Todd, I have found that, in circumstances such as these, although the reasons given are true, they are usually only part of the reason for the decision. In politics it’s called spin.  It’s been given a bad name, but often it can be a good thing to try to put the best face on a bad situation and/or assist others in saving face.

The dynamics involved are very complicated (I’m sure you already know that) and the full story will never come out in even a long series of magazine or newspaper articles.

It is a grievous thing to happen when churches go through leadership changes abruptly.  My prayers are extended to the church in Orlando.

“desire to just enjoy life at a different level.”

Now that is the bottom line.  After all, who’d really want to lead, after that?

“was done in my absence and it was done without my consultation.”

This is the second time in recent months that I have heard and seen what “leaders” have done during a sabbatical.  That looks very bad.  In truth, it is really bad.  I mean really, why wouldn’t you talk with the man first?

I’ll bet that this thing has been going on for quite some time… that fuse was lit along time ago.  We just got the boom.

I still say that as long as the pastor is now a CEO and the majority of people still see him in the “old” way… shepherd, preacher, “the man”, that these problems will continue to mount.  It doesn’t matter how big the church.  The majority has not caught on to what is happening out here.

The bottom line-- for all those that think they can do “that” job.  There is no way that nurses on a surgical team could tell the surgeon how to do his job.  Why do so many in the church think that they can do the pastors job.  There is no way in the work world that the employees could tell the boss what he should do.  There is no way that it makes any sense that elders, I don’t care how much they think “of their great spirituality” that they should just call the shots while the guy was away.  Not cool, not spiritual.  But, it sounds like this guy just needed something like this to cut him loose.

Don
http://www.solinfamily.com

Anony says:
“There is more to the situation than what has been told, we all know the media tends to twist things to make it more dramatic!”

Yup, that’s the way it is with any public gossip.

...Bernie
http://fgn-letters.blogspot.com/

This is an Assembly of God church. For those outside the A/G, A/G polity, in a nutshell, gives the board ultimate power in hiring/firing pastors. In A/G churches, if you have a board member or two who don’t like you, you’re basically doomed.

What I don’t understand is why the Senior Pastor, who is supposed to be the head of the board, wasn’t contacted. Surely a vote like this demanded more communication.

Unfortunately this is the reality when you don’t allow a pastor to be the pastor of the church, and make the decisions accordingly.

This kind of thing is of particular interest to me, in that I’ve been there ("resigned" from a pastorate more than once). Somewhere someone said something like, ‘he who has made no enemies, has never done anything of value.’

The interesting thing about church conflict is that it is not new. Have you read the New Testament? Church conflict is inevitable, partly because the churches are full of sinners (thank God! There is no better place for them.); and partly because God uses theological struggle and conflict for the sanctification of His people.

I believe that church and theological struggles are on the increase because both the wheat and the tares continue to grow in anticipation of the great harvest. I even believe that the struggle will eventually produce a good result. Out of conflict and struggle will come greater resolution and clarity for the people of God, in God’s time.

What we see in church after church is the adoption of a perverted form of Congregational polity knonwn as autonomy or self-rule—regardless of the denomination or leadership structure. Why? Because Contemporary American culture teaches it.

The churches have been snookered. In short, they opened their doors to the world in the name of outreach and evangelism to the lost, only to find that the world has rushed in and now runs the organization.

Phil
http://www.pilgrim-platform.org

Maybe this is too blunt or politically incorrect but it seems like the major reason that they didn’t include the pastor in the decision is because they thought they knew what his response would be. And they didn’t want to take the chance of him swaying the board with the positives of the EP. You would also think that they considered the possible resignation of the SP, yet didn’t care. Sounds rather calculated and ruthless, and very sad. Reminds me of some of those old TV Westerns, where they lynched the accused before the sheriff got back to town.

I do not know the principals invovled, but I particularly admire and appreciate Rev. Whitten’s actions and attitude in the situation. I thank God for the pastor’s spirit in what must have been, and may be for some time, a potential powder keg.

My experience is that most pastors in such a situation dig their heels in to prove THEIR point. Much more harm is done to the Body’s witness internally and externally in such a case because the dispute becomes a matter of embattled personal egos rather than Spirit-responsiveness.

