A teaching series is not the answer to the decline in giving or attendance. The pastors have often compromised themselves and refused to do what they knew was right. Nor have they been accountable to the church as promised in their "Jesus ruled, elder led, congregationally accountable" creed.
With faith, hope and love,
Mark Mitchell with the Elders]]>
Last Friday, I posted Sex Abuse Victim Asserts Prominent SGM Pastor Marty Machowski "Threw My Children and I to the Wolves." Today's post is a sequel. It concerns a completely different victim who was also a witness. This victim-witness can pretend no longer. She must "speak out for the truth." She writes Dave Harvey out of anguish and assumes he knows nothing about some of these matters. This happened last year. It is recent history and a true indicator of how SGM continues to cover up sexual abuse and deal with victims.
I have removed all names except for those of the CFC pastors. I've added clarifications and explanations in brackets [ ]. I've interspersed comments in bold print.
From: [Name of victim-witness]
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 8:54 PM
To: Dave Harvey
Subject: An explanation given, in a time when I have to speak out for truth...
This is [first name] formerly [maiden name]. My married last name is [last name]. My husband and I have two children. We have an eight year old daughter, and a three year old son. He has Down syndrome and juvenile diabetes. You were having lunch with your daughter one time a while back and your daughter recognized us from church. We no longer wish to be apart of sovereign grace ministries, and for months now, we have wanted to explain why. We don't owe anyone an explanation but I have so much anger inside and emotional pain about what happened to me while being a part of covenant fellowship church, that if I don't tell someone the truth, it will continue to eat away at me. The only reason why u [I] have not come forward with all of this up unit now, is because I have been afraid. I've been afraid of being judged and afraid of what certain people might think about me, if I speak my mind and tell the truth. But we aren't ever coming back to covenant and I should have nothing to fear. Thee [There] are good people who attend covenant and I sure that some of the pastors are honest people but some of the experiences that I had at covenant fellowship have shaken my faith to its very core. And because of these things, I have not been able to become a part of a local church ever since.
Comment: She begins to confide in Dave Harvey thinking he is a "good guy." She has been afraid to tell anyone the truth for fear of being judged. Her experience with pastors at CFC has shaken her faith to the core. Their handling of her has been so traumatic she's not been able to get involved in another church.
My husband and my two children and I are on the verge of wanting to join this other local church but wrote we could, we felt we needed to be honest with the pastor there, so we told him everything that happened at covenant end [and] why we can't ever come back. He not only agreed with us but he encouraged me to tell you everything because he felt that you must not be aware of some of these things. He said that he felt that if you were aware of what truly happened, then you would have called us or addressed these things.
Comment: Dave Harvey was fully aware because he was the senior pastor when all this was taking place. More than aware, he was directing his staff. Harvey didn't install his replacement, Jared Mellinger, until October 2008. Everything referenced in this letter "truly happened" under Harvey's eagle eye. This outside pastor assumed Harvey was honest and didn't act because he didn't know. Surely he would "have called us or addressed these things." I understand the naiveté of this pastor but nothing could be further from the truth. As has been proven time after time, Harvey is a master of deceit.
I know that you have a lot on your plate and I don't mean to burden or overload you but I have to get these things off my chest so that I am able to put the past behind me, and move on. Recently within a few months ago we talked about joining covenant we even emailed Andy farmer [a CFC pastor] and joe Stigors [Joe Stigora, a CFC pastor] to tell them we would be attending membership classes. But we realized we were only going to join to prove to certain people that what they did to me and how they treated me, didn't bother me or effect me. But what has happened did effect me it hurt me very deeply a d [and] effected me very deeply and so I can't pretend that it didn't so I can't join just to make people think that they haven't hurt me or effected me.... So we simply cannot go on pretending....
I came to covenant fellowship for the first time when I was nineteen years old. I was completely amazed and wanted to become a member. I grew up in a Christian home, and had never been a part of a Church that was so alive before. I began attending a college age care group and shortly after that, I joined. I began serving in the child care area of the alpha program. The first course went quite smoothly and everything was going really great. But then at the beginning of the second course, the man who was heading up the child care portion, [member 1], stepped down and a different man took his place, Leroy Wilson. M. [Mr.] Wilson seemed nice at first, but he began to do really bad things. He began to say inappropriate and even sexually explicit things to me, he pulled my bra straps, slapped me on my behind, and I was so distraught over it. He was this way not just with me but with other young women who were also serving as well. I went to [member 2] and Jim Donahue [a CFC pastor] and I told them what was going on. I also told them that unlike [member 1], that mr Wilson asked for my cell phone number the first night he served and claimed it was to be able to go over the alpha lesson plans for the kids program so I gave it to him before he had said or done anything inappropriate. He began calling me a lot and would ask me what I was up to or where I was at and I told him that if it wasn't about alpha that I needed to hang up and could be [he] please not call me again. Jim Donahue also knew this as well. But instead of them helping me, they made things worse for me. Jim Donahue told me that I was taking the things that lee [i.e. Leroy] was doing and saying, in the wrong way and out of context. He told me that I was judging him and that I owed him an apology! Lee continued to call me when he told the pastors that he wouldn't, and I began to notice him behaving I appropriately [inappropriately] with the children. So again I went to [member 2] and Jim Donahue and I told them that he shouldn't be allowed near the kids and that I was afraid for their safety and could they please remove him to keep the kids safe.
Comment: At this point, member 2 and Jim Donahue were mandated under Pennsylvania law to report Leroy Wilson to police. There was no pastoral exemption for Donahue under these circumstances.
After that, I was told again that I was judging him and that he would not be removed. The next week when I went to serve, lee told me he found a new lead teacher and didn't need me to serve anymore. He asked me to leave. I cried the entire way home because I knew the truth, that he was a predator and that he knew that I knew what he was doing or going to do and I was powerless to stop it from happening. I walked into my house and begged my parents to call and talk to Jim [Donahue] because I told them I knew he was a danger to those kids. My parents didn't want to get involved. I guess it was about six weeks maybe eight weeks later, that a district attorney called me from the media courthouse [also called the Delaware County Courthouse] and asked me to come and give a statement about lee Wilson because he molested and raped a little boy who came thru my classroom during that alpha course :(
Comment: This victim-witness helped out with child care during the Alpha Course at CFC. Leroy Eugene Wilson was convicted on July 1, 2005 on 3 counts: 1) involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, 2) indecent assault, and 3) corrupting morals of children.
A civil trial was later scheduled for September 24-28, 2007. Sovereign Grace Ministries and Covenant Fellowship Church were both named as Defendants. It appears there was an out of court settlement for damages. C.J. Mahaney and Dave Harvey never told me about this civil lawsuit against SGM.
I felt completely heartbroken and somehow responsible. If I had just taken control and made him leave somehow if I had defied Jim Donahue and [member 2] and just did what I knew was right and made them listen somehow if I had spoken up again and again I don't know. I just felt like this kid being molested was partially my fault... When I sat down with Jim Donahue he spoke these words, that I will never forget he said "well, if he really did molest that little boy, at least the little boy was only four years old and probably won't remember it."
My heart just sunk.... I warned them that this man had sexually assaulted me and harassed me and other young women in the church, and that he was inappropriate with the little kids, and they dare not remove him and tell me that I owe him an apology and now ha e [have] the nerve to say this about the child being abused?! I felt anger, frustration, and sadness. My heart just broke that day, and never mended fully again.
So when I went to give my statement to the police, and I told them about all the complaints I made to Jim Donahue about mr Wilson prior to what took place, when they [the police] asked him [Donahue] about it, they told me that he [Donahue] told them [the police] I lied and that I never complained about mr Wilson... It gets worse...
Comment: I absolutely believe this woman! SGM leaders will we make up all kinds of lies about anyone they want to discredit in order to cover their tracks. This is a common tactic. They will stop at nothing.
When I was a little girl, I myself was a victim of rape. I emailed you this before a while ago but not that many people know this. The first person I ever told, was a pastor at covenant fellowship church [she does not say which pastor]. The rape started when I was seven, and it went on for three and a half years, until we moved. It was a neighbor friend's stepdad.... Due to what happened to me when I was a little girl, I developed a severe battle with anorexia and bulimia, at a very young age and that battled lasted over a decade and I almost died from it. I can tell you that abuse effects a child for a very long time and what Jim said about that little boy being so young that if it did happen he wouldn't remember it, he minimized it and it made me feel like he was minimizing what happened to me, and that made me feel very small and very sad. I told this particular pastor about what happened to me, in confidence, and it should not have left that room, ever. But when I testified in court about the lee Wilson case, mr. Carey [Robert J. Carey] who was Wilson's attorney, brought it up during my testimony and attempted to use it to somehow discredit me as a witness! So this pastor leaked that private and personal information about me, to the attorney and it was brought up in a courtroom in public for the whole world to know and hear about. I was ashamed, I was scared, I was embarrassed and completely traumatized by the entire thing.
Comment: Likely because she did not report it. That tactic was repeatedly used in the Nathaniel Morales trial to discredit the testimony of the victims. There are other possibilities also. Defense lawyers for sex abusers will drudge up anything to attack the credibility of victims. It is despicable. Harvey, Farmer, Donahue, Prater, Mellinger, and Machowski did not want Leroy Wilson to be convicted because a civil suit against Covenant Fellowship Church had already been filed for damages. A guilty verdict in the criminal trial would go a long way in winning the civil trial to follow. This pastor was leaking private and personal information about her rape to the Defense attorney in order to get Wilson off the hook.
Furthermore Jim said that if he [Leroy E. Wilson] was convicted that they would no longer stand behind him. Well he was convicted and went to prison yet they still stood behind him and I was shunned and treated like vermin because I did what was right and told the truth. And lee somehow got himself out of jail after a year and began coming back to covenant with open arms and I continued to be talked about. One couple in particular came to see me about it, and they told me that Jim Donahue was not speaking highly of me and he told them [the couple] that I lied about different things and they told me that they told him [Jim Donahue] that he was judging me and that they felt I was ostracized for speaking the truth and for trying to do what was right by that innocent little boy who's life was now changed forever, from another man's reprehensible sin.
Comment: Donahue knows this victim-witness can harm him and the other CFC pastors if she speaks out and tells the truth. Therefore, he must slander her behind her back. This is damage control SGM style. The pastors also shun her while they defend and welcome back the convicted felon.
But it doesn't stop there. When my husband and I had been engaged for a few months we began sleeping together before our wedding and we found out about four weeks before the wedding that we were pregnant. A few pastors told us that we didn't want to compound that mistake with another one and that we shouldn't get married even tho we were already engaged for months before we got pregnant. We knew have [having] pre marital sex wasn't the best idea but with what happened to me when I was a little girl I was nervous about how I would feel and if it would be ok and not traumatizing to me so we began sleeping together before our wedding day. So they told us that to get married would be a mistake? not their place! And here we are two kids later and still happily married over nine years later! Still not everything. [i.e., she has more to say] I am a musician. I play piano and sing and write music and I've never been allowed to use that gift at covenant fellowship. I served in many other areas and was involved in a care group for a long tie [time] and there were always excuses made for why it wasn't the right time for me to be involved in music ministry ... At the church I grew up in I was always allowed to use my gifts and was always involved in music ministries at the church. People at covenant just always made me feel badly about myself, like I was always less than or not good enough of a Christian for God to use me or my gifts etc. but there's more. I used to be friends with [name of female child molester]. She confessed to me that she molested a four year old little boy, and she told me that the pastors convinced the family not to press charges on her and that she went thru counseling. But she later worked for a long period of time, at a local daycare center full time and the pastors knew she had molested a child and that she was working with children at a daycare center!
Comment: If true all the pastors should be charged and arrested for conspiring not to report this heinous crime to law enforcement as required by Pennsylvania law. Inevitably, this child molester went on to abuse.
