Im not convinced that I sinned against you. But empathy that is true does not result in that. Then they got themselves in trouble (ultimately with God) when they opened their mouths and spoke words without knowledge in their attempt to fix Job. This response, of course, is labeled as immature, manipulative, and reactive.. Whew! In the end, seven of the 17 original members of the task force ended up leaving Bethlehem, which some elders saw as confirmation that their misgivings about the group were justified. I feel like we have encountered wave after wave after wave, and that in a good-faith effort to keep the peace and maintain some form of unity, we have not spoken with sufficient clarity about what is true and what is false and instead have attempted to appease left-leaning folks who are virtually unappeasable , By the time the Takatas eventually met with Naselli and church leaders, they saw that there are more dividing lines being formed here than we expected, Janette told CT. "It's confusing and painful corporately because Jason took the mantle from Pastor John Piper and helped lead us to this point of campus-specific preaching. Another four faculty and staff left the college and seminary in the past year. The other, and far more contentious, motion concerned an October 1, 2019, episode of Man Rampant, a podcast on Christianity, leadership, and masculinity hosted by Doug Wilson. WebThrough biblical truth and personal stories, author, pastor, and theologian Jason Meyer encourages the weary and anxious believer by shining light on the nature of reality, the nature of God, and the intersection of the two in our daily, rubber-meets-the-road lives. He is well respected for his scholarship and rigor, earning two PhDs (from Bob Jones and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) before he turned 30. ++++++++++. Today was the first time Ive ever heard of the controversy re: the concept of empathy as discussed by Doug Wilson and Joe Rigney, and also now the idea the some biblical counselors are also thinking similarly. Bowers had been a professor who looked forward to the first day of school every year and loved interacting with studentsand it showed. God commands us to be compassionate. In a climate of suspicion, compassion can look like coddling, Meyer wrote. Image: Screengrab / Bethlehem Baptist Church. The news of official grievances against Naselli, one of the best-known professors at BCS, spread among its 400 or so graduates. Our academic dean is an elder at the church. He writes for The Gospel Coalition and has served as D. A. Carsons longtime research assistant. He also expressed misgivings around the treatment of women, which he claimed was the result of attitudes that went beyond complementarian convictions, as well as around Rigneys ties to Wilson. To share this article with your friends, use any of the social share buttons on our site, or simply copy the link below. The congregation is the highest authority and there are systems in place which allow congregants to bring up concerns (motions) to the rest of the congregation. Mekala, who says she was emotionally and spiritually abused for eight years while serving in a campus ministry overseen by Bethlehem, told The Roys Report that listening to the podcast was traumatizing. I never met Jason Meyer but I know an oblong blur generality, when I read one. He has previously served congregations in Lake Benton and Blaine, both in Minnesota. One need only look at the life of John Calvin, father of Reformed theology (deformed is more like it) and how his followers minimize his past (as Piper himself does; this is referenced in Dave Hunts book What Love is This? Such sensitivities, he fears, can threaten Christians relationship with the truth. There are still a few spots open; which we hope will be filled. Notifications include: New company roles Change in active status Location updates New Both Meyer and Tong spoke out against racism, Pickering said, but added that the charges were not true. But if you see what I see, and if you experience this community (leadership, faculty, and students) as loving, and supportive and fair, and if you share my excitement about the future with Joe Rigneys leadership and under Gods merciful providence, then I believe we will together walk in truth and love, and have a great impact for the glory of Christ.. From there he went on to study at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky where he earned M. Div. The stakes continue to be raised, said Josh Panos, a BCS alumnus. He described his reasons for leaving in a 3,100-word resignation letter that was recently leaked, nearly a month after the church announced his departure in a brief email. So far this year, about 200 peoplenearly 10% of the megachurchs total membershiphave resigned as members from Bethlehems Downtown campus, according to statistics provided to The Roys Report by former BBC members. WebJason Meyer | 2 Corinthians 11:16-21. Something that gives me hope that BBC will be able to navigate this very difficult time is that they seem to have a church government in place designed to serve the congregation. 