· 1:,01,zoou :u: 19 F.

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To: 1Uch Jcnua, Mike McKuighl, Tedd Tripp

From: Tom Chsntry
RE: Arizona Meetings
DonLiodblad bu communicated to me yoUT desire to he;,r my conccrn5 prior to oui: meeting i,1
Phoenix on December 13. Accordingly, I will endeavor to put all necessary th01J8blS to paper so
that they migbt be addressed appropriately. I will first generally address the charges made
itgain5t me by the elden orMiller Valley, as ru as l know them. I wish then to say a few words
about the p�ng climate of my ministry there and to comment on the process fullowcd by the
church during the cux:rent crisis, both prior to and following my resignation. I trust that my
actions will become more cli:ar through this C-'Cplnrunion.

The Charges

Over the last several wedts tha e!d� of Miller Valley have made many accusations against me
concccning my conduct as pasror, pa.rticularll "'it.b children. These accusations have never yet
bcco made to me; I have beard them 3•d or 4 b.;u,d. l can only addn:s:i thos-c: of which Z l111.vc:
heard.
PriOT to my departure from l>reseott, [ admitted that I acted im1ppropriately in the discipline of
. in that I proceeded without his mothers �press permi.ssion.. I have
S{;knowledged that this was wrong, and have asked forgiveness repeatedly. At the time I denied
the mor-e objectionable a.spcds of the acrusation. and l undcr.;tood that the elders believed my
version Qf° events. l absolutc:ly dc:ny the rumors which I have heard which accuse me of
repeatedly llbusing several children. I will not discuss this further in wriri1Jg, but you need to
know that l have not, l!lld will not, accept the version of c:venls now being publicized by the
elders.

A3 for othc>- aocus:.iions, r have acknowledged that a.t times I have acted proudly, :.mcl at times
without careful consideration. I have always been assw-cd, even by the elders, th.i.l these
"charactc:dla.ws" do not merit excLusion from the: ministry.

In order for you to undc:m,snd how thi$ matter has grown so large, I need to briefly address the
m1tu� of ,ny relatiomhip with the ciders and people of?-.1iller Valley.

Al the time of my call, I stepped into a quite difficult situation due to the long ministry of Bob
Se!�r,. This was not SQ much a problem �cd by Bob, but by the emotional reaction of the
people to his depanure.. A:. all the officers have recognized, many individuals in the church 1oolc
years to overcome this. The str:lin of this on my minisny is obvious.

Most di� is the impact that this has had on Rieb Howe:, the longest standing elder at
Miller Vzuky. Three prob� tuive plagued our rclatiooship. The first is that we do not view
the mioisuy in quite the same filsbion. We both w:lcaow]cdge this. I view the m.i.oiwy a.s
essentially didactic. while he views it as essentially relational. Thi! is not a mancc to separate
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over-, and w. both 101Jsbt io v.ioric together ncrvactMl� .• Seoondly,•l hAvo alw1Ly11 found h,im
critical of me, notonthcbasisofmy.work, but on thebasia�t�-pc_llOlll.lity. It.iamyppWon
that he bas taken Bob Selph', �nality"and cJevatiid�t i�o a�ent for �:,:,�y,
he has always viewed mo not as mi actual elder, but as an apprcriti� fur him to tram.:die'.Jiu
endeavored to givo me inappropriate •JatberJy• oversight on auch �ttcn 1111 my tlnaJJCQ and my
dawJg lifa. When l confronted him about his trewncnt ofme, he once said • I guess I may have
� too much ofyou.�- It is fair to say that be� vi�ed me as a project fi'Qm the
beginning, and u a disappointment for much of my time there.

It has recently become kaown to me that Rich has, on a DUinber of occ:isions. spoun with other­
ministers about my .shortc:oming.5. I heard that as urly u last spring, well before the curmit
matter, he �kcwilh TOlll Lub: about my inadcquacica. Then: hzm:: also been hints that Rich
and Bob Saiph have conducted di5cwslons nboot my wcalcncsses and th,; oi;eded improvement!
for years without my knowledge. I find this intolerable behavior fOT any elder.

r.nis cF -.,.. of tension is critical to your undem8J1dmg of subsequent events. Over the last
avcra; ,.:,,, Rich's trc:atmc:nt of= ha, !pinJc:d down to evt:n worse ICNels.

The �·en!.c I.J!adlng to my Resignation

On WedJlesday, October l&, the eld= told me 1hc story they bnd henrd about my time with
. I denied the story as they had heard it, but acknowledged my wrong in the matter.
They� my to go to C&roline Sue, s mother, and to apologize and make matters right.
I endeavored to do this immediately.

