Daily World confirms Cotton’s return
Posted on August 17th, 2007 by catalyst into the Pastoral Staff, The City Church categoryThere is a great article in The Daily World today discussing Doug Cotton's return to the Harbor.
From the paper:
Doug Cotton, the former pastor of Christian Life Fellowship in Central Park, will help launch a Harbor branch of a huge Kirkland-based church next month.
It will be called Harbor City Church, with the first services scheduled for Sept. 30.
Using financial resources from The City Church, which has a regular weekly attendance of 7,000, according to Anderson, Cotton has leased the former Alexander Young Elementary School at the foot of Scammel Hill.
The Aberdeen School District is charging the church $3,000 a month, according to Tom Laufmann, finance director for the district. It’s an 11-month lease that starts in September and ends on July 31, 2008. The church will have an option to renew and it will pay all utilities.
I encourage you to read the whole article, it confirms a lot of what has been said in the comments of this blog.
I would also like to thank all our readers, because you were partly responsible for tipping off the reporter to Doug Cottons' return.
From the article:
The Daily World learned about Cotton’s affiliation with the new church through calls from readers and a blog entry at www.citybusinesschurch.org.
We also received an email from the reporter thanking us for the blog entry that led him to write this follow up story.
Well done, readers, well done.
August 17th, 2007 at 11:39 am
It’s time to update the scoreboard:
CBC/MFI/TCC - 107 : The Mortons - 3
Keep your rally hats on…we’re gonna pull this one out…just give us another 10-15 years.
August 17th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
That reporter needs to ask Pastor Wendell Smith if he did indeed cut off access to The City Church’s food supplies in retaliation for CLF asking for Doug Cotton’s resignation.
CLF’s “The Lord’s Pantry” food bank used to be allowed access to the food at The City Church. That access was denied after Doug Cotton left CLF.
That action has led directly to people in the Grays Harbor area going hungry.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Guess it is nice they take care of their own..
And he has no plans to take people from his former church into his new church.. ummmmmmmm…… what planet does he live on???
Does this mean you all might need to get an attorney on board to be the spokesman?
August 17th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Horrible. Thanks for the article, I had to steal it for my blog too…
Thanks for keeping us informed.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
According to that article, about 100 people asked Doug Cotton to return to Grays Harbor.
The lease payment is $3,000 per month, and the new church has to pay for all utilities also. That will be a minimum of another $500 per month, and you need to add any staff salary and other overhead on top of that.
Figure at least $3,500 per month for staff, even with staff subsidies from “The Mother Church”.
So $7,000 per month minimum divided by MAYBE 100 parishioners, including children.
Whoops, don’t forget that poverty is a real problem in Grays Harbor.
No WONDER that lease is only for 11 months.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Even though the food bank got cut off, which I don’t think was quite “Godly” of Wendel, God still opened doors for the Lord’s Pantry. They are thriving with food, and are feeding the hungry as much or more then they used to. He still should not have cut them off though. It makes me sick.
When one door closes, many more open.
I think it’s is going to do more harm then good with starting this whole Harbor City Church thing. In the article it says they have no intention of taking people from CLF, but seriously… what do you think is going to happen? It’s unnerving.
You put your money where your heart is, and it’s sad when it’s with one man rather then a community.
I close with this,
——————————————————————————
Harbor City Church: Making one man a monster.
——————————————————————————
Over and out.
August 17th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Chump change, RH. A pasture of Cotton’s years probably is accustomed to making $75K-$100K per year. Decent secretaries salary should be in the $20K-$30K range. I can’t picture CC subsidizing that for long.
The letters to the editor section of the paper ought to be a hot bed of blog fodder for awhile.
August 17th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Bull.
August 17th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Spin City
August 17th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
“A pasture of Cotton’s years”
And what does one usually find in pastures?
That’s right!
August 18th, 2007 at 6:33 am
August 18th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
SUPERBAD IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER
August 18th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Didn’t see it. Sorry.
Just trying a little humor in this situation.
Seriously, it seems like all roads lead back to Bible Temple, don’t they?
ACC, CLF, CC, etc. all seem to have branched out from Portland.
Is there some sort of controlling and condemning spririt in that city’s past? How can so much hurt and damage in the church have spread from one city?
And then they just cover things up.
Why are the people of that have removed these pastors dealing with it out in the open?
Read that article in their paper again — t looks like a cover up.
An attorney from one church says everything is OK, and nobody from the church that removed the pastor is willing to talk.
