1o: Mlchlgan Conference MlnlsLers and Cfflce SLaff

lrom: !ay Calllmore

uaLe: !uly 1, 2014
Sub[ecL: ur. Samuel lplm's 8ebapLlsm ln Chlo
ur. lplm was recenLly re-bapLlzed ln Chlo afLer belng dlsfellowshlped for a moral fall abouL Lhree years
ago ln Ann Arbor where he sLlll llves. Pls ordlnaLlon was also annulled. 8efore reslgnlng hls poslLlon, he
was Campus MlnlsLrles ulrecLor for Lhe Mlchlgan Conference. 8egreLLably, he compllcaLed Lhe maLLer by
lylng Lo conference offlclals and hls local church elders abouL Lhe exLenL of hls moral falls. 1hls ended up
wlLh hls earller scheduled re-bapLlsm belng canceled.
Cbvlously Lhls cannoL be consldered an ordlnary case. 1he damage done Lo Lhe cause of ChrlsL by Lhe
moral falls and Lhen lylng abouL Lhem Lo church leadershlp was enormous. ur. lplm had been an
ordalned mlnlsLer and Lhousands looked up Lo hlm for splrlLual guldance from around Lhe world. Pe
agaln expressed hls sorrow Lo us and we forgave hlm and LrusL Lhe Lord Lo do so as well. Powever, Lhe
lylng had eroded LrusL. We knew LhaL lL would Lake Llme for Lhe local church Lo be able Lo say Lo Lhe
world church LhaL Lhe lssues had been resolved beyond a reasonable doubL." ln addlLlon, he also
needed Llme Lo rebulld hls splrlLual walls LhaL had been devasLaLed by hls behavlor. Pe was cerLalnly noL
ln a splrlLual poslLlon Lo Lry Lo mlnlsLer Lo oLhers.
Sadly, ur. lplm and some of hls supporLers conLlnued Lo lnslsL on hls rebapLlsm. 1hls dlvlded Lhe
church. We supporLed asLor ChrlsLlen PodeL and belleved he made Lhe rlghL declslon noL Lo re-bapLlze
hlm aL Lhls Llme.
We had heard rumors LhaL a church ln Chlo was golng Lo bapLlze hlm anyway. ulsappolnLlngly, Lhe
pasLor of Lhe Chlo Church by-passed asLor ChrlsLlen PodeL and emalled Lhe Ann Arbor church clerk
dlrecLly, applylng pressure for Lhe church board Lo acL concernlng ur lplm's re-bapLlsm.
lL ls my slncere bellef LhaL ur. lplm should have Laken Lhe humble poslLlon we recommended. Pad he
lald down hls own acLlve lndependenL mlnlsLry, walLed paLlenLly for Lhe Lord, and lefL Lhe Llmlng Lo hls
local church, Lhen l belleve he would have evenLually been re-bapLlzed ln Lhe Ann Arbor church. ln Lhe
pasL we have asked our churches ln Mlchlgan noL Lo have hlm speak ln our pulplLs and LhaL requesL sLlll
sLands. 8ecause once Lhe ordlnaLlon has been annulled, rebapLlsm does noL necessarlly reesLabllsh
splrlLual leadershlp.
Lven Lhough we, along wlLh asLor PodeL, dld noL Lhlnk Lhls was Lhe Llme or LhaL he was ready for re-
bapLlsm, especlally glven Lhe sLrong push from hlm for re-bapLlsm, we care deeply for hlm and hls
famlly. lL ls our prayer LhaL all who have been wounded and hurL by Lhese sorrows, lncludlng hlm, wlll
flnd ln ChrlsL peace and resLoraLlon.