Already the issue had b.lmed lO gossip. mother had not SJ)oken to me or to the elders;
!,he spoke instead to s cousin, a woman who i:; a known gossip and busybody in the
church. She has been accused asa.in in the Jut months of agitating among people to discredit
ltich's wife.. Thii; has beon an ongoing problem in the churc:ii. She hlMi begun the� of
spreading rumor tO tho church. Whether she was the one who fim c:ularged the story, I do oot
know. I do lolow that, rather than confront her for gossip and aid the matter, the elders took the
position that I n�ded to apotop ootju$t to the boy IIXld hhs mother., but to o:weryo�e who baa
heud about ii. KnowiDg that X had initially beea m ihc WTong. I agx=d. At this ti.me, the ,;:Iden;
told me oot to argue the details. and suggested that they trusted my vffiion of !!Vents.. For this
n:::ason I did not try to clar my name, and subsequently have appearedgwlty of more than I ever
acknowledged.

In the first week I spoke with vuious members of the :wnily and church. Most wcn::willing ta
forgive. R�er, the elders decided to malc8 tb·e matter ewn broader, and to hav� �o apologize
m evett greeter generalities to eadl member ofthe church. · Again, I trusted them, and in all
likelihood opened myaelfto all sorts ofintorpTetmons ofmy gencn.1 apology. At thii tirne the
cldc:ril were still �elllng mi; that I-would remzun in the; ministry,-and diatthey trasu:ci"mc. They
sa.id that our individual meetings with members were in lieu ofa. congregatioml m�ing.
. .
Aftrueveral weekl ofthis. matters took a great lllntfor the worse..-:I .had not only,� out of
the pulpit, but had, at1hcrcquest ofthe elders, a.voided the services atMjllerValley;· neywere
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conductmg many mecrlngs with the people, and lleVcnl new notes c,,ttcn:,d into their words to
me. Fi.rst. the eldeu bega.n to meet without me. They m� without me on Sunday, November 5.
•to discuss their options.• They then met with the deacons and other members bcf�re meeting
wilh 111c. Second, they 5toppcd tA1king iD tenns ofwhat they might do, and began 1D spealc of
what the people mighl do. 11\is had become a matter for congregational deliberation, and less
and l�s Wll8 said ofwhat the ciders might J'C(:Ommffid. Third. they stopped sayina that it would
be right for me to mnain, and began saying that it might be mcusary to decide otherwise. EthiCI
wi:re being replaced by pregmarlsm as the emotion ofthe chun:h was 5tirred up against me.
FOIJ>th, they stopped aaying that llinca 1 had repented, l 'WOUid be forgiVC11 and mstorcd, llnd
began to RY that they might dismiss me. �e were substantial changes in tbe tone oftbe
c;ldcrs towards ma. They have subsequently claimm to havo followed one CQU� throughout, but
these changes Wft'e quite evident to me . Al the same time. the broad, general complaints ag,unst
my character, which tended to bo VafJUC and w:ianswcrablo, �eel to take precedence over the
issue with which even they had to concede that I had dealt with.

On Monday, November 6 the elders met with me to tell me their plan. They intend� t!) put me
on piobatioD for 30 daY1i, although in reality it was an open-OJldcd arrangement. l'�� would
hold a congregatiODal meeting to discu.u my sin problems and nec:tl for repentance, and to urge
the people to spend a month examining me for signs ofrepentance. At the end ofpie µ�e, the
people wQuld vote on whether to retain me. dismiss me, or repeat the process. When I asked for
time 1o thin.le, since so much wu cluinging so &st, Rich rebuked me for a la.ck ofreal repeutancc.

A nuinbec of things must be said about this plan. Fir.st, it was uncoo.stitutionAl, both because the
constitution ofthe church does not memion probatioruuy periods for SWlClin,g officer&, and
because a move for dismissal is tt> come. .from fhc elders, not the congregation. Second. it was
impractical, since it would have exncerbated the situation, deepened the division in t1lc church.
and so greatly humiliated me as to render my future ministiy impossible. Third, and most
importml.ly, I am convinced that it is an eatirely unbibllcal plan for the following reasons:

Fim. it was based on a. definition ofterrible sin wluch is not supported by any biblical law.
Reme1 Dber that this plan was made before the charges of misconduct h:ld grown so great, md
while the elda,i $llid tlmt the:y uusted me. Second, I WllS to be judged l.n my fitness f'or ministcy
not ou the basis ofcharacter, qualifications, :md siJu, but on that of personality and atyle. Third,·
a�sations we� bemg brought against me in a publie proceeding without the multiplicity of
witn.e$.SC$ required by saipture. Fourth, the; plao did not deal with the ex.isting and growing
pro't>lmi of gossip in the clwrch. Flfih. !be plan abi\Ildonc;d leadc:rsh.ip ofthe church to the
people, without any jutffltion of an cider-proposed solution.