What gives with that?
Sounds like a buch of junior high boys clamming up when Mom asks what they’ve been up to and why the house has been trashed while she was out running errands………………………
WiT
August 18th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Because they are trying to be the bigger person in this whole situation. Time for them to move on and shake the dust off their feet.
FYI: spws started the whole “city” name for church, bob macgregor followed, yankie frankie followed the cult name…
August 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
LLife –who are what is spws? Many of us are from the Boise area -having been in the cult for years and are trying to fill in the blocks of history we missed in order to gain understanding.
When you name churches that come out of here don’t forget -Church of the Harvest and Capital Christian Center –most certainly from the same
pattern and makeup and now apparantly the same type of FRUIT.
Just to inform you all–its bigger than you think
August 18th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
SPWS = Senior Pastor Wendell Smith. He’s Ken Wilde’s cousin. So yes, we are aware of how big “it” is.
August 18th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
and Jerry McKinney’s brother-in-law — http://www.thecitysd.org/home.htm
and Benny Perez’s father-in-law — http://www.thechurchlv.com/ .. . but Benny used to be Assembly of God (quite sure) and don’t know if he still is.
It was SCARY to read jerry’s web page… “come see yacki jackie for a prophetic weekend”
August 18th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I understand the reluctance to talk about the situation.
But some churches have set a good model, I think, by talking openly about the failure of leadership and openly removing the leadership from their positions.
The guy who headed the National Evangelical Association was removed from his church, and it was in the media what he had done. It was handled tactfully without going into the sordid details.
There was no cover up. There was no risk of another church taking on this man without knowing his history.
He was dealt with publicly as the Bible instructs, so that other leaders would see and be afraid.
Unfortunately, in all these MFI-related situations, it seems that things are not dealt with publicly, so there is an expectation that MFI will protect its own, provide sanctuary from accountability, and send the guys back out to some unsuspecting church.
In the case of what’s going on up in Washington State, it seems more blatant — the big church is not just sending the man back out after a time of “recovery”.
They are sending him to their own new church and almost immediately. The article says that was their plan from the beginning.
Seems they have some experience with this and have it down to an art.
Perhaps MFI has some secret play book where they fill in the blanks on the name of the removed pastor and they set the thing on auto-pilot.
No public accountability; therefore, no fear of the consequences of misleading, abusing, harming God’s people.
There is a reason it keeps happening with the MFI-affiliated groups.
The church that ousted the pastor is playing right into it by keeping silent, and they don’t appear to be handling it publicly as is called for in scripture.
Just my observation and opinion.
At least the folks in Washington are not unique in adding to these problems.
When will we (the church) ever learn?
Word
August 18th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
The threat of a lawsuit could tend to dampen comment, don’t you think?
August 18th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Life is full of risks of a lawsuit.
We could be sued for actions with our car, our words, our actions of any kind.
We could offend someone (discrimination?) by sharing the Gospel.
We do it anyway.
Why not deal with abusive leaders publicly as scripture directs?
Because we might get sued?
Perhaps we should perform same-sex marriages in the church so we don’t get sued?
(sorry, slight diversion with analogy there)
We keep silent and do not warn others because we are afraid of a lawsuit. Then it happens again (as we have seen so many times).
Where is the real liability? Is it with the person who allowed abuse to recur because he/she did not pull back the curtain to let others see and fear?
Seems to me that therein lies the greater liability than speaking the truth…………..
Are you one of the leaders of that church that refuses to speak out? How can you justify your silence when people are at risk?
August 19th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Word -
I think you are 100% correct to ask what it is about Bible Temple that is causing all this bad fruit to grow. The “Vein over the Wall” is connected to it’s original roots.
Having spent many years there in the 70’s and 80’s as a ‘phudeo-leader” in outreach treated as secondary to the church’s purpose, I would contend that the fruit of control and money campaigns was alive and thriving at that time. I have many specific examples, but one that comes to mind here is when singles leadership was passed from Ken Malmin to Wendle Smith, the collection of money, in a sunday morning parade style, began as a regular part of the Saturday evening events. Despite my strong desire to keep the “good child” image, it bothered me so much that I mustered the courage to talk with Wendel about all the negatives I saw in it. My sincere concern, of course, had no influence.
