This statement by the Village Church Elders was presented to the Village Church congregants today during the special 24-hour Prayer Vigil. It reaffirms their support for the leadership of Pastor Ron Kelly and denounces authoritarian church management practices (such as the Potomac Conference in 2023 and the Michigan Conference in 2024).
A Statement by the Elders of the Village Seventh-day Adventist Church
January 11, 2025We, the elders of the Village Seventh-day Adventist Church, in unity, humility, and faith, provide this statement to our brothers and sisters in the Village Church congregation, to the churches of the Michigan Conference, and to the wider Adventist world.
As we reel from the sudden, unexpected, and inexplicable removal of our beloved pastor, Elder Ron Kelly, by the Michigan Conference leadership, we seek the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ which He has given to the shepherds of His flock in Matthew 23:23, not to neglect the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
I. Justice
The Spirit of Prophecy reminds us in Patriarchs and Prophets:
“Those who have too little courage to reprove wrong, or who through indolence or lack of interest make no earnest effort to purify the family or the church of God, are held accountable for the evil that may result from their neglect of duty.” (p. 578)
We strongly disapprove of our Michigan Conference leadership for its conduct in the removal of Elder Kelly, which we observe to have lacked transparency, Christian integrity, and the basic principles of justice and due process. Their decision disrupts and dishonors the work of God. We are also saddened by the apparent violation of employment confidentiality and the repeated attempts by Conference leaders to cast aspersions on Elder Kelly’s character and ministry since his removal.
We reject both the premise and the process by which the Michigan Conference Executive Committee removed Elder Kelly, and thus we call for his immediate reinstatement as the Senior Pastor of Village Church. The premise presented to us by Conference leaders has been unclear, inconsistent, and without apparent merit, but sadly Elder Kelly appears to have paid a terrible price for his principled stand in defending the flock. In defending Dr. Conrad Vine from Conference demands for his summary removal from leadership roles at Village Church, Elder Kelly was upholding due process protections in our Church Manual – for all members of our congregation and around the world. Throughout this, Elder Kelly stood for biblical principles and due process, exercised confidentiality, and protected the reputation of the Conference and its leaders.
As a body of elders, we seek to uphold the same Christian principles and the fundamental rights of all our members as outlined in the Church Manual. This includes, but is not limited to, the rights of due process, to face one’s accusers, to know the accusations against oneself, to have the opportunity to defend oneself, and to be judged by our local congregation in a duly called business meeting.
Because of our belief in the priesthood of all believers, we seek a biblical order, representative church governance, and the rule of law, and we appeal to the Conference to reject authoritarian church management practices which fail to protect due process for any Michigan members who speak views which differ from those of Conference officials.
If the Conference leadership asserts that Dr. Vine or any other Village Church member is teaching false doctrine, then we invite the evidence for such assertions to be presented to the congregation in business session so that our members may pass judgment on the matter. Such a process is both consistent with, and required by, biblical principles and the Church Manual. In the absence of due process, we consider all efforts to ban or remove any member, including Dr. Vine, from leadership positions at Village Church to be without merit or legitimacy.
Justice requires due process to protect our core liberties of conscience, of speech, and of honest biblical inquiry – for all members of the worldwide church. With this in mind, we reject as unbiblical and contrary to the clear counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy the presumed authority of the General Conference ADCOM to deny the possibility for members to claim a religious liberty objection to government mandates during the pandemic as seen in its October 2021 Reaffirmation Statement. Time and truth are vindicating the biblical stand our congregation has made, including recent decisions in Michigan and US federal courts which have ruled that objections to such mandates are indeed a matter of liberty of conscience. We will continue to uphold the right of every member of our congregation to honor their body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit according to the dictates of their conscience without condemnation, coercion, or censure.
II. Mercy
We, as the elders of the Village Church, are meeting regularly for prayer, discussion, and to humbly seek the leading of the Holy Spirit as we seek a biblical resolution to these matters. We want the congregation to know that we share in your pain, and that we are working tirelessly to ensure that the Village Church will remain as a light on a hill until Christ’s soon return. We solicit your continued prayers.