After experiencing what I experienced at covenant I still wanted to try to become a member just to prove to certain people that they didn't scarr [scar] me or scare me or hurt me. But the truth is, that they did. I feel like what happened to me when I was young doesn't matter to them, and wasn't a big deal in their eyes, I feel like they think I was wrong for testifying In the lee Wilson case, and after hearing what happened with [name of female child molester] straight from her mouth, I am terrified, terrified to stay. I can't pretend that all the things that happened didn't happen. I trid to, I tried to just ignore it but I just can't do it anymore. The icing on the cake was when my brother in law passed away at twenty four years old, a year and a half ago. My mother in law wanted Jim Donahue to do the service so he and joe Stigora got involved. We believed that my brother in law was a Christian and we asked them to please not talk about hell and stuff like that that the family was already in a state of shock over the sudden loss etc. they of course agreed. Well, Jim's entire message during the funeral, was about hell and about how God must punish sin. Ask my parents [names given but removed] if u don't believe me. They couldn't believe it and after the service joe Stigora came up to my mother in law and apologized and he said to her "I'm so sorry I have no idea what he was thinking" he left dozens of young adults angry and never wanting to set foot into another church ever again. And my mother in law? That is the final memory she will have that is the message that she has to think of whenever she remembers having to burry her young son... My parents said they were mortified. They still attend the church [Covenant Fellowship Church] and like I said we were going to join but after much prayer we decided that we can't just pretend that all of this didn't happen. No church is perfect but the way I was treated and the way my husband's family was treated is beyond wrong. I walked away from covenant and what I feel, is small, and like the truth doesn't matter and that I don't matter... That my feelings and my experiences and my faith and my relationship with God, didn't matter... I am completely disillusioned by what I have experienced and I am so scared to even get involved in another church....
With all the allegations that are facing sovereign grace [Sovereign Grace Ministries] right now, knowing what I experienced, I believe very single one of them. I witnessed for myself, a sovereign grace church [i.e., CFC] asking me to apologize to a man [Leroy Wilson] who was assaulting me, I witnessed for myself a sovereign grace church [CFC] not wanting to involve the police when a child had been molested, and I witnessed for myself a sovereign grace church [CFC] ostracizing an innocent person [herself], for telling the truth and for trying to keep children safe. I'm not saying that every person in sovereign grace ministries isn't a Godly leader, but I am saying that this idea that counseling and accountability alone, can cure a pedofile [pedophile], is beyond, a ridiculous notion, and what about all the other children who are at risk, because these families have felt forced to forgive, and the person can then move on to harm the next child? And children having to forgive right away? Families having to forgive right away? I have barely forgiven my predator and its been decades since it happened and I've never done it face to face... Completely wrong and traumatizing... After all of this has now come out, sovereign grace ministries needs to seriously rethink their views and policies with regards to these issues... I have been afraid to make my feelings known but I'm not afraid anymore... The truth is coming out all over sovereign grace ministries all by itself.... And the saddest part, is that for those of us who have been abused, the worst things that someone can do, is belittle it, and act like it doesn't matter….
Comment: The pastors in Covenant Fellowship church are some of the most corrupt but powerful leaders in all of Sovereign Grace Ministries. No one should support or endorse them. 35 minutes after receiving this email, Harvey forwards it to Marty Machowski, Jim Donohue; Andy Farmer; Mark Prater and Jared Mellinger with a note.
From: Dave Harvey
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 9:31 PM
To: Marty Machowski; Jim Donohue; Andy Farmer; Mark Prater
Cc: Jared Mellinger
Subject: FW: An explanation given, in a time when I have to speak out for truth...
Well boys, I hate to be the bearer of sad news but I think this is something we're going to have to give immediate attention to. I will also need counsel on how to respond to [first name of victim-witness], preferably sooner rather than later.
Talk more tomorrow…
Comment: This email should have crushed Dave and resulted in his immediate repentance and a call for repentance from the other pastors. Instead he refers to it as "sad news." There is no indication this has to do with their "sad" (wretched) handling of the victim, etc. Harvey appears to be demeaning the victim-witness. Here's what clear. Not one of these men suggests they meet to humbly discuss their actions before responding to this person who has been so horribly handled. Without a hint of remorse, they immediately resort to damage control. The next morning Andy Farmer writes a suggested response for Harvey. Harvey uses it almost verbatim.
From: Andy Farmer
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 7:52 AM
To: Dave Harvey
Cc: Marty Machowski; Jim Donohue; Mark Prater; Jared Mellinger
Subject: Confidential
Guys. I'm going to come in this morning with a suggested response to the email Dave received. Please don't forward te [the] email in electronic form to anyone or comment with the content in the body of anything you send
Sent from my iPhone
Comment: This is familiar territory. These men are experts at damage control. First, there is a complete lock down on the email. None of the other pastors, staff or members of CFC can see it. It must not be forwarded it to anyone. Second, Harvey, Machowski, Donohue, Prater, and Mellinger are not to include any of "the content in the body" when they provide comment (input) to Farmer's suggested response. Farmer knows this email is dangerous because contains incriminating testimony. It can't see the light of day.
From: Andy Farmer
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 10:53 AM
To: Dave Harvey
Subject: confidential
… [first initial of first name of victim-witness]
Thank you for sending me this. I know the situation you talked about in your email was very difficult for you. And I know Jim and other pastors have tried to communicate care to you since that time. If there is anything else you feel you need to share with us I or any of the pastors you're comfortable with would really like to meet with you and hear your thoughts. We want to continue to do all we can to keep our church a safe and secure place for everyone who comes. Its important that we to deal with any suspected abuse in a way that protects victims, honors the law, and allows those who are seeking to help to feel our support in their efforts. It really does matter to me and the pastors that you'd take the time to communicate your concerns to us. If you think that a conversation with the pastor you're talking to would be helpful please know we'd be happy to talk with him as well.
Comment: Andy Farmer isn't writing this response with the interests of the victim-witness in mind. He is only concerned about protecting the self-interests of the pastors. There is no concern for the truth. He knows the victim-witness may forward her email to others including law enforcement. That's why he says, "We want to continue to do all we can to keep our church a safe and secure place for everyone who comes. It's really important that we deal with any suspected abuse in a way that protects victims, honors the law, and allows those who are seeking to help to feel our support in their efforts."
This is an absolute slap in the face to the victim-witness. She is pointing out from personal experience and eye witness testimony how they have failed to make the church safe and secure, protect victims, honor the law, and support her in any way, shape or form. This is the SGM approach to damage control. Lie, deny all charges, provide no meaningful or accountable response, and put yourself forward in a godly light. Then libel the person to others in private. If the person goes public, label them a slanderer and command people to avoid them and their writings.
From: Dave Harvey <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Date: 02/27/2013 10:59 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: [Victim-Witness]
Subject: RE: An explanation given, in a time when I have to speak out for truth...
Morning [first name of victim-witness].
Thank you for sending me this. I know the situation you talked about in your email was very difficult for you. And I'm aware Jim and other pastors have tried to communicate care to you since that time. If there is anything else you feel you need to share with us, please know that I or any of the pastors you're comfortable with would really like to meet with you and hear your thoughts. We want to continue to do all we can to keep our church a safe and secure place for everyone who comes. It's really important that we deal with any suspected abuse in a way that protects victims, honors the law, and allows those who are seeking to help to feel our support in their efforts. It matters deeply to me and the pastors that you'd take the time to communicate your concerns to us. In fact if you think that a conversation with the pastor you're talking to would be helpful please know we'd be happy to talk with him as well.
Comment: Start with fake appreciation for the email. Commend and justify Jim Donahue and the other pastors for their care. That sends a loud message we are not open to your critique. They'vedone nothing wrong. He hasn't lied. He has slandered. No one leaked information to the Defense attorney. Acknowledge no wrong doing. Acknowledge no legitimacy to anything in the letter. Don't provide a written reply of any kind. Just ignore her.
Appear humble and invite her to meet if she feels the need but convey the pastors feel no need to meet or confess any wrong doing. That means nothing she has written warrants a response from them. This clearly communicates they see no need to ask forgiveness, investigate further, take additional action, etc. They pretend to be humble, however, by offering to meet to hear her thoughts. How condescending. The have already heard her thoughts in the letter but are utterly unresponsive to all her pleadings. In fact, they effectively reject all her concerns. It would be no different in private.
Furthermore, they know she won't want to meet after she receives this response. That is by design. This repudiation only gives her more reason to fear and distrust them. It is pure manipulation to say "It's really important that we…allow those who are seeking to help to feel our support in their efforts. It matters deeply to me and the pastors that you'd take the time to communicate your concerns to us." Outrageous manipulation. Farmer/Harvey's response communicates no support for her efforts whatsoever and it doesn't "matter deeply" that she wrote.
It's been our hope that you'd find a place in the church family here, but if you have found another place that better meets your needs and the needs of your family please know that we pray that the Lord's blessings would be with you along the way.
Comment: A lot of former members in SGM have experienced this kind of manipulation. "We really want you to stay" (even though they hope and pray you leave) "but the Lord bless you if you find a better place" (even though they think they are the best place). This humble sounding tactic is used to move undesirable people on to other churches when calling leaders to account, etc.
Thanks [first name of victim-witness].
Comment: Here's a sampling of what this victim-witness experienced on an emotional level.
"I have so much anger inside and emotional pain about what happened to me while being a part of covenant fellowship church. … Some of the experiences that I had at covenant fellowship have shaken my faith to its very core. … What has happened did effect me it hurt me very deeply a d [and] effected me very deeply and so I can't pretend that it didn't. … I was ashamed, I was scared, I was embarrassed and completely traumatized by the entire thing. … I am completely disillusioned by what I have experienced and I am so scared to even get involved in another church."
In their collective response, Andy Farmer, Dave Harvey, Mark Prater, Jared Mellinger, Marty Machowski, and Jim Donahue offer no apology of any kind. Not even a pathetic, "Oops. Maybe we messed up somehow. Sorry, if we hurt you. We want to talk."
These men are calloused and hardhearted. They are also corrupt. They will lie, deceive, cover up and manipulate in order to protect their sinful self-interests. The fact that they are key leaders and pastors in Sovereign Grace Ministries is frightening. Mark Prater, the Executive Director, has repeatedly used the same kind of approach in doing damage control for SGM. That's why he didn't stop this horrific response from being sent to the victim-witness. He fully supported it.
I continue to hold SGM accountable for its actions, write about lessons to be learned, work for criminal justice, seek reform in the Body of Christ, and care for victims who have been harmed. Much of what I do is unseen. Would you please consider a gift or donation? We are in need of your kind support. Thanks!
Please Help - All Gifts & Tax Deductible Contributions Are Kept Strictly Confidential]]>
Letter of Confession to Bent Meyer and Paul Petry
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Dear Paul and Bent, we want to publicly confess our sin against you regarding events that took place at Mars Hill Church back in 2007. We were wrong. We harmed you. You have lived with the pain of that for many years. As some of us have come to each of you privately, you have extended grace and forgiveness, and for that we thank you. Because our sin against you happened in a public way and with public consequences, we want to make our confession public as well with this letter.
On September 30th 2007, you were both terminated from your employment as pastors at Mars Hill Church. Your status as elders of the church was suspended, according to the church's bylaws at the time, pending an investigation of your qualification for eldership. It's hard to imagine just how disorienting and painful this experience must have been for you. That night, Bent, you called Mike Wilkerson, your direct supervisor, to let him know that you'd been terminated. Within hours, Paul, you emailed all of the elders to notify us of what had happened to you that night. We had the opportunity and the responsibility to intervene, to care, to listen to you, and to make sure that any harmful treatment against you was corrected. Instead, we allowed the process of your investigation and trial to continue unimpeded and we participated in it. By failing to intervene and by participating in that process without protest, we implied to the members of Mars Hill Church, to each other, and to you and your families that your termination was above reproach. We stood by as it happened, and that was wrong.
We now believe that you were grievously sinned against in that termination. We believe that the termination meeting's content and tone was abrupt, one sided, and threatening. Hearing each of you recount your experiences of this meeting is shocking and sad. By failing to intervene, we enabled a growing trend of misuses and abuses of power and authority that would be feared and tolerated by the rest of the church's eldership. We now understand that these sorts of overpowering actions against elders were some of the very concerns that you had each expressed regarding some of the pending proposed changes to the bylaws. It is tragic that you were proved right by your own experiences. The harm permitted by our failure to protect you has had a devastating and lasting impact on you, your families, Mars Hill Church, and the watching world.
