Gaines Again Under Fire

I am glad I am not in that kind of situation. Sure, the pay is much, much, much better than what I am getting now, but to follow a pastor like Adrian Rogers never seems to work.

 

Mega Mess

It is just like what happened at Dallas First after Criswell.

Spurgeon's church had the same problem. The only guy I know of who pulled it off was G. Campbell-Morgan. Realizing he was getting no younger, he brought in David Martyn Lloyd Jones to be his assistant and designated successor. It worked.

Charley Buntin

 

Shold Dr. Spradlin butt out? Is he a member at Bellevue? Is he an elder there? If not, then does he have a legit beef?

 

I just read the story. Wow. What a mess. I can't help but think as I read the article that his problem did not seem to me to be a problem of living in Roger's shadow as much as it did have to do with his apparent lack of wisdom and leadership ability. I admittedly know very little about the situation, but from what I just read, it looks as if Gaines does not have what it takes to lead this Church effectively.

Joseph Botwinick

 

This is a real tough one. The alleged incident took place 17 years ago. The staff member came on board about the same time Dr. Rogers did 34 years ago. Gaines is already in the midst of a really troubled time. If he immediately moves to dismisse the staff member in question, he looks high handed and authoritarian. If he does not then he gets fried anyway.

 

If the minister admits to what he did, to not immediately remove him makes him almost as bad as the Catholic Cardinals who covered up the crimes of priests. The only difference I can see is that I don't think this was meant as a cover up, but instead was just a lack of wisdom and leadership.

Joseph Botwinick

 

This is all complicated with the fact that disgruntled members have an open "gossip site" about the church. It makes any church decision, whether good or bad, open to salvos of accusations and second-guessing.

Satan's currently having a heyday.

Even before the scandal with the staff member, I came to some conclusions:

• Gaines ain't Rogers. He's gonna lose a bunch of folks right there.
• Gaines style is so very different...I don't understand what the church was thinking when they brought him in. FB Gardendale's worship, structure, and vision looked very, very dissimilar to Bellevue. So there was bound to be trouble. I'm not even arguing regarding what style is better, but rather they are simply too dissimilar to be good fits.
• Some of these disgruntled members are not handling their disagreements in a Matthew 18 sort of way, but are rather airing dirty laundry publicly. Some are gossipping. I'm sure many handled it well...but quite a few haven't.
• Pastor Gaines came on a bit strong in his leadership, and has ruffled a few feathers. We can all learn a bit of humility and gentleness...especially when we're not talking matters of sin, but rather matters of preference, vision, and direction.

Merry Christmas to all.

RBell

 

I agree about it not being a cover up because as soon as the guy was found out, he was placed on administrative paid leave.

But the Pastor should have let his lay leadership in on the issue. A pastor (and as been pointed out out already, he's under fire) has only so many mistakes before even his supporters become a little shell shocked.

But I hate to see another opportunity for the enemies of the Lord Jesus to point their finger.

 

I agree with Joseph, he seems to be in way over his head on this one. His biggest mistake may be that he isn't Adrain Rogers! Unfortunate on so many levels.

Here is link where is seems to asking to keep his job, wish they had more of the quote
http://www.abpnews.com/1583.article

 

Reading about everything that has happened makes me wonder whether megachurches are Biblical models of the church. This one seems to be built around Dr. Rogers personality, and now that he is gone, it is falling apart. Perhaps that is why successors of long-term pastors at megachurches have such difficulty. They are taking over churches that have lost their focus and are built around personalities. Criswell's successor at FBC Dallas, Joel Gregory, wrote a book about his experiences and even though he didn't come right out and say it, everything in that book, Too Great a Temptation, pointed to a church that had lost its focus and was wrapped around Criswell's personality. I'll bet Dr. Gaines could already write a sequel to that about Bellevue.

I won't presume to judge his decision. I can't even imagine what he thought when, on top of everything else, a staff member comes in to confess something like that. I'm sure it was tempting to pack up the office, move it out in the middle of the night and not even leave a note behind.

Bellevue isn't the first megachurch to go through struggles during the transition from a long time, well loved, dynamic pastor, and if it falls apart, it won't be the first or the last to do so. God has a plan, and sometimes gathering masses of people around a tower isn't what he wants to do.

 

I agree that Dallas was so caught up in Criswell worship and that he never let go or left during the entire time. Sama story for O.S. Hawkins and even for their last pastor because Mrs Criswell was still holding the torch.

Gregory's problems were more than just Criswell.