Even given that the Board’s decision, or their manner of execution was wrong, we do all make mistakes, even collectively - though not usually of such a high profile; in this case, the pastor’s gracious manner of responding should allow for a relatively quick and clean redemptive reflection by the Board and congregation. One Board Member who is quoted indicates such.

Sometimes, even with our good intentions we screw up badly, and public embarassment can be an effective, if painful, way to make the lesson sink in.

How unfortunate that this has happened, yet again.  Having been at two different prosperous churches where things have taken a turn for the worse due to very poor decision-making, I know that it’s always the people who suffer.  These kinds of actions taken by those in power cause disillusionment and fragmentation in the body.  It is a very painful, long process for the congregation to go through to get back on their feet again.  Church leadership always teaches to seek God first and to do his will—do they think it was God’s will to behave in such an underhanded way and cause needless pain?  My prayers go out to the people of the congregation, that they quickly recover or find a new church home to help in the process.  And to church leaders who may be reading this, always remember that no matter what your intentions are, it is your congregation who feels the effects of your decisions.

After reading articles, and the comments posted, I feel compeled to make comment about this situation.  However, because of the close relationship I have with the Whitten’s that has spanned 30 years, I am reluctanct to talk in anything other than generalities.
It is hard enough to stand from a distance and see the termoil that a church is going thru and then form opinions based only on what is at best sketchy information.  But, to have known, been influenced at an early age, and followed the ministry of an anionted man such as Clark Whitten, I can tell you that it trully breaks my heart.  In 1975, Clark came to my Church as it’s youth minister.  I was then 12 and my family had been long time foundational members since before my birth.  My father was, and had been, a long time leading deacon and both my parents were youth workers.  Our family became very close to the Whitten’s and my father regarded Clark like a son, as I know that Clark also expressed that my father was like a father to him.  After serving at the church for two years, a crisis came about that was brought to the attention of the authority and congregation of the church by Clark himself.  It was his courage and commitment to righteousness that ultimately put him in a most aukward position over the matter and led to a split in the church.  The result of which was the formation of a new church in which our family became charter members.  Clark was called as its pastor, so he became my pastor for all of my teenage and a few years of my adult life.  I can tell you that the out right miraculous move of the Lord, not only in the church but also in our community, during that time was an experience that I nor many of those that were involved have experienced before or after.  Two years ago, Clark came back here for a 25 year aniversary and he said himself that he has not experienced a move of the Lord since that time as we did in those early years of that church.  That having been said, over the years I have thought, prayed, studied scripture, and now come to my own conculsions over what happened 30 years ago.  I am absolutely convinced that the split, while God used it in many great and powerful ways, was more the result of selfish human pride on both sides of the issue and less about scriptual and spiritual expediency.  It should never have happened, and I have yet to find a scriptual precidence for what has become an out right epidemic in our modern religious culture.  Since that initial split, many churches in this community have split, some more than once.  That initial split was one of the most tramadic experiences of my life.  It pitted friend against friend, and even family members against family members.  And even tho the initial result was a wonderful miraculous move of the Lord, the end result has been the rendering of both churches completely ineffectual in this community and the community itself sliding into a dark and sinful culture of contention, crime, and denial.
Now I don’t know all that has happened in this situation at Calvary Assembly.  Since it happened, I have thought many times of calling Clark and then decided it was best to just keep out of it.  And the only information I get are from others here that are closesly tied to the situation and even what they know is not a lot.  And for me to make a judgement one way or another is just as difficult.  I have been thru similar situations since that time with two other churches.  And if I had been in Clark’s position, maybe I would have done the same thing.  But I will say this, it doesn’t matter much what I think I would or wouldn’t do.  What matters is what God’s word teaches us on the subject, and I am convinced, from the example of the early church and the way that the apostle Paul dealt with them, that the Lord never meant nor condones the splitting or the leaving of any church because of disagreable situations (or might I add, even sinful situations).  It is my opinion that personal selfishness and pride are two of the major flaws in the American church today and this epedimic of splitting churches is in my opinion evidence that we as the corperate body of Christ no longer have the faith that He is in control and His will should be far above our own.  I preach this to myself first as I now find myself in a disagreable situation in my own church, but I am resolved not to leave this time and trust the Lord that he is in control and that it is His power and not my own that will bring about righteousness where it is needed, even if it is in my life that it needs to take place. Brother’s and Sister’s, I humbly believe that it is time that we start taking personal responsibility for what is happening in are churches that is leading to these tragic situations and look inward at what we as Christians are doing or not doing to facilitate these occurences and also how we are responding to them.....whether it is trully in love and righteousness or just our own personal selfish desires.  We can discuss for eternity whether or not decisions on both sides were made poorly and what should have been done to prevent them.  But the bottom line is the lost world is looking at us and getting the message that the body of Christ can not deal with itself in the same manner that it preaches to them that they should.  And so we as a body are actually undermining the witness that our Lord has given us charge and responsibility over.