Paul, On October 15, 2007, all twenty-three elders at the time—including most of us signers of this letter—voted that you were in violation of the biblical qualifications of eldership. The alleged violations included a "lack of trust and respect for spiritual authority". All but two of the elders then voted to remove you from eldership based on these perceived violations.
We now believe our decisions were invalid and wrong. The entire investigation and trial process was skewed by the implication that your termination was above reproach and for just cause. If there had been sin in your life that might have warranted a warning about possible disqualification from eldership, we should have patiently, carefully, and directly addressed it with you before the matter became so extremely escalated. By reporting our wrongheaded assessment to the church, we put doubt about your character in the minds of church members, though you had done nothing to warrant such embarrassment and scrutiny. By doing this, we misled the whole church, harmed your reputation, and damaged the unity of the body of Christ.
Bent, On October 29, 2007, all twenty-three elders at the time—including most of us signers of this letter—agreed that you were guilty of "displaying an unhealthy lack of trust in, and respect for, the senior leadership of Mars Hill Church". We also unanimously approved that, based on your repentance, you would remain an elder of the church on probation.
Bent, we were wrong to have called you guilty of lacking trust and respect for the senior leadership of the church when you had good reasons for challenging the church's senior leadership. We were wrong to have insisted that you repent of this lacking trust as a condition of your continued eldership, because it was not sinful on your part in the first place.
Bent and Paul, you each had every right as an elder to openly express your strong concerns about the bylaws and to influence our thinking so that we might have made the most informed decision possible. You also had good reason to contact the church's attorney about those bylaws. These were not sinful acts of mistrust on your part, but reasonable acts of due diligence. We needed to learn from you at that time and we should have trusted you and respected your spiritual authority as elders of the church to educate us about potential problems with those bylaws. Instead, we silenced your voices through our complicity in your terminations and our decisions to remove Paul as an elder and keep Bent on probation instead of examining the issues more closely.
Paul, On December 5th, 2007 those of us who were elders at the time voted to instruct the members of Mars Hill Church to treat you as an unrepentant believer under church discipline after you had resigned your membership from the church. This treatment was to have included "rejection and disassociation" in the hope that you would "come to an acknowledgment of [your] sin and repent." This instruction was given with the weight of all twenty-seven elders at the time. This disciplinary rejection led to great loss to your family in extreme financial hardship, sudden loss of long standing friendships, spiritual and emotional trauma to your family, and the public shaming of your character. We share responsibility for those losses due to our participation in the vote.
A church disciplinary act of this magnitude is extreme. It's perhaps the most powerful that can be enacted upon a pastor. We now think that motion was hasty and harmful. We should have challenged the motion rather than approving it. Instead, we used our voting power as elders in a way that resulted in further harm to you. Further, we brought disrepute on the Church and its responsibility to exercise church discipline in a godly, loving and redemptive way. We failed to love you as a fellow elder and brother in Christ.
Confessing our sins against you has been a process that has taken us some time. We have engaged in self-examination, challenged our memories of what happened by reviewing the documents and interviewing one another, and spent time listening to you and your wives tell your heartbreaking stories. Many of us have met personally with each of you over the years to confess our sin and to seek forgiveness for our sinful actions and inaction. We don't intend to convey by this letter that we are the only elders or former elders who've come to similar conclusions, and we hope that in time, the others will join us in public confession. Our desire is to clear the reproach from your names.
We hope that our confession also brings healing to the many past and present members of Mars Hill Church whose hearts were broken for you and your families as a result of our sin. As part of our commitment to walk in repentance, we invite anyone who has been impacted by our sins against you to contact any of us so we can continue to walk in repentance by listening, confessing, and asking for forgiveness.
Paul and Bent, we are sorry for our sinful behavior toward you, for harming you, and for bringing shame to Christ's church. We hope that you will forgive us. May the peace and grace of our Lord heal our hearts.
Mars Hill Elders as of October, 2007
—Scott Thomas
—Dave Kraft
—Gary Shavey
—Steve Tompkins
—Brad House
—Phil Smidt
—Mike Wilkerson
—James Harleman
—Lief Moi
—Adam Sinnett
—Jesse Winkler
—Zack Hubert
—Tim Reber
—James Dahlman
—Dick McKinley
Additional Mars Hill Elders as of December 5th, 2007
—Jon Krombein
—Matt Johnson
—Joe Day]]>
Mark Driscoll and C.J. Mahaney could have been Twin Brothers. Their tactics in silencing and destroying critics are near identical. Both men have repeatedly shown they will use all means necessary to attack and discredit those that correct or reprove them. This proverb perfectly describes how they respond.
Proverbs 9:7 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
Driscoll and Mahaney abusively scoff at those that correct them. They wickedly injure those that reprove them. Thankfully, Driscoll has left Mars Hill and some of its leaders are beginning to respond to the grace of God in humility. There is reason for hope.
Unfortunately, there is no reason for hope in Sovereign Grace Ministries. The attacking and discrediting has only intensified. Mahaney no longer holds high positions but he carries tremendous clout. All the men in key leadership positions are his clones and they carry on his deceitful and abusive leadership style.
To date there are no "Steve Tompkins" in Sovereign Grace Ministries. Maybe this humble and insightful confession will result in someone's conversion. I'd love to see that happen.
Letter from Pastor Steve Tompkins
October 24, 2014
Dear Former Members and Attenders of Mars Hill Church, especially those of you for whom I have had shepherding responsibility at Mars Hill Shoreline.
I am deeply sorry that so many people have experienced profound hurt over the years at Mars Hill. It breaks my heart that many continue to live with deep emotional and spiritual wounds, even long after leaving the church. I also realize that in my role as an elder, including as Lead Pastor at Shoreline, I share responsibility and complicity in some of the ways you have been hurt, disappointed, and sinned against at Mars Hill. For me this has been an ongoing process in which the depth of conviction and realization of my own sin seems to grow almost daily as does my sorrow over how people have been hurt. This has especially been so as I have had opportunity to sit down and hear people's stories directly. My purpose in this letter is to share some of the ways my perspective has changed, to confess my sin, to spell out my ongoing process of repentance, and perhaps—should God allow—play some role in his work of healing. Let me tell you a bit about the journey bringing me to write this letter.
Eight or nine months ago as I was reflecting on Revelation 2-3 (the letters to the seven churches), I began to feel that Jesus was placing Mars Hill under discipline and calling us to repent. Over the course of these past months this text of scripture, especially the first and last letters (those to Ephesus and Laodicea), have consistently formed the paradigm through which I have come to view events, attitudes, and decisions at Mars Hill. In these letters we see Jesus walking among his churches. He knows what is happening. He speaks his words of commendation as well as rebuke. He calls the churches to have ears to hear. He calls them to repent, and puts them on a timeline of his choosing. If they prove to have ears to hear, choose to humble themselves, confess their sins and repent, then the corporate outcome is joy and fruitfulness. If however, they fail to repent then the consequences are serious and severe, including the removal of the lampstand of his presence and his light. What strikes me as significant is that our sovereign King places the outcome in the hands of the church itself. This has profound implications.
First of all it means that what has been happening at Mars Hill is the work of Jesus in our midst. It means that the root of the problem is not satanic opposition or attack, nor is it social media or vocal online critics, nor is it the members or attenders of the church (past or present). Nor is it elders, deacons, staff and leaders who have called for change from within. In fact the root of the problem has been the leadership of the church who have been blindly committed to maintaining the status quo as if we simply need to push through what has so frequently been referred to as a "difficult season." All such attempts at crisis management and damage control are futile, foolish, and in fact create more harm since they are the polar opposite of repentance. I am convinced that Jesus is bringing his word of rebuke to the leadership (including me) through the Spirit. This is his word of loving discipline. In Rev 3:19 Jesus says, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent." I personally must have ears to hear and a heart to respond.
I have been at Mars Hill for over twelve years, on full time staff for more than eleven, a pastor for ten, and served as Lead Pastor of MH Shoreline for more than eight years. Jesus' call to repentance therefore is spoken to me as much as anyone at Mars Hill, for I have helped to build and perpetuate the culture of this church. Through sins both of commission and omission at various times I have been complicit. Recognizing this, I have been seeking over the last eight months to respond diligently and humbly. I have been asking Jesus to reveal my sin and show me where we have gone wrong as a church. He has proven faithful, progressively removing blinders and exposing my own MH-specific blind spots. He has been giving me new eyes and I now look back on my years at MH very differently. I see my sin in ways that previously I simply did not. It has been simultaneously painful and good.
For example, if the leadership and ministry culture at Mars Hill has been marked by arrogance (and it has), then I am coming to see how I have been marked by that same arrogance, and how I was blind to it, both in others and in myself. I now see how my own sin of arrogance within our arrogant culture therefore went unrecognized and unchallenged. In saying this, I am in no way blaming my sin on others or on the culture. On the contrary, my sin is my own sin which I freely confess. That is what I am now seeing with painful clarity. The same is true with the sin of domineering leadership. In fact, if you mix ministry arrogance together with top-down domineering leadership along with idolatry of church growth and numbers, then inevitably you create a ministry culture where many end up hurt, burned out, feeling used. I see this now, and I see how I helped to build such a culture. In fact, I am now beginning to see how my own idolatry of performance and ministry "success" played so well at Mars Hill. Again, I do not blame my sin on others or our culture. Rather, I am now seeing how I contributed to the hurt of faithful and trusting members, attenders and leaders. Please forgive me.
But there is another—and related—area of great sin and blindness that I need to address. In fact, I would say I consider this to be the darkest, most destructive and most hurtful aspect of Mars Hill's ministry culture by far. I call it the "ad hominem" narrative. Ad hominem is the Latin term for a tactic used when facing off with an opponent over an issue, whereby one seeks to win by attacking and discrediting their opponent rather that honestly debating the issue at hand. In one form or another ad hominem narrative (which can sound very reasonable, especially because it can contain elements of truth), has been consistently used for years to discredit voices of dissent and to silence accusation of wrongdoing and sin. What I have seen on multiple occasions is that when a leader raises an issue with Mars Hill or Mars Hill leadership, they themselves soon become the issue rather than the issue they raised. What they said, for example, is invalidated by how they said it, or because they did not follow proper procedure or protocol. Then, almost inevitably it is not long before they are gone from their position, their job, or the church itself. Often, their integrity was then slandered and their character maligned. Resorting to ad hominem narrative as a response to conflict is horrible and devastating in the extreme. Ad hominem narrative is essentially to defensive one's own righteousness rather than to trust the righteousness of Another. It never confesses or takes responsibility for sin. It is inconsistent with humility. It resists repentance at any cost. It is therefore antithetical to the gospel.
Sadly, I confess that I bought into this narrative in many ways and for too long. I trusted our leadership and sincerely believed their words. I sincerely led others to believe their words. Perhaps our leadership believed their own words, but this consistent narrative over the years became woven into the core of the culture of the church. It is profoundly dark and ugly. I see that now, but for a long time I was blind to it. I am so sorry. I have frequently chosen, when things get hard, to put my head down with my eyes forward, and simply to work hard. As a result I have had almost no rear view mirror, which I now realize contributed to my blindness. There are so many things I frankly did not see. Looking back prayerfully however, I now realize there were also a few situations where I did see but did not speak up or stand up when I should have. My silence in those situations was sinful and cowardly. In our coercive culture of fear I gave in to fear of man. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. May God have mercy on us. With blind Bartimaeus I continue to call out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (see Mark 10:46-52). May God bring true repentance, redemption and healing to me, the church, and indeed all of us.
Some may wonder why I have stayed at Mars Hill if indeed these are my convictions. The answer is quite simple and brings me back to Revelation 2-3 where Jesus calls—not just individuals—but entire churches to repentance. And if Jesus is calling Mars Hill to repent, then it is incumbent upon the elders to lead the way as those who must give an account. Therefore, I must repent as an elder in the office of elder taking responsibility for my sin as an elder. I must also seek to lead repentance and call others—especially among the elders—to join me every chance I get. This is what I am doing within Mars Hill as Jesus graciously continues opening my eyes. In addition, I have felt conviction before Jesus that I need to apologize and repent personally, face to face when possible, to former members, leaders and staff. I have therefore been revisiting situations that are years old as well as recent. I have been seeing them with new eyes and coming face to face with my own sin. This includes, for example, the events in 2007 ensuing from the (what I now believe to be the unjust and unfair) firing of pastors Paul Petry and Bent Meyer. I was involved in the subsequent events which included the official investigation process, the trial conducted by the elders, and the official shunning of the Petry family which followed. These events were profoundly devastating and damaging to both the Petry and Meyer families. I deeply regret my actions. I sinned against them through my participation as an elder, and desire to publicly redress these wrongs. I have recently reached out and apologized, repenting to them and seeking the beginning of reconciliation. From them I have received only grace and forgiveness. I am so grateful and humbled.
