Park Street Church 2014
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.” J. R. R. Tolkien
Note to PSC-interested folks: I will close the previous PSC post once it is posted. If there are no new posts every 30 days in the future, I will close the previous PSC post and just rerun the old post as a new post. Please let me know if I forget to open the new post, which will happen if any reader notices closed comments on the most recent PSC post. I want to keep this current so people can communicate.
I was recently alerted to this new fellowship. I believe it will bring healing and hope to those wounded in the fight to save PSC.
How the church they knew continues.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Over the summer, many have told us they have been searching for a place to worship. A group of us is excited to announce a new option for us to worship together again. We’d like to invite you to visit Restoration Fellowship at our first gathering on Sunday, September 8, at 10 a.m., at the Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill.
Restoration Fellowship (RF) is a one-year initiative formed with the following purposes:
- To gather those lost, hurting, or without a spiritual home,
- To foster spiritual healing and restoration,
- To provide transitional support for ministers who have been displaced,
- To discern God’s will for the future of the fellowship and if God’s calling is for us to become a church after the first year.
Restoration Fellowship cares for those who have been spiritually displaced or wounded by the church. In response, we commit to fellowship in worship, prayer, healing, and restoration with the help of the Holy Spirit. Whether you have a history with the church or none at all, all are welcome.
Our teaching will be led by our ministerial team, including Dr. Julian Linnell, Dr. Michael Balboni, Dr. Raymond Kam, and others. For more information about RF, details about our first gathering such as childcare and directions, please see: www.restorationfellowshipboston.org.
We’re thankful that we worship a God who loves us and has promised to restore us, to lead us in paths of righteousness, confirm us, strengthen us, and establish us (Psalm 23:3, 1 Peter 5:10-11). We hope to be restored alongside you at these gatherings.
Leslie Liu, President
Sarah Pisacich, Treasurer
Lisa Gomi Hui, Secretary
What has not been resolved and will continue to haunt PSC:
- The many PSC posts on this blog will still be around for prospective attendees to consider.
- Many folks do not like to attend a church in turmoil, and nothing spells turmoil like a church that spawns a public fellowship gathering made up of those who left the mothership.
- Mark Booker’s credentials have still not been publicly released to the membership. Boston is an academic center, and some potential attendees might find it off-putting that a supposed “spiritual leader” will not openly answer allegations that he puffed up his CV.
- Did Mark Booker plant his previous church? Some might disagree with this. Is there such a thing as stolen valor in the church-planting world?
PSC leaders, elders, and various hangers have failed to promote church unity.
The PSC leaders juggled a hot potato, which landed at their feet with a splat. The congregation is in turmoil.
- Is the church adopting a top-down leadership model, like authoritarian churches, where authority flows from God→Pastors/Elders→Congregation? I’m left confused. Is this a congregational church, or is it just another typical ho-hum “when the pastor speaks, it is done” church?
- 55.76% of those who voted voted against Booker being affirmed. Why was this ignored?
- Did Scott Sunquist, President of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, call Christianity Today on behalf of the leadership to pressure that media source to stop posting stories about PSC? If anything like this is true, it violates the entire idea of congregationalism and undermines basic investigative journalism.
- Is the church being run as a business model? Be careful if you guys say, “Of course.” The church was not founded as a business, and the Toyota bureaucratic model does not appear to apply to the Way.
- A new fellowship has been started under the watch of Mark Booker and various leaders, and I suspect it will be successful. I believe the elders, leaders, etc., should resign, and the congregation should vote for those who seek unity. How many pastors were fired or threatened with being sidelined?
- How could the Conservative Christian Congregational Conference (CCCC) claim to do an independent investigation when several council members had previously met with Mark Booker and had relations with him? Based on testimony that some have seen, Ron Hamilton, Paul McPheeters, Tom Petter, Nick Granitsas, and Jon Paul all had met with Mark on multiple prior occasions. Ron Hamilton instructed Mark Booker not to resign a few months before their investigation was performed. This has the hallmarks of a coverup and faux investigation, which Park Street Church uses to hide behind. The failure of the CCCC to insist on an independent investigation by a third-party organization is evidence that the fix was in from the beginning. The rot spreads beyond Park Street.
