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A good post here from Jim Moran at SGM Refuge (www.sgmrefuge.com), documenting a public meeting in a Chesapeake SGM Community wherein an ex-Pastor (of the same gathering) confesses his manifold sins and wickedness, to wit: lying, deceiving, conspiracy to mislead the church, fear of man, idolatry of "unity," and accessory-to-the-fact of a coverup along with other Pastors. Facially, the ex-Pastor was manful, courageous, and did a rightful duty: get a better mind, a better heart, confession, and telling the truth. He sought forgiveness from the SGM Gathering, his wife and daughters. The ex-Pastor was honest. Preliminarily, we do not know the factual pattern at Chesapeake's SGM Community, but it suggests that there had been previous problems along with large exodus. Also, preliminarily, this may be an omen, harbinger, and template for other SGM Communities (note bene: the use of the term "communities," an intentional term rather than "churches"). "Old Baldy" Mahaney has not done this; nor has Dave "The Greasy" Harvey, Steve "Shanking" Shank, "Old Mickey Boy" Connolly and the other enablers, protectors and facilitators of this slick and unnecessary Sect. What's missing, however, is the confession to schism, sectarianism and the utter hubris of SGMers thinking "they've arrived" and "are the best on the streets" (Not!). SGM is still schismatical and arrogant. CLC, their flagship church, notably "confessed" that they had been arrogant; it's a start, but is not adequate.
From Seagull
I was one of the attendees at the recent Chesapeake family meeting on 7/22/12. There seemed to be about 250-300 in attendance (100 ex-SGM, 200 current members). Eric Hughes acknowledged the ex-members and welcomed them. He explained, in keeping with the changes recently occurring in their church (last Sunday apologizing to the 3 couples for Gene Emerson’s statement that they were “enemies of the church”), that tonight would be a continuation of efforts to correct errors and to continue to change. I believe he also mentioned they were still waiting to see where SGM was going to come out on their polity. Eric said the leaders had had a meeting with Tim where he wanted the opportunity to address the church in order to take care of something that had happened related to his leaving the ministry, and then he introduced Tim.
Tim communicated his appreciation to Eric for giving him this opportunity. He sort of jokingly mentioned his being able to speak to the church was not without some “arm wrestling”, likely referring to not mentioning KB’s name, as well as having to convince the leaders to go forward with the meeting when they indicated they would like to cancel the meeting 2 hours before it was to begin.
Tim gave a short teaching/testimony about what he had learned during the previous 6 years about being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, not falling prey to the fear of man, and not bowing to the idol of “unity” (meaning unity among the pastors). He described the “culture” of the leadership team as being a plurality of elders in word only, that in reality, it was whatever the senior pastor wanted. In Tim’s case, 6 years ago, the senior pastor at that time (KB) wanted Tim to step down and told Tim he had agreement from all the other pastors, including two regional leaders. However, Tim recalled that 1 or 2 of the pastors later confessed to him they did not agree with the decision but went along at the time for the sake of “unity”. Tim also later found out the senior pastor never spoke to one of the regional leaders at all.
Tim talked about the hazards of having a dissenting viewpoint and gave the example of the charismatic position on the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Tim’s positions) as compared to the third wave understanding of the Holy Spirit (SGM party line position). The jest of what he said amounted to his understanding that to differ with the senior pastor was hazardous and likely contributed to his being dismissed.
Tim explained that he was told by the senior pastor at that time to tell the church he believed he was called back to the workplace to evangelize. When in reality, Tim never felt called to leave the ministry and go back to the workplace. The senior pastor emphasized, for the sake of portraying unity of the leadership team to the church, Tim should say these things. Tim agreed to do so reluctantly.
Tim confessed he fell into the fear of man, made an idol out of unity, resisted the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and failed to be a Berean (which he exhorted the church to always do). He said all this as a broken man, wiping away tears, and clearly feeling terrible that he had lied to the church. This is what he emphasized the most saying, “I lied to the church. I feel terrible. I needed to confess this to you and tell the truth”. He looked at the church and asked them for forgiveness. Several voices called out, “Yes, we forgive you.” He then turned to his family (still crying) and said he realized how much pain his sin had caused them. He asked his wife and daughters for forgiveness and then indicated he was finished speaking. At this point the entire assembly spontaneously rose to their feet and began clapping. They clapped for a long time. Several people were crying and a few began to come up to comfort and affirm their forgiveness to Tim. It was quite moving and powerful. Several of us commented after the meeting we had never seen a SGM pastor confess and repent as Tim had just done.
After the clapping ceased, Eric came back to the mic and began to address the people. It seemed inappropriate for him to be speaking at all and when he said “Tim had no cause to be concerned” several folks got up from their seats and left in protest. I don’t remember everything Eric said because I was thinking, he and the other pastors should be taking this opportunity to repent or he should simply dismiss the meeting. What he did though, was minimize, make excuses, redefine, and qualify everything Tim had just said. However, there was a very strong feeling emanating from the people that they weren’t buying it. The air of disgust was palpable. It seemed the Holy Spirit came back into the room only after Eric was finished. At that point people continued to rejoice and be glad for the example they had just witnessed through Tim, ….what very much appeared to be genuine repentance and godly sorrow.
