Reply from members of
NAD Executive Committee
to letter sent in October 2013 |
Requesting NAD to clarify
the process for reinstatement
when the charges were
changed only four days
prior to the hearing |
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I did not receive a reply from anyone in the administration of the North American Division, however, ten members of the NAD Executive Committee did reply.
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| It seems to me that the replies did not indicate that they even read the letter to Dan Jackson which I sent on Oct. 17th ( copy to G. Alex Bryant ) and none of the replies attempted to answer the question posed in the letter. [ read letter ] |
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| Here is a reply from a member of the NAD Executive Committee sho would not give permission to include his name with what he wrote. |
| Dated: Nov. 6, 2013
Dear Mario,
First of all, I do not know who you are and therefore it is not right for me to comment in any fashion about your situation.
Secondly, I presume you are not a former member in any of the churches in Alberta and therefore it is not appropriate that I deal with your issue. This is an issue to be taken up in your local district.
Thirdly, membership matters are never placed on the GC, NAD or even union agendas. Membership matters are always handled at the local church level.
Fourthly, I received your e-mail today and the NAD session has already concluded.
Name Withheld |
| Below is my response to this message |
| |
Nov. 7, 2013
Dear _ _ _ _ _ |
| Thank you for responding. I sent this message to 175 members of the Exec Committee and you are one of the ten who responded. I want to give you a good answer to 1-3 but the fourth reason is easy to explain. The 'W' are near the end of the list, and the first attempt bounced back because the domain name was Albertasda.org which was your address when the list was compiled. |
So your fourth reason is valid, however, it seems that if I did reach you in time, you would have given the same 1 to 3 and disregarded the church manual that says a former member has the right to seek fairness. Since the local church was not fair, the conference will not correct the mistake make by the conference representative who they sent to the hearing to insure fairness, and the Union will not deal with a simple question about which charge should be considered at the appeal. I quess the question now becomes, what does "the right to seek fairness" mean?
Again I thank you for responding
Mario |
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| Here is his reply received on Nov. 19th |
| Dear Mario: |
| The first three points still apply. I’m sorry. But I’m not in a position to be of help to you regarding this matter. |
| Name withheld, pending permission from author |
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| My reply to this message |
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Nov. 20, 2013
Dear _ _ _ _ _ |
Thank you again for responding, I will make this brief and then make a different request.
Your first point is that you do not know who I am. That is simple, I am a disfellowshipped member who has the right to seek fairness. I am seeking an appeal for re-instatement which will be fair. |
| The church where I was a member for 25 years was not fair, they violated all my rights. The local conference will not address the question of which charge should be considered at the appeal? and neither will the Union level. However, the church manual which informs me I have this right to ‘seek fairness’ (which was added at the 59th GC Session) doesn’t say I can NOT seek this from the NAD level. |
| You may not be able to help me with my appeal, but you may be able to help me understand what it means to have “the right to seek fairness” when a member is railroaded out of the church unfairly. |
| There are many Adventists also interested in this, I know 21 other Adventists who experienced disfellowship without due process. |
| I have posted a response from a member of the NAD Executive Committee on http://www.diggingfortruth.org/article/2958/ He gave me permission to post his name, even though, just like you, he informed me that he can not help me. |
| My question to you is, will you give me permission to include your name with the response you sent me. There may be someone in the Alberta Conference who is concerned about their own membership, and if the right to seek fairness actually extends to the point that they can seek to know what this right means. Does the right to seek fairness” include the right to seek out people who can help them receive fair treatment. |
I hope you will respond and give me permission.
Mario |
| His reply on the next day |
| Nov. 21, 2013 |
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I do not want to be disrespectful or unkind, however I don't want to enter into any further dialogue regarding your situation. You must understand I have heard only your story and and not the church's, and even if I had, it is not my place to give advise. I will not be responding to any further correspondence regarding this matter.
May God be with you!
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| Name withheld, pending permission from author |
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| My reply to this message was to send him a copy of this web page and ask for permission to include his name. |
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| There are over 250 comments regarding this issue on the on-line forum for Adventists called E-ventist Network. This is a group for Seventh-day Adventists on the popular networking website LINKEDin.com with over 1,860 members. To see the comments or post your own comment, Click Here There are many other interesting discussions. |
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"While it is the right of the church to administer discipline, this does not set aside the rights of members to seek fairness. If members believe that they have been treated unfairly by the local church, or not had the right to be heard fairly . . ."
Church Manual, (18th edition) page 67
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