Mark Booker is the nexus of the problem.
- Was it the chicken or the egg? Did Mark Booker get the position because he fit the leaders’ agenda, or was he hired because they needed “someone, anyone,” and he wasn’t properly vetted?
- How many pastors did Booker sideline, push out, bully, threaten with firing, etc.? Some on this list resigned before they would be fired, which signifies a personality problem.
1. Pat Chen
2. Kris Perkins
3. Kimberly Morrison
4. Michael Balboni
5, Damian Long
6. Julian Linnel
7. Ray Kim
8. Tammy McLeod
9. Tim Leary - Asking a wife to speak about how nice her husband is at home was an unwise tactic. ‘Stand by your man’ is used in political situations when the husband has done something immoral or unethical. After this happened, the first thing I thought was, “What did Booker do?!”
- Preaching a decent sermon does not make a pastor.
The loss of 9 pastors and the start of a new fellowship, which I predict will be successful as measured by Boston metrics, looks bad. PSC failed the nine pastors and the many members who have moved on, including one of my family members. When I next visit Boston, I will attend the Restoration Fellowship instead of visiting PSC. I think it will be more like how I remember Park Street Church than the building called Park Street Church. As I did a deep dive into PSC, I had hoped that something like this Fellowship would happen.
Will PSC apologize to the fired pastors and members threatened with excommunication? They should, but they probably won’t. After all, the PSC business model seems far more important to the leaders and Mark Booker than following the Way. In my book, this was an epic fail by a formerly fine church.
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Have you noticed that the bad boys always end up with the church building and other resources, while faithful ex-members have to set up camp elsewhere? The New Calvinists are doing that all over the SBC landscape – taking over traditional (non-Calvinist) church properties that were bought and paid for by others; they justify their stealth and deception as being good for the movement since they have come into the world for such a time as this.
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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.
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Max,
Yes. It is stealing in my book and there should be a way to prosecuted the groups doing this. I also view it as very poor character traits in those doing it. Sinful in my book.
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Max,
You make an important point here. Thank you.
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dee,
Park Street Church was founded in 1809. I suspect there was a mortgage burning when members paid that beautiful building off many years ago.
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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)
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It is in my book too.
My guess is that they’re still too squeamish to go after those guys on account of the pull they (the Protestant Mafia) have with the authorities.
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It’s one fine infrastructure that has caught the eye of many. It is in a beautiful location within the shadow of the Capitol building with the Paul Revere copper dome. I loved sitting in that church, hearing great sermons, and seeing guests like Corrie Ten Boom. I am so sad.
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Dee, and all believers @ TWW !
Thank you for introducing and supporting RF, a remnant of PSC which is sprouting in late summer. RF is neither dry bones or ashes, but a burning bush on the mountain of Horeb (Exodus 3:1-3) in full vigor (2 Corinthians 4:7-9), calling all repentant sinners to come, just as they are, to receive mercy and abundant life from our immortal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God of unfailing love. Amen
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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.
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The Church of the Living God should be a place of refreshing in the presence of the Lord, not a battleground … a place of unity, not division … a sanctuary from the world, not a stronghold where clergy are pitted against laity. If these things are present, it is not a church in its truest sense. 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.
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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.
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A serious question; are they setting up a Christian group therapy organization?
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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.
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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.
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Amen & absolutely true.
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dee,
According to Rev Edward Griffn,, establishing PSC was to
1 Restablish the Reformed faith , and in particular, Congregationalism, to Boston.
2 Counter Arminianism and later Arianism
4 Stop the influx of heterodox preachers who had introduced them
5 Cut the influence of City Councillors on church polity.
What happened?