My belief is that this type of church draws in people who grew up in controlling, dysfunctional families so that a person will feel quite comfortable transferring that same family dynamic to a church setting where one is not encouraged or allowed to express their true self. Individual thought and expression is seen as subversive and one is tagged “the black sheep”. A word against a “parent” is disloyal, deserving of punishment. Separation feels like death. It is often stated that leaving the ‘church covering” opens one to “satan’s attacks”.
The church teaches people to be afraid of God, if you do anything wrong in church and be afraid of “the world” aka “satan” if you leave. Fear is in control.
Want more demonstrations… I have plenty. Bro Dick Iverson said in a sermon, that when his wife gave birth to twins, one died because he did not call the church to request prayer… guilt and fear… the vein contues to grow over the wall.
August 19th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Right on no umbrella! I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been saying for years that these types of churches have the same dynamics as a dysfunctional family. I believe many of the leaders in these churches have never addressed their own childhood issues. Instead of having lawyers on staff they ought to all have licensed psychologists.
August 19th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
And…. people who see out the help of a psychologist are under classification of black sheep.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I just wanted to clarify that this question was mean for Reforming Heathen and living life since they were attempting to rationalize that it was OK to continue living in denial (my words) by continue to gloss over the situation up there with the ousted pastor now returning with a new church.
Word
August 19th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Save your indignation for someone else.
It’s very easy for you to throw stones, isn’t it?
August 19th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Don’t sweat it, Word, Whenever Heathen doesn’t have an answer, he attacks….I thought you were right on the money, with a valid question. Maybe one of the ‘leaders’ will answer…:o)
I can’t picture Jesus sweating about what ’sounds right’ or what will ‘offend the least’ when He addressed a crowd, He just spoke the plain truth and let the chips fall where they may. I just can’t see Jesus being too concerned about ‘PR’….
August 19th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Not indignation, at all.
Just asking if you are one of the leaders who is not speaking about what happened there because of fear of lawsuit, people taking sides, etc.
Wouldn’t you agree that the silence on these pastoral abuses just continues the cycle?
It worked real well for the Catholic church, didn’t it?
The result of their silence and “being the bigger prson” was more and more abuse and settlements of millions and millions of dollars.
Can we do better?
I would like to know your role in that situation up there, that’s all.
Thanks,
Word
August 19th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
city church is paying the rent for 1 year, 3000 dollars and any other help, as needed.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Just because none of the elders wanted to make a public statement to the newspaper does not mean that they did not or will not openly address the problem. I suspect that if someone who is not a reporter wanted a comment for reasons other than gossip it would be easy to get. Not handling it in the press is probably wise.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Reforming heathen said: save your indignation for someone else.
It’s very easy for you to throw stones, isn’t it?
( Be careful Word! It sounds to me like you’re asking too many questions! We all know what happens when we do that!)
August 19th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Did anyone else catch that at the McKinney’s church, not only do they have an internship program—when you finish it, you get to buy the title of pastor with a year’s salary and free labor! Check it out.
August 19th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
August 19th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Ok, I tried to link both times to no avail. Here’s the address:
http://www.thecitysd.org/campuspastors.htm
August 20th, 2007 at 5:17 am
Here is an email that a member of Christian Life Fellowship recently sent and asked that I post:
August 20th, 2007 at 6:35 am
This was viewable for a number of days and then at the recommendation of an attorney … the documents were put away from public view.
…documents were put away from public view.
I just wanted to repeat that and break it down.
According to a member (perhaps one of the elders) of CLF, they decided to “put (it) away from public view.”
So, only some of the people at their church knew what was going on and why their pastor was removed.
The people at the new church he is pastoring will not know.
Isn’t this exactly what some of us have been illustrating here?
Sitting on the information and “putting it away from public view” feeds the cycle of abuse.
Whether it is sexual, financial, or psychological — offenders will re-offend if not given treatment and dis-incentive.
For all who are trying to justify the slip-cover (words chosen intentionally) for these situations, perhaps you should go the next step and defend the privacy of sexual offenders.
The public is protected by people knowing that certain people pose a risk. See this link http://www.georgia-sex-offenders.com/modules.php?city=&county=&name=Search&offender=&op=SearchResults&submit=Search&zip=30313 for an example.
August 20th, 2007 at 6:44 am
1 Timothy 5:20 (21st Century King James Version)
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.
20 Those who sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
August 20th, 2007 at 6:53 am
To put it more in context, 1 Timothy 5:20 was dealing with elders or leaders of the church. Here is a bit more.
19Against an elder receive not an accusation, except before two or three witnesses.
