I blame the sad state of affairs at psc on the elders/leaders who refused from the very beginning to be inpartial regarding the issues MB brought forth in his 17 page letter. It looks like there were many enablers who continue wreck havic at psc. For those that do You are accountable to God for your actions.

Mark Booker, you have tried to bury so many lies, but you have only dug your own grave. Please stop accepting your dysfunction. You were not created by God to live with so many secrets. Mark, whatever torment you experienced as a child, it is not a reason to now live as a control freak and a liar. God will not allow you to hide forever behind your minister’s robe and smooth words. Your bike accident was a warning to wake you up and give you another chance to change direction. I plead with you to stop playing religion, because a day is coming when you will be utterly disgraced, your poor family will be humiliated, and you will only have yourself to blame. Mark, your game of lies and manipulation is going to collapse. We don’t know when, but it is coming. I will certainly not celebrate your downfall. I know you are reading this. You are the only one who can make things right with God by stepping into the light. If you do so freely and before your secrets are exposed against your will, then a far better life and path will be set before you by our loving Heavenly Father.

“Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”; therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it. As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message… Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.” (Isaiah 28:14–22)

I’m so glad that wounded and traumatized Park Streeters will have a safe space to worship, and enjoy fellowship with one another. This is a wonderful development!

Isolation is a key component in spiritual abuse, so being a part of a healthy, Christian community is one of the most important factors that lead to healing from spiritual trauma. So the fact that worshippers at Restoration Fellowship can maintain a strong bond with each other is immensely significant and hopeful.

I hope to visit sometime!

I also hope that if Scott Sunquist rebuked CT for their reporting on PSC, and/or discouraged their further investigative reporting in any way, that he will openly admit this.

If even a seminary president doesn’t see that institutional protectionism typically is the default & very wrong response of churches when abuse allegations are made, then that is a 5-alarm fire for training the next generation of pastors.

Everyone at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, including the president & each faculty & staff member, should be required to do thorough abuse prevention & response training.

I’d recommend GRACE’s Safeguarding Initiative https://www.netgrace.org/safeguarding-initiative, which will also make GCTS itself a safe institution. I don’t trust that it currently is.

Dee, you said: “Preaching a decent sermon does not make a pastor.”

Curious fact: some of the more disgraced preachers like Carl Lentz and Ted Haggard were preaching their “best” sermons while living double lives. One can be a total hypocrite and sound like an angel. Some of these people are masters of their craft. Mark may not be doing drugs or having an affair (Lord, please may it not be). But he wears a mask of religious piety. Everyone who is listening to him should realize how this works. We cannot be sure what he is hiding. But what you see is not what you get.

Mark, many of us know that your presentation is not the truth. We know you have been lying over and over. We are praying that you openly come into the light, rather than continue the masquerade. You cannot hide the bad fruit you have been producing. It is there for all to see, if they are willing. But it is God who sees, and that is why I am appealing to you to stop scoffing and come into the Light.

Watcher: “Preaching a decent sermon does not make a pastor.”

Exactly. With a touch of charisma, a gift of gab, and a general working knowledge of the Bible, any wolf in shepherd’s clothing can fool the sheep … except those who can discern the voice of the real shepherd.

Max: The “wounded and traumatized” find their way to the real Church to be healed and blessed – churches should not wound and traumatize. When this happens, church leaders need to identify the source of pain and remove it. This has not happened at PSC.

Amen & absolutely true.

The leaders of PSC have been lulled into a false sense of security. Opinions on the new church/not-church range from “good riddance” to “good luck.” No doubt that Mark, Jason, Andrew, Nathan and others are happy to see the “troublemakers” go and have the small church they’ve wanted. I think they’re naive and don’t know what they are in for. Now they have to face:

-Further staff retention issues. Don’t think that everyone left is totally in line with Mark, I know for a fact there are a few staff that still aren’t “down with the system” so to speak. Now with most of the senior staff gone, other staff now risk facing Mark’s abuse. And good luck trying to fill all the open positions, it looks like they’ve given up on hiring another City Engagement Minister.