6 Rev Griffin was subjected to a whispering campaign against his character and unfitness to hold the post.
7 Previous congregations proved the falseness of the allegations.
You can read all this in his biography in Volume 1 of his Sermons, where he references a private letter to a colleague.
All of the above sheds a light on current events at PSC
Did their policy of “anyone can preach here” lead to the appointment of an unqualified candidate?
Did the powerbrokers in the church unduly influence the decision makers?
Is Mr Booker being unfairly maligned?
Is their doctrine and polity at fault?
)
Why was Mr Booker mountainbiking on a Sunday. (Being on holiday won’t cut it imo
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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.
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… rings hollow when unpaid bills start piling up … butts missing from the pew = bucks missing from the plate
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Poor leaders can only manage a small following.
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senecagriggs,
Are you having a giggle, Seneca? I bet you have had your share of church struggles that you believed were “Their fault!” and “Not my fault!”
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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.
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Elizabeth Klein,
Thank you so much for every part of this comment! I couldn’t agree more!
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“… when several council members had previously met with Mark Booker and had relations with him?”
Interesting phrasing. Biblical.
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Jesus was a troublemaker
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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.
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My serious recommendation: Set up a weekly Bible study, NOT focused on hurts, and see if it leads to the establishment of a new church.
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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.
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Restoration Fellowship:
Those who have Walked Away from Omelas.
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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.
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Park Streeters, be forewarned –
A friend of mine just tried to email Michael Balboni, but made the mistake of emailing him at his PSC email address. This friend then got the following automatic reply back:
“Thank you for contacting Park Street Church. We regret to inform you that Michael Balboni is no longer employed here. Please direct any future correspondence to Mike Ahearn at mahearn@parkstreet.org.
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.
Just imagine if the sender’s email has extremely personal and sensitive information, that the sender has every right to keep confidential.
Suppose that that person is reaching out to Michael Balboni after having been sexually assaulted. Or with details about extremely delicate marriage conflicts. Etc. etc.
PSC: this is appallingly unethical.
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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).
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Elizabeth Klein,
Even if this is normal business practice in some industries when someone is let go . . . These people need to be reminded that the church is not a business.
It is just so tacky.
But hey – at least they are up front and disclosing they are reading emails as the unattended recipient. That is somewhat “ethical-ish?”
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Exactly!
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EXACTLY.
Try showing some brotherly love, but not in a Big Brother kind of way!
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But Seneca IS paying attention to what’s happening.
He has always sided with the Godly Abusers against their Victims while Polishing His Halo.
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Then Ahearn has juicier blackmail material than even Scientology Auditing Records.
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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?
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Oh, but it is in many places! … with pastors resembling CEOs more than shepherds … I call it the Christian Industrial Complex.
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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.
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And tax-free to boot!
I swear, they have got to have the best legal racket in America.
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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!
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Mark Booker – since you have no holy and healthy fear of the LORD, perhaps you could find it in your heart to step into the light for the sake of Mandy and your children. Have compassion on them and stop playing religion, hiding in the robe and outer clothing and outward appearances of a true pastor. When your ship sinks (it’s already sprung a leak, you’ll notice) you will likely take them all down with you.
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Isaiah 5:18-23
.
[18] Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
[19] who say: “Let him be quick,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
[20] Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
[21] Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
[22] Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
[23] who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
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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!
.
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
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Friend of Park Street Church,
Mr. Booker is one smooth dudebro.
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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
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NAAH,
Thanks for the correction on the scripture focus for tomorrow NAAH!
As for Pastor Booker, I’m sure he doesn’t want to turn his gaze introspectively, as he mentions in his letter. Evaluating, confessing, and changing his own poor behavior or that of his Elder Board has never been a strength. If he does manage to rebuild PSC to even half of what it was he had better be saying to himself, “…but by the grace of God go I,” and mean it.
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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)
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Elizabeth Klein,
Thank you for the thoughtful response Elizabeth
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Folks, it shouldn’t be this hard to find a solid Gospel church in America, where church leaders love Jesus more than themselves, where it is called a House of Prayer above anything else, where the people of God truly fellowship with each other in unity, and where the Great Commission is the one and only mission of the Body of Christ gathered there.
