On Tuesday, the Village SDA Church sent a letter to the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. It was shared with the MISDA Executive Committee on Tuesday before they made their decision to terminate Pastor Ron Kelly. It is shared here with permission,
Our Commentary
What the Michigan Conference has done to Pastor Ron Kelly has implications far beyond the state of Michigan. It reinforces a growing divide between elites and common people in the church, and reveals an ugly spirit of coercion by leaders who would rather destroy the flock (Jeremiah 23:1) than lose their ability to control them.
I believe what we are looking at in the church is a growing distinction between the so-called 'elites' and the common folk.
During Covid, and more recently with the Conrad Vine sermon, the church has polarized into a distinctive stalemate — an inconclusive struggle between so-called elites and the common folk who value personal liberty over credentials.
Though handling the Covid crisis poorly, these SDA elites see themselves as superior to a commoner class too taken with personal liberty and natural immunity, convictions they scornfully decry as "conspiracy theories."
Is there a power imbalance? Yes, the elites control the church property and can prevent dissenters (like Conrad Vine) from dissenting from the pulpits of conference-owned property. That power imbalance is painfully illustrated by the cancelling of Conrad Vine for, ironically, the sin of suggesting a way to address the power imbalance. And now, Ron Kelly is their next victim.
I believe the Lord will frustrate the attempts of these ‘churchy’ elites to silence opposing voices. I also believe the voices of Ron Kelly and Conrad Vine will now sound with renewed relevance.
And they are voices worth hearing, like yours.
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“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:1).
[Editor update. The conference has chosen Taariq Patel as the the interim pastor at Village Church. They have asked him to preach this Sabbath. Cody Francis from the conference office will attend Village Church and read a statement from the conference during both services. Patel also suggested canceling the Village Church religious liberty weekend to allow people time to heal.]