As an 8 year member of Calvary Assembly, I must say that the situation leading to Pastor Clark Whitten leaving, is a sad testimony of the leadership within our church. Of course, not all the details were laid out by the media and the gossip flows like beer in a bar. The fact is, Pastor David Smith was offered a position at another church early this year, he declined that position in order to remain at Calvary because he felt led by God to do so. While Pastor Whitten was on his two month sabbatical, the elders decided to show short films every Sunday, a “spoof” of how someone was spying to see who was trying to get rid of Pastor Whitten in order to take his place as Senior Pastor. In the meantime, the elders made a decision (in which THEY as well felt led by God) to get rid of Pastor Smith’s position, calling it a unified decision even though they left Pastor Whitten (a fellow elder) out of the loop. David Smith decided he would take the offer that was presented to him earlier this year rather than remain. So who exactly heard God in this??

I love Pastor Whitten and was crushed to see him go, he was my mentor and he was my most avid backing in the church. I am not your average christian that looks normal and I was not cut out of the christian cookie cutter. I dye my hair outrageous colors and I sing on the platform on the praise team every week. I knew in my heart that once Pastor Whitten (who enthusiastically encouraged me to be myself) had left that the leadership would start sinking into me about my appearance. Lo and behold, it has become such a big issue that I was not allowed to sing until I agreed to a set of overbearing “guidelines” right down to what kind of barrettes I can wear in my hair.

I don’t know what will happen to Calvary Assembly, I don’t know if I can remain in a church were grace does not abound. I do know however that if this church is not covered in prayer some people are going to be even more hurt and divided to the point of leaving the church, and I mean the church as in any church. I’ve spent 2 months fasting and praying, sheding tear after tear over this church and over Pastor Whitten and his family, and may God’s blessings abound endlessly for this wrong that has been done. As well that Calvary Assembly will be raised back up in all the glory that God intended for this church and the surrrounding communities.

A truly sad situation.  How it must grieve the heart of God.

We Christians tend to do that rather well here lately.

I was not aware that pastor Whitten had a new church.  Are you perhaps refering to pastor Chip Kellys new church?

“I for one hope that he is sent here from God. And the 100-200 people who left to attend Pastor Whitten’s new church will return. Praise God for this new life given to Calvary Assembly.”

I would hope that christians wouldn’t pray for people to leave another church just to attend their own. At least these people are going to church. But as CB posted, Pastor Whittens church is very wonderful, there is no competition on their behalf to take members from Calvary, nor is there any such prayers that members of Calvary would leave to become members of his church. Don’t you think that a prayer asking God to take people from one church to place them in another is kind of like a kingdom divided against itself?? At some point the competition has to stop; of course God will take care of that.

Don’t be fooled some people have left for other reasons than Pastor Whittens departure from Calvary. There are a lot of other things going on inside that church, a legalism is taking over in some areas that some people who live by grace just can’t comprehend being involved in.

It would be best if we just prayed that God’s will be done in all of this and that He, knowing what is best for EACH of His children, would guide the feet of those to walk where He wants them to walk, to worship where He wants them to worship, and to live by the understanding He has given them and more so that each person be blessed ten fold regardless of which church they attend.

We are all striving for the same outcome, to be in unity with God and living for the same purpose… to spend eternity worshipping at His feet and being all encompassed by His everlasting presence.

May grace abound in all things.