The American church has drifted off-course in many places. Why? We have a spiritual leadership crisis in America.
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I am eagerly waiting to hear how the first meeting went!
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A former PSC member started a Substack to write about spiritual abuse and Park St. Here is the email I received:
“Dear friends,
You may or may not be aware of the situation that has been unfolding at my church, Park Street Church. Following the resignation of 5 ministers (Damian Long, Julian Linnell, Ray Kam, Tammy McLeod, and Tim Leary) and 56% of members voting that Senior Minister Mark Booker should be spiritually disqualified, the church leaders have doubled down and essentially declared “if you disagree with us, you should leave.”
As I’ve journeyed alongside many of the wounded, I have come to believe that Park Street is suffering from a failure to recognize and appropriately respond to spiritually abusive leadership in the church.
This experience has been deeply troubling. It has shown how much work is still needed to help churches understand trauma, psychological safety, and spiritually abusive leadership. My background in ministry and organizational psychology enables me to see this issue through a unique lens. I believe the tools and frameworks I use in the consulting world could help churches move towards healthier leadership cultures.
Over the past six months I’ve been asking God how He might use me. He’s given me a vision to pursue three goals: (1) writing a book on spiritually abusive leadership, (2) publishing a survey assessment for diagnosing abusive leadership, and (3) launching an institute for further research and interventions.
If any of this is to become a reality, I need your support! These are huge goals. It is daunting to consider such a momentous shift personally and professionally. As a first step, I’ve decided to start a substack (blog subscription) to build a team of financial supporters and release sections that I intend to publish in a book. I’d like to dedicate myself to this work full-time if I can raise the funds.
Would you consider supporting me in the following ways?
1. Pray for me on this journey, for God to use this work to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release the prisoners from darkness (Isaiah 61:1).
2. Subscribe to my substack. Subscriptions start at $10/month. These funds will support my research and writing process over the next 1-2 years and help me stay afloat until I have an organization in place to fundraise for.
3. Forward this to anyone you know who may be interested in learning more about spiritual abuse or supporting this mission.
Thank you for considering how you can help.
Blessings,
Lianna”
https://goodshepherding.substack.com/
I was struck by what she wrote, having a background in organizational psychology:
“the worst case of psychological safety I had ever seen was in my own church.”
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dee,
Dee !
Love is (first of all) PATIENT
We almost ran out of patience, but the Lord always keeps His promise!
I spotted at least 7 pastors who had worked (but no longer works) at PSC .
Many families with happy children (from babies to teens)
It was so crowded (in the penthouse of the new hotel) I could not find the friends whom I expected to meet (incl. Susan Lane).
Praise the Lord !
expected to metseveral friends whom I planned to meet.
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So the new calvinists are still up to their old tricks, it seems. I made my final break from organized religion in 2020. I began processing what was going on in churches around the country (and some other countries) in 2013 or so, and Wartburg Watch played a significant role. We left our toxic authoritarian (and as I discovered later, white supremacist) “church” in 2014. We were welcomed by an apparently healthy church, but the influence of Acts29 and 9Marks and John Piper crept in and grew, choking the Spirit there as English ivy will grow up and around a tree and choke the life out of that tree. I left church in 2018 or 2019 after growing similarities to our former church-cult triggered a panic attack. A couple family members kept going there until 2020. They found clarity during the pandemic, which afforded some separation, allowing insight and introspection.
All this to say, I’ve been away for some years. I came back looking because a family member has become ensnared by an Acts29 church. My red flags are flying.
I cannot find any recent mentions of Acts29 critique in a web search. They’ve apparently cleaned up their act, and their language is as inviting and high-minded as it ever was, lots of idealistic rhetoric. But my spouse attended the church this morning with our special-needs adult child (a church member), and the description of the church sounds pretty familiar: large attendance, seemingly all young families, espresso bar, contemporary music/worship band, greeters at the door (but no one talked to spouse or even our adult kid who has been attend services for months; spouse noticed no other gray heads), members assigned to specific elders for “pastoral care”, meaning other elders are polite but detached.