In many ways I feel like I am late to the table, but I am grateful to be here now. I have been reaching out to and meeting with a number of other former members, leaders, and staff as part of this ongoing process. God's grace has been profoundly present each time. Recently, I had the chance to stand on the stage at MH Shoreline, shoulder to shoulder with my fellow elders in front of gathered members as we each expressed our own repentance. I therefore intend to continue as an elder at Mars Hill as long as the process of repentance continues moving forward, and as long as there is hope for a more biblical and healthy plurality of elders to arise. In light of Mark Driscoll's resignation I believe this is a crucial time, representing an opportunity to truthfully acknowledge the destructive elements of the legacy of Mars Hill's leadership. Leaders need to confess sin specifically, taking full responsibility. Apologies need to be given in person where possible. Now is the time for genuine open-hearted face-to-face repentance. I would love to see healing come to thousands of former and present members, attenders and leaders so that we can all embrace a more healthy and joyful future. We have hope for this through him alone who is our loving and risen Savior. For this reason I intend to continue down this road inviting others to join me. It is because this is so important that I have decided to put my thoughts in writing at this time.
I intend to personally send this letter to as many people as I can. I freely give you permission to forward this to other former members and attenders of Mars Hill.
Brothers and sisters, I humbly ask your forgiveness for my sin in my role as a Mars Hill elder. I am deeply sorry for your suffering, and pray that Jesus will grant emotional, spiritual, and relational healing. I do realize that this letter represents a blanket confession, which in and of itself is inadequate. I do realize that confession and repentance needs to be specific and personal. So, I want you to know that I am not simply asking for blanket forgiveness from a distance as if that will result in the healing grace you need and long for. I do hope to reach out personally to as many as I can, but please know that you are welcome to contact me directly, or through someone you trust (just drop me a line on Facebook). I would be happy to speak with you or meet with you as soon as our schedules allow.
Steve Tompkins
October 27, 2014
I assume Machowski has written a good book on family devotions for Christmas. I know Reju has written a good book based upon Boz Tchividjian's endorsement.
"On Guard should be mandatory reading for every pastor! For too long, the sexual abuse of children has been one of the darkest places inside the Church. This is the reason I am so excited to endorse this book by Deepak Reju that helps to shine light and brings hope to this issue. Not only does this book do a thorough job in identifying the complex issues, but it also offers fantastic practical guidance on how to confront and address abuse in a manner that protects children and serves survivors." –Boz Tchividjian, Executive Director, GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment)
Mr. Tchividjian also provided this statement to blogger, Todd Wilhelm. It's important.
"As you know, I have written publicly about the SGM issue and the tragic statements that were posted by members of the Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel. (See: http://netgrace.org/where-are-the-voices-the-continued-culture-of-silence-and-protection-in-american-evangelicalism/)
I have known Deepak for a number of years and believe the burden he carries on this issue is very genuine. I believe that Deepak is in a unique position to be able to make a significant difference in the life of CHBC and its leadership as it relates to this incredibly important issue – protecting the lives of children and serving those who have survived abuse.
My endorsement of this book is based upon my conviction that it will ultimately protect children – this includes children from faith communities whose leaders we may strongly disagree with regarding their decisions and associations. In my opinion, little ones deserve nothing less from all of us."
Some dots need to be connected in order to understand the significance of this statement. Deepak Reju works for Mark Dever as an assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC). Boz believes Deepak "is in a unique position" to "make a significant difference in the life of CHBC and its leadership" in preventing and responding to child abuse. Of course, Boz has Mark Dever foremost in mind. Why? Because Dever is one the six men who authored "the tragic statements that were posted by members of the Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel." Mr. Tchividjian passionately spoke out against Dever's statement. He provides the link above.
I've also written about these statements and just this week posted evidence that Mark Dever never read The Second Amended Complaint (i.e., lawsuit) before he cleared C.J. Mahaney of all wrong doing in the Seconded Amended Complaint.
I'm glad Deepak Reju has written this book. I'm sickened Marty Machowski wrote a featured endorsement. Mark Dever might have been a better choice. Here's why.
Machowski is a prominent pastor in Sovereign Grace Ministries at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA. He's has commended C.J. Mahaney as fit for ministry, said all the difficulties in his church are due to the devil, wholeheartedly supported a statement by his friend, Executive Director Mark Prater, that victims of sexual abuse in SGM made up their stories, and badly mistreated adult and child victims of sexual abuse in his own church.
Machowski writing an endorsement for a book on how to care for victims of sexual abuse is like Mahaney writing an endorsement for a book on reporting suspected pedophiles to law enforcement. It leads people to believe you have practiced what is taught in the book. That you are an example. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Machowski is a pretender. I've removed the names of the victims and added explanatory comments in brackets [ ].
From: [Victim & Mother of Victims]
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 2:27 PM
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Subject: not knowing where to begin...
Dear Brent,
You don't know me, and the only things I know of you have come from years of reading things you've written, including the 600 or so emails (or pages?) that were posted online a few years ago. I have also appreciated the times I heard you speak at Covenant Fellowship Church.
I don't know where to begin, except to tell you that a concerned church member just forwarded something to me regarding something you wrote, regarding a situation with church members who have committed acts of sexual abuse against children. It's hard to hold back the tears right now, as I discover, for the first time, that we may not be as alone as I thought we were.
Our family is one more Sovereign Grace family in which serious and repeated sexual abuse of our beautiful daughter occurred over the course of about 14 years and with the church's full knowledge. The abuser was my husband. I only went to the church after years of silence - because our family desperately needed help. The church's reaction and various responses are hard for me to even grasp. I don't know if we will ever recover. If you were to read the pastoral records over the past 15 years, detailing the times my daughter and I went to our pastor [Marty Machowski] for help - and the responses our pastor gave us - you would probably be shocked as well. The church forbid my husband to be anywhere near children's ministry, yet they supported him in his efforts to be around his own children [two of whom he sexually abused], and pressured me to forgive and reconcile with him [just like other victims in SGM]. The message I repeatedly received was the mandate to focus on the sin in my own heart, and forgive my husband. How did our pastor put it… "Reconciliation always honors the Lord." To which I could only respond, "No, truth is what honors the Lord. Repentance is what honors the Lord." I have years of emails and letters to document this, as well as pastoral records. [Hundreds of pages of documentation were sent to me.]
You don't know me, but I was a committed member of Covenant Fellowship Church for 19 years. I LOVED our church, and focused our entire family life around actively serving the church, raising our children in the church, etc. I believed in Sovereign Grace with my whole heart, and I believed that part of the humility of joining a church is covenanting to submit to leadership that, at times, is imperfect. So I submitted to our pastor [Marty Machowski] and trusted his advice for years. He sure threw my children and I to the wolves. His responses always seemed more like "damage control" to me, than any willingness to hear the truth. [I've read the evidence and agree with her assessment. She and her children were terribly treated.]
You cannot imagine what I am feeling right now - to discover for the first time that I'm not alone?? [Like so many other victims in SGM who had no idea sexual abuse, and the cover up of sexual abuse, was so widespread.] That there are others who have experienced something similar in a Sovereign Grace Church??? I am not one to jump on a bandwagon. However what has gone on in our church is just plain wrong. And the damage it has done to our family is almost indescribable. We're still suffering the repercussions of being ostracized from the church - for "resisting efforts to reconcile." (By the way, my husband is happy as a lark that he's gotten off scott-free and has been reinstated in the church. Although he admitted to me that his problem of pedophilia has gone on for years, he is still unrepentant. He says he "gets such pleasure from his sin...he can't imagine living without it."
What has been my response until now? Well, currently, as often as thoughts and memories flash back, I pray for the Lord to HELP me forgive...because I'm willing to forgive. I am also willing, after all these years, to speak up. I'm not out for vengeance. I recognize the evil that has been "winked at" in our own church, the lives that have been destroyed by our church's actions as well as inactions, and I'm willing to speak up - if it will help others. If there is any sort of class action being taken, I am willing to contribute years of firsthand experiences and documented letters and emails. May God forgive me if it's wrong to speak the truth in this matter...
From: [Victim & Mother of Victims]
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2013 9:57 AM
To: Brent Detwiler
Subject: Re: following up
Hi Brent,
I know you are busy, so I had no expectation of hearing follow-up from you! However, I will tell you that your support in this matter has been extremely valuable to me. The Lord has been working on my heart in the past few months. ...
As I have compiled a mountain of previous emails and letters to/from my pastors - and re-read/scanned a few - I find myself feeling anger over the blatant wrongs that were committed by our church leaders. How I wish I had had more courage and clarity of thought to have spoken up in the past! While I have no natural desire now to speak against God's Bride and against specific men of God, my resolve to at least speak the truth is growing stronger. Simply put, God honors the truth. My prayer is simply that the Lord would help me guard my heart and my motives, and keep me from a spirit of vengeance, bitterness, or retribution as memories are revived - while equipping me to speak the truth and helping me to remember details that I've tried to forget. (When you and I talked, I briefly shared what my husband had done to my daughter. I didn't tell you the things he did to me [or her son]. Sometimes it's merciful the way our minds are able to block out memories.)
One brief rabbit trail - Are you familiar with Boz Tchividjian (a grandson of Billy Graham), down in Virginia? He was well known for his work in prosecuting sex offenders as Assistant State Attorney in Florida. He's presently founder and executive director of GRACE. Anyway, he became involved in our case and offered to talk with our pastors and advise them.
Our pastors turned his offer down. When I asked Marty Machowski how he could turn down an offer to at least communicate with a godly man of Boz's stature, expertise, and experience, my question met with silence...no response at all. …
After 8 years of waiting for [my husband] to confess and repent, I recently took the step of filing for divorce. Even Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, seemed to show compassion toward women and children who were being harmed by a man's immorality.
Thank you for following up, Brent. I do hope and trust that the Lord is at work in your life as well, and that He is equipping you for many good works in the years to come!
Lord bless you,
From: [Victim & Mother of Victims]
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 1:41 PM
To: email@example.com
Subject: RE: SGM class action lawsuit
Hi Brent,
I hope you are well - and finding the grace to continue bringing the truth into the light.
The first thing I did this summer was pick up an amazing book by Eric Metaxas, entitled "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy." It does inspire me to read of heroes of the faith who have paid a heavy price at the hands of men - for telling the truth and for holding tightly to the Word of God. Yet, I'm continually amazed when I encounter men who do not appear to be concerned with the truth. I have often observed quietly that the pastors of my former church, Covenant Fellowship, seemed more concerned with "damage control" than with the truth. I never told anyone this before, but in my eyes, it was brutally apparent on numerous occasions.
As I write this, I'm facing renewed pressure from my husband to "reconcile and reunify" (spurred on by Andy Farmer and Marty Machowski). It's been 8 YEARS since our separation, and about 6 years since I resigned from the church - and the pressure continues. To date, my husband has turned himself inside out to regain his reputation in the eyes of men - and he's quite smug in his supportive audience of these two pastors. While it's true that he's repented of a few general, "peripheral" issues, [he] has yet to repent of the numerous physical and sexual abuse issues that caused me to leave him and leave our church. My lawyer told me recently: "Doesn't your church get it -- that CYS [Child & Youth Services] will take your children away from YOU if you go back to your husband?!??"
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that reconciliation is being confused with restoration here. I can reconcile, in the sense that I have a mandate to forgive what he's asking forgiveness for, but I don't think it necessarily follows that he should be restored as the leader of our family, with free license to do what he wants to us.
Anyway, Brent, I do want to do what I can to help bring the truth into the light, and I do have some pastoral emails that may be quite helpful. Would you be willing to share your mailing address, so I can mail them to you?
Also, our local county District Attorney's office has had some run-in's with Covenant Fellowship pastors in the past over allegations of sexual abuse.