20Those who sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
Sounds like CLF did the first part (v 19) but not the second part (v 20).
Keeping it in the family is not “all.” That’s why these things keep repeating themselves.
We are are well-intentioned, I think, to want to be gentle with someone who has served as a pastor, elder, etc.
But scripture is scripture and God is God. Our good intentions should not trump His Word, even if we do not feel like doing it His way.
He must weep when he sees how we have made things so much worse.
I remember as a child playing with my grandfather’s hatchet. I cut myself badly. Instead of going to him or my parents, I covered it up. That is, until the would got infected and I had no choice but to deal with it properly.
My parents knew better how to handle the wound than did I.
My shame and cover up made things worse for me.
Word
August 20th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Sorry. that’s WOUND. The WOUND got infected.
I’ll stop posting and get to the kitchen and laundry now.
August 20th, 2007 at 7:58 am
It looks like there may be disagreement over what the word “all” means.
I would argue in the context of the entire chapter of 1 Timothy 5, the word all refers to “all the church” not literally every person on earth. The entire chapter is a list of instructions on how the church should treat each other, including the elders.
The idea that the word “all” requires the list of sins to be described in a press release and posted indefinitely on the internet seems a bit of a stretch.
August 20th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Cotton’s attorney says he certainly hopes this new church wont siphon off members from clf. “you never start a church with the goal of taking away another curches members.”
Who are these over 100 people asking the cottons to start a new church
Are they still at clf? did they leave with cotton? Or where are they?
Does the attorney think there are 100 non church goers who just happened to sign a letter wanting cotton to start a new church just for them?
d
August 20th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Thank you, that’s why I was wanting to participate on this blog. Because, it is bigger than they think.. most on here seem to be worried about someone getting there hands on their money. Bigger than you think means= The spiritual devastation in all the churches sent out and supported by, Controlled by, associated with The Bible Temple aka City Church’s! They are corrupt and everyone should be warned. If it takes reading it in the paper because the churches are afraid to speak out…so be it!
Stay clear of any outfit that has anything to do with them…
Thank you Lord. I escaped out from under the umbrella myself.
I’ll admit the first few years I thought I was at great spiritual risk.
and afraid to turn to the only one who could help me….No not the church…! My heavenly father who was waiting for me with open arms and I have been sitting on his lap ever since. Don’t get me wrong I love the church. But I trust only God and him alone. He is faithful and true, he will never leave or forsake me. The church on the other hand that’s the big question?
Its taken years to replace an unhealthy (fear) of the Lord with, a true love relationship one that a child would have with a loving father. Man can’t give you the relationship your looking for with the Lord. If your looking for answers anywhere apart from the Father, Son or Holly spirit and the word. your going to miss the mark. If you seek me you will find me are his words. Man will always fail you. we can’t help it we have fallen from grace. we are all sinners, that’s why we need him. Every hour of every day. The truth will set us free….keep exposing it without the truth we are all captive. study his word the answers are all there. Justified by the blood of Jesus.
I want those of you in Idaho and anywhere else that are hurt to know. I have been where you are. My heart aches for you. I am praying for you. Your heavenly Father loves you. Your hope is in him. He is the Lover of your sole. He hasn’t gone anywhere, he took up residence in your heart the day you asked him in, He stayed for eternity.
Fox
August 20th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
just curious brings up a good point. If cottons lawyer doesn’t want to siphon off members from other churches then WHERE are these hundred people coming from? Are they on loan from city church?
August 20th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Probably unsuspecting baby Christians, looking for shelter and a loving place to be taught a good foundation. La De Da and off it goes again. Oh and don’t forget that, monetary gain is hard to come by on the harbor. So I’m sure most will want to pay into a fund that has a return of 100 fold and more. With a pyramid scheme or each one reach one they only need 50 suckers to start with. Game on they are up and running. Besides they have 11 months to pull it off.
Any good sales person could do it.
August 20th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Benny Perez has a church in Las Vegas now. I visited a little less than a year ago and he talked a lot about money (basic prosperity doctrine w/ personal examples of the things that he owns, his home, etc), and I remembered one of the last times that I was at a CBC service (during a conference I think), how he prayed before the offering and it was like a 12-15 minute sermon on moneymoneymoney. It was really sad because I remember Benny not being like this when I was still in high school. He was so great back then.