Am I prejudiced by my past experience, or am I right to be concerned for our special needs family member?
In particular, is an Acts29 church likely to turn the kid against their parents, who no longer go to church, and LGBTQ family members who are a major part of the kid’s support system?
Blessings to those who have maintained this forum and those who continue the discussions here. I remember WW as a safe haven in a very confusing, hurtful time.
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NAAH,
That is wonderful!!! My heart feels less heavy tonight!
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Max,
It is so good to “hear” your voice again. I gave up on finding church-based fellowship some years ago. I’m sure there must be some good churches out there; I’ve just given up on the search. I can quote lots of scripture from memory; I still pray. But crossing the threshold of a church building or hearing scripture solemnly intoned from the front of a church makes me feel as if I’m suffocating; I can’t seem to breathe. The contemporary christian music I used to sing spontaneously as I went about my day nowadays fills me with sorrow, even revulsion. It rings hollow and empty. I can still contemplate the old hymns, but my throat closes when I try to sing.
The American church robbed me of the joy in worship and fellowship I once knew.
I don’t know what the solution is. I used to pray for revival, but these days I don’t know what that would be. It seems almost as if American organized mega-religion needs to shatter and collapse into dust for God to be able to begin to work in the hearts of the people ensnared in “christian” nationalism.
In point of fact, without getting into a political discussion, one of the campaigns right now looks and feels like revival to me: joy, compassion, energy, enthusiasm, caring. It seems very odd to me that I see a movement of revival in politics when I was taught it was the bailiwick (is that the right word?) of religion.
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Why would my immediate reaction to this passage be “propaganda and indoctrination (in the worst sense of the word)”?
My second thought was that keeping people too busy to think while ensuring *all* of their thinking is carefully crafted and directed in the “right” direction (meaning unquestioning support of the Powers That Be) can be a very effective control tactic.
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Since churches nowadays seem to be mounting up wealth or investing in large, impressive whitewashed tombs rather than serving the poor, the needy, the widows and orphans, “the least of these”, it seems perfectly reasonable to me to tax them at the highest tax rate to fund the government’s ability to provide these services.
I don’t think God established the Church to enrich a certain few.
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A Word just came to mind as to the problem I now have with contemporary christian music: it’s self-serving. At least, that’s how it sounds to me these days.
Apologies to those who find comfort in the music. I used to. I’m not saying you’re insincere. Just that I suspect some unscrupulous leaders have used and continue to use such music to emotionally manipulate and control congregations.
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Friend of Park Street Church,
Oh dear. I would have found the language in this pastoral letter challenging and encouraging a little more than a decade ago. But now… it’s just noise. Static. Dust and ashes.
(Was it Shakespeare who said something about “sound and fury… signifying nothing”?)
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After re-reading the article carefully, I extend my deepest sympathy to Dee and those who have been wounded in this situation. I don’t have any information beyond this post, but the situation sounds uncannily like events that led to the dissolution of Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill empire.
(Yes, “empire” seems the right term, serving man—or *a* man, not God)
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Many churches reach mega status, not because of an anointed pulpit preacher, but because of a skilled praise and worship team. The most important position in such churches is the worship leader, not the pastor. For example, there would have been no Hillsong without Hillsong Music – Brian Houston is not really that good of a preacher. There are many examples of this in the Christian Industrial Complex. This is not to say that all Christian music is intended to lure followers to a ministry, but it does happen IMO.
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“Pure and unblemished religion as it is expressed in outward acts in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the secular world.” (James 1:27 AMP)
Our contamination is showing in the church, folks.
