A Letter to the GC President

“Elder Erton Kohler
President
Seventh-day Adventist Church
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6601

Dear Elder Kohler, 

We are told in the final days of this earth’s history “it will appear that the church has fallen.”  Yes, I do believe we are living in the last days.  And, yes, it appears that the church may fall. 

I am Bob Kenison from Wyoming.  I am 86 years old and an elder in my church.  I am thankful that God has allowed me to be used by Him in assisting our pastor by speaking in his district churches on Sabbaths.  I own and operate the company listed above.  Prior to starting this business, I managed underground mining & refining operations in Wyoming and New Mexico.  I spent 30 years in these operations.  I do not state this to “pump myself up.” I state it because when you are in operations with more than 600 employees, the frequency of personnel issues substantially increases.  And, I believe you have a personnel issue that is not being addressed. 

I have followed the Dr. Conrad Vine issue for more than 2 years.  Do I think Conrad Vine is infallible?  No, no man is infallible.  But I have witnessed numerous people, who opposed Dr. Vine, spending time with him, asking all types of questions, then become a supporter of Dr. Vine.  And, I have never heard Dr. Vine say that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not “the Biblical church we claim to be.” But he does say “this, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is the remnant church.”  

For years I have said publicly, “there is no accountability in the Adventist church.”  If a pastor is “not doing his job” he is not mentored or counseled;” he is simply moved to a new location.  I see conference presidents “with their own agendas that don’t align with the principals of the church,” being told, “you shouldn’t do that” with no follow up by church leadership.  And this structure extends into the General Conference level.  No one is being held accountable by conference leadership causing lack of confidence by the members  

But, now the lack of accountability is at a level that I don’t believe can be ignored any longer.  Yes, I’m speaking of the Michigan Conference president.  His vendetta against Dr. Vine is out of control.  I have read all his memos to the Village SDA church and quite frankly he is wrong.  He uses the church manual in the same fashion that an atheist uses the Bible.  He quotes “parts of a section” not pertaining to the issue, taken out of context, just to “prove his point. 

He attempted to get the General Conference involved asking if the church by-laws committee would “render an opinion on his actions.”  We, the membership, are not stupid.  That was simply to get a policy put in the church manual that would over-ride the local church leadership allowing conference leaders to pick and choose local church officers. 

The by-laws committee wisely avoided the issue referring it to the Lake Union Conference.  As, it turned out, the LUC also did nothing to correct the situation and did not follow the church manual in maintaining local church authority.  In fact, they did as the Michigan conference president by quoting “part of the church manual” that had no bearing on the Dr. Vine issue giving control of local church officers to the conference. 

Elder Kohler, I also believe it is time to change the paradigm of our church structure.  We are at a crossroad in our church history where we can no longer ignore the accountability issues.  I told my associates long before the latest memo, that his, Dr. Vine’s, case and viewpoint has gone world-wide with all watching to see “the outcome.”  And, to date, we see no action being taken “that is in accordance with the church manual.”   The membership sees and knows the unfortunate side of this issue. 

Thus, my question to you is, “will you allow the church membership confidence to fall” because of one man’s actions?  The Michigan conference president continues to be the problem, not Dr. Vine.  Will you as the GC president take action against the inappropriate actions of this individual?  Will you, as the head of our church, stand and be counted? 

Along with my previous work experience, we were taught to acknowledge the issue, followed by “solutions for fixing the issue.”  Thus, I only offer this suggestion as a possible remedy.  I would do exactly what President Trump did with Elon Musk.  I would bring in a strong & faithful man or team, who are not conformists, to “review the issues in the church and conferences” who will enact the changes necessary to correct the issues.  Yes, the team must have the approval of your leadership to enact corrections, but it would be an indication to the world church that “accountability is being addressed.”  And, yes, this will garner opposition. 

I see a plethora of articles about “giving to the church, church membership, etc.”  Some even suggesting we must be a transformative church straying from the church’s core values in order to maintain membership.  What I do not see again goes back to accountability; “has the leadership of the church, the conference office, the union office, etc. created the issue that is having an impact on all of this?”  What I do see from conference publications, is “members need to be more faithful with their tithes and offerings: members need to attend church more regularly, etc.”  Conference leadership has not addressed the issue.  And, I would guess that because of this, independent ministries are functioning quite well financially. 

Again, I will repeat my question; will you allow the church to fall because of the lack of accountability? 

We are told:                       

Ellen G. White in Selected Messages, Book 2, page 380 (1886),

Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. 

I thank you in advance and I would greatly appreciate your response,”

Bob

Bob A. Kenison
T K Industries, Inc.
307-742-5141
tki@wyoming.com