Another thing that weirded me out was how he pretty much said that he knew that the end of the world/Jesus’ return was going to happen in the next 10-15 years. I mean, he talked as if it was fact. It was so weird. I had never heard any pastor say anything like that before. He was still very funny–just a little preoccupied with money & WWIII.
August 20th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Personally I would be in favor of having the allegations against Doug Cotton printed on the front page of the local newspaper.
Those allegations include making inappropriate, sexually oriented comments to a female on the church’s staff, and verbally abusing other people on staff and even an allegation of a physical assault on a staff member.
And anyone who read the signed statements in the dozens of pages of allegations knows that.
As far as the 100 people who are alleged to have sent a letter to Doug Cotton asking that he start a church, those people would most likely be disgruntled members or former members of CLF, so the statement from City Church’s attorney seems ludicrous on it’s face, wouldn’t you agree?
August 20th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Fox Hole Christian -
I too felt the fear after leaving and before. I also say THANK YOU JESUS!
And, I totally agree… it is MUCH bigger than we think. It’s been going on much longer than we think, and in many different types and shapes of churche.
Just Thinking -
If that was the first time you heard that “Jesus could come back any day” you haven’t been around much…
August 20th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I have heard there are people who left CLF and are waiting it out in other churches for this new work to begin. Yes there were those who left from what I have been told who disagree with how the eldership handled the DC thing. This is a division, a split it is not a nice new plant!!
August 20th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Yep
August 20th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
And probably some from the City Church in kirkland, they ususally send out others with them. It erks me to no end that we have yet another church started on the Harbor, because the leadership can’t deal with their problems. And yes, it is about money and power period.
I have a question, does anyone on this blog know why CLF took these offenses and made it public in the paper, I mean factually? I’m not saying it was right or wrong I’m just wanting to know some facts.
Maybe this is a little stupid of me to say but we are the “church” and we are supposed to be salt and light. How are we to show others a better way when church leadership can’t even deal with something as simple as anger and or greed. I mean the world calls it what it is. Why can’t we? We have a responsibility to judge what is righteous and true and especially the “CRAPOLA” that goes on in the church.
It is sad to see it had to be exposed to the world, but it was and now we need to deal with it at the level it is at.
Any direction “Truth vs. Loyalty” I think you and the “Dog with the bone” can give us a little insight here. I mean at least in theory. I would love to see your comments here.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
I know there are several members of CLF temporarily attending “The River” in South Aberdeen just waiting for Doug Cotton to start a new church. I heard there are others meeting in homes and other churches around town too. CLF knows how many people left in support of Doug Cotton. I heard they were struggling financially because so many people are gone.
Remember when Doug Cotton told the elders at CLF he would go to Meier Clinic for treatment if he could remain as Senior Pastor? Well now that City Church has made him Senior Pastor again does he intend to go? I suppose he went to City Churches version of treatment: The old MFI slap on the wrist!
It’s funny how both sides are now saying they just want to move on and put all this behind them. I can understand that. But what about our responsibility to the whole body of Christ to make sure this same thing doesn’t happen to more of our brothers and sisters in Christ? If this was something that happened in CLF and stayed in CLF I could see where it would be none of our business. But just like Gail Bryan and Rod Hill, Doug cotton is removed and then put back into leadership again. This time in the same town! What can we do as the body of Christ to stop these people from “reoffending?” What can we do to try to get them to seek treatment?
August 21st, 2007 at 5:16 am
1 Timothy 5:19-20 (Young’s Literal Translation)
Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)
Public Domain
19Against an elder an accusation receive not, except upon two or three witnesses.
20Those sinning, reprove before all, that the others also may have fear;
1 Timothy 5:19-20 (New International Version - UK)
New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.
20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:38 am
The following is from Truth and Consequences: Exposing Sin in the Church
By Bob and Gretchen Passantino
Copyright 1994 by Bob and Gretchen Passantino.
“Christians sometimes are uncomfortable with criticism within the Church because they wrongly assume that public criticism, because it is painful, is also destructive. On the contrary, the “pain” of biblically conducted confrontation produces individual growth (1 Timothy 4:16), encourages others to Christian maturity (1 Timothy 5:19-20), promotes Church strength (Ephesians 4:15), and preserves the Church’s reputation in the world (1 Peter 2:12).”