In this situation, I could not $lOy. I resigned for three reasons. Fu-st, the ciders had clearly lost
confid� in me. Second, given their fiip--:llops mld this unbelievable pl;\Jly I had lost my
,:onfidc=e in the.n. ThiTd, it seemed evide.nt to me that ifI could not work with thmn., I would
do well 101cm, the c:hurch ln peace rather lhan my and flgbt ovc:r our differences. Fortlus
reason I subrnit!edmy resign.a.rfoIL For thiuca�m Ile.fl: town immediately. For this reason l
bA..-1: noidcd:c:ontaet-with the people, so as not to �IIIIlIUillcate to them my distnut ofthe
eldCr$bip fo the church. . '
1%/()7/%000 21::.!l r.u U3lHJnl»» 11.lNl'i.O'S S. 19'Il! r�ouu

The Events Subsequait to 1'1)' Ruiff110lion

� soon as I had resigned, the officers began to spill cvarts ill ll. wiiy contrary to uuth. They
'l'l"Cr'O talkins with othc:rminl11tc:ni about howtcmble a person l was, unqualified for the ministry.
while st the same time telling me how much thoy loved me a.nd wanted mo to return. They
begm to spreed the details which 1 had demed, and about which they had dishonestly claimed to
trust me. They have both a.lled and written to even my own parents, detailing 1hc grossest
dc;tails oflhoir a.ccusations. They ha.vc ovidCfl1ly recnmined children. io some cases Ye3l3 after
the alleged incident� They have, by their own cl:aim, as heard by both Don Lindblad and Earl
Blackburn, entered my house and sought for •evidence.• They hAve spoken about councils and
prosecution,. They have evidently been willirig to believe everything said about me without
¢Vid=ce. TI1ey h= sp!"Qd this gossip very tar. So � I have heani that Tom Lutr, Dll.vid
Dykstra. Rich Goswillcr, Steve Martin, Dave Shuey, Jaimie Howell, Wirync Roper, IIIII Murr.:1y,
and of course Bob and Cathy Selph ha.vt: been told something of the accusations 118:i.inst me, and
yct nothing oftbex mattcr3 has been related direaly to me.

In all of this they have continued pntterns which bcgllJl ycru-� ago.

ConclilSion.s

I know that your co=ittec must coruidc:, the a.ccu.ulions 111:uie against me. These an:. in wy
opinion, a mix1ure of teal sin, which has been both adressed and dealt with, a.nd of false cha!'BCS
which have emerged in a climate of gossip and hysteria. 1 hope that you will not orily ask wruit
lulppencd, but whc:n and bQw each allegation a:rose. The process was so far from biblical Ui:it
any accusation was likely to emerge.

I would respectfully ask you to also consider the following issues:

1. The elders have agitated behind the paator'1 back for y� criticizing him with the former
pastor, and in this fuhlon ensured that he could never effectively minister.

2. -:rhe elders have not confronted gossip, but have encouraged it.

3. The elders have not followed the biblical mandate to require multiple witnesses against an
elder.

4. The ciders have �luded the pastor from their delibeation, without ca��

5. The elders have abandoned cider rule for congreg;a.tional rule.

6. TI1e elders have VJOlated the church conmtution.

7. The elders have hastily-spread dishonest and slanderow gossip throllghout the .usociation.

8. The elders have hara.ssi:d the family ofthe pa.Uor.

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9. n,c ciders have invaded tho privacy 2nd property righu of the putor.

10. The etc!= have manipulated the pa.slOr's confession of wrong, first =pting his vc:nion of
events and subsequently acting as though he had confe$Sed more than he bad.

It is not my intent to make any offici:ll charges against the cldecs oftbe church for these mam,n.
I rather hope to demonstrate, if only to you men, how this s:ituation has so quickly spiraled out of
control I hope to be able to CJU>nerato myselfin you.r eyes, although 1 have acknowledged sin in
tlu$ mlltt(lr, and will freely :.dmit that I could have done better in certain re5pects. My two great
concerns IIIC the futun; of the church and my own future. I had hoped at the time of my
resignation tha1 the church would be able ID put this matte. behind them and move on in the
faith. Clc11rly they ruive not endeavored to do so. I still hope that such a future might be possible
for them. At the same time I planned to continue in tho ministry, and it j3 still my hope that I
will be able to do so. My reputation has been severely tarnished by the .fiuse �es that have
been so eagerly spread. In some manner I hope to sec my name cl C3red, not of 1111y sin I havc
committed, bl.It ofthose gross accusations which contain no truth. At the very lea.st I hope to
continue in the pastornte, >\nd my chief loyalty After Christ t3 to the ARB CA churches.

I do not know the intentions of the elders of Miller Valley.