While allegations of this nature are unfortunately commonplace these days, the assistant DA involved expressed his grief over the WAY IN WHICH our church handled the specific situations. In other words, CFC has a history; our family has not been the first nor the last. In our case, the finger-pointing never went back as far as our church...I'm the one who obstructed it and defended our church, believing I was being led by godly men who would do no wrong. I never suspected my pastor [Marty Machowski] would turncoat on the children and me, charging me with "failure to cooperate with reconciliation" of our family and ignoring the facts.
Here is the contact information for the Assistant District Attorney who's been involved with CFC in other cases of alleged sexual abuse. He may be only too glad to offer information. I know he grieves for the women and children who have been hurt by our church. Feel free to use my name as a reference. …
It's a shame that my daughter would be required to testify. This is MY issue with the church -- which I shielded her from at the time. Much of what [my husband and her father] did to her, I was an eyewitness to and involved in trying to stop him. So it's a shame I can't testify to those things. However, perhaps supplying you with emails from the church will be second-best. …
Lord bless you.
The pretentions of Marty Machowski make me ill! By endorsing the book, he champions himself as an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, when in fact; he, his church and his denomination have trampled upon the victims of sexual abuse. The gross hypocrisy angers me. Westminster Bookstore should pull his endorsement immediately!
I've written hundreds of pages on the deceitful and controlling practices of the pastors of Covenant Fellowship Church. In particular, those of Mark Prater, Jared Mellinger and Dave Harvey before he left the church. Marty Machowski is a new addition but he's been on my radar screen for a long time. Here are a few documented examples of their duplicity and heavy handedness.
What Does My Website Have in Common with Pornography? Ask Jared Mellinger!
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 3:10 PM
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Dave Harvey, the Number 2 Leader in Sovereign Grace Ministries, Steps Down from All Responsibilities
December 21, 2012 at 2:33 PM
All these men used to be friends and I played a role in their training for ministry. It is hard to describe how far SGM has fallen. Those with a semblance of integrity left the denomination. That includes approximately ten thousand people. And yet, those leaders that remain continue to commend themselves and condemn any who speak out against them including the victims of sexual abuse. I am reminded of the Edomites to whom Jeremiah said, "The pride of your hearts has deceived you." (Jer 49:16)
On June 30, 2013, Machowski preached a message entitled, Judas the Betrayer. In an altogether self-righteous manner (listen to the message), he cited Satan as the reason for Dave Harvey's departure from Covenant Fellowship Church, churches leaving SGM, my blog, and the sex abuse lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries. None of these were due to the sins of SGM leaders, the discipline of God, an effort to see justice and reform in SGM, or the righteous actions of victims seeking redress. They were all the work of the devil.
In fact, Machowski compared these to "the same opposition of the enemy" that Jesus faced when the devil entered Judas Iscariot's heart (John 13:27). Such is the proud and delusional thinking of Machowski.
"Our enemy [Satan] prows around like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. Have you noticed his handy work in our trials lately? I've been here for 25 years as Jared said and I've seen the enemy and his lies and his tricks in season after season come against the church. And those of you who have been here this whole time, you know exactly some of the events that I am referring to. But in this last season we have seen raging disease attacking the people that we love and bringing them to premature death. Marriages in some lives collapsing after years. Losing two pastors [including Dave Harvey] from our team in two very different situations. Some churches we love leaving SGM as we clarify our church leadership and our government. Some of our children rebelling to follow the world. Seeing gossip and slander [my blog and documents] fill this new cyber world somehow feeling like they are exonerated from the Word of God which says "Do everything without complaining" and "Gossip is wrong." Somehow they think that is a place where complaining and criticism is okay. Those people completely blind to good fruit, they see only trial. The lawsuit against Sovereign Grace, later then dismissed [but not on its merits]. You know, I've talked to some people, being that I've been here a while, and they ask me, "What's going on? What is going on here?"… I'll tell you what is going on. It is the same opposition of the enemy that we saw in that day. In that day, Jesus knew what was going on." [Marty Machowski, Judas the Betrayer, Covenant Fellowship Church, June 30, 2013, Minutes 25:45-28:17]
No one in SGM speaks of God's discipline, judgment, or opposition. They believe Satan is seeking to destroy them because they are so fruitful and righteous. Just like he tried to destroy Jesus.
I have no doubt Satan is at work in Sovereign Grace Ministries but it is due to their disobedience. Listen to James.
James 4:7-10 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Only when SGM does what is outlined in this text will any attempt to "resist the devil" be successful. He needs to be resisted but that occurs when we submit ourselves to God in obedience. Otherwise, he has access to our lives and churches.
The devil has established a strong hold in SGM because they've done nothing in these verses. His grip has only tightened. That is why they continue to deceive and be deceived. Listen to Paul.
Eph 6:11, 14 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…having fastened on the belt of truth.
The belt of truth is more than doctrinal truth. It includes ethical truth embodied in honesty, integrity and accountability. SGM has no belt. That is one reason why it's been overwhelmed by "the schemes of the devil."
Take for example Machowski's reference to "The lawsuit against Sovereign Grace, later then dismissed." He leads the church to believe the lawsuit was dismissed because it was without merit when he knows full well the dismissal had nothing to do with merits of the lawsuit. It had to do with statute of limitations and lack of jurisdiction. I hate deception.
And consider the words of John.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
When Sovereign Grace Ministries confesses and renounces their lies, the father of lies, will flee. In the meanwhile, SGM leaders continue to deceive and cover up. Most recently, Mark Prater put out a statment saying the horrors experienced by multiple victims of sex abuse in SGM were untrue. He also said C.J. Mahaney and others never covered up those horrors as charged by the victims and their families. That is a demonic scheme. The father of lies is hard at work.
I continue to hold SGM accountable for its actions, write about lessons to be learned, work for criminal justice, seek reform in the Body of Christ, and care for victims who have been harmed. Much of what I do is unseen. Would you please consider a gift or donation? We are in need of your kind support. Thanks!
Please Help - All Gifts & Tax Deductible Contributions Are Kept Strictly Confidential]]>
They are not alone in their travesty. Al Mohler, Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan didn't read the lawsuit either. The evidence is conclusive. These six men worked together with Mahaney in executing a sophisticated plan to vindicate him without examining the evidence. Indeed, they intentionally ignored the evidence and distorted the evidence. Never have I seen such a display of bias by national leaders in my 40 years of Christian ministry.
I written these men on several occasions but they are unwilling to answer questions or be accountable for their actions. They have defended a man who is responsible for the cover up of heinous crimes. Don't take my word for it. Listen to these comments by Assistant States Attorney Jessica Hall in her opening statement at the Nathaniel Morales trial. The cover up she describes occurred while Mahaney was the senior pastor at Covenant Life Church.
Jessica Hall
Assistant State's Attorney
Opening Statement
Monday, May 12, 2014
"And Sam ultimately did not keep quiet. He did unfortunately wait until he was an adult and when he told people about the abuse as an adult he went to the church and he brought the abuse forward to the church and laid it on the doorstep and asked them to do something about it. He assumed the church would do the right thing. That they would report the abuse to the authorities. That they would go to the police so that Mr. Morales would be held accountable for his actions. But the church did not. You will hear from witnesses in the church and from Mr. Bates himself that the church covered it up. The church protected Mr. Morales."
"Jeremy will tell that always he wanted to do something about the abuse and he always wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen to anyone else but he thought going to the church authorities would be sufficient. He had no idea that the church would cover up for Mr. Morales. He had no idea that the church would protect a man who molested children."
"And we are here today, ladies and gentlemen, in 2014 that this man [Nathaniel Morales] sexually molested three boys, Sam, Jeremy and Brian and when the abuse was occurring the boys didn't tell. And several years after the abuse ended and the abuse was disclosed to church authorities, the church did nothing. They ignored the abuse. The church pretended the abuse didn't happen. They accepted the defendant's apology and went on with their lives. They ignored the fact that heinous crimes had been committed."
Carson, DeYoung and Taylor continue to stand by their statement despite the above and the fact they never read the Second Amended Complaint. Their categorical defense of Mahaney remains on The Gospel Coalition website. How can that be?
I recently wrote Tim Keller's Double Standard for Mark Driscoll. It serves as another example of celebrity leaders failing to hold celebrity leaders accountable to the Bible from which they make a living. It must end! Leaders like Mahaney and Driscoll should have been removed from ministry for their lying, deceit and abusive leadership long ago. Instead, they were promoted these past ten years like no one else in the evangelical Body of Christ. They became venerated icons in a celebrity culture. This was especially true in The Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel. Powerful men promoted them and refused to hear, read, or act upon the evidence against them.
I sincerely hope Carson, DeYoung, Taylor, Mohler, Dever and Duncan will acknowledge their passionate defense of Mahaney was filled with bias, error and prejudice. They didn't read the Second Amended Complaint, or if they did, covered up the evidence it contained. Who will hold them accountable? I fear no one. They have protected someone who did not report suspected or known sex abusers to law enforcement for 30 years.
The correspondence that follows is self-explanatory.
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 4:43 PM
To: Don Carson; Kevin DeYoung; Justin Taylor
Subject: Your Statement of Support for C.J.
Importance: High
Don, Kevin, and Justin,
I recently re-read your statement from May 24, 2013 entitled, "Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit." As a result, I discovered two things that are extremely troubling. One, you never read the Second Amended Complaint when you publicly exonerated C.J. of all charges in the lawsuit. Two, you used an antiquated quote by C.J.'s lawyer without attribution that badly misled your readership. I will come to these charges shortly. First, a little review.
Sixteen months ago, you concluded the following in your statement of support for C.J. on The Gospel Coalition website.
"So the entire legal strategy was dependent on a conspiracy theory that was more hearsay than anything like reasonable demonstration of culpability. As to the specific matter of C. J. participating in some massive cover-up, the legal evidence was so paltry (more like non-existent) that the judge did not think a trial was even warranted."
This categorical vindication of C.J., disparaging critique of the lawyers for the victims of sexual abuse alleging a conspiracy, and misrepresentation of the judge's ruling was deplorable. I refuted each aspect of your conclusion and a host of other errors in my blog post, Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung and Justin Taylor Defend C.J. Mahaney against Charges in SGM Sex Abuse Scandal. I'd recommend you re-read it.
Five months ago, I sent you this appeal asking to interact. No one responded.
Multiple Trials of Nathaniel Morales Set to Begin
Saturday, May 10, 2014 at 1:40 PM
An appeal. Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, John MacArthur, John Piper, Thabiti Anyabwile, Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, and Justin Taylor - please attend the May 12-16 criminal trial of Nathaniel Morales for the sexual abuse of boys in C.J.'s former church under C.J.'s leadership. C.J. knew full well about these abuses but did nothing. He did not report to law enforcement, alert others in harm's way, or stop the predator. As a result, Morales went on to abuse other youth in other states including stepsons. This is all due to C.J.'s cover up of his [Morales'] crimes. Honesty, C.J. should be put in jail, not in the box seats at T4G. Your support of him is a betrayal of all the victims in Sovereign Grace Ministries. Like C.J., you need to repent!
A request. I want to meet or video conference with the nine of you in private in order to present the overwhelming evidence of a widespread conspiracy to commit and cover up sex abuse in Covenant Life Church and Sovereign Grace Ministries. Your support of C.J. is unconscionable. This should meet with no objection if you are interested in the truth. C.J. is welcome to participate. I am also glad to talk individually. Please contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com.
I pleaded to talk or meet with you before the Nathaniel Morales trial this past May in order to present some of the evidence for his crimes and for C.J.'s role in the conspiracy to cover up those crimes. You ignored the offer. I trust by now you have listen to the audio or read the transcript from the court proceedings. The evidence for a conspiracy is overwhelming. That's why the State's Attorney's Office for Montgomery County, Maryland repeatedly charged Covenant Life Church with covering up the crimes committed against Sam Bates, Brian Wolohan, and Jeremy Cook. Grant Layman, who reported to C.J. and is his brother-in-law, also gave sworn testimony of a long term conspiracy. So did the victims and other witnesses.
And yet it appears you have learned nothing from the trial. Your statement affirming C.J.'s innocence remains on The Gospel Coalition website. It should have been removed, heavily edited, or a new statement written in keeping with the legal evidence now readily available. I hope you will quickly repudiate what you wrote. This is not the reason for my writing however.