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(Image credit: Bethlehem Baptist Church/Facebook), Error: There was an internal error submitting your form. When the legitimate needs of the individual members of the family are expendable for the sake of the image of the family, this is a narcissistic family system. Even people whove left in frustration agree theres no single cause or person beneath the conflict. One of the few evangelical colleges in New York City is in sudden financial crisis, and students are planning for a possible shutdown. Its the same individuals who are sitting in both places. These tensions came to a head at a contentious BBC congregational meeting on January 31 in which two members, Steve and Janette Takata, submitted motions for the church to consider. It feels jarring.". In his resignation letter, Meyer added, Ming-Jinn, Bryan, and I were called shame terms like coddlers, and Ming-Jinn was called Absalom.. . According to the website, Meyer's resignation was announced last week in an email to the congregation by Elder Council Chairman Dr. Kurt Elting-Ballard and Bethlehem Pastor for Strategic Implementation Ken Currie. No one should be surprised by these revelations of spiritual abuse -especially against women- in the Bethlehem ecosystem. Rigney recognizes spiritual abuse as something that does happen in Christian contexts, but he also challenged what he saw as the possibility for criticism or correction from a position of authority to get inflated as abuse. They said he falsely accused us of insubordination to a pastor and acting in a manner that is intentionally divisive., But Naselli, according to the Takatas transcripts, spoke up about the difference between intent and impact and ultimately did not see his response as sinful. . The church where John Piper pastored for 33 years is arguably facing one of its greatest crises in 150 years. Some current seminary students say they were satisfied with the outcome and have seen repentance from their professor following the investigation. Are the elders or board members abusive? Two Bethlehem elders, Ken Currie and Chairman Kurt Elting-Ballard, responded that they are focusing our energy on the needs of our flock and had no other comment or statement to add.. Hi. In the summer of 2019, the task force presented an 85-page report to the elders, which essentially died in committee. Dave Zuleger, the church's South campus pastor for preaching and vision also confirmed and addressed Meyer's resignation in a blog post on the church's website, writing "this is another painful and confusing moment for us. We dont want that kind of escalation, inflation, and fragility in play. Its one of the things that meant I never took John Piper seriously, or trusted his exposition of Scripture. After Christ is a deliverance church. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. Are there good reasons for why Pastors are leaving the church? We put a high premium on education in serious joy, and therefore we think the emotions are important, he said. According to Pickering, Naselli had been the focus of an internal investigation at BCS due to allegations of bullying and spiritual abuse brought by about 12 former and current BCS students. The church formed an ethnic harmony task force in 2019 to review issues such as representation and diversity within the church and leadership. Are the Pastor(s) abusive? At Bethlehem, the biggest source of frustration and disappointment, in many cases, came not from the grievances themselves but from the resistance and attitudes people said they faced when they tried to bring those grievances forward. Though Rigney serves as a pastor at a Bethlehem church plant in St. Paul, Cities Church, he is the first head of BCS who doesnt belong to Bethlehem Baptist Church itself. I thought others agreed with me as we talked about taking that approach. . I had a growing concern that compassion that lacks discernment would ultimately and subtly undermine sound doctrine. He later apologized for not being quick to listen in the moment and in later discussions of the incident, though in April the elders considered the grievances against him unfounded. And when the truth and the truth-tellers are minimized, marginalized, and demonized, this is a narcissistic family systems. I believe aspects of BCS culture are inconsistent with the mission and vision I came to love, she said. On April 20, the elders met again for what Pickering and Meyer likened to a tribunal. Pickering said that in that meeting, the elders accused Meyer and Tong of subordinating the gospel and embracing Marxism and Critical Race Theorya controversial approach to understanding systemic racism. Last Sunday, Bethlehem campuses began to meet to discuss Meyers letter and the reasons for his resignation. I dont see how there can be any interpretation other than empathy for the Romans 12:15 instruction to Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. . Pipers successor, Jason Meyer, is the fourth pastor to resign from Bethlehem in the past four months. Ming-Jinn Tong, pastor for neighborhood outreach, announced his resignation From our humble beginnings in 1975, Faith Assembly of God began as a church serving 95 people from a small steel building. At the conclusion of the two investigations, Johnathon Bowerswho had taught for a decade at BCSfelt no better about the growing reservations he had over his place at the college. Another elder in the meeting said of Pastor Jason, of Pastor Ming-Jinn, and of me that when we preach or pray publicly, or publicly communicate to the congregation, we are subordinating the gospel to other things, Pickering told CT. Then, its findings werent released to the church as a whole until a year and a half after issuing a report to elders. WebSince that time, his life has never been the same and the reach of his ministry has only grown. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1. His experience in the class led him to hear from others who had been called out by Naselli, and he brought concerns from a dozen students to leaders at the church at BCS the following year. Why? Paul used this same verb in verse 19 (you gladly bear with fools), and now he repeats it once more in order to make plain some of the foolish stuff the Corinthians put up with. 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