Polity proposal:


[www.sovereigngraceministries.org]

PHIL SASSER ON THE POLITY PROPOSAL:


Dear Friends of Sovereign Grace,

Yesterday the Polity Committee sent the pastors of Sovereign Grace a polity proposal to review prior to this week’s Pastors Conference.

This commences a 90-day period of examination of our proposal during which we hope to engage all of our pastors on the proposal and to hear their feedback. At the end of that 90-day examination period, we will review again and make any appropriate changes before submitting it for ratification.

The Polity Adoption Plan will be explained in more detail this week at the Pastors Conference. There will be a more formal presentation of the polity and an open Q&A for all the pastors so that they can ask the Committee any questions they have about this Polity Proposal.

I want to express my appreciation to the other Polity Committee members for all of their hard work. I also want to thank the Board of Directors of SGM and the entire Leadership Team for their gracious support of the Committee in its labors. And, of course, on behalf of the Polity Committee, I want to thank all of the pastors of SG for their encouragement and assistance for the last 6 months.

We love the churches of Sovereign Grace and the work of this Committee was motivated by the desire to see them each blessed for generations to come, as much as that is possible, by developing a biblical and wise governance.

In His Name,

Phil Sasser

JOSH HARRIS, SGM, AND YOUTH CONFERENCES


"Transfer" is "Next" without Josh Harris.

And "Next", of course, was an SGM makeover of Josh’s original and wildly popular "New Attitude" conference for homeschoolers and other Christian teens and young adults.

PDI brought Josh Harris in under their wing, which brought his fame and popularity, his talent and enterprise, his books and conferences under the PDI/now SGM label.

They co-opted his materials (and him), plugged them, then gradually morphed them into their own image — minus Josh Harris.

But they sure earned some things about youth conferences from him in the meantime.

Argus
SGM Survivors

SGM AND THE NEXT BIG THING


TAG came out of a fresh move of God, I do believe. But even then, Mahaney was a wannabe who caught the tail of what was happening at the time and managed by ego and personality and disarming false humility to work his way to the top so he could seem to be leading.

Look back from the very beginning to the present of TAG/PDI/SGM history. You’ll find that Mahaney and posse have always ridden the latest wave, ALWAYS —

hippies to Jesus people,
charismatic renewal,
reinventing the church,
Bill Gothard legalism and role hierarchy,
Fort Lauderdale Five shepherding,
conservative dominion politics/Moral Majority
(complete with bad suits and 80s hair),
prosperity (as positioning for the church),
‘Biblical’ parenting by use of “the rod,”
dangerous Ezzo child-rearing theories,
homeschooling,
modesty,
courtship vs. dating,
rediscovering the Puritan writers,
neocalvinism,
etc.
etc.
etc.

What’s next?

Theories are failing, so they are ‘coming to a fuller understanding’ of some of their doctrines and practices of controlling external behaviors of children (especially grown children), of tossing out leaders for the slightest offense by their kids, of requiring wives to always submit and stay, etc. Too bad they only see this when leaders’ kids are involved. (Mahaney’s son, Kauflin’s daughter, Cabaniss’s daughter, Harvey’s debacle, etc.)

Most of the next generation of SGMers, now young adults, smoke proudly, drink religiously, and cuss with glee, generally convinced that they are the chosen of God. (Those who aren’t crushed, that is.) Yay, isn’t it great to be Reformed, where our spiritual standing has nothing to do with our walk with God?

(Not saying that is true Reformed doctrine.)

Now SGM has even managed to get in on the latest trend of church scandals and sex abuse lawsuits.

SGM has always been led by “children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph.4:14)

One thing is certain: C.J. will continue to position himself at the front of whatever he thinks is the latest thing.

Argus
SGM Survivors

A SUCCINCT SUMMARY LIFE IN SGM


"I felt like my freedom in Christ was being explained away and slowly the bondage of religion was taking hold. I felt like the empowerment of the New Covenant was being replaced by control and authority. I felt like the simple truths about God that are so profound and transformational were replaced with “spiritual” logic that made God seem so small, my sin so big, and the institutional church so necessary."

Free to Seek the Truth
SGM Survivors

Media outlets that have picked up the Associated Press article on the lawsuit. Plus a zillion daily newspaper websites and local TV news websites from one end of the country to the other, and several law journals. According to Google, the Associated Press article is posted on over 11,000 websites.


Yahoo News
[news.yahoo.com]

Huffington Post
[www.huffingtonpost.com]

ABC News
[abcnews.go.com]

Washington Post
[www.washingtonpost.com]

U.S. News & World Report
[www.usnews.com]

NPR
[www.npr.org]

New York Post
[breakingnews.nypost.com]

The Nation
[www.nation.com]

MSNBC
[www.msnbc.msn.com]

Business Week
[www.businessweek.com]

Stars and Stripes
[ap.stripes.com]

Boston Globe
[www.boston.com]

Boston Herald
[bostonherald.com]

Dallas Morning News
[hosted2.ap.org]

New York Newsday
[www.newsday.com]

Washington Examiner
[washingtonexaminer.com]

Kentucky Post
[www.kypost.com]

Lexington Herald Leader
[www.kentucky.com]

Vancouver Sun
[www.vancouversun.com]

The Guardian
[www.guardian.co.uk]

Taiwan News
[www.taiwannews.com.tw]

ExClcer's Mom Marks 25 Years After SGM Abuse

"Today marks 25 years. These men have gone on for too long. It is such a relief to go to a Church where people look puzzled when one mentions Sovereign Grace, or even CJ, or Larry for that matter. I could kick myself for being so stupid in the past, and question my choices still."

