POWER TO THE CHURCH MEMBER

2008-06-10T05:40:00.000+05:30

Dear Church Member,

We write this letter to you as this is the only way we can communicate with you.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

We are about church reform. Through history, God has brought forth people to stand up and speak whenever the church has become self-serving in order for the church to maintain its focus and perspective. We feel the call of the moment and we are speaking out. The present time is important as church assets are about to be sold off and irreparable damage is about to happen.

THE CHURCH GROUP AND STRUCTURE

People groups always have leaders. If there are a thousand people, there is a leader for every ten and when there are ten leaders; one will be the leader and so on till one is projected as the head. You can see that only the first rung of leaders depend on the ordinary person. The rest support each other upwards. It is easy for the topmost leader to forget that he is a leader of a thousand people and as time goes by, this leadership structure lives to support and keep itself in position with the original members becoming of no consequence. This is why kings disappear from nations – because the kings begin to think that people are there to serve him without realizing that it is the people that made him king in the first place. The last of such a breed is the King of Nepal.

This is what has happened to our Church. Did you know that according to our Church working policy there is no description of a Church Member? As a church member, are you aware of any rights that you have in the church organization? You don’t know because you have none. If you don’t believe me, ask you Church conference President. Ask him who you are and what are the democratic rights you can express. All the rights that church members have are like coins thrown to a beggar by the rich president. If you have one of the coins, you can praise him. If you don’t have a coin, you cannot raise a voice. I wish you could get the Church board to discuss this matter but do you think this matter will ever be brought up and the church pastor ever let me raise the issue? The church member is a non-entity.

THE CURRENT CHURCH STRUCTURE

In order for the church to function legally in India, the church has created some “legal bodies”. One such is SERVSDA. The SERVSDA has a few members who have registered as a company under Section 25 of the Company’s Act in Tamilnadu. Every church worker is ultimately employed by SERVSDA. SERVSDA is the employer and everyone else, employees. It also maintains subsidiary organizations – schools, colleges, hospitals, Unions, Sections, etc. In this structure, the biggest omission is the mindfulness that SERVSDA employs and functions on behalf of the church and ultimately, every church member. Every church member is entitled to reports on all issues of consequence to the church. SERVSDA should receive inputs from the church by which it should frame its activities and policies. Unfortunately, the leaders have learned to live and support themselves and once again the church member, who should be all important, is a non-entity.

IFA – INDIAN FINANCE ASSOCIATION

The IFA holds property on behalf of the church. A few members have registered the IFA as a legal body. The fact is when it holds a property in trust on behalf of the church, the church should be aware when IFA acquires property and when it sells. The church should be made aware of the needs, consequences and issues concerning such transactions. Unfortunately, the members of the IFA don’t think they have any responsibility to the church.

Pastor Watts who is the President of all these legal bodies is a virtual dictator, with all powers finally accruing to him. When we were in college, we were taught that the fault of the Catholic Church was that the Pope was its ultimate and final head. It is we who said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now we see that as we point one finger at the Catholic Church, three fingers are pointing right back to us.

PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEES

Do you know of any organization that has 11, 000 employees with no mechanism by which the employee is protected?

SERVSDA is one.

The retirement policy and age definitions have been changed so frequently that we don’t know how many times it has been done. The rumours are it is done only to get rid of inconvenient workers and to maintain one’s own self and cronies. Have you ever heard of retirement benefits being actually reduced? This is what has happened within our organization. Because there is no employee protection, the Division has not faced any legal action. Do you have the right to do wrong by claiming that you have been appointed by God Himself?

MONEY MISMANAGEMENT

The Conference, Union and indeed the Division will tell you that the offerings and tithes have gone up considerably. This is because of the faithfulness of a few members. The Division also maintains that it is bankrupt. Why it is we have no explanation for this situation? We see that the way the money is being spent defies logic. The only reason for this bankruptcy claim is to keep its workers on low salaries and cutting back on retirees benefits.

Where do you think the Church should raise its funds from? Your mind tells you immediately that the answer is “from its members”. Why is it then that the leadership does not raise this money issue with the churches? The reasons are –

1. They don’t want to explain money mismanagement.

2. If the Division exists by church members support, then they actually become employees of the church members and the church members will need evidence that they are good stewards of the money they receive.

The Division does not want to find itself in this situation. They would rather sell church property and make money for some time. During this time they will be a law unto themselves, not having to be responsible, either to the church or to the General Conference. One wonders if they consider themselves answerable to God.

So what are we planning to do? We are preparing a legally valid “white paper” which will be an exposé. With the information we have, we can raise matters in the courts of law but we don’t want to do this. We want the church to work a reformation.

PILGRIMAGE TO HOSUR

On June 12, when it will be raining here in Pune, we intend to be in Hosur where the mid-year meetings will be in progress. Representatives of church members from all over India will join us there. You can join us too. We need the church to be united with us. We need the church to pray for us. We need financial contributions to show your solidarity with us. Pastor S. G. Mahapure is our Treasurer. We assure you that the money will be utilized well and all accounted for.

Reform in Southern-Asia Division of SDA

POWER TO THE CHURCH MEMBER