Word
August 21st, 2007 at 10:00 am
I thought that Doug Cotton was publicly criticized. So were Rod Hill and Gail Bryan. The real problem here is that the church is so far behind in regards to abuse of any kind and they choose to stay in their ignorance. We all know that when we are physically sick we can pray for healing but there are times when we should see a doctor or go to the hospital. Our church leaders would problably encourage us to do so. But as far as domestic violence, sexual predators, and spiritual abuse goes we are discouraged not to seek outside help! The problem at CLF is that at one point Doug Cotton was ready and willing to admit that he had a problem and get treatment. After MFI stepped in they weren’t to sure if it was abuse or just “offenses.” People become divided because of the churches ignorance. The world knows what this stuff is. MFI did not see Gail Bryan as a sexual predator . They saw him as a normal guy that fell into sin. Hence the hand slap and back into leadership again. The same thing is going on with the Rod Hill situation. His faithful wife stands by him and people in this community and in the church he left are divided. Some think he just fell into sin because he was seduced. Others that have an understanding of abuse of power see it for what it is. I went to Doug Cotton one sunday after my husband had come home drunk on friday night. He proceeded to flip me over in my chair, break a lamp right by my head, follow me into the kitchen and in front of the children knock over the kitchen table and smash out the sliding glass door with a chair! My oldest son finally ran upstairs and got a gun and threatened to kill him while I ran to the neighbors to call the police. After relating all of this to Doug he suggested that my husband and I take a personality test that he and Lois had taken and gotten a lot out of! He didn’t have a clue what to do about this! Needless to say I went to someone outside the church who did. Someone trained in domestic violence and with a degree in phychology! Until the church gets educated and begans to teach the people in them about it things are going to continue the way they are. My ex-husband still believes O. J. Simpson is innocent. Sounds a lot like the church to me!
August 21st, 2007 at 10:05 am
“Truth and Consequences: Exposing Sin in the Church”, great instruction. I think one thing that we need to be aware of is the oppostion that you meet when these things are exposed. It can take a great toll on you, your familyand community. What I mean by great toll is the spiritual battle that takes place, it can get really crazy. People do take sides and our falleness is exposed.
Even though I don’t go to CLF nor did I attend Rhema I do know many people who do or did attend these fellowships and have active friendships with these people. I have attended two MFI churches, my sons attended PBC one for three the other for one. We attended many BT functions including many of the “generation unleashed” conferences. My husband was a very close friends with BM/SM. I do not consider myself an outsider in these situations.
However we stopped attending these types of fellowships four years ago because we saw the form was wrong. Nothing seemed to work, and little of the word of God could be actually applied and practiced. Especially in the area of church discipline. I also realize these dysfunctionalities can take place in smaller fellowships if allowed.
For example we tried to work out a simple problem concerning the “senior pastor’s” daughter. We truly meant to help in a situation that we became aware of through someone who was close to the family. They informed us of a dangerous situation concerning their daughter then told us not to tell the Father (senior pastor), because he would get mad.
Ironically he actually did. That was just the beginning of six years of hell in that church. We ended up being the bad guys for telling the Father of the situation with his daughter. I was shunned for two weeks by the person who told me of this situation, not because of that particular situation but because of another situation, that again I didn’t have anything to do with. This was leadership. It went on and on and on. I thought I was loosing my mind.
I will ask my question again, does anyone on this blog know why CLF put the information about the DC problem in the paper? Does a member of CLF acutally work for the Aberdeen World? Why was this done?
Did they take it to “the world” because he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to do, was that their reasoning?
To be honest I would love to be gathering with more people than I gather with right now however in my conscience I cannot attend nor be involved in something I cannot practice. I will not be involved with a group of people who say one thing and do another. It twists me up internally. However where does that leave me. I am without my many other brothers and sisters giftings, that is not right. But I refuse to be under wrong teaching, ungodly leadership and being treated as if I am a dumb sheep who can never attain.
I would love to bring some order and peace on the Harbor. I feel at this time this is the only means I have to express my concern and voice my opinion on these situations and possibly bring some change.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:06 am
EXACTLY!
And when MFI told Doug Cotton that maybe these were not terminable (Or even possibly CRIMINAL) offenses, Doug Cotton chose to not obtain the counseling that he NEEDS!
August 21st, 2007 at 2:09 pm
anna litical said exactly what i have been feeling. There are not many high paying jobs in the church is it possible mfi has become an instument for pastors to keep their jobs even if God wants them out? Have Mfi churches become a cross between laodicea and sardis in rev 3-1thru 6and rev3 14 thru22?
