VILLAGE SDA CHURCH REINSTATES DR. CONRAD VINE
At 1pm, Sunday August 3rd, the Village SDA Church met for a 4-hour business meeting to discuss the question of whether to accept or reject the presumed authority of the MI SDA Conference to ban Dr. Conrad Vine from preaching in Village SDA Church, his local congregation.
After an all-morning prayer session held by the elders, and a respectful discussion that examined the matter from various angles, the Village SDA Church voted a resolution in support of Dr. Vine by approx. 85% majority. What is listed below are the core components of the vote, but not the actual wording of the vote, which will be released later:
The members of the Village SDA Church rejected the presumed authority of the Michigan Conference under the Church Manual to ban a local elder from preaching within his own local congregation without following the due process required by the Church Manual.
The Village SDA Church authorized with immediate effect Dr. Vine to participate in the full life of the Village SDA Church as an elder, including any and all preaching and public speaking participation incumbent on the biblical teaching and preaching role of an elder.
The Village SDA Church affirmed that if the Michigan SDA Conference wished to further pursue the matter, Michigan SDA Conference should bring the matter before the Village SDA Church in a special business meeting, as required by the Church Manual (see below for applicable Church Manual text).
The only video recording from the business meeting was of the defense presented by Dr. Conrad Vine.
What next?
It is the prayer of the Village SDA church members that the MI SDA Conference will step back from the brink and recognize that due process must be respected for all members. Only thus can the fundamental rights of all members worldwide be protected in a denominational leadership culture that increasingly appears authoritarian, intolerant of any dissent, and willing to weaponize the Church Manual and Official Statements against innocent members.
Under the applicable portions of the Church Manual, the MI SDA Conference has the right to assess the situation, and if they determine that Village SDA Church is a rebellious congregation, then the following provisions apply:
Church Manual, Page 41-42: "Church status is not necessarily perpetual. A church may be dissolved or expelled from the sisterhood of churches for the following reasons:…
2. Discipline—Occasions for expelling a church for disciplinary reasons are rare because the mission of the church is to seek and to save. Where serious problems such as apostasy, refusal to operate in harmony with the Church Manual, or rebellion against the conference persist, earnest efforts should be made to avert the need for expulsion. The pastor should seek to deepen the spiritual life of the church through preaching and personal visitation ministries. The conference should encourage a series of revival meetings to lead the members to renew their covenant with their Lord. If these efforts are unsuccessful, the pastor, in cooperation with the conference executive committee, should counsel with the church and its leadership, seeking to bring healing and reconciliation and to preserve the church. Such remedial measures are preferable to permitting the deterioration of relationships, which could lead to expulsion of the church.
However, if all efforts to preserve the church fail, the conference executive committee should give careful study to the question of expulsion. If such action is decided upon, the conference shall follow the following procedure:
a. The decision to recommend expulsion, with supporting reasons, shall be presented to the church itself in a business meeting for its information and consideration.
b. If the church does not accept the recommendation, it may respond in one of the following ways:
1) Eliminating the causes for discipline and accepting the conference specifications, request the conference to rescind the recommendation to dissolve or expel.
2) Appeal to the union executive committee, or to the division in case of a union of churches, to arbitrate on behalf of the church.
c. If the church remains in rebellion, the conference executive committee makes a recommendation to a regular or specially called constituency meeting that the church be dissolved.
d. If the constituency takes action to expel, the conference shall enforce the decision.
Please unite in prayer with those directly involved in this situation, both in the local congregation and at the MI SDA Conference, that the Holy Spirit will bring reconciliation and healing for all involved.
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