June 18: Email Update to the group

Dear friends,


Karla, Phil, Mark, and Gary are copied on this message.  We ask Phil to forward it to church council members and Gary to send it to other members of the HRM.

We had intended to use the Saturday zoom meeting to bring you up-to-date on recent events, but when Phil agreed to participate, the purpose of the meeting changed to providing him with the feedback that he needed.  Here is our update:


Council on Ministry (COM):  When we learned last week that Rev. Colleen Samson and COM apparently recommended to HRM that the church hire outside counsel such as the Mennonite group, we were disappointed that Rev. Marcia Cham, a member of COM whom we had requested as facilitator and who had said she would like to work with our church, was not offered to us.  Rev. Samson wrote:

 “I appreciate your recent request [to work with Rev. Marcia Cham], and will give it to the COM.   Once the COM gets involved in church conflict, we take the driver's seat. We might not move as quickly as you would like because we have many ministers and churches to work with. We ask for your patience, and to give the committee time to do their work.”

And so we decided again to go directly to church council with a request for a meeting.


Meeting with Church Leaders and Council:  When the Council “suspended/postponed” the new policy and HRM turned over responsibility to the Council, we renewed the request to Phil to schedule a meeting directly with church leadership, now defined as Karla, Mark, Phil and Council.  Phil required that he first hear directly from the 40+ before he made the decision whether or not to propose a meeting to Council. That occurred on Saturday, and we are now waiting to hear back from Phil.


Congregational Meeting:  As your representatives, we advise against calling a congregational meeting at this time, with the hope that the matter can be settled at the church leadership level, avoiding a potential split in our fellowship and increasing the potential for healing.  We believe there may be a place for a congregational meeting and/or vote, as many of you have said, if a meeting with Council is refused.


Options for a Different or Altered Policy:  Concurrently with our efforts to schedule a meeting with church Council and leaders, members of this group have begun working on recommendations for a new policy and/or guidelines for the previous policy.  Focus is on measures that meet the needs of the new pastor, the former pastors and the entire congregation.  We will report back to you as this work progresses.

We urge you to send us your feedback re. the actions we are taking on your behalf. 

In loving cooperation,


Ben Coonrod, Bob Miles, Judith Nourse, Bonnie Rash, and Diane Rhoades