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I was at the fellowship gathering this morning. What struck me the most was how all the ministers seemed so happy to free of mb leadership and the love we have for them. The attendee weres happy to be gathering and worshipping together as I saw many happy people. When was the last time anyone sitting in the congregation at psc looked happy? I pray that the fellowship will help all those who have been hurt by psc including the ministers and their families. What was attendace like at all three services at psc?????
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Church attendance should be joyful and refreshing in the presence of the Lord, not unhappy and exhausting. No joy = no presence of the Lord … just a manufactured religious experience.
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Here are some photos from the maiden voyage of Restoration Fellowship. It was standing room only! Julian Linnell’s sermon was beautiful and spoke to the heart of what we were feeling and how God was going to use our difficult experience to propel us to something better. The worship team included a lovely mix of contemporary and classical music – a breath of fresh air for all!
Here are some photos for those of you that couldn’t be there. Enjoy!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/U71bipaUo9apLjTa9
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Susan Lane,
I am sitting here, after figuring out my new computer, with tears in my eyes. I have heard numbers like “hundreds!” Does anyone have a rough count? I cannot wait to meet with you all when in the next few weeks. We are waiting on the appearance of our new grandbaby.
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What’s an Empire without an Emperor?
“AVE, CAESAR!”
‘HEIL, FUEHRER!”
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But even the most (actually) Joyful and Refreshing get “blah” now and then.
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Doesn’t Screwtape spend an entire epistle to Wormwood on the subject of glorious Noise?
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It was standing room only. 200 max. I was there.
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
But eventually, it was… “Et tu, Bruté? Then fall Caesar.”
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How wonderful to expect a new grandbaby! That of course is the priority. Just let me know ahead of time when you’re coming.
As for the headcount at the first meeting, I am terrible at estimating these kinds of things, but they did have everyone register before they came in. Hopefully they got a pretty accurate count, although there was a barcode to scan that you could use, and I scanned the barcode and got caught up in talking to people and totally forgot to fill out the form. Hopefully there weren’t too many others like me. I will let you know as soon as I know. I went to tears when I walked in the doors, too. I truly believe God will bless our efforts. I think he already has.
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So, could they hear the crickets chirping over at PSC on Sunday?
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Max,
I have not attended a PSC service in over a year so I can’t say for sure what things actually look like. But I can look at the livestreams and use screenshots to assess attendance. This week was the kickoff Sunday for the Fall, the first Sunday after Labor Day. It should be a big day for the church. I went back to last year to the same service that occurred on Sep 10th, 2023. The difference in numbers is striking. Look at the shot of the pulpit and see how empty yesterday’s service looks compared to last year. Also notable from last year is the presence of Julian Linnell, Damian Long, and Zach McLeod with Pat and Tammy outside of the shot, all whom are gone from PSC now.
https://imgur.com/a/cw5aGDL
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Are you aware of The Bodies Behind the Bus podcast?
Co-hosted by Johnna Harris & Jay Coile, their podcast mainly focuses on Acts 29 spiritual abuse, although they’ve branched out into different churches/denoms.
Johnna & Jay invite survivors on to tell their stories. It’s a safe place for their “something’s not right” experiences and observations to be affirmed, while the patterns of spiritual abuse become recognizable to listeners.
You may find their Bodies Behind the Bus podcast interesting and/or helpful:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bodies-behind-the-bus/id1601586078
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The first meeting of Restoration Fellowship was joyful yet serious, overflowing, loving, life-giving, and an utter relief.
I heard so many stories of good news bursting out around the broken place of calamity. It was a good beginning.
Also, afterwards, a friend there said a young tourist couple had stopped her as she was walking to the meeting. “Could you tell us how to get to Park Street Church?” they asked.
She answered, “Oh, they’re meeting on the 15th floor of the Wyndham Hotel this week.”
🙂
And they joined us.
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Alisa Leaves,
Susan Lane,
Hi Alisa and Susan !
Praise the Lord for your testimony.
Yes, we must always SPEAK THE TRUTH WITH LOVE, love for the Lord and for others.