ExClcer'sMom
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:02 am

SGM DAUGHTERS AND COLLEGE


"Is this really true that a majority of female SGM children do not attend college? Honestly, if it is true, that is extremely shocking. Setting up camp in upper class (which usually means more educated) neighborhoods, and then discouraging college education for daughters… really this is sooo backward. What are we living in the 1940′s? I am a female and have a master’s degree in engineering, and I don’t find that very unusual. In my upbringing, the only people who didn’t attend college were those who really struggled academically or had difficult home-lives. The idea of loving, two-parent, upper or middle class families not sending their daughters to college (or any other post HS vocational training) is beyond weird to me. If this is indeed true, how do they dupe these probably very educated families into buying into this anti-higher education nonsense? It reminds me of a line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the father (disappoint that his daughter is dating a non-Greek) says, “Didn’t I tell you it was a mistake to educate women?” I guess it is more difficult to subjugate and control educated females. They are more of a challenge. Keep them dumb and dependent so the patriarchal system will function more smoothly"

Relative
SGM Survivors


(Note: While SGM Survivor founder and moderator Kris was in this denomination, she began to notice curious things and eventually there were too many curious things, so she left. One of the curious things she noticed is that most female children turned into stay at home daughters waiting for a husband. Listening to conversations between these stay at home daughters, she discovered that they had one lifetime ambition, to be a stay at home mom. No education, no career.)

JOSH HARRIS RESPONDS TO THE LAWSUIT:


Before we move on to the primary focus of our meeting I do want to say a few things about the issues surrounding the lawsuit, I hope you understand that because this is an open suit, we cannot discuss details of the case. But I think it’s helpful to make a few simple points:

1. First, we regard abuse of any person as sin, and such sin is especially reprehensible where it involves children.

2. Second, we are strongly committed to the protection of children with the active enforcement of best practice child protection policies.

3. Third, our church has not been sued and there are no allegations in the Complaint that any past or present pastor of CLC has committed child abuse. Neither is there an allegation in the Complaint that any other employee or agent of Covenant Life committed any child abuse.

4. Fourth, there is no allegation in the complaint that any act of child abuse occurred on Covenant Life property or under its supervision and control.

5. Fifth, our church has had for many years a robust child protection policy.

6. Sixth, if a member of the church is a convicted sexual offender, under the church’s child protection policy, significant safeguards are put in place to protect children attending church activities.

I want you to know that I care about these matters not just because I’m a pastor—I care about them because I’m a father. I have three children in this church and our children’s ministry. So, this is very personal and very important to me, just as it is to you.

SGM RESPONDS TO THE LAWSUIT


Updated Statement by Tommy Hill
Sovereign Grace Ministries Director of Administration
Nov. 14, 2012
Re: Civil Lawsuit Filed Against Sovereign Grace Ministries in Maryland’s Montgomery County Circuit Court

Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) leadership has obtained a copy of the civil lawsuit filed Oct. 17 against SGM and several pastors from its associational churches. This complaint makes broad allegations that SGM pastors were negligent, resulting in errors and omissions in pastoral counseling and spiritual care, which was voluntarily sought and provided years ago to some families of child abuse victims.

The suit does not allege child abuse by any current or former pastor of SGM or any church associated with SGM. The suit does not allege child abuse by any employee or staff of SGM or any church associated with SGM. The suit does not allege any child abuse occurred on any SGM property or any church associated with SGM.

SGM leaders provided biblical and spiritual direction to those who requested this guidance. This care was sought confidentially, as is a right under the First Amendment. We are saddened that lawyers are now, in essence, seeking to violate those rights by asking judges and juries, years after such pastoral assistance was sought, to dictate what sort of biblical counsel they think should have been provided. SGM believes that allowing courts to second guess pastoral guidance would represent a blow to the First Amendment, that would hinder, not help, families seeking spiritual direction among other resources in dealing with the trauma related to any sin including child sexual abuse.

SGM is not in a position to comment on the specific allegations at this time, but upon review it appears the complaint contains a number of misleading allegations, as well as considerable mischaracterizations of intent. Legal counsel is preparing responsive pleadings.

Child sexual abuse is reprehensible in any circumstance, and a violation of fundamental human dignity. We grieve deeply for any child who has been a victim of abuse. SGM encourages pastors from its associated churches to minister the love, grace, and healing of God to any who have suffered this horrific act.

SGM is committed to integrity and faithfulness in pastoral care, as are the pastors of local congregations. We take seriously the biblical commands to pursue the protection and well-being of all people – especially children, who are precious gifts given by the Lord and the most vulnerable among us. These biblical commands include fully respecting civil authority to help restrain evil and promote righteousness as Romans 13 instructs us. SGM also encourages the establishment of robust child protection policies and procedures based on best practices.

SGM churches are separately organized and constituted in their respective communities. They voluntarily partner together for certain aspects of their broader common mission: to plant churches, develop resources, train pastors and serve international ministries in order to proclaim the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We ask that you please join us in praying that God guides and leads all of us in these challenging circumstances, ministering his grace, comfort and peace to all who are affected by this situation, and that His truth would prevail.