The Gaithersburg Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church Congregation sent an open letter to the Potomac Conference on August 16, 2023. It is printed here with their permission.
Gaithersburg Spanish SDA
“August 16, 2023
Potomac Conference and Executive Committee Members,
The Gaithersburg Hispanic Seventh-day Adventist Church is committed to the mission of preaching the gospel, especially as we near the second coming of Christ. As such, this commitment leads us to work for the salvation of souls and the preaching of present truth.
We have read the official statement released by the Potomac Conference Corporation. However, we have same concerns that we have had since the beginning of the crisis in which our church finds itself. Why is the Conference administration unwilling to communicate with our church directly?
In early July, our church decided to extend an invitation to Pastor Esteban Bohr. He is a minister who has current credentials and in accordance with church policies is trustworthy to take the pulpit of our church. However, Pastor Jonás Baca informed us that the Potomac Conference vetoed Pastor Bohr's entry into this conference. Recognizing that our commitment as children of God is heaven first, we ask for an "It is written." The Word of God guides the faith to which we mainly abide, our members and leaders asked for a scriptural explanation why a minister in good standing cannot preach in our church.
First, it was explained to us that the Pastor (Baca) was acting as a representative of the Potomac Conference. Observing our steadfastness in inviting Pastor Bohr, Pastor Baca determined that the church elders would no longer be recognized as official elders. He then determined the same for our church board which had been elected in accordance with the church manual. Such authority does not reside in a pastor. For this reason we requested an audience with the coordinator of the Hispanic work and when our calls are not answered, we request an audience with the administration of the Potomac through Pastor Baca. We were told that the administration would not have an audience with us and finally at an administrative meeting, not properly convened, he challenged the church to accept his position or walk out of the church and Conference. Our leaders, in the midst of such threats and finding no help from the Potomac Conference, explored the remaining options, among which was going to the Allegany East conference.
Our second option was to go to our fellow believers around the world, so that they would understand the injustice that was being done. We exposed the fact that the due processes of the [SDA Church] were not followed in dissolving the Gaithersburg Church or erasing us as church members. That is why we continue to gather in the same building in which we have always done, as members of the Adventist Church and as an official church of the Potomac Conference.
However, in the midst of all this we realized that while we had the support of so many brothers inside and outside the Potomac Conference, we continued without the support of our Conference and the ministers in the Hispanic work. Brothers from other churches inform us of the instructions they have received from the Pastors. They are told that our church, our meetings and activities should not be supported, nor should they be promoted on social media. This attitude stands in contrast to the Bible verse that the official conference statement includes:
“I …. beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).
Through this situation we have felt that despite what the apostle declares in Ephesians 4:4: "one body and one Spirit, just as we were called to one hope...", the Gaithersburg church is a part of the body which can be discarded without further consideration.
We conclude by asking the following questions:
Who authorized violating conference policies and dissolving or disbanding our church?
Who authorized the unilateral measures to take possession of our equipment and belongings and to appropriate the bank accounts of the church congregation?
Who currently has possession of our belongings and bank funds?
Will the Potomac administration extend immediate assistance in recovering church property and funds?
Will the Potomac administration communicate with our congregation as the Church Manual requires?
What will the Potomac Conference do so that a situation like this is not repeated in our churches in this conference?
As an official church in the Potomac Conference we have initiated an investigation with the bank and the authorities to determine who took possession of the church funds—and removed the persons with signatures authorized by our board, from the bank accounts.
We also ask for the conference's support as we initiate the claim with our conference's insurance policy.
As a church congregation and members of the Potomac Conference, we look forward to the assistance of the administration in these matters. We also look forward to refocusing on the mission of the church, which is the salvation of souls.”
We look forward to satisfactory answers to these questions. Indeed the entire world SDA Church awaits these answers.
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“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?” (Obadiah 3).