Covenant Members of The Village Church,

We recently sent you an email regarding Covenant Members Jordan Root and Karen Hinkley that
explained a tragic and heartbreaking situation, including a review of how we got to that point and
where things currently stood. Since that time, we have soberly and prayerfully reflected on all the
details of this situation, along with others in our past. We have also received feedback from people
both inside and outside The Village, which has helped us evaluate ourselves.
Sometimes dark and difficult situations cause us to take a magnifying glass and look through the
lens to see deeper than we normally can. That has absolutely been the case in this situation, and we
wanted to let you know where we are with everything, specifically some areas we are still evaluating
and some areas where we have clearly failed and need to repent.
When it comes to protecting children, we believe we have strong procedures in place and feel
confident in how weve handled allegations and confessions regarding child abuse in any form,
specifically in the situation with Jordan Root. In examining ourselves in this area, we have been
affirmed in the policies and processes we have in place to protect children. That said, in the weeks
ahead, we will do an external audit to confirm we are doing everything possible to protect children
and to evaluate how we handle child safety, abusers, abuse victims and other related matters in a
biblical and legal manner.
Regarding Covenant Membership, we have not changed our theological or philosophical convictions
on our Membership Covenant, member care and church discipline. These are beliefs rooted in
Scripture, and we strongly believe they are necessary for our health and faithfulness as a church.
However, in looking closely at the way we have handled some situations, we realize that there are
clear and specific instances where we have let our membership practices blind us to the person in
front of us, in turn leading us to respond in a way that doesnt reflect our desire to be loving and
caring to our members. In these situations, there have been cases where we have clearly not
communicated the gentleness, compassion and patience that we are called to as elders of the
church.
We are deeply sorry for failing you in this way and are taking steps to follow up with the individuals
we believe we have hurt so that we can apologize specifically and directly to them. We are also in
the process of creating a new care and church discipline plan and hope to have it approved and in
practice very soon. Regardless of all that were trying to do to improve in this area, though, the most
important point is that we recognize that we must never allow our processes and procedures to take
precedence over people, specifically those we are called to love, care, protect and sacrifice for as
elders of the church. In everything our actions and tone must reflect the gentleness (Gal. 6:1) and
humility (1 Peter 5:1-3) to which Scripture calls us. As James 2:13 says, mercy should triumph over
judgment.
In receiving more information and considering the way weve ministered to Karen specifically, we
believe that we owe her an apology. Specifically, as it pertains to her desire for an annulment, we
know that it would have served her better to have a clearer understanding from us as to what we do
and do not consider biblical grounds for divorce or what we understand the Scriptures to define as
divorce. In hindsight, we wish that we would have provided clarity to Karen in an immediate fashion
and are saddened by our unpreparedness.
Though the deep theological convictions that informed our initial response havent changed, this is a
situation where we unfortunately allowed our practice to unnecessarily lead us rather than us leading

our practice with patience, gentleness and compassion. We did not lead Karen and the church to a
place conducive to peace, repentance and healing. Please know that we are reaching out to Karen
and giving her this apology, and we have also made the decision to move forward in releasing her
from membership. We will continue to support her financially through August as we committed, and
our hope and prayer for her is that God would guide her to another gospel-believing church, where
she can find healing and restoration.
In receiving this email and hearing how we have and are responding to this situation, we understand
that you may be wondering why this type of change in heart has happened now. Is it because of the
media stories? If so, why have we let these stories make such an impact? The answer is basically
what we began this email with: Sometimes it takes a difficult, unique and trying situation to help us
realize our mistakes and move us to change. Naturally, these situations also bring more feedback to
the table, and we have sought to humbly hear that feedback, be willing to see the log in our own eye
and repent where necessary.
Given the nature of the situation with Jordan and Karen, we also want you to be prepared for the
potential of many media stories about our church to be published over the next several days. We are
aware of this likely outcome and will not address members or former members specifically in any
communication since we do not release this information to the public. This weekend, Matt will speak
generally about member care and church discipline because the conclusion of our James series is
providentially focused on this topic, but he will not speak directly to the situation at hand.
In all of this, we are deeply grieved by the way this situation has brought reproach to the name of
Jesus. Our hearts are heavy and broken over the things that have been said about our good and
faithful God. We often talk about the ongoing ethics of confession and repentance, and as your
elders, we know that we are not exempt from these ethics. In every way that weve mishandled this
situation, along with others in the past, we repent and ask for forgiveness. As a church, we talk
regularly about the power of the gospel to forgive all our sins, past, present and future. In this
moment, we are clinging to that truth, knowing that we and everyone else involved in this situation
desperately need the grace and mercy of Jesus.

The Village Church Elders