-New investigate journalism coming out. While an article at CT never saw print, I would be very surprised if no other articles come out, especially considering the resulting church split. Believe me, there is still a loooot out there that even knowledgeable Wartburgers/petitioners don’t know.

-An impending budget disaster. 2023 saw an over $500k shortfall in projected giving with the cancelling of the afternoon service, firing of Michael, and beginning the discussions on Mark’s fitness. After all that has happened so far in 2024, can they still pull in enough cash to maintain the church’s budget? I wouldn’t be surprised if the deficit in giving goes up to $1.5-2mil of the projected $4.5mil. Maybe they get some of their rich friends and congregants to help bail them out, but you can’t deny this metric of Mark’s failure. We won’t know for sure until the annual report is released, if this lasts that long.

Observant Outsider: No doubt that Mark, Jason, Andrew, Nathan and others are happy to see the “troublemakers” go and have the small church they’ve wanted.

Poor leaders can only manage a small following.

Has anyone watched the DARVO Bingo game recording yet?
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August 11 Informational Meeting Video Available to Members
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If you are a member of Park Street Church who missed the Informational Meeting on August 11, email links@parkstreet.org with your name and email address for a link to view a recording of the meeting.

“… when several council members had previously met with Mark Booker and had relations with him?”

Interesting phrasing. Biblical.

dee,

Dee, in my semi-long life I’ve experienced 3 church situations that were quite devastating. I was never an initiator but was certainly part of the grieving. These things are simply a part of human existence. However, in none of these situations did we set up group therapy to deal with the consequences. Maybe we should have but I’m basically opposed to self victimization – which group therapy can encourage sadly.

Max: Preachers who are the loudest against a particular sin, have been found to be living it themselves … it’s a cover for their transgression to elude detection.

And a personal defense mechanism.

Like Rush Limbaugh becoming the Number-One Fanboy of the War on Drugs while hiding s secret Oxycontin addiction.

Preacher-boy in the grip of a Paraphilia self-medicating/self-treating by preaching against it as The Unpardonable SuperSIN. ManaGAWD can NOT show any cracks in his Godly and Spiritual facade, especially when (like Ted Haggard) his Deep Dark Secret has to do with a Strong Taboo of Christian culture.

And in doing so detaches himself more and more from Reality and takes his congregation with him.

senecagriggs,

Your not paying attention to what’s happening, Seneca. THAT is exactly what the aggrieved have done! They are meeting separately, while the new guy walks away with all the property.

Elizabeth Klein: This is an automated reply. For your convenience, this email has been automatically forwarded to ‎Mike Ahearn‎.”

This is a shocking breach of pastoral confidentiality. This means that Mike Ahearn is seeing all the emails that are being sent to Michael Balboni, completely without the sender’s consent.

The “Christian” thing to do would be to set up the emails to be forwarded to Michael Balboni’s new email address – I’m sure PSC has that (or they should).

Max: The “Christian” thing to do would be to set up the emails to be forwarded to Michael Balboni’s new email address – I’m sure PSC has that (or they should).

Exactly!

Bridget:
senecagriggs,

Your not paying attention to what’s happening, Seneca. THAT is exactly what the aggrieved have done! They are meeting separately, while the new guy walks away with all the property.

But Seneca IS paying attention to what’s happening.
He has always sided with the Godly Abusers against their Victims while Polishing His Halo.

Elizabeth Klein,

With all the people they’ve fired this Mike Ahearn guy could be reading a bunch of emails.

I wonder if he keeps a spreadsheet and is required to write regular memos for Mark and the elders – who is reaching out? Which “side” they are on, etc.

Does he email the spreadsheet/memos with an “unattended recipient disclaimer” on his email?

Also – does he reply to the people?

senecagriggs:
dee,

Dee, in my semi-long life I’ve experienced 3 church situations that were quite devastating… These things are simply a part of human existence. However, in none of these situations did we set up group therapy to deal with the consequences. Maybe we should have but I’m basically opposed to self-victimization – which group therapy can encourage sadly.

I’m so terribly sorry for what you’ve gone through, seneca.

I don’t see Restoration Fellowship as “group therapy.” It’s a worshipping community, aiming at becoming a safe, healing space for the spiritually abused while growing closer to Christ and Christlikeness. That’s not the same thing.