I am a PSC member since 1986, and will NOT give up this membership unless the BoE alters the by-laws to kick me out. I bet many of the RF attendees are still able to stand firm as PSC members. In future I will certainly invite or bring my friends/even strangers to join us for worship on Sundays!
‘MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.’
Amen
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Did they use the Scientology trick of (1) keeping tight focus on the pulpit and/or (2) seating everyone in one section of the seating (packing that section full) and cutting to that, again on tight focus?
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Elizabeth Klein,
Thank you, Elizabeth.
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I love this!!!
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Did anyone ask for the link to the psc August info session and receive a response? They advertised in the Enews that members could request it. I have emailed two weeks in a row and have not received a response.
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CEO Booker has had years of honing his duplicity. He’s got it down! His Master Class has already enrolled a few fresh faces from seminary. And with Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary’s dudebros defending Mark’s abusive behavior, there’s a pipeline of more fodder for Mark to grind down. And his blind followers (some willfully so) can start their city outreach to replenish the pews. He’s got the coercive control skills to keep his racket going… again, beware Boston, beware!
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I wonder if they are only sending the link to their known allies. That would be in keeping with the season of deception CEO Booker has ushered in. Publicly say it’s available… but then only respond to members who are known sycophants.
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This is just the best to read! Thank you so very much for sharing this with us!
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The New Calvinist dudebros stick together … guess they were predestined to be arrogant, mean-spirited, and spiritually abusive. The NeoCals are directly responsible for the swelling “Done” ranks in America … Christians who are done with institutional church, but not done with Jesus. The new reformers ain’t all that; they are writing a dark chapter in the history of the American church.
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Hi Dee,
I just saw this post tonight. I will check tomorrow to see if there was an exact head count. I thought I heard that they had a maximum of 200 CHAIRS and that there were plenty of people standing, overflowing…but Janice may be more accurate with 200 max room capacity. Regardless, it was PACKED! And packed with loads of joy!!!
Julian started by mentioning how we are meeting in a space next to a hospital under construction. It was later mentioned that we are also high above in the penthouse suite…
What was strikingly different about this meeting was the sense of CONNECTION and COMMUNITY, in a relaxed and forgiving environment.
Never before had I just “hung out” with Gordon Hugenberger and getting to know him on a personal level.
I will write more tomorrow after the service, hopefully better prepared to report back. It’s very late, I’m tired now, and it’s been a long week.
For the first time in many years, I am headed to bed feeling peace in my heart.
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I will be attending the Fellowship on 9/29. I cannot wait to see and worship with all of you. I look at this group as the real PSC and it will be nice to come home, if only for a week.
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CC deSola,
I have been told that the were probably 300 in attendance last week. I’ll be interested in the attendance today.
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At RF – the best line of the day I heard was “nice to be in church without the armed security guard”.
The room was filled today.
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I choked on my iced tea!!!!!
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If anybody would like to meet with me while I am in town for the week, visiting with family, let me know.
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dee,
Yes ! Count me in, first !— send me an email so I can prepare with joy
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CC de Sola,
Here’s how I estimate: 200 -300 including staff and kids
I sat in the back where there were some chairs along the Wall.
People walk back and forth in the open space between the wall and the last row of chairs.
The chairs are arranged in 3 sections–middle, right and left.
In each section there are 5 or 6 rows of 12 chairs.
Total chairs would be : (12×5 or x6) x3 = 180 or 216
Most of the staff are standing or walking around.
Seats initially occupied by children were empty after they leave for kids’ activity.
This is 100 x the minimum no. required for our Lord’s promise to grant our requests
—-IF WE EARTHLINGS AGREE ABOUT ANYTHING AND ASK FOR IT FROM HIM (Matt 18:20)
Where 2 or 3 come together IN MY NAME, there am I with them
Amen
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Yes, I started counting the chairs, but then more chairs were added and the kids / college students went into their respective rooms…looks like we are on same page of 200-300! But that’s just a number. It’s hard to quantify the heart and love in that room!
