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  • Local Paper Comments from the local community About Gardendale

    • Posted Jul 31, 2004 6:38 PM

      These are from the local paper...Look what the community thinks now....
      Old vs. new
      As a church member of another Baptist church, I disagreed
      with a decision that was made by my church, and left that
      church of my own volition. I can understand a person or a
      group of persons taking that action. What I do not
      understand is a leader of the church making that decision
      for 165 members.
      This is supposed to be a House of God, not a political
      playground. Could the solution have been as simple as
      having a traditional service on Wednesday and Sunday
      nights?
      It seems that a great number of the members voted out were
      older members. Who made this church what it was when some
      of the current members were not yet born? I am so deeply
      disappointed in the unloving and seemingly political move
      by the supposed leadership of this Baptist church that we
      will be visiting other denominations of churches.
      If I am going to follow a Christian leader, I think that I
      want to be sure he is on the right path to Heaven. I am
      positive that I can find the other path without any help.
      No, I am not painting all Baptists with the same
      paintbrush. I know many loving, working, generous Christian
      Baptists. Shame on you supposed leaders of Gardendale
      Baptist Church for causing me to judge you. You have now
      caused me to be judged also.
      Zelma Champion
      ***********************************************************
      All lose
      I have been reading of all the happenings at Gardendale
      Baptist Church. If any of them think they are winners, they
      are wrong - everyone is a loser.
      As I follow the recent happenings in the Baptist and
      Catholic churches, what a shame. It's OK for them to be
      losers, but they have hurt the Gospel of Christ and that is
      not acceptable. Shame on them.
      Kenneth Wilson
      (Ingleside)
      *********************************************************
      Unfair expulsion
      I would like to thank the Caller-Times for your article
      (July 20) about the expulsion of 165 members of the
      Gardendale Baptist Church.
      On the whole, your article was balanced and reflected the
      division accurately. One group (the one that was expelled)
      requested procedural oversight of budgetary decisions. The
      other group saw those requests as somehow hindering the
      church's mission.
      However, your article omitted several important points.
      First, the vote to expel the 165 members was taken without
      debate. That is, the expelled members had no chance to
      present a defense or make a statement on their own behalf.
      Second, members were given only one week's notice of the
      vote. Third, no formal charges detailing specific
      violations of church doctrine were filed against the
      accused.
      The lesson here for anyone who belongs to any organization
      is to make sure that specific written procedures are included in the bylaws for expulsion of members. These
      procedures should include basic protections for the
      accused.
      It is a sad witness for a church when it denies its own
      members the basic human dignity of defending oneself.
      Michael A. Piatt
      *********************************************************
      Top-down rule?
      I was appalled and amazed at the article in Tuesday's paper
      (July 20) about the ousting of 165 members of Gardendale
      church. I assume that since the church no longer uses the
      word "Baptist" in its name it is no longer affiliated with
      the Southern Baptist Convention or any other of the
      established Baptist conventions.
      I did some research on what amounts to the "shunning" of
      this many members at one time. Most religions have a method
      by which individual members may be removed. The Catholics
      have excommunication, the Scientologists have
      "disconnection," Jehovah's Witnesses use the word
      "disfellowship," Judaism has "Cherem" and the Mormons, the
      Amish and Quakers refer to the removal as "shunning." In
      none of these cases are 165 people "shunned" at one time.
      Nowhere in the Baptist Church is there a provision for
      removing members of the congregation: once a member, always
      a member; once a deacon, always a deacon. Not only the
      minister, but also a board of congregants oversees church
      business.
      It would appear that the Gardendale Church is now run by an
      autonomous minister, answerable to no one. Disagree and
      you're gone. Sounds like a dictatorship to me.
      Ann C. Couser
      *******************************************************
      Church cleaning
      I am not sure why the Caller-Times has chosen to hang out
      to dry the dirty laundry of one good church, but chosen you
      have, and equal time you must give to all.
      There are oxymorons and then there are oxymorons. A couple
      that I'm reminded of are "good loser" and "religious tolerance."
      When I think of this last one and read your comments about
      Gardendale Baptist Church, I feel there must have been a
      mistake. Writer Venessa Santos-Garza must have missed the
      point and not interviewed everyone. At least she didn't
      talk to me or others who have been all but forced to leave
      because of the actions and/or lack of church leadership.
      You see, I was once a member of Gardendale. When it came
      time for church discipline back when I was all but forced
      to leave my church family behind, where were the chosen 165
      then? No one asked to help me stay.
      So, in all that I've read that the Caller-Times has printed
      these past few days, the biggest oxymoron of all that has
      been a big part of Gardendale: "friend against friend."
      Power to you, Brother Micah. May bygones be bygones. You're
      not the only one who has cleaned house. And the Lord knows
      who should stay and who should go. Get on with being a
      church. Help those who want to be helped. Continue to pray
      for those who would dissent.
      Jim Robbins
      *******************************************************
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    10 Not so Godly Elders
    120 "Deacons" (allegiance unknown)
    2,800 - 4,000 church "members"
    2 "teners" (people who have publicly confessed to have broken all ten commandments)
    Unknown number of "sinners" (This is what the 10 elders call us.)
    Unknown number of "demons" (Flying everywhere, to many to count)
     

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