HBC Troubles: Reaching out to Rod

After the "Propaganda Letter" I was sufficiently suspicious. I reached out to Scott. Scott sent me a copy of the new letter he send to some people in his old group, addressing allegations made in the Tuesday night meeting. In that he hinted at his departure being connected to Rod's own.

Rebecca and I, disturbed by the building campaign, latched onto a number of phrases in Rod's last general letter, wondering if they indicated Rod had misgivings about how the elders had conducted it and in general about their path. Really, we wanted to believe that someone, someone, in the leadership had not been comfortable, because at least that indicated a conscience we might understand. Maybe this was connected to that? And was Scott's connected to Rod's?

So I reached out to Rod, Oct 1.

Hello Pastor Rod, I wanted to reach out to you. I spoke with Scott about what has been happening. Rebecca and I are trying to understand a number of things with respect to the church and deciding our own course. We've been having trouble since about the time the building campaign started. In your last email you cautioned about not getting carried away by the building or success. Your departure was sudden and left us with questions and wanting to understand what has happened and is. If you have any free time to talk or write I'd be grateful. My email is djamesparkinson@gmail.com. We are praying for you and Deborah and your family. Warmly, David

Rod responded the following day:

Brother,

I can understand your struggle in understanding what has happened particularly because Scott and Theresa left shortly after us. 

I would just mention a couple of things. One, I supported the purchase of the building for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the impending increase of expense continuing to rent as well as the possibility of freeing up resources for other things. Additionally, stewardship is an important focus for any church. Handling ones finances is not a personal matter, it is a matter of honoring the Lord. I supported the emphasis on stewardship, my only regret is that we did not emphasize the other aspects of stewardship as much as we did the finances. It is a difficult thing to do from a leadership perspective and to do without offending someone.

Moreover, I don't know what you were told and I am not asking to know but we made clear why we were leaving. We chose to leave when we did and we did so because we felt that it was of the Lord for us to move on in our ministry. 

I would encourage you to go to the Elders if you still have concerns for them to have an opportunity to address them before you choose to leave. And please know that I will pray that the Lord gives you all wisdom and peace in seeking to know His will in this.

I hope this helps brother.

Pastor Rod

"Supported the emphasis on stewardship... only regret... did not emphasize other aspects..." So much for having moral qualms about the campaign.

"We made clear why we were leaving." Yes, and the elders also repeated the notion that Rod, who had wanted a pastoral role, was going to take a part in another church. Help a friend, someone said. Very noble. Pastor track. Ok.

"We felt that it was of the Lord for us to move on in our ministry." I don't doubt that one bit, now. As I look back I suspect this truth hid quite a lot. Back then, this response crushed us. So Rod's departure was personal volition? Unconnected to anything Scott had said.

This really shook us. The elders did not seem forthright. Was Scott lying too? What on earth was going on?

We immediately stopped writing to Scott.