The Epic, Pt. 4

Dr. Paul Borden had come and gone, and in his wake left a disaster. Takoma Park Church was in a state of confusion. There were those that were concerned that about bringing in a consultant. There were those that were concerned about Dr. Borden, who is not ordained in our faith, preaching in our pulpit. Others thought aloud saying, "We have the Bible and the Testimonies for free, why do we have to pay $6000 for a consultant?"

The first Town Hall Meeting held to discuss the Borden Report was announced on Sabbath morning, Oct. 13, 2007, and took place that afternoon. It was here that we got our first look at the new structure being recommended, and where we were issued the first of what have turned out to be at least eight different versions of the new organizational chart. This chart and the accompanying explanation were presented by Pastor DeSilva and Dr. Ray Pichette. Included below is this first "organizational chart." I stress the term "organization chart." He insisted in calling these attempts at charts, "flow charts." Anyone who knows anything about systems analysis or organizational management and behavior will be quick to tell you that what appears below lacks sufficient substance to be called a "flow chart."





The first Takoma Park Church "Town Hall Meeting" was simply bizarre. The object of this well-attended meeting was somewhat confused. It was clear that the Senior Pastor and Dr. Raymond Pichette of the Potomac Conference came to sell us on accepting and adopting the Borden Report (posted on this blog), as well as accepting and adopting this organization chart. The vast majority of the people attending this meeting came for the specific purpose of trying to reason the clergy into abandoning this course. Others, of course, came to see a show. And a show they saw, indeed!

Those who had carefully read the report and had begun to research "Purpose Driven Church" models, which are synonymous with"Staff-Led Church" models, "Willow Creek Church" models, and the "Growing Healthy Churches Initiative" came armed with their Bibles, quotes from the Spirit of Prophesy, and copies of the SDA Church Manual, ready to explain in detail why this structure was wrong.

The meeting began with the usual opening prayer and introduction. Dr. Pichette was introduced as the Conference official. Judging by the stated purpose of the meeting, we thought we would go right to the matter at hand. Instead we received an almost 50 minute long sermon. Rather than following the Biblical admonition, exhorting us to "reason together," there was an overwhelming appeal to emotion. He used terms appropriate to organizational management and behavior, inappropriately. He said that the Takoma Park Church had "plateaued" and our church was dying. Dr. Pichette went on to say that if we did not turn things around, our church "...would become like one of the abandoned cathedrals in Europe." In his wrap up, Dr. Pichette read through the report and asked us to try this new system for three years, and if we didn't like it by the end of that time we could go back to "business as usual."

What he said was just all kinds of wrong. If Dr. Pichette insists on using organizational behavior lingo, then he should use the terms correctly, in the proper context, and provide the correct meaning of the terms for the audience. A cogent argument could be made that the Takoma Park Church and, indeed, the entire SDA Church, has "plateaued." So what? According to the academic literature, when an organization plateaus, all that means is that it has reached organizational maturity and that it has a bureaucratic system in place. In a nutshell, what that term mean is that an organization is no longer "organizing" is is now "organized." Organization, especially if one is doing God's work, is a good thing. God's work progresses best when there is organization. History has shown that a LOT of bad things tend to happen when people are engaged in doing "God's work" and there is no organization. In the case of the SDA Church, its system of organization is provided provided by the Bible and the SDA Church Manual. The Bible speaks to "good order and discipline." What Elder Pichette had proposed was sowing the wind. To be sure, in the intervening period, we have reaped the whirlwind.

The other piece of what he said was also wrong, again for a lot of reasons. It was wrong to try to use scare tactics (claiming that our church would die if this scheme wasn't voted into place) to move people to vote against their own interests, and that of our church. That was base, wicked, and foul. The fact that it was countenanced by our clergy speaks volumes about their collective character. But to have this kind of thing conducted in the Sanctuary, on the Sabbath day, was simply abominable. The bottom line here is evangelism. As has been said repeatedly, evangelism can happen without a change in structure.

As for empty cathedrals in Europe, I've been to Europe. Perhaps you have, too. If yes, you know that many of the cathedrals are in very active use. For those that aren't, there are a myriad of reasons for the vacancy. Some were damaged beyond repair in World War II. Others, because of age, and the prohibitive cost of repair, have become structurally unsound and as a consequence were condemned. If Elder Pichette wanted to use the analogy of empty cathedrals, it would have been more accurate and honest to explain why many of these cathedrals were empty.

After Elder Pichette completed his almost hour long "introduction," Pastor Alan Desilva, not to be outdone, also got up to speak for the better part of an hour. Finally, after almost two hours of cajoling, the floor was opened to the people.

It amazes me how little appreciation there is for the common man. All too often we "get it" when those in power don't. Several people got up, one after another, asking thought-filled, valid questions, none of which received the respect of a thought-filled, valid answer. One woman, a long time church member, approached the mic and addressed a question to Elder Pichette. She asked simply, "[Elder Pichette] what church do you attend?" Elder Pichette responded. She followed up, "Are they doing this change in church structure at your church?" It was truly instructional to watch the Elder stammer, and twist, and fumble, as he tried to writhe his way out of simply saying "no."

To be fair, one or two new church members, who really didn't know about the history of the SDA structure, spoke in support of a "call to change." One man was really afraid of the Takoma Park Church "turning into one of those empty cathedrals in Europe." However, the overwhelming number of church members objected to the change in structure based on the following, 1) as Adventists, we believe that our church structure came from God and that we tamper with it at our own peril; 2) The various incarnations of the "Church Growth Movement" model which was proposed for the Takoma Park Church has lead other SDA churches to move to worshiping on Sunday; 3) If the church wants to evangelize, then the church should evangelize. There is nothing in the current legitimate church structure, as outlined in the SDA Church Manual, that prevents evangelism.

The second Town Hall was combined with a Board and Business Meeting on Oct. 15. At at meeting a new, "refined" chart was presented. The changes handwritten on this chart were put there at Pastor DeSilva's direction as "corrections" which would be updated the next time a chart was issued:

At this meeting the storm of objections to this proposed change in structure continued. Finally, Pastor DeSilva exclaimed in frustration, "All right. If you all don't want to do this [change in structure], fine. But we will do the evangelism, and diversity in music." No one objected. Everyone agreed. This is was the right thing to do. We all went home satisfied, until we found out that our pastoral staff had no intention of living up to this agreement.

Next: Bait and Switch

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