I want to address new concerns that arise from these five sentences in "Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit."
[1] "The plaintiffs' counsel therefore alleged a wide-ranging 'conspiracy theory,' hoping that this would overcome the legal requirements regarding the time between when the alleged crimes took place and the filing of the civil lawsuit. [2] This is apparently what the judge dismissed, determining that it would not even proceed to a trial. [3] If you listen carefully to the attorneys' explanations of the case on radio programs and other venues, they essentially acknowledged that they had no proof of a conspiracy. [4] As the motion to dismiss points out, although C. J. Mahaney is named as an individual defendant, 'the sole allegation against him in the Complaint is that he founded Sovereign Grace Ministries ("SGM") and is currently its President. … [5] He is not specifically identified or alleged to have performed any other act or omission throughout the 143-paragraph Complaint.'"
Your first sentence is correct. The plaintiffs' counsel, Susan Burke and William O'Neil, "alleged a wide-ranging 'conspiracy theory" to overcome the statute of limitations.
Your second sentence is incorrect. The May 18 dismissal by Judge Sharon Burrell in Maryland was based solely on the statute of limitation for Maryland plaintiffs and the lack of jurisdiction for Virginia plaintiffs. She said so in her ruling which you did not read per your own admission in the statement. The dismissal had nothing to do with any "apparent" lack of proof regarding the conspiracy. I deal with this flagrant error in the blog post cited above.
Your third sentence is absurd. You claim Burke and O'Neil "essentially acknowledged that they had no proof of a conspiracy." That is a complete misrepresentation of the truth.
Your fourth sentence is misleading if not deceptive. It is one of two reasons for writing.
In the second sentence, you say "the judge dismissed." In the fourth sentence, you say "the motion to dismiss points out." Most people reading your statement are to going to think the judge's dismissal is the motion to dismiss but in fact, "the motion to dismiss" you quote has absolutely nothing to do with the ruling by Judge Burrell. This leads the reader to believe the judge said, or at least agreed with, sentence four.
"The sole allegation against him [Mahaney] in the Complaint [lawsuit] is that he founded Sovereign Grace Ministries ("SGM") and is currently its President. … He is not specifically identified or alleged to have performed any other act or omission throughout the 143-paragraph Complaint."
As you know, this quote doesn't come from Judge Burrell, it comes from one of C.J.'s lawyers, Thomas Patrick Ryan, and it is found in a 25 page pretrial appeal to Judge Burrell to dismiss the lawsuit. Here is the relevant excerpt.
Memorandum of Grounds and Authorities in Support of Motion to Dismiss Defendants Covenant Life Church, Inc., Charles Joseph Mahaney, Gary Ricucci, John Loftness and Grant Layman
Most of Plaintiffs' allegations fail to specify which Defendant is alleged to have performed specific acts. For example, although Charles Joseph Mahaney is named as an individual Defendant, the sole allegation against him in the Complaint is that he founded Sovereign Grace Ministries ("SGM") and is currently its President. (Complaint 13) He is not specifically identified or alleged to have performed any other act or omission throughout the 143-paragraph Complaint. (p. 3)
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas Patrick Ryan
Attorneys for Defendants Covenant Life Church, Inc., Charles Joseph Mahaney, Gary Ricucci, John Loftness and Grant Layman
This legal memorandum was filed with Judge Sharon Burrell and copied to eight lawyers from seven firms on February 25, 2013. That is three months before her ruling to dismiss on May 18. Yet, you lead people to believe this statement was made at the time of the dismissal by Burrell. It was not.
Furthermore, the memorandum was not publicly released by Sovereign Grace Ministries and this quote was never used by SGM in their press releases. Your readership had no idea from where the quote came. Obviously, C.J. or his lawyers provided it and you quoted it without giving context and background.
Don, Kevin, and Justin, why in the world are you quoting the opinion of C.J.'s lawyer? Why are you affirming his bogus statement as true? Why don't you tell your readers who is the source of the quote? Why do you make it appear like this quote is from the judge or the position of the judge?
Moreover, this memorandum by Thomas Patrick Ryan was based upon the First Amended Complaint which was filed on January 11, 2013. It was not based upon the Second Amended Complaint which was filed on May 14, 2013. This brings me to sentence five.
"He [Mahaney] is not specifically identified or alleged to have performed any other act or omission throughout the 143-paragraph Complaint.'"
C.J. is "not specifically identified" in the 143-paragraph First Amended Complaint but he is specifically identified in the 218-paragraph Second Amended Complaint. For example:
Complaint 109. Defendants Ecelbarger, Gallo, Mullery and V. Hinders, conspiring together and with Defendants Mahaney and Loftness, violated their mandatory reporting obligations and conspired together to cover up [name withheld pending court ruling on defense motion]'s molestation of children.
Complaint 112. Defendants Ecelbarger, Mullery, V. Hinders and D. Hinders conspired with Defendant Loftness, Mahaney, and upon information and belief the other individual Defendants to cover up [name withheld pending court ruling on defense motion]'s ongoing molestation of young children and to violate the laws on mandatory reporting. Defendant Mahaney and Loftness imposed "church discipline" on [name withheld pending court ruling on defense motion] for failing to control his [name withheld pending court ruling on defense motion]. This conspiracy remains ongoing.
Complaint 138. Discovery will show that Defendants Mullery, David Hinder and Vince Hinders spoke with Maryland-based Defendants Mahaney and Loftness, and together conspired to prevent any reporting to the secular authorities.
Complaint 157. Rather than report the ongoing abuse to the secular authorities or take any steps to stop the abuse, Defendants informed the father that his children had reported the abuse. This led to further abuse by the father. In exchange for the conspiracy of silence, the abusive father paid to send Defendants Mahaney, Ricucci and Layman and their families on vacation to the Kiawah Islands, South Carolina.
You didn't know C.J. was identified by name in the Second Amended Complaint because you did not read the Second Amended Complaint. Therefore, you had no idea what evidence it contained. That is incomprehensible. Proof of a conspiracy fills its 46 pages.
This abject ignorance was overcome when I sent you, "Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung & Justin Taylor Defend C.J. Mahaney against Charges in SGM Sex Abuse Scandal" the day after your wrote, "Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit." That was five months ago and yet you have not corrected your error. Why is that? Are you concerned that a correction would bring attention to the fact you didn't read the SAC and quoted a lawyer without attribution in a manner that gave the impression it came from the judge or represented the ruling of the judge?
I'd also like to ask how you came upon this specific quote. You used it in your statement.
"One of the so-called discernment blogs—often trafficking more in speculation and gossip than edifying discernment—reprinted a comment from a woman who issued this ominous wish, 'I hope [this lawsuit] ruins the entire organization [of SGM] and every single perpetrator and co-conspirator financially, mentally and physically.'"
I wrote this in response.
"There are thousands of comments on SGMSurvivors and of course these men select this one as though representative of all the comments. Wow, they must think we are just plain stupid."
In retrospect, I don't think you selected this quote. I think you were provided this quote by C.J. Is that true? I can't imagine you combed through thousands of comments on SGMSurvivors and happened upon this specific comment for your blog post.
Would you answer another question? C.J. and his lawyers were obviously providing you select material. Have you asked C.J. why he didn't provide you the Second Amended Complaint when you were working on your statement of categorical support? Or did he provide it but the three of you chose not to read it? I doubt that is the case. I am left to conclude you were without the Second Amended Complaint by C.J.'s design. He withheld it from you.
Furthermore, I can't imagine you posted the statement without C.J. (and probably his lawyers) seeing it first. Tell me I'm wrong? That means C.J. purposely let you publish information he knew to be false. In other words, he knew he was identified by name in the Second Amended Complaint but he did not stop you from saying he was unidentified by name in the lawsuit. That is the way he operates. At the very least, he should have corrected your flagrant error the same day you posted and asked you to change it immediately. Instead, he let the deception that he is not mentioned in the lawsuit continue as it does to this very day.
This brings me to another important point. In "Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit" you give the following reason for posting.
"Over the past several months we often weighed the idea of writing a statement like this. Every time we concluded that caution was the better course. It is generally unwise to make public comments concerning a civil case that is being considered for trial or currently under deliberation. But now that most of the complaints filed in the SGM Ministries civil lawsuit have been dismissed, it seems an appropriate time to explain our silence and some of our thinking behind it."
This explanation is a half-truth at best. It gives the impression that the three of you decided to write this statement at this exact time on your own and that solely due to the dismissal. You know full well that is not the whole true.
In fact, you were working closely with C.J., SGM leaders, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and Ligon Duncan in executing a carefully orchestrated plan to commend C.J. and condemn me. That is undeniable. I'd love to see all your emails from May 2013.
Here's a brief chronological overview of events.
Oct 12, 2012 - Original Complaint filed – 3 plaintiffs, 115 paragraphs
Jan 11, 2013 - First Amended Complaint filed – 8 plaintiffs, 143 paragraphs
Feb 23, 2013 - Memorandum of Grounds and Authorities in Support of Motion to Dismiss Defendants Covenant Life Church, Inc., Charles Joseph Mahaney, Gary Ricucci, John Loftness and Grant Layman
May 14, 2013 - Second Amended Complaint filed – 11 plaintiffs, 218 paragraphs
May 18, 2013 - Second Amended Complaint dismissed by Judge Sharon Burrell due to statute of limitations and lack of jurisdiction but the not substance of allegations in lawsuit
May 23, 2013 - "Statement from Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and Albert Mohler" – posted on the Together for the Gospel website at 10:40 PM
May 24, 2013 - "A Statement from Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, and Justin Taylor - Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit" – posted on The Gospel Coalition website at 7:00 AM
May 24, 2013 - At their inaugural meeting, 50 out of 62 national elders on the Council of Elders for SGM approved a motion to excommunicate me and "vigorously reiterate our support of C.J. Mahaney as a qualified minister of the gospel."
May 25, 2013 - I posted and sent you "Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung and Justin Taylor Defend C.J. Mahaney against Charges in SGM Sex Abuse Scandal."
As demonstrated above, three major events occurred in less than 24 hours. Mark, Lig and Al posted their statement. You posted your statement. SGM condemned me and commended C.J. This was not due to some unusual providence of God. It was due to C.J. and his manipulation of powerful leaders in and outside of SGM like yourselves.
This is also clear from the mirror image content found in the statement of support by Mark, Lig and Al. For example, they use the same half-truth explanation for writing as you did.
"We are friends who have been brought together for the gospel. Over the last several months, we have wanted to speak publicly to the issues that have related to our friend C. J. Mahaney. A Maryland judge's recent action to dismiss a lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries offers us the first opportunity, and responsibility, to speak to this issue."
They also paraphrase the quote by C.J.'s lawyer provided you in "Memorandum of Grounds and Authorities in Support of Motion to Dismiss Defendants Covenant Life Church, Inc., Charles Joseph Mahaney, Gary Ricucci, John Loftness and Grant Layman."
"A Christian leader, charged with any credible, serious, and direct wrongdoing, would usually be well advised to step down from public ministry. No such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C. J. Mahaney. Instead, he was charged with founding a ministry and for teaching doctrines and principles that are held to be true by vast millions of American evangelicals. For this reason, we, along with many others, refused to step away from C. J. in any way. We do not regret that decision."
Like you, this quote also reveals that Mark, Lig and Al did not read the Second Amended Complaint. I've written them regarding the same.
I imagine you were all in a great hurry to accomplish your mission since the Second Amended Complaint was dismissed four days after it was filed. That caught everyone by surprise. There must have been a great rush to put together and execute this plan that largely failed. People saw through the conspiracy. For your effort, you received a lot of blow back for the evident bias and partiality on display in the statement. So did Mark, Lig and Al for their statement.
There is, however, one part of your statement with which I wholeheartedly agree. It is this.
"It needs to be said in no uncertain terms that the actual acts alleged in the lawsuit are utterly evil—an offense against a holy God and an act of hatred against innocent children. They are horrifying and revolting. … Pastors who learn of such abuses should contact the appropriate authorities immediately, institute church discipline, and apply the whole counsel of God (including both law and gospel). … Furthermore, pastors are responsible to obey all mandatory reporting laws, alerting law-enforcement officials and fully cooperating with all investigations. This is not an alternative to church discipline and gospel counsel, but a necessary and complementary role of divinely instituted civil authorities."