August 21st, 2007 at 5:23 pm
So are you thinking MFI just stepped in or do you think Doug went to MFI and complained and they stepped in. I’m thinking Doug saw he was loosing control and went to MFI and then they stepped in. I think he saw they weren’t going to be reinstating him anytime soon (even if he did jump the hoops) and he started back peddling. I could be wrong but this is human nature, I’ve seen it happen before.
I think he thought he was just going to go through their hoops and he was going to be able to be reinstated. I don’t think the eldership saw it that way.
I’m wondering if he was truly repentant? In all reality I don’t think he was, why would he be starting this new church if he thought he really had an anger problem to work on.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Anna,
As reporters we hear things. It’s part of our job to keep an ear to the ground on what people are talking about. And this was something people were talking about. There were dozens of blog responses around a month ago when something. was posted. And now there are lots of people talking about this issue now. Believe it or not, we do surf the ‘Net and do some research on what folks are talking about before writing anything.
As for your question, I don’t believe anyone publicly came to us. I believe we went to them. Feel free to e-mail me at sfriederich@thedailyworld.com if you or anyone else wants to ask me any questions directly.
Steven
August 21st, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Doug Cotton went to Bible Temple with Wendel Smith and they are friends.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:44 pm
I doubt it. It feels more like a controlling personality type who suddenly feels like they are losing control, and will do and say anything to retain that control.
One thing I know of for SURE, once MFI got involved, any discussion of Doug Cotton receiving counseling was dead.
I believe that Pride goes before a fall, and I believe that there may be another fall coming, if Doug Cotton has not truly repented and changed his ways.
If there is a repeat of the alleged behavior, the connsequences could be far greater for Doug Cotton than simply a dismissal from his employment.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:45 pm
For some 30 years, from what I have heard.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:08 pm
something i found out today i did not know. Gail Bryan was sent out to port orchard wash by BT and his reign of terror was finally stopped there.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:13 pm
This scripture has been going through my head since this whole DC came out in the open. I Timothy 3:2, an overseer must be temperate, prudent, respectable, vs. 3 free from the love of money. Titus 1:7 for the overseer must not be quick-tempered, not fond of sordid gain.
We have a tendency to focus on sexual sins of a leader and rightly so. However we also need to hold them accountable for the above scriptures. It almost seems like leaders are never held accountable for the above. Like they never have problems in these areas.
I am thinking of a leader (I don’t even like to refer to him as a pastor), but it seemed like all he needed to be accountable for was being pure sexually and none of the above. After all “he had feet of clay” just like the rest of us. But we were to honor the authority!! Remember to honor the authority. I felt like I was attending a Catholic church. He would refer to mediated grace, like he was the mediator and not Christ.
CLF did gain financially from selling a chruch in Elma under the protest of many of the memebers of that house. People who built the chruch for the work of God. Would that not be sordid gain. Records of that church were not kept. The church at one point had a chruch school in which people graduated from. Do you know those records were lost or destroyed. We knew of a former graduate who needed their diploma, in talking to DC he was defensive with me when I personally asked about getting a copy of the diploma. He made up all kinds of excuses for not having those records.
My impression of the man was one who was lofty, yuck!! Like he couldn’t be bothered, very dishonoring. It caused offenses in East County (and oh yeah we need to get over our offenses), we don’t believe in restitution do we. Believe me just because CLF has one of the largest churches on the Harbor doesn’t mean anything to me. I hope when they admire their building they realize some of that came from sordid gain.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Yes I was also told this.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Thanks for responding Steve.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Anna Litical said;
To be honest I would love to be gathering with more people than I gather with right now however in my conscience I cannot attend nor be involved in something I cannot practice. I will not be involved with a group of people who say one thing and do another. It twists me up internally. However where does that leave me. I am without my many other brothers and sisters giftings, that is not right. But I refuse to be under wrong teaching, ungodly leadership and being treated as if I am a dumb sheep who can never attain.]
My 7 year old grand daughter just asked me today to take her to church.
When her mother, (my daughter) came home she asked me the same thing. I have 4 daughters and 6 grandchildren they all would like to attend a church and give their families a good foundation.
I looked the phone book over, and honest to God I’m at a loss, I don’t know where a safe place is to take my family.
Any suggestions? we are in southwest Washington.
August 21st, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Like Longview, Kelso, Oregon border?
August 21st, 2007 at 8:21 pm
annalitical: weren’t some of the members of the little church in elma talked into coming down to clf temporarily until they could help them get the church up and running again only to find out that Doug Cotton and Paul Ridell made a deal to sell it?