Later, I spoke to several people who said, “It was the most remarkable meeting they had ever attended.” Another said, “This meeting solidified their decision to leave SGM”. Another said, “I felt darkness and bondage break off of me when Tim repented before the church.” Another said, “I’m an ex-member but never have felt free….. tonight I feel I’ve been set free!” One young girl told her parents, “Mommy, I understood every word Pastor Tim said, but what was Pastor Eric talking about?”
Apparently, The Hulme’s testimony of how this all came about is over at www.syboulosministries.org under the Testimonials link.
Seagull
I was one of the attendees at the recent Chesapeake family meeting on 7/22/12. There seemed to be about 250-300 in attendance (100 ex-SGM, 200 current members). Eric Hughes acknowledged the ex-members and welcomed them. He explained, in keeping with the changes recently occurring in their church (last Sunday apologizing to the 3 couples for Gene Emerson’s statement that they were “enemies of the church”), that tonight would be a continuation of efforts to correct errors and to continue to change. I believe he also mentioned they were still waiting to see where SGM was going to come out on their polity. Eric said the leaders had had a meeting with Tim where he wanted the opportunity to address the church in order to take care of something that had happened related to his leaving the ministry, and then he introduced Tim.
Tim communicated his appreciation to Eric for giving him this opportunity. He sort of jokingly mentioned his being able to speak to the church was not without some “arm wrestling”, likely referring to not mentioning KB’s name, as well as having to convince the leaders to go forward with the meeting when they indicated they would like to cancel the meeting 2 hours before it was to begin.
Tim gave a short teaching/testimony about what he had learned during the previous 6 years about being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, not falling prey to the fear of man, and not bowing to the idol of “unity” (meaning unity among the pastors). He described the “culture” of the leadership team as being a plurality of elders in word only, that in reality, it was whatever the senior pastor wanted. In Tim’s case, 6 years ago, the senior pastor at that time (KB) wanted Tim to step down and told Tim he had agreement from all the other pastors, including two regional leaders. However, Tim recalled that 1 or 2 of the pastors later confessed to him they did not agree with the decision but went along at the time for the sake of “unity”. Tim also later found out the senior pastor never spoke to one of the regional leaders at all.
Tim talked about the hazards of having a dissenting viewpoint and gave the example of the charismatic position on the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Tim’s positions) as compared to the third wave understanding of the Holy Spirit (SGM party line position). The jest of what he said amounted to his understanding that to differ with the senior pastor was hazardous and likely contributed to his being dismissed.
Tim explained that he was told by the senior pastor at that time to tell the church he believed he was called back to the workplace to evangelize. When in reality, Tim never felt called to leave the ministry and go back to the workplace. The senior pastor emphasized, for the sake of portraying unity of the leadership team to the church, Tim should say these things. Tim agreed to do so reluctantly.
Tim confessed he fell into the fear of man, made an idol out of unity, resisted the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and failed to be a Berean (which he exhorted the church to always do). He said all this as a broken man, wiping away tears, and clearly feeling terrible that he had lied to the church. This is what he emphasized the most saying, “I lied to the church. I feel terrible. I needed to confess this to you and tell the truth”. He looked at the church and asked them for forgiveness. Several voices called out, “Yes, we forgive you.” He then turned to his family (still crying) and said he realized how much pain his sin had caused them. He asked his wife and daughters for forgiveness and then indicated he was finished speaking. At this point the entire assembly spontaneously rose to their feet and began clapping. They clapped for a long time. Several people were crying and a few began to come up to comfort and affirm their forgiveness to Tim. It was quite moving and powerful. Several of us commented after the meeting we had never seen a SGM pastor confess and repent as Tim had just done.
After the clapping ceased, Eric came back to the mic and began to address the people. It seemed inappropriate for him to be speaking at all and when he said “Tim had no cause to be concerned” several folks got up from their seats and left in protest. I don’t remember everything Eric said because I was thinking, he and the other pastors should be taking this opportunity to repent or he should simply dismiss the meeting. What he did though, was minimize, make excuses, redefine, and qualify everything Tim had just said. However, there was a very strong feeling emanating from the people that they weren’t buying it. The air of disgust was palpable. It seemed the Holy Spirit came back into the room only after Eric was finished. At that point people continued to rejoice and be glad for the example they had just witnessed through Tim, ….what very much appeared to be genuine repentance and godly sorrow.
Later, I spoke to several people who said, “It was the most remarkable meeting they had ever attended.” Another said, “This meeting solidified their decision to leave SGM”. Another said, “I felt darkness and bondage break off of me when Tim repented before the church.” Another said, “I’m an ex-member but never have felt free….. tonight I feel I’ve been set free!” One young girl told her parents, “Mommy, I understood every word Pastor Tim said, but what was Pastor Eric talking about?”
Apparently, The Hulme’s testimony of how this all came about is over at www.syboulosministries.org under the Testimonials link.
Seagull
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