In September of last year, Michigan Conference administrators banned Conrad Vine from speaking in the state of Michigan. Jim Micheff sent out a letter to this effect on September 3.
Today, there was a church business meeting at the Village Church in Michigan to formally discuss this ban. Particularly in question is this “Can a conference ban a local member in good standing from speaking in their own church?” And, “Can a conference ban a duly elected elder or a religious liberty leader from speaking in the church that elected him?”
The meeting began at 1 PM.
Jay Gallimore chaired the meeting, and offered a devotional.
Conrad Vine was given 30 minutes to state his case. His remarks were received with wide approval. Here is a PDF of his remarks.
Jay Gallimore said he had spoken with a GC lawyer (possibly McFarland) and was informed that page 126 of the Church Manual gives MISDA the right to ban Conrad Vine from SDA pulpits in Michigan.
Conrad Vine responded and said that page 126 applies to outsiders speaking in a local church, not local members or elders in good standing.
A couple elders (Dronen and Cedric Vine) and the interim pastor (Gallimore) presented a statement that they hoped the congregation would approve and vote for. The Statement:
There was vigorous discussion on this statement. Finally it was put to a vote. It failed by a vote of 89-56.
A motion was made to lift the ban on Conrad Vine in the Village Church, since he is a member in good standing. This motion passed by a vote of 119-18.
This vote is, in my opinion, a necessary corrective to a growing centralization of power in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and a welcome return to the bottom-up governance that the church was designed to have 50-80 years ago.
I am told that the meeting was conducted smoothly and without rancor.
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“Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But not so with you” (Luke 22:25).