Having said that, Christian-led, trauma-informed, recovery groups and/or trauma-informed Christian therapists are all to the good.

Christians who spiritually bypass their trauma are actually a whole lot more likely to get stuck in it.

Whereas, aiming at Spirit-led healing, being freed in Christ, is the very opposite of a victim mentality. It can lead to loving God so much more.

Susannah Griffith is a great example. I’d highly recommend her book Forgiveness after Trauma https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-after-Trauma-Healing-Empowerment-ebook/dp/B0C9RT28ND.

Susannah Griffith is a domestic violence survivor who was pressured (spiritually abused) by her Christian community to stay with her husband, even though he was threatening to kill her. However, she also found some incredible Christian friends who walked alongside of her as she was reeling from – and healing from – her abuse. Together, they did a deep dive into what the Bible actually does and does not teach about forgiveness.

She went through all of the pain, prayed and pored over the Bible, and came out with her faith not only intact, but so much stronger.

Hi gang! See you all this Sunday at Restoration Fellowship, at the Beacon Hill, Wyndham Hotel, 5 Blossom St, Boston.

The new fellowship isn’t intended to be a gripe session, but a step forward in solidarity for those who were hurt by the actions of Park Street leadership. As we grow and evolve over the next year, developing ministries as we are inspired, we will see where it leads. The new leadership is hoping that in a year’s time, we will determine whether we want to become an official church or move on to other churches.

I personally have enjoyed getting to know the Park Streeters who have attended the prayer gathering on Saturdays in a more intimate setting, and I’m really looking forward to meeting more Park Streeters/former Park Streeters and people from around the city.

Of course, we will continue to pray for Park Street, and pray that Mark and the leaders there will come to take ownership for their unethical actions, which we have detailed ad nauseam over the last year. But as one person mentioned at one of the prayer gatherings, sometimes a church building can become an idol, and “the church” is not a building. We, too, are the Church and we have a lot of spirit and Holy Spirit-infused passion for righteousness, justice, and loyalty to the tenets of the Gospel. I pray God will fuel and bless that fire for the coming year and years to come.

Someone asked if there was a grief counseling group for all the ugliness that happened at Park Street, and I don’t know of anything formally, although if the RF team sees a need it may spring up, I’m sure. We did some of that at the prayer meetings on Saturday, but there should have been a separate group that got together because many of us experienced significant emotional trauma over the events, losing sleep, loss of concentration, depression, outrage, etc. Another person on the blog here mentioned that sometimes those groups can be a pity party, and keep people spinning on the ugliness instead of moving forward, but the idea is that the group is an outlet, and hopefully, once things are expressed and processed, the group will be able to disperse. Anyway, we’ll see how the RF team decides to handle that.

I believe we will begin on the Book of Exodus, which is incredibly apropos. 😀

See you Sunday!

Oh, gross! This bile was just emailed out this afternoon. Yes, please invite people to Park Street Church… it is hemorrhaging people who are done with the abuse and gaslighting. It needs some fresh faces who don’t know the flowery words and smooth presentation are a lure. Take the bait… and you will have a hook lodged in you. Beware! Beware!
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https://mailchi.mp/parkstreet.org/staffing-update-7227774
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Dear Park Street Church,

With students back at school and the leaves starting to show some color, it’s clear that a new fall season is upon us. As we move toward Kickoff Sunday this weekend, I want to share a few thoughts with you as an encouragement.

First, it’s a joy and privilege to have welcomed Polo Kim, our new Minister to Internationals, to our staff earlier this week. God answered our prayers regarding the visa issue, allowing Polo to start on September 1, well before Park Street International Fellowship restarts next Sunday, September 15. We are grateful. Please be sure to welcome Polo, his wife Dandan, and their two boys, Micah and Habakkuk, when you see them in the coming weeks.

