Chapter 67 Pastor and Editor

Pastor and Editor

Leaving Voice of Prophecy and becoming “just a pastor” did not remove all the tension between my roles as church employee and editor of an independent news magazine. I believed I was serving the larger good of the Adventist Church in my role as editor. The church needed the scrutiny of an independent press. On the other hand, I was sympathetic to the pressures that sometimes drove administrators and committees to take actions that from the outside appeared indefensible.

The potential for conflict between my dual commitment to the moral integrity of the church and its reputation was demonstrated shortly after we moved to Washington. The General Conference president, Robert Folkenberg, was caught in a financial scandal. I never learned who blew the whistle on him, but other people in the top leadership of the denomination challenged him. His behavior was reminiscent of the abuse of position characteristic of Central American despots. I wondered at the time if his many years living in Central America had blinded him to the standards for avoiding conflict of interest that we take for granted in the U. S.

Adventist Today began reporting the story on our web site with information fed to us from church insiders. At the height of the crisis we were getting 10,000 hits per day as people around the world followed the story.

Later, I was told by people in the General Conference that if it had not been for the Adventist Today reporting, Folkenberg may well have weathered the conflict and remained in office. If the matter had remained “in house,” if it had been processed only by church officials meeting in formal committees, Folkenberg's supporters may well have been able to push back against those calling him to account. After all, his behavior would have been considered quite unremarkable in most of the world where most Adventists live. (More than 90 percent of the denomination lives in developing nations where the “privileges of power” are often taken for granted, more so than in the West.) The thousands of people following the story through the Adventist Today web site strengthened the hand of the reformers. In the end Folkenberg resigned.

One of the curious features of this episode was the flood of accusations sent our way without permission to name sources. Missionaries who had worked with Folkenberg alleged frequent irregularities in the way he dealt with customs. It was the kind of venality frequently mentioned by my parents in their stories about their missionary friends in Central America, though in Folkenberg's case it was taken to a “higher level” and with a direct personal benefit that was missing from the stories I was familiar with. People who told these stories sometimes were terrified of what would happen to them or their relatives in denominational employment if Folkenberg learned they had talked to us. He was seen as a highly effective administrator and ruthless. We published none of these rumors. But I could not help being influenced. We had no way to check the authenticity of all these accusations. But with all the smoke it was hard not to think there was probably a fire.

When I was offered the position of editor, I told the Adventist Today committee that I was exploring the possibility of another job and a new job might take me out of southern California. We agreed that if I did move out of the area, I would resign. So, sometime in 1999, I tendered my resignation. It was rejected. So I continued on balancing the competing demands of pastoring and editing, both of which deserved my entire attention.

After my resignation was rejected, I called Jere Patzer, the president of the North Pacific Union (the denominations regional body). Patzer was a famous (or notorious, depending on your perspective) conservative. Not only was his theology classic old school Adventism, he was an activist, driving administrator. He and I already had a bit of history. A few months before moving to Washington, we had decided to publish a transcript of speech Patzer had given. When I contacted him about publishing the piece, he said he didn't feel free to give me permission to publish it because of “counsel” he had received from Elder Folkenberg. I told him I wasn't asking permission. His speech was in a public setting. It addressed issues of interest to the larger Adventist population. We were going to publish it with or without his permission. And he could quote me to Folkenberg. I went on to say, that while I was not giving him a choice about whether or not we published his speech, I was offering him the opportunity to edit it with a view toward publication. I offered to edit it and send my version to him for review. He agreed. He approved the final version we published.

So, now that I was pastoring in his territory, I figured we better have an understanding. When I called, our conversation went something like this.

“Hi Elder Patzer. I'm just calling to let you know I've moved to Washington. My plan had been that when I moved here I would resign as the editor of Adventist Today, but they have refused my resignation. So I will continue. I know that you have a lot of influence here and you could get rid of me if you wished, so I'm calling to persuade you to leave me alone.”

“Okay, give it a shot.”

“I often hear from Adventist professionals who tell me they were thinking of leaving the church. Then someone sent them an issue of Adventist Today. They became subscribers and now the magazine is their primary connection with the church. Many of these professionals are sending their children to Adventist academies and colleges. If these professionals decide to leave the church, the church will not lose just them. It will lose them and their children and their grandchildren.

“If they stay in the church, even if their personal religion is not up to par, they will send their children to Adventist schools. The church will have an opportunity to present our faith in its entirety to the next generations. If these families leave, they may well never hear the Adventist message. As professionals they are unlikely to attend an evangelistic meeting. So, I think it serves the purposes even of the institutional church to keep me as the editor of Adventist Today and as a pastor in the employment of the church.”

Patzer agreed to give me some space. He was not giving me carte blanche, but he would wait and see. Some months later, I called him again.

“Elder Patzer,” I said. “I've been reading over the schedule for the upcoming Union Ministerial Meetings.” (This was a week-long conference/continuing education extravaganza held every five years in connection with elections of officers for the Northwest region of the denomination. There were a couple of plenary sessions daily and a wide variety of seminar-style presentations.) I said to Patzer, “I don't see a single presentation in the entire conference that even hints of connecting with the more liberal wing of the church. You should have at least one seminar that addresses how to communicate our faith to a liberal or secular audience. I could do that for you. I have an approach to the Sabbath that very effectively engages people outside our usual devout Christian audience. I think you should include me on the schedule.”

 

“Send me a manuscript and let me take a look at it.”

I emailed him the manuscript of my presentation, “Sabbath, a Park in Time.” He put me on the seminar schedule.

Patzer eventually wearied of tolerating me and pressured the local conference president to get rid of me. But to my surprise two successive local presidents resisted his pressure. I remained employed by the church.