By now, you should know C.J. did NONE of the above in relation to Nathaniel Morales who was convicted on seven counts of sex abuse/offense against four victims and is currently serving a 40 year sentence. By now, you should also know that Morales continued to abuse boys in Covenant Life Church and around the nation for 20 years because C.J. did not immediately report him to law enforcement. By now, you should further know that the conspiracy to cover up is not confined to Nathaniel Morales.
Brothers, you have grievously erred in the past. I sincerely hope you have the humility and integrity to acknowledge your errors and begin to investigate C.J. without partiality and favoritism in submission to the authority of Scripture (1 Tim 5:20). It's time to read the Second Amended Complaint, court transcripts and my blog. It is time for us to talk. It is time for me to put you in touch with victims and witnesses. It is time for you to exercise godly leadership in the Body of Christ and stop being used by C.J. like pawns and puppets. You cannot continue to blindly support C.J. like Kevin did recently when he preached at C.J.'s church on August 3. It must end.
"Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit" should be not be on The Gospel Coalition website because it promotes a caricature of reality. The fact it remains is clear testimony you have not dealt with past evidence or researched new evidence. You've let stand a statement that absolves C.J. of all wrong doing including crimes I believe the evidence shows he committed. That is incredulous.
I also hope you will be honest with your readership and tell them the following.
Right after the trials of Nathaniel Morales in May, C.J. put out a statement claiming he was innocent of all wrong doing but could not "speak freely" in his defense because of the "ongoing civil lawsuit." The lawsuit is over. It was closed on September 22.
"For nearly two years now, I have remained silent about a civil lawsuit brought against various parties including myself. During that time, many have urged me to respond publicly and address the accusations against me. These pleas have only intensified over the last week in light of reports of testimony in a recent trial. I look forward to the day when I can speak freely. For now, the simple and extraordinarily unsatisfying reality—for myself and others—is that in the face of an ongoing civil lawsuit, I simply cannot speak publicly to the specifics of these events." (May 22, 2014)
Now that the lawsuit is behind, C.J. doesn't have to remain silent. He can break his two years of silence and experience the extraordinarily satisfying realty of speaking publically to the specific accusations against him and others like John Loftness and Gary Ricucci in the lawsuit. And yet three weeks have gong by but he has said nothing.
Don, Kevin, and Justin, you've been beguiled by a man who has protected sexual predators by transgressing mandatory reporting laws and conspired with others to cover up their heinous crimes. It is inconceivable that you believe the sole allegation against C.J. in the lawsuit was he founded Sovereign Grace Ministries and served as its President.
Proverbs 17:15 is strong medicine but it applies. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD." That is what you have done in relation to C.J. and in relation to those victims who have charged him with a conspiracy to cover up the sexual abuse they personally experienced.
I sincerely hope you take responsibility for your actions, rectify the past, make amends, and help C.J. do the same. As always, I am willing to meet or talk with you as individuals or a group. Feel free to email at email@example.com or call me at XXX.
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 8:06 AM
To: Don Carson; Kevin DeYoung; Justin Taylor
Subject: Questions Regarding Reading & Use of SAC
Importance: High
Don, Kevin, and Justin,
Two weeks ago I asked you the following questions.
"Would you answer another question? C.J. and his lawyers were obviously providing you select material. Have you asked C.J. why he didn't provide you the Second Amended Complaint when you were working on your statement of categorical support? Or did he provide it but the three of you chose not to read it? I doubt that is the case. I am left to conclude you were without the Second Amended Complaint by C.J.'s design. He withheld it from you."
I graciously concluded you didn't read the Second Amended Complaint (SAC) because C.J. did not provide you the SAC. That may, or may not, be true. I'd still like to know but here's what I recently discovered – I sent you the SAC! Stupid me for forgetting! Thank God for written records.
The SAC was filed in the Montgomery County Circuit Court on May 14. I sent you a copy of the lawsuit that very day and pointed out "The amended filing far exceeds the previous filings in detail, breadth and horror."
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 11:41 PM
To: Danny Akin; Thabitti Anyabwile; Voddie Baucham; Alistair Begg; John F. Bettler; Jon Bloom; Ian Booth; Jerry Bridges; Mike Bullmore; Robert C. Cannada Jr.; Don Carson; Matt Chandler; Tim Challies; Bryan Chapell; Lane Dennis; Mark Dever; Kevin DeYoung; Mark Driscoll; Iain M. Duguid; Ligon Duncan; Sinclair Ferguson; John F. Frame; Richard B. Gaffin; Mark Galli; W. Robert Godfrey; Wayne Grudem; Michael A. G. Haykin; Dennis Hollinger; Michael S. Horton; Robert Jones; Douglas F. Kelly; Simon J. Kistemaker; Ted Kober; Andreas Johannes Kostenberger; Tim Keller; Edgar Keinath; Timothy S. Lane; John MacArthur; Michael Milton; Albert Mohler; Russell D. Moore; Stephen Nichols; Moss Nplha; Marvin Olasky; Ray Ortlund; Burk Parsons; Paige Patterson; Richard Phillips; John Piper; David Platt; David Powlison; Vern S. Poythress; Guy Richardson; Phil Ryken; Ken Sande; Pete Schemm; Thomas R. Schreiner; Alan Schuster; Scotty Smith; Winston T. Smith; R.C. Sproul; Ed Stetzer; Sam Storms; Justin Taylor; Tullian Tchivdjian; Bryce Thomas; Derek W. H. Thomas; Paul David Tripp; Carl L. Trueman; Gene Edward Veith; Donald S. Whitney; Bruce A. Ware; Stephen J. Wellum; David Wells; Edward T. Welsh; Luder G. Whitlock; John D. Woodbridge
Subject: Breaking News! Second Amended Lawsuit File Today.
I've attached the "Second Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand" that was filed today along with my blog post. The amended filing far exceeds the previous filings in detail, breadth and horror.
Three days later, I sent you more information regarding the SAC. I said "I have every reason to believe the plaintiffs accounts are true as provided in the 2nd Amended Complaint. I cannot possibly overstate how serious this class action lawsuit is against C.J., John Loftness (former Chairman of the Board), SGM and the other Defendants."
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Friday, May 17, 2013 1:20 PM
To: Danny Akin; Thabitti Anyabwile; Voddie Baucham; Alistair Begg; John F. Bettler; Jon Bloom; Ian Booth; Jerry Bridges; Mike Bullmore; Robert C. Cannada Jr.; Don Carson; Matt Chandler; Tim Challies; Bryan Chapell; Lane Dennis; Mark Dever; Kevin DeYoung; Mark Driscoll; Iain M. Duguid; Ligon Duncan; Sinclair Ferguson; John F. Frame; Richard B. Gaffin; Mark Galli; W. Robert Godfrey; Wayne Grudem; Michael A. G. Haykin; Dennis Hollinger; Michael S. Horton; Robert Jones; Douglas F. Kelly; Simon J. Kistemaker; Ted Kober; Andreas Johannes Kostenberger; Tim Keller; Edgar Keinath; Timothy S. Lane; John MacArthur; Michael Milton; Albert Mohler; Russell D. Moore; Stephen Nichols; Moss Nplha; Marvin Olasky; Ray Ortlund; Burk Parsons; Paige Patterson; Richard Phillips; John Piper; David Platt; David Powlison; Vern S. Poythress; Guy Richardson; Phil Ryken; Ken Sande; Pete Schemm; Thomas R. Schreiner; Alan Schuster; Scotty Smith; Winston T. Smith; R.C. Sproul; Ed Stetzer; Sam Storms; Justin Taylor; Tullian Tchivdjian; Bryce Thomas; Derek W. H. Thomas; Paul David Tripp; Carl L. Trueman; Gene Edward Veith; Donald S. Whitney; Bruce A. Ware; Stephen J. Wellum; David Wells; Edward T. Welsh; Luder G. Whitlock; John D. Woodbridge
Subject: Everything You Need to Know about "American Evangelicalism's Biggest Sex Scandal"
Here is a 4½ minute investigative report by the ABC news affiliate, WJLA – Channel 7, in Washington D.C. It was broadcast last night. Three of the plaintiffs are interviewed. Susan Burke, co-counsel, is also interviewed. I am intimately familiar the class action lawsuit. I have every reason to believe the plaintiffs accounts are true as provided in the 2nd Amended Complaint. I cannot possibly overstate how serious this class action lawsuit is against C.J., John Loftness (former Chairman of the Board), SGM and the other Defendants.
I've attached my post from this morning entitled, "Everything You Need to Know about 'American Evangelicalism's Biggest Sex Scandal to Date.'" I hope you will read it. Here is the introduction.
"The 46 page "Second Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand" against Sovereign Grace Ministries and other Defendants was filed on Tuesday. It contains 218 horrific complaints. I am currently working on a post that will cover the latest developments but before I post the new material, I want to encourage everyone to go back and review the old material.
"It has been exactly seven months since the original complaint was filed. I've been covering developments every step of the way and doing all I can to alert leaders in the Body of Christ so they can benefit and take the action needed to stop pedophiles and protect families in their churches, institutions, and ministries.
"I am constantly contacted for information. I've put together this overview so people can have a comprehensive knowledge of all that has transpired over the past seven months. It is a short book but one that needs reading. I agree with radio talk show host, Janet Mefferd, when she says this is 'American Evangelicalism's biggest sex scandal to date.'"
I sent you the SAC on May 14. I followed up with you on May 17. You wrote your post on May 24. Therefore, you had the lawsuit for ten days! That issue is resolved but more serious issues arise as a result. Specifically, did you choose not to read the SAC and thereby refuse to examine the evidence? Or did you read the SAC but deceptively withhold the evidence it contained?
I have appealed to you men so many times. Every appeal has fallen on rocky soil. Never have you been willing to talk or meet to hear any of the evidence against C.J. You've refused to be just and objective and now you refuse to be accountable when asked legitimate questions about your own actions. You have not followed 1 Timothy 5:21 or 1 John 1:7. Please walk in the light. Please be accountable in the same way to have taught others to be accountable.
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2014 4:37 PM
To: Mark Dever; Ligon Duncan; Albert Mohler
Subject: Important Issues Concerning the SAC, Morales, & The Documents
Importance: High
Al, Lig and Mark,
I now have conclusive proof you never read the Second Amended Complaint when you exonerated C.J. of all wronging attributed to him in the Second Amended Complaint. That is incomprehensible.
Here is but one piece of evidence from your May 23, 2013 letter that was posted on the T4G website.
"A Christian leader, charged with any credible, serious, and direct wrongdoing, would usually be well advised to step down from public ministry. No such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C. J. Mahaney. … For this reason, we, along with many others, refused to step away from C. J. in any way."
C.J. is clearly and repeatedly accused of "credible, serious and direct wrongdoing" in the Second Amended Complaint. You didn't know this because you never read it. You based your comments above on the antiquated First Amended Complaint that came out four months earlier.
I trust by now you have done what you did not do before concerning the criminal conspiracy. Mastered the facts and studied the evidence. I specifically have in mind the court transcripts from the two trials of Nathaniel Morales this past May. The State of Maryland is well aware that C.J. covered up the sexual abuse of children in Covenant Life Church.
I have often written you asking to talk by phone or meet in person. You have never responded to me. Once again, I ask that we talk or meet. You men have been foolish and reckless in your support of C.J. because you have refused to hear the evidence against him.
Al and Lig, when I sent out The Documents in July 2011 you immediately condemned me and condemned the documents which contained 600 pages of carefully presented evidence.
Lig, you said on your blog,
"It would have been very easy for the leadership of SGM to ignore and dismiss these charges, because so many of them are so evidently self-serving and spurious accusations." ("A Word About C.J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries," July 12, 2011)
Al, you said,
"I always have had only the highest estimation of C.J. Mahaney as a man and a minister. That continues absolutely unchanged. There is nothing in this current situation which would leave me to have even the slightest pause of confidence in him. There is nothing disqualifying in terms of anything that is disclosed in this [i.e., in the documents]. It's just evidence we knew all along, that C.J. is human but a deeply committed Christian and a visionary Christian leader. Detwiler has an obvious vendetta against C.J." (The Courier-Journal, July 12, 2011)
Here's my question for both of you men. Did you read Response Regarding Friendship & Doctrine, A Final Appeal, Concluding Remarks and The Untold Story?
