The Epic, Pt. 50

The “one-on-one” meeting which Elder Ramirez had called for in his letter of October 30, 2008 took place on Febuary 5, 2009 with Elder Ramirez, Pastor DeSilva, and Brother G in attendance. Following the meeting Brother G put together a synopsis of the discussion, which was included in later email traffic. For the sake of telling the story in sequence we will include that synopsis here.

“At about 6:30 pm, and just before the Takoma Academy Board meeting, Elder Jorge A Ramirez, Alan DeSilva and [Brother G] met together.

“Elder Ramirez began the meeting with prayer and devotional/introduction in which he specified how the process would function, lasting about 15 minutes. [Brother G] would have the first opportunity to speak for 15 minutes without interruption. Then Alan would have his turn for rebuttal.

“[Brother G] began with some background material relating to [the member who was recently the subject of disciplinary action] and the Paul Borden report. Next he presented documentation showing present structure is not in harmony with the Church Manual. No interest was shown in documentation. Next his remarks centered on the inappropriateness of holding church business meetings during Sabbath hours. He cited the objection of many to having such a meeting relating to finances on the Sabbath. Alan responded by saying more people vote at that time than at any other time. [Brother G] then drew attention to Matthew Bediako's specific written notations to Alan of what must be done to remain in harmony with the Church Manual. He also pointed out Alan's disregard of that advice and his blatant untruths that Elder Bediako was in favor of the new church governance structure. There was no response from Alan to these observations.

“During Alan's rebuttal he began to draw boxes and explain that he would make a change. When Ramirez asked [Brother G], if this would work, [Brother G] answered that he would not comment until he had spoken with the group.

“At that point the meeting concluded with the understanding that Alan was to send his change to Ramirez who in turn, would send it to [Brother G].”

The documentation Brother G referred to having presented was a pair of charts comparing the membership and duties of a church board as defined by the Church Manual with the membership and duties of the two boards functioning at Takoma Park. This documentation will be included in a separate post.

Next: The Proposal

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