[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by Indiana

Email 2007

"......Regarding the title of the meeting hall on Ball Rd. in Anaheim. When I left in 1989, I believe the title was divided between the LSM and the Church in Anaheim. If I remember rightly, 3/4 of it was in the name of the LSM, and 1/4 in the name of the church. That division was based mostly on the amount of space we occupied in the hall. What happened to it after I left, I don't know. This is all I can say."

Your brother in Christ, John

The worst possible situation, a minority owner in a property that is unsellable and unrentable. The option to "walk away" was not tenable and would be unfavorably viewed on by almost all in the LC. Yet at the same time the church does own their share of the hall and can therefore exercise authority over their space.

Therefore, if you, as a Christian, were faced with a similar dilemma: you are aware of immoral behavior on behalf of the Administrative officer of the ministry that you share a meeting hall with and which you serve in and which the church is intimately connected. You fellowship with the Minister and father of the perpetrator but appear to be speaking to a brick wall. How do you respond?

1. You thoroughly fellowship and confirm the accounts. You are morally obliged to object and to protect the flock that you shepherd. You do not have the authority to remove the person in question and the Minister who does have the authority is not taking action. Clearly he has refused to listen to you.

2. You return with several other brothers, say AK and Godfried. He still refuses to hear you.

3. You have a meeting with the church and you openly tell them the case while trying to protect the reputations of the innocent. You clearly explain the reasons the person in question is being excommunicated from the church. You also explain that you have talked with the minister to no avail. You have AK and Godfried also confirm that you have met with WL to no avail. You then resign from the LSM, as well as AK and any other brothers serving with LSM who were aware of the situation prior to this meeting. You go into complete detail as to how and why you came to your conclusion. You don't encourage or fellowship with anyone else as to what they should do, but you do walk through everything that you considered in coming to this decision. This meeting must be recorded both as an audio and also as a video. In addition you prepare a written record prior to the meeting that details all the relevant data about the efforts to deal with the offending person, the offense and the reasons the elders have decided to excommunicate him. A copy of this is given to everyone in attendance and anyone can have a tape of the meeting. In this meeting you open it to the saints to discuss the decision to excommunicate this person. No open discussion about your decision to resign from the LSM. This way if anyone in the meeting has a problem with the decision they should voice it. Then you conclude with a vote in which the church decides whether or not to excommunicate. Everything is done in good order, nothing is riotous, the church has the right to take this action, anyone who interferes is interfering in the administration of the church.

4. The above meeting should be held on a thursday night from 8:30 to 10:00 and videos should be fed Exed to key people (BM, JS, JF, etc) who you know from fellowship support your decision and will show the video, in its entirety, to their locality on Friday night. Likewise, you send emails of your written presentation at the conclusion of that meeting to at least 10 key brothers. You take this action because you anticipate a "spin" will be put on the proceeding and you want a clear message sent out before there is a chance for a distorted message to be sent. Also, you have those who wish to challenge the decision to speak into a mike in front of the camera during your meeting.

5. The meeting should be announced as a meeting of the corporation of the church during the Wed prayer meeting (if that is when it is) and all saints on the phone list should be called during the 24 hours prior to the meeting. I would recommend using a robo phone service since a copy of the message and a record of the calls made and completed would be available to anyone wishing to complain. The meeting is only open to members of the church.

6. You open the meeting with a very short word explaining that this meeting is to be sent to other churches because it affects them and they will have to make a decision whether or not to support this decision.

7. Friday evening you send out a broadcast email to many more localities of the official decision to excommunicate this person, as well as your written word explaining what you have done and why. In this letter you let them know that a video of the meeting is available to any locality requesting a copy.

In this way you have gotten your message out within a 24 hour period. You have reduced the effect that phone calls will have since 10 PST is 1am EST. You have done as much as in your power to prevent the truth being twisted. That said, the battle will begin and you should expect the weekend to be full of phone calls, emails and gathering storm clouds. You, AK, Godfried, etc. should make yourself fully available for the period from Friday night to Sunday night to speak to any and all that contact you. According to Matt 18 you should treat this person as a heathen man and a publican. That means you should anticipate spin doctors, actions and words taken out of context, etc. Therefore your message to the church Friday night and all weekend is to warn them that they are now under a microscope and people are looking for anything and everything that can be used to shed a poor light on the church.