The Epic, Pt. 39

The follow-up contact from Elder Ramirez took the form of a phone call to Brother G on October 20, 2008. During this conversation Elder Ramirez asked again whether the Group would be willing to meet again with Pastor DeSilva. Having polled the Group on the matter in the intervening time, Brother G responded that the Group did not believe that another such meeting would be productive.

Elder Ramirez jumped on this and tried to get Brother G to say that the Group was unwilling to meet further with Pastor DeSilva. Brother G tried to explain that it was not a question of willingness. If we thought for one moment that Pastor DeSilva was genuinely interested in hearing our concerns and resolving the issues we would be the first ones at the table. Given how all of our previous overtures had been received, however, we did not believe that yet another meeting would make any difference. Elder Ramirez either couldn’t or wouldn’t understand this. He continued to paint this as a matter of willingness, and Brother G continued to try to explain that it wasn’t willingness, but doubt of productivity. Finally, Elder Ramirez asked that Brother G send him an email answering the question in writing. This Brother G agreed to do, and sent the following on October 21, 2008:

“Dear Jorge,

“Thank you for your phone call yesterday afternoon. After our meeting on October 9, 2008, and our phone conversation, we feel that further dialog with Alan DeSilva will not resolve any issues.

“Therefore, we, again, request to bring our urgent concerns to the Executive Committee, without further delay.

“With God’s blessing,
“[Brother G]”

Next: New Hurdles

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