Second, we continue to be in a place where faithful leadership requires us to have a dual focus. On the one hand, we remain a church that has experienced very real pain in all that we have walked through over the past year. That pain continues in some obvious ways. We need to process this faithfully and to experience the healing that only Jesus can bring. In this vein, the Board of Elders discussed the importance of the Solemn Assembly (a time of prayer, repentance, and confession as recommended by the Vicinage Council) at our meeting this week, and we will be announcing the date for that shortly. On the other hand, we continue to be called to steward the mission that God has entrusted to us as a church. That means many things—from small groups, to Christian formation classes (for children and adults), to Sunday worship, to prayer ministry, to ongoing mission to our city and around the globe, and so much more. The Lord is here. He is moving and working among us, and we long to be attentive and faithful in sharing in that work together.

Third, and on that note, here are five particular burdens on my heart as we step into this next season together:

Prayer. We must be grounded in prayer, praying at all times (Eph 6.18), and acknowledging, especially as we’re in a time of healing and rebuilding, that “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps 127.1). As you’ve seen in the eNews, consider joining us tonight for All Church prayer in the Welcome Center from 7.30–9.00 pm.
New wineskins. Out of a life of prayer, can we ask, “God, how do you want to rebuild us, for your glory? What new ways do you want to work in us and through us?” I have a conviction that we should be open to God’s new work in our midst—and I don’t have a preconceived notion of what this might be—even as we remain faithful to the foundation and heritage that God has built and preserved for us here for over two centuries.
Vibrant Community. It’s so important to be pressing into our relationships right now. Let’s pursue afresh the community life to which God has called us in honest relationships that invite vulnerability and care. And we will also remain committed to breaking bread together regularly, including at our Second Sunday meals which start this weekend.
Outward focus. The temptation to turn inward is real, but God has deeply impressed upon me the need for us to be outward-focused, to press further into service of our city and the world, at the same time as we continue the necessary work of healing (and even as a catalyst to that healing). I’ve also been praying for our community for increased zeal and conviction in sharing the gospel. This gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1.16), and it is what our city needs! I pray we press into God’s mission more and more, as we lift our eyes upward and outward.
All hands on deck. During this rebuilding time, where God is doing the building, we are all invited to join him. A healthy, renewed church will require all of us to invest in a new way: for healing and for faithfully stewarding the mission. This is a key part of our discipleship as well. Where is God calling you to invest? How can your gifts be deployed to edify the church? Let me encourage you to spend time in the Welcome Center this Sunday after the worship service to learn more about our ministries. This new season also provides a natural opportunity to invite others to join us, to “come and see” Jesus (Jn 1.46), to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Ps 34.8). Who might you invite to encounter God with us?
The words of 2 Corinthians 4 are a deep encouragement. That chapter begins in this way, “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” That bears repeating: we do not lose heart! All is of God’s mercy. We’re being invited by God into honest, humble, prayerful life together. May we be faithful in following him there, allowing him to heal and rebuild us as he sees fit.

I look forward to worshiping together with you this Sunday. We will begin a new sermon series on the book of Revelation called “Unveiling Reality.” This book raises a lot of eyebrows to be sure, but there is so much here for us, especially a deep encouragement to remain steadfast in bearing faithful witness. You’re encouraged to invite non-Christians to join us for this series, too, as they’ll get to peer behind the curtain and consider reality as God has revealed it to us.

We don’t lose heart because God is faithful. May we be encouraged as we continue following Jesus: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thess 5.23-24).

Grace and peace in Jesus,

Mark Booker, Senior Minister

Susan Lane,

Hi Susan !
Although your blog is addressed to a gang, I venture to respond as your sister-in-Christ and fellow PSC member. Thank you for highlighting the RF as a new initiative for solidarity, not a gripe station. In the President’s statement of purpose, it is committed to fellowship with anyone who has been spiritually displaced or wounded, regardless of whether he/she was associated with a church or none at all. Therefore new students/faculty may be led to Rf by seniors who were nurtured by Tammy, Ray and Tim and Damian. Setting up our Ebenezer (I Samuel 7:12): Pastor Jullian Linnell will be teaching tomorrow on the Book of Ezra. “DO NOT GRIEVE, FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH” (Nehemiah 8:10) Amen

Susan Lane,

Dear Susan:

I do look forward to meet you tomorrow !

Our Lord’s last answer to Peter: ” … what is that to you? You must follow me.”
(John 21:22)