The Epic, Pt. 22

The letter sent out by the Group did not escape the notice of those in the Potomac Conference and Columbia Union. About two weeks after it was sent out Elder B received a phone call from Elder Weigley, the Columbia Union president. He had just gotten home from an extended trip and hadn’t yet read the letter for himself, but he had heard about it from others and the content of the gossip about it had made him rather unhappy with the Group. Elder B urged him to actually read the letter for himself before he passed judgment and explained why the Group had felt a need to take such action. They agreed to talk again after Elder Weigley had seen the letter for himself.

Elder Weigley was much less disturbed about the letter during the second conversation a few days later. He urged Elder B to communicate to Elder Miller the same explanation he had received about why the Group had felt such an action was necessary. Elder B was skeptical that such a communication would make any impact with Elder Miller given the dismal results of the December meeting with him, but she eventually agreed to write the following letter with the requested explanation.

“May 14, 2008

“Dear Elder Miller:

“I am writing to you to explain why a group of Takoma Park members took it upon themselves to send materials to the Takoma Park Church membership about the new organizational structure proposed by Pastor DeSilva relative to the governance of the local church.

“You will recall when eight of us met with you on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, we appealed to you for help in regard to the action taken at the Worship Hour, November 17, 2007, regarding the Paul Borden document which was to be accepted in its entirety or rejected completely. It was approved—121 in favor and 82 against. We felt also that the vote was unfair and inappropriate, because it was taken during the Sabbath Worship Hour without discussion. At that time, we felt you were not concerned over the matter.

“On March 3, 2008, Pastor DeSilva proposed a document to be approved by the members of the newly formed Church Ministry Board. At that meeting the leading officers of the church were present. Various questions were posed. It was stated by Pastor DeSilva that this document, which proposed the following two boards: (1) the Support and Accountability Board; and (2) the Church Ministry Board (and which had been already organized) was in harmony with the North American Division (NAD). I could not conceive that to be true. (Therefore, later, I sent Pastor DeSilva’s document to the NAD Secretary, Elder Roscoe Howard for verification. He responded by a letter which revealed that Pastor DeSilva’s proposal was not in harmony with NAD policies.) Because there was much concern and confusion, Pastor DeSilva tabled the proposal until the next meeting of the Church Ministry Board, which met on April 13, 2008. Before the vote on that day, we asked again, “Where did this document come from?” Pastor DeSilva again stated “From the North American Division.” He also indicated that he could go and get the document and prove that it came from NAD. Two members requested that he do that. He has yet to do so. There is a discrepancy between what Pastor DeSilva has said publicly on many occasions that the new governance structure suggested by him for the Takoma Park Church was in harmony with the policies of the North American Division and what are the facts.

“A former member of Takoma Park Church, presently working at the General Conference, heard about the issues confronting the membership, and, on her own initiative, decided to contact Elder Parmenter, Associate Secretary of the General Conference and Secretary of the Church Manual Committee, about the matter. Upon learning more fully regarding the issues, he also wrote a letter stating that what was proposed of having no duly elected church board was contrary to established church governance policies.

“Because of the two letters I had received, I thought it necessary to present them to Pastor DeSilva first. I called the Head Elder and requested a meeting with Pastor DeSilva, including a few others. The Head Elder insisted that the entire Board of Elders be included. A meeting was held on April 23, 2008, during which we requested, due to the new information received from the GC and NAD, that it be presented at the next business meeting which was to be held on Sunday, April 27, 2008. Pastor DeSilva categorically refused saying, “These men have no business writing any such letters. They are misinformed and out of place. I do not have a staff-led church. There will be no more discussion of this matter. I will not permit any more discussion of this issue.” Because he was so vehemently opposed to any revelation of these letters to the membership, we decided it was crucial to inform the church membership.

“In essence, the members were under a cloud of deception by the continuous insistence of Pastor DeSilva that what he was doing had the full endorsement of the higher organizations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He would not permit any additional revelations or discussions of this issue. We regret Pastor DeSilva’s unwillingness to heed the counsel of higher church entities, and to follow the policies of the Church Manual. This is why we sent the letter.

“We are praying that this matter will be resolved according to the Church Manual.

“If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me (my telephone numbers and E-mail address are listed at the top of the first page of this letter).

“Sincerely,

“[Elder B]”

There are a few minor points that ought to be clarified about the content of this letter before this post concludes. It is the only letter sent out on behalf of the Group which had only one author. After this one, the Group adopted the informal policy that all communications were reviewed/fact-checked by at least one other Group member, if not the entire Group, no matter whose name was formally listed as the sender. This was because there were a couple of factual nuances in this letter which did not affect the main points that were not quite as clear as we might have wished.

The first of these occurs in paragraph three. When Pastor DeSilva handed out the “Code of Ethics” in the first Ministry Board meeting there were two additional papers stapled to it. They contained the lists of duties he had prepared for the Accountability Board and the Ministries Board. He rolled through these in that meeting as simply an announcement of fact, but it is easy to see how some might have thought that they were part of what Pastor DeSilva wanted a vote on. In any case, when Elder B sent the materials to Elder Howard for his evaluation she included not just the “Code of Ethics” itself, but also the other two pages that were stapled to it. It was, therefore, all three documents that Elder Howard reviewed in rendering his decision that Takoma Park was operating outside the boundaries of the Church Manual. It is also worth noting that although Elder B wrote in the first person in paragraph five she was actually describing actions and decisions made by the Group in regard to the two letters, as described previously in the Epic.

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