Ellen G. White reminds us in Ministry of Healing:
“Every association of life calls for the exercise of self-control, forbearance, and sympathy. We differ so widely in disposition, habits, education, that our ways of looking at things vary. We judge differently. Our understanding of truth, our ideas in regard to the conduct of life, are not in all respects the same. There are no two whose experience is alike in every particular. The trials of one are not the trials of another. The duties that one finds light are to another most difficult and perplexing. So frail, so ignorant, so liable to misconception is human nature, that each should be careful in the estimate he places upon another. We little know the bearing of our acts upon the experience of others. What we do or say may seem to us of little moment, when, could our eyes be opened, we should see that upon it depended the most important results for good or for evil.” (p. 483)
In this light, we make this statement in humility and seek God’s mercy as we move forward in the hope of reconciliation. All members have a right to hold a range of views on matters expressed in this statement, and we regret if our words or actions have belittled in any way the views of others. We regret if we as elders have failed to treat the Michigan Conference officers with anything but Christian love characterized by patience, kindness, and courtesy.
Furthermore, we regret if the language we have chosen at times has been perceived as inflammatory or maligning, or if certain concepts we discussed were perceived as subversive. If this has occurred, we invite those who may have taken offense to seek reconciliation according to Christ’s process described in Matthew 18:15-17 and consider the unique context in which statements have been made. Mercy requires us all to seek such reconciliation.
The removal of Elder Kelly has caused shock and consternation not only to our congregation, but to Adventists worldwide, for whom Elder Kelly and Village Church have been a beacon of hope and encouragement amid the winds of changing cultures and ideologies.
We regret the resulting collapse of confidence in the leadership of the Michigan Conference and of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church.
III. Faithfulness
We affirm that our congregation is fully committed to the message and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Our commission is to proclaim the Everlasting Gospel in the context of the Three Angels’ Messages, and to prepare people to meet Jesus when He returns. Likewise, we affirm our ongoing commitment to making a positive and loving contribution to the sisterhood of churches within the Michigan Conference and beyond.
We affirm the prophetic Remnant calling and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as defined in our Fundamental Belief 13, and we both model and encourage the return of faithful tithes to the Church.
Sister White wrote in Testimonies for the Church Volume 9:
“Some have been dissatisfied and have said: “I will not longer pay my tithe; for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at the heart of the work.” But will you rob God because you think the management of the work is not right? Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right spirit, to the proper ones. Send in your petitions for things to be adjusted and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove unfaithful, because others are not doing right.” (p. 249)
We affirm the extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit within our congregation under the leadership of Elder Ron Kelly. In every aspect of our congregation’s life and ministry, we testify to the leading and fruits of the Holy Spirit. Under the leadership of Elder Kelly, God has transformed our congregation into a united, sacrificial, global force for mission and Gospel proclamation. We seek to maintain this faithful course, by the grace of Jesus.
We remain faithful to the Holy Spirit-led ministries supported by members of the Village Church. This includes our ministries dedicated to redemption from sexual immorality and destructive social narratives. It includes our media ministries, our efforts towards education reform, and our ongoing medical missionary initiatives. It also includes our Religious Liberty activities, which have stood for liberty of conscience and a biblical worldview for the last ten years. We regret that this weekend’s activities were cancelled at the direction of the Conference, against the collective will of the elders, but are committed to preparing a more impactful event in the coming months. For all these ministries, however, we recognize the unique and visionary leadership role played by Elder Ron Kelly and therefore reaffirm the need for his immediate reinstatement.
Despite Elder Micheff’s humble promise made to our congregation on December 8, to date the Conference has not provided a realistic restorative roadmap for Pastor Kelly, Dr. Vine, or Village Church. If the Conference continues to hold its current position, reconciliation is not likely possible. In humility, if the Conference can accept that no individuals are perfect, and the path of restoration requires the rebuilding of trust among the impacted parties, then a more perfect union can be achieved. In the pursuit of justice, mercy, and faithfulness, we encourage the Conference leadership to press together with us in prayer, and to commit to a specific and mutually agreeable path as soon as possible.
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“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord” (Psalm 31:24).