In your case Al, pastors at Covenant Life Church told people you didn't read these documents before you justified C.J. and condemned me. Is that true?
Lig, if you read the documents, how could you possibly call them "spurious accusations"? The documents are anything but spurious. They are filled with carefully presented evidence based on primary source material.
Would the three of you kindly arrange a time when we can talk. My number is XXX. I'd like to discuss how best to acknowledge you did not read the lawsuit. I'd also like to hear your thoughts on the evidence presented at the Morales trials and get answers to my questions above about The Documents.
These are just and reasonable requests. I hope you will respond.
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2014 2:25 PM
To: Albert Mohler; Mark Dever; Ligon Duncan
Subject: Follow Up on Reading The Documents & SAC
Al, Lig and Mark,
Two months ago, I wrote asking that we please speak by phone. You did not respond to my request demonstrating an unwillingness to be open, honest or accountable.
I said the following in my August 22 email to you.
"C.J. is clearly and repeatedly accused of "credible, serious and direct wrongdoing" in the Second Amended Complaint. You didn't know this because you never read it. You based your comments above on the antiquated First Amended Complaint that came out four months earlier."
I am still shocked you didn't read the Second Amended Complaint (SAC) even though I sent it to you the day it was filed on May 14. I also followed up with more information about the SAC on May 17. Despite this you did not read the SAC when you vindicated C.J. of all charges on May 23. …
Each of you have violated the solemn charge laid down by Paul in the sight God, Christ and the angels by transgressing the rules for judging C.J. – no bias (favoritism) and no partiality.
1 Tim 5:21 "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging [NASB without bias], doing nothing from partiality."
Al and Lig, you have also refused to walk in the light and be honest with me. You will not tell me whether you read The Documents before you condemned them and me.
The three of you have taught others to be accountable but you are unwilling to be accountable. Like C.J. you won't answer questions or acknowledge wrong doing. Some day, I hope you will be honest about the fact you never read the 46 page lawsuit and therefore recklessly asserted that "No such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C. J. Mahaney."
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In this article, Paulson quotes Tim Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition with Don Carson. Here's what he says about Mark Driscoll.
"He was really important — in the Internet age, Mark Driscoll definitely built up the evangelical movement enormously," said Timothy Keller, the senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York and one of the most widely respected evangelical intellectuals in the United States. "But the brashness and the arrogance and the rudeness in personal relationships — which he himself has confessed repeatedly — was obvious to many from the earliest days, and he has definitely now disillusioned quite a lot of people."
These comments by Keller arrested my attention. Here's why.
First, he is well aware of Driscoll's "brashness…arrogance and…rudeness in personal relationships." Second, he points out how Driscoll has repeatedly confessed these sins but effectively not changed. Confession alone doesn't change you. Genuine repentance does by the grace of God. Third, these sinful patterns were "obvious to many from the earliest days." Driscoll started Mars Hill Church in 1996. Fourth, from then to now, Driscoll has "definitely…disillusioned quite a lot of people."
In light of this assessment, I have several sincere questions for Tim Keller. Why did you ever allow Mark Driscoll to be on the prestigious and nationally recognized leadership Council for The Gospel Coalition in the first place? And furthermore, why did you and Don Carson commend him when he stepped off the Council in 2012. Here is what you wrote.
Driscoll Steps Down from TCG Council
March 28, 2012
Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle has recently announced he is stepping down from the Council of The Gospel Coalition. Mark let us know in advance of his intentions, part of a major reorganization of his priorities and a changing of the guard in Acts 29. We are saddened by his departure but understand that all busy people must establish priorities.
The Council is grateful to Mark for his contributions to TGC during the past decade. In the months and years ahead, we will certainly be praying for him, his family, and the ministries he influences.
Here is what Mark said about TGC with regard to his departure:
I was a founding member of The Gospel Coalition and to this day enjoy deep friendships and theological unity with the men. But I'm no longer going to be a Council member, as I seek to focus my energies on a handful of things. If I'm honest, with the continued growth of all the ministries in which I'm involved, it's not sustainable for me to keep up with all of them. So, this is a season of pruning for me.
For the record, no one has asked me to leave the Council, and I have no relational conflict with anyone and no disagreement theologically. The men remain friends who are welcome to speak into my life, and I'm transitioning for no other reason than I find myself at the end of my tether with time and energy.
I'm deeply thankful for the Council and have been deeply honored to be a part of it. Thankfully, Acts 29 fellow Board members Matt Chandler and Darrin Patrick are already on the Council to represent Acts 29, along with one of our network captains, Ray Ortlund.
Don Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and co-founder (with Tim Keller) of The Gospel Coalition.
Tim Keller is senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Manhattan, New York, and author of numerous books. He is also co-founder and vice president of The Gospel Coalition. For more resources by Tim Keller visit Gospel in Life. You can follow him on Twitter.
This letter is an endorsement by all the Council Members and especially by Keller and Carson. They "are saddened by his departure, "the Council is grateful to Mark for his contributions to TGC during the past decade," and everyone "will certainly be praying for…the ministries he influences." There is no hint of concern for Driscoll. Only sadness, gratefulness and prayer. Equally troubling, Keller and Carson allowed Driscoll to put himself forward to the evangelical world as a model citizen.
"For the record, no one has asked me to leave the Council, and I have no relational conflict with anyone and no disagreement theologically. The men remain friends who are welcome to speak into my life, and I'm transitioning for no other reason than I find myself at the end of my tether with time and energy."
Keller and Carson permitted this paragraph to be put in print; thereby, approving of its content. In my opinion, it was a promo piece by Driscoll; not just a statement to avoid misunderstanding. Here's what I mean. No one asked him to leave – implying there were no concerns for his role on the Council. He had no relational conflict with anyone on the Council – implying he got along with everyone all the time. Keller and Carson, et al., were welcome to speak into his life – implying he was humble and responded humbly to past correction. To be honest, I find this hard to believe.
You always have to ask follow up questions in order to discover the truth. I'd like to ask Keller and Carson, "Did anyone want him off the Council?" "Did anyone have conflicts with him while on the Council?" "Did anyone feel unwelcome to speak into his life?" This paragraph by Driscoll gives the impression that the answer to all these questions is NO.
Bottom line, Keller and Carson commended Driscoll and allowed Driscoll to commend himself in 2012. Two years later, Keller tells us Driscoll has been brash, arrogant, and rude in personal relationships going back a long time. In fact, these sins were "obvious to many from the earliest days." Therein is the problem. Many people knew about Driscoll's disqualifying sins but practically no one did anything. Paul Petry (locally) and John MacArthur (nationally) being notable exceptions.
Petry was unjustly and abusively fired by Driscoll. In a 2007 letter to the Elders of Mars Hill Church, he stated that "not one Christian leader" including John Piper and C.J. Mahaney were willing to "get involved" and address Driscoll. I wrote about this in The Twin Brothers Driscoll and Mahaney.
"After multiple appeals were continually rejected by Mark [Driscoll] and Jamie [Munson], we discreetly implored some local and then national leaders, who Mark said he respected, to help us, including John Piper and C.J. Mahaney. No one was willing to get involved. I was shocked and heartbroken again. You're kidding? The whole Body of Christ and no one is willing to step in, judge the matter, and attempt to make things right? How can Matthew 18 be carried out if not one Christian leader will stand in to bring peace and reconciliation?" (Paul Petry, To the Elders of Mars Hill Church, October 25, 2007)
Piper and Mahaney knew there were serious issues in Driscoll's life and ministry. Nevertheless, they failed to work with his elders and follow the disciplinary measures found in Matthew 18:15-17. Instead they shielded him and promoted him. For example, Piper commended Driscoll's life and ministry by inviting him to speak at his Desiring God National Conference in 2006, 2008, and 2009.
Mahaney went even further. He worked to undermine John MacArthur's charges against Driscoll in 2007. That same year, Driscoll was consolidating his power in Mars Hill Church by all accounts. Mahaney was doing the same in Sovereign Grace Ministries. These two men were relating to each other at the time. In fact, Mahaney flew from Washington D.C. to Seattle to meet with Driscoll in February. It is highly probable he advised Driscoll to centralize his power in a small group of fierce loyalists who would not meaningfully confront his character or challenge his leadership. That's exactly what Mahaney did the same year in SGM.
Here's the question that must be answered. Put on your thinking cap because it's complicated! Does the Bible apply to high powered leaders? It did not apply to Mark Driscoll. He was exempted from Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 5:19-21, Titus 1:6-9; James 3:1, etc.
Or put another way, how can Mark Driscoll be on the Council for The Gospel Coalition given the teaching of the Bible? Clearly, Driscoll has not been above reproach for a long time. I think Keller supplies the answer, though inadvertently, when he says of Driscoll, "He was really important." Important people get on the Council. You don't find any unimportant people. That is the crux of the problem.
Often times, important people, who are usually rich people, get a pass. A double standard is applied to them. In spite of his character, Driscoll was on the Council for nearly a decade. His enormous numerical success with the Internet generation appears to be the reason.
James the Lord's brother and apostle gives us this command.
James 2:1-4, 9 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes, and if you pay attention to one who wears the fine clothing, and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts…. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Partiality is a sin. There is to be no preferential treatment for the wealthy and no special attention given to the wealthy. Wealthy people are typically powerful people. They can help you or hurt you. That's why we have this command from James. We are tempted to treat them differently. In addition, it's also why most people don't mess with the unscrupulous wealthy. They let them off the hook and show them favoritism hoping to avoid their wrath and benefit from their influence. Think Donald Trump.
Tragically, the same is true with reproachable but powerful leaders in the Body of Christ. Who is going to confront a well-known leader with sin issues that endorses your books, invites you to speak at his church or conference, promotes your ministry, speaks well of you in public, has a large following or big blog audience? Only someone who loves Jesus Christ, is submitted to the authority of Scripture, is free from the love of money and doesn't care about his reputation.
Timothy was responsible to make sure the elders in Ephesus met the qualifications laid out by Paul (1 Tim 3:1-7). When elders were accused by two or three witnesses they were to be judged with impartially and treated without favoritism. An active investigation was to be done. Timothy was to make sure it happened. Those that didn't stop sinning were to be publicly rebuke and removed from ministry (1 Tim 5:20-22). No one did this with Driscoll. Not Keller, Carson, Piper or Mahaney.
Unfortunately, this happens all the time. Take for instance Dave Harvey. His local elders had him resign all his responsibilities in Sovereign Grace Ministries in 2013 and begin a nine month disciplinary process designed to address serious issues in his life and family. Three months later Harvey abandoned the process and three months after that he left the church and SGM. No problem, he was hired overnight as the pastor of preaching in another denomination. He also became Chairman of the Board for the Christian Counseling Education Foundation (CCEF) and a Board Member for the Sojourn network of churches. This should not be. See the sections about Harvey in Mark Prater Is the Best Choice to Restore Trust and Unity.
In my experience, well known leaders often have little to no accountability. I first observed this while one of 25 intern pastors at the largest church in America in 1978. Fifteen thousand people attended and 250 people came to Christ in an average week. It was led by a very gifted evangelist with little accountability. The church operated like Mars Hill. It no longer exists.
Keller states in the New York Times article, "He [Driscoll] has definitely now disillusioned quite a lot of people." That is true and that is serious! Driscoll has stumbled countless believers and unbelievers. He has brought extraordinary reproach upon the gospel and the evangelical Church. And yet all of this was avoidable if only great Bible expositors had obeyed the Bible they exposit. Local elders failed Mars Hill Church but national leaders failed the Body of Christ. If only we obeyed the Bible we preach! "Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach" (1 Tim 3:1).
Mark Driscoll should have been publicly rebuked by Tim Keller, Don Carson, John Piper and C.J. Mahaney a long time ago for his continuation in sin. This should have led to his removal from ministry. Instead these men gave him a seat of honor on their councils and at their conferences. They applied a double standard to Mark Driscoll because of his perceived importance. Now they share the blame for his fall and the disillusionment it has caused.
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