In February 2019, Hayes Wicker, the revered pastor of First Baptist Church of Naples, was forced to resign, compelled to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and barred from the church campus following an anonymous letter alleging financial impropriety—claims he later denied…
(C)hanges seemed to go beyond mere improvements and challenged the church’s core identity…
(M)any of the excommunicated families also received cease and desist letters from the church warning them about using church related imagery or contacting members…
(T)he people booted from the church were the kind who make up the backbone of ministry. They were not simply Sunday morning pew sitters but members who, in many cases, had been there for decades and volunteered their time and money to make FBC Naples what it was. It was their home. And, without their approval, their home had been taken from them by revolutionary forces that wanted more than just an upgrade…
(S)igning a separation agreement that prevented him from commenting on the changes that surrounded his departure…
(O)ff-duty officers would be present to trespass members deemed inactive during the upcoming congregational vote…
(E)nd most of the discipleship groups at MBC, calling them “shallow” and “unhealthy,” instead replacing them with larger, more controlled groups that could include up to 100 people…
Little’s approach, like Greear’s, saw pastoral duty as first to the Kingdom of God, then to the local church. From Little’s perspective, Faith Baptist needed to fundamentally change if it were to accomplish its mission…
Additionally, some members had stopped receiving church communications after being reclassified as “inactive”—a designation never previously used in the church’s history…
183 members had been moved to the inactive list, including Gerald Hayes, a Vietnam veteran and a dedicated member for over 15 years. Hayes had met the church’s active membership requirement by attending the previous three Sundays, but was still denied a vote by Jon Wallace…
(A) sense of entitlement some church leaders, including pastors, (was) displayed—believing they could get their way without considering the impact on their congregation. Messages between key players revealed a general expectation that people would simply fall in line with their plans… reflected a blatant disregard for the very people their plans were supposed to serve.
(E)ach church shrank as more involved and long-standing members left.
God is not happy with some of his children.
We all sin and fall short of God’s glory, Fred.
But when these folks fail to be concerned about the impact on church members, this is an issue of sin. Christ said to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That ought to be a fundamental concern for pastors and all those implementing fundamental change in the church setting. Otherwise you are acting in disregard of many people.
Thank you for sharing this trend going on, in our churches. Indeed the true believers of God are under attack from within. God bless!
Thanks, Tammy, and you are right. This IS a trend, and many believers have been under attack in various ways.