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:33 am
For those of us not familiar with all of your locals, could you explain some of the code?
I am assuming that BM is not Barry Manilow. I don’t even have a guess on SM.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:41 am
When Gail bryan was caught in his sin and ousted as pastor of Rhema
Fellowship, Devin backholm and Doug Cotton split the church and took part of it to Montesano, 10 miles away. Maybe they didn’t split it but they went with the people who split and Devin was the pastor and Doug was his helper. They met in various churches, schools, buildings for several
years.
Then the pastor who took over Rhema fellowship was ready to retire for some reason, so the two groups got back together again! AND STARTED CLF, with Devin as pastor. So this is not the first split Doug Cotton has been involved in.
Did they get back together because Rhema fellowship owned a building in Hoquiam and property in Central Park
I wonder when and why did Cotton take over as senior pastor? With
Backholm as elder? (they are married to sisters, by the way)
So after 15 years of being “king of the mountain”, did you expect Cotton to go back selling carpet when CLF pulled the rug out from under him? Wendell Smith’s offer of a new church and financial backing must have sounded like manna from heaven!
Just curious
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:05 am
I’m not sure about that one. I do know DC told me personally, they couldn’t afford to keep paying out money on the building and said it was costing CLF quite a bit. Why PR signed the church over to CLF I don’t know. Looks like he left himself as the only one at the helm. I know the incorporation papers and the bylaws did not read that the church was to be given to CLF when we left. Nor should it have been left in one persons power to give a building to another church. That sucked.
I think MFI just thought the church was a big problem and needed to be closed.
I know PR floated around trying to find “oversight”, from MFI church to MFI church. He didn’t like Dave Minor, and didn’t fit with a MFI pastor in Shelton nor CLC in Lacey, for some reason he ended up hooking up with DC.
I know they did end up going down there to CLF. The people who were left probably bought in to all the show and glow after being in battle for so many years and just gave up.
Maybe you know more.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:06 am
Bob McGregor/Sue McGregor
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:10 am
Yes they did meet in Montesano and Devin was pastor. Doug I think had more chrisma. But I really don’t know all the facts to that one.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:23 am
I’m just waiting for the reconciliation meeting between CLF and the new city church where they all group hug, pretend everything is wonderful on the surface and never deal with their stuff.
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:19 am
You may be waiting for quite a while for that one.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:49 am
RE-WRITE YOUR CHURCH CONSTITUION AND BY-LAWS!
There’s lots of concern about what the people of this congregation or others can do to prevent ongoing abuse and not have their legitimate concerns quashed by an outside organization that only gets the pastor’s point of view -like maybe the MFI.
One of the critical keys to protect the people is to RE-WRITE THE CHURCH CONSTITUION AND BY-LAWS! This will be tricky with MFI churches because, at last reading, they do not allow any pastor to join their fellowship who does believe in senior pastor “rule.”This probably means, although not necessarily, that the church constitution in pastor-king churches is stacked in favor of the senior pastor. It certainly is at City Bible Church!
Such re-writing should be a section on checks and balances of power, the limitations of the senior pastor’s authority, and what will be done to remove him and upon what basis. This must be specific. I have just recently been involved in helping an MFI church reign in their senior pastor through just this method. I remember what Tom Cruise said in the movie The Firm about how corrupt power hides behind their lawyers.
I recommend that ICF and any other local church that does not have constraints on the powers of the senior pastor to read their present church constitution and find out what it would take to re-write or amend it to put more checks and balances into it to protect God’s people from ongoing abuse from those in powerful positions.
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
annalitical: speaking of group hugs remember when Doug Cotton headed up the meeting between Rod Hell and Larry Draw-a-blank-o? We all had to go watch the performance and then act like everything was all better now?lol what a joke! Ha Ha Ha.
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
So it IS possible that the checks and balances system can be done in an MFI church. I suppose it depends if the pastor is secure enough to allow someone ‘under’ him to help him adhere to the checks and balances. Sounds like the DC rulership didn’t allow for that.
btw, most of the blogging seems to be about churches like this that try to keep the people intimidated and quiet (reminds me of barefoot and pregnant for some reason)– you don’t hear much about some of the others such as the B MacGregor types because they are all around nice guys, most likely have a genuine love of their congregations and probably have those important checks and balances in place. How nice for those people — they don’t have years of messed up thinking to deal with.
One of my favorite movies of all time!
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:01 pm