The Epic, Pt. 80

When the nominating committee’s results were presented to the congregation on November 14, 2009 it was clear that Pastor DeSilva had made use of his position as chairman of the committee to carry out his longstanding threat to remove from office those who had opposed the change in governance. Every member of the church board (formerly church ministries board) who had publicly spoken against the change was removed from office. (Since all elders are also members of the church board this also meant that all elders who had publicly opposed the change were removed.)

But Pastor DeSilva had not been content to stop there. He also used his influence to remove as many white people in general as he could. The only ones who escaped his targeting were those who had actively supported him in the governance change. In one example of this, a white retiree had long served as a representative on the school’s board. During the nomination process Pastor DeSilva went to visit this woman and asked if she wished to continue serving in this capacity. She replied that while some ongoing health issues might prevent her from attending every single meeting she very much wanted to continue serving. Pastor DeSilva turned around and reported to the nominating committee that because of her health issues she did not want to continue serving, so naturally she was not renominated.

This woman (and others like her who fell victim to this purge) had not taken a side on the governance issue or done anything else to provoke Pastor DeSilva—other than being white. We could offer several theories in explanation of this behavior, but ultimately the “why” is irrelevant. There is no explanation which makes such behavior acceptable (and yes, we would object just as strongly if there was evidence that he had targeted any other racial group this way). The bottom line is that this is yet another example of Pastor DeSilva abusing his power and no one making any attempt to stop him.

Next: Inaction

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