Over the last three days, hundreds of people have asked us “What went on at the Michigan Conference pastor’s meeting last Tuesday?” Here’s what we know and don’t know.
What We Know
The meeting lasted over six hours
Most of the Michigan pastors attended
It was demanded that there be no recordings, period.
The meeting was largely a grand jury against Pastor Ron Kelly, seeking to indict him. Ron Kelly was not present.
VDS (Vine Derangement Syndrome) has gone epidemic since late August. Early signs are wearing a mask while driving alone in a car, and a blind willingness to follow unproven medical treatments. What follows is increased anxiety, and diminished critical thinking. A new variant, RKDS has infected the Conference.
Jim Micheff doesn’t care much for Fulcrum7. He complained that as soon as he says something it shows up on F7. Hyperbole aside, it reminds us loosely of 2 Kings 6:12. We are told that Micheff is trying to find the leakers, whoever they might be.
Mr. Micheff, we have written many positive things about you and the Michigan Conference. You do good things, we write good things. You make bad decisions (like you have over the last 90-days) we write about those. Many members are watching you closely right now, and sharing what they hear and observe. It’s called accountability and freedom of speech.
The Executive Committee had 4 members that voted against terminating Ron Kelly. Pray for these honest souls, that they don’t become targets of an autocratic administration. Pray for those with VDS that they get healing (Matthew 5:44).
One Facebook post defending the Michigan Conference said “The decision to remove Pastor Kelley was brought before the executive committee, which consists of high-profile individuals and pastors. It is Jim’s job to carry out the vote of the executive committee.” Ahem. JIM Micheff chairs the executive committee.
What We Don’t Know
We don’t know if there is a vaccine for VDS. There are some natural remedies — among them, honesty, humility, truth and garlic.
We don’t know how many pastors bought into the ‘indictment’ narrative, or how many have early onset VDS. Most of the Conference administrators tested positive.
We don’t know when Ron Kelly will use his new YouTube channel. Probably soon.
We don’t know all the details of a report that the General Conference advised the Atlantic Union that an Adventist ‘pulpit’ consists of anywhere where two or more Adventists are gathered together. At its extreme, that suggests that Conrad cannot speak in the home of an Adventist where other Adventists are gathered. Good luck enforcing that. We are looking into this bizzare report.
Facebook Bits
These are public tidbits about the Tuesday Conference Meeting for MISDA pastors.
“Around five pastors defended Kelly. The rest praised the conference or were silent.”
“At the meeting on Tuesday, Pastor Dennis Paige was one of the very few pastors that stood courageously before the conference president in defense of [Ron] Kelly.”
“Over the course of several years, Pastor Kelley consistently pushed boundaries with the Michigan Conference by organizing events and inviting speakers without prior authorization from the conference.” Apparently, Ron Kelly needs the approval of the Conference to invite experts like Peter McCullough, Bruce Cameron, and Jonathan Cherne to speak at religious liberty events. My guess is if they had invited Sheila Jackson Lee or Al Sharpton, there would be no fuss about it.
“Regarding Conrad Vine, his comments about creating parachurches are considered heretical. He was given an opportunity by the Michigan Conference to make things right but did not.” A parachurch is a Christian organization that operates independently of a specific denomination, but works alongside the church to support its mission. The term "para" comes from a Greek word that means "beside" or "alongside." Parachurch groups come alongside churches to provide ministries those churches cannot fulfill alone.
“A number of years ago I wrote an article titled "Forbid Them Not." It was published by Adventists Affirm. The Gist of that article is that church authority ought to be respected and that it has legitimate limits. A conference can, for example, ban me from speaking at the 11 AM service in local churches. It cannot ban me from private meetings of interested persons as it has no authority over such things. Lay initiatives are the lifeblood of church development. Where this is poorly known, the church develops what a recent Messenger called "kingly power."
“I’m not in the MI conference, but it certainly impacts my respect for any individual in this chain of command. Are there no adults in leadership anywhere in the church hierarchy willing to put a stop to this bullying? If not, then why do we fund Conference, Union and GC leadership? The banning and threats not only violate our Christian principles, but also violate the US Bill of Rights.”
“Micheff did most of the talking—like for 3 - 4 hours. Responses from pastors was limited to about 5 min but only a few pastors spoke. I think they were shellshocked.”
Village church bulletin tomorrow. Pastor Taariq’s sermon title “Finish the Race” Announcements: Business meeting will be postponed until January.
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“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).