NAAH,
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You’re welcome.
And yes, I agree with estimates for the above numbers for the first two weeks, and that more exciting is the transparency, communication, and whole ethos of the Fellowship.
There are good things stirring amid the difficulties.
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Elizabeth Klein,
Alisa Leaves,
Janiceg,
Friend of Park Street Church, Max,
Observant Outsider,
Janice,
Susan Lane,
To all whom it may concern—(How many attended RF on the lst & 2nd Sunday meeting)
Here is what our Lord promised, verbatim:(AKJV)
IF TWO OF YOU SHALL AGREE ON EARTH AS TOUCHING ANYTHING THAT THEY SHALL ASK, IT SHALL BE DONE FOR THEM OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN. FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, THERE I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM. (Matt 18:19-20)
My simple interpretation: Jesus will join us if 3 or even 2 people gather in his name; whereas our Father in heaven will grant our prayer even if only 2 people agreed on asking the same thing. —– SUCH AMAZING GRACE!
Humbly I admit: it difficult for me to pray in public– how can I be sure the other people really agree with what I pray for, and vice versa. Nowadays, with fake news reporting true crime, we are almost immune to stories of honeymooners killing each other.
Day by Day, Dear Lord,
of Thee three things I pray:
To see Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, and Follow Thee more nearly,
Day by Day.
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From what I remember, this week they put 4 sections of chairs. So, your estimate would be around 240 – 288! 🙂
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birdie,
Dear Birdie— are you that sparrow He watches 24/7
Each and every one of the 200 or 300 must pray for Unity!
How sweet, how heavenly is the sight, when those who love the Lord
In one another’s peace delight, and so fulfil His word!
When, free from envy, scorn and pride, our wishes all above,
Each can his brother’s failings hide but show a brother’s love!
Let love, in one delightful stream, through every bosom flow—-
and union sweet and dear esteem in every action glow.
With God, nothing is impossible. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
I venture to imagine, one day RF may relocate to the PSC sky room with Mark attending, speaking the truth with love.
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dee,
Friend of Park Street Church,
Observant Outsider,
Susan Lane,
Max,
Janice Graves,
Elizabeth Klein,
The lighter side of the ORIGINAL “DESIRE TO CHOOSE”
Before TV or computers were invented, we were 4 musketeers (one boy+one girl, 6 years apart another boy+girl)in a small apt.in an ally between 2 main roads one mile from downtown where the cinemas were our only dream of entertainment. One main road was a bus route, the other had double-decker electric trams. Our parents could only afford to send us weekly to one movie (they chose). The bus/tram fares were similar, 4 stops from home. Every week the musketeers debated on bus or tram. Always ended up in two teams (teenager+tween), one by bus and one by tram, racing to reach that cinema. I was the least in height weight age and ‘conventional wisdom’, but never failed to raise
my voice to claim the freedom to choose which team to join.
Now, naturally mellowed, and still struggling to learn texting, I SERIOUSLY worry the high-tech crooks will use AI to ransack my credit and bank accounts in a split-second.
For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Eccl. 1:18 (AKJV)
Lord, have mercy on us !
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I’m hoping that at some point Reformation Fellowship can become the 4pm service at
Park Street Church while renting the space from Park Street to maintain their
indpendence.
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Correction, Restoration Fellowhip. Sorry.
Joseph Oliva,
Joseph Oliva: Reformation
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Would that be possible considering the situation there, mingling those who stayed with those who left? Would there be true independence from PSC? Does the Body need to move past the building and go on down the road with Jesus without clinging to former soul ties?
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<stron
g>Max,
Max,
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NAAH: With God, nothing is impossible. His thoughts are not our thoughts. I venture to imagine, one day RF may relocate to the PSC sky room with Mark attending, speaking the truth with love
Joseph Oliva,
Max,
Joseph Olivia and Max:
In that wild dream, Jesus Christ the Slain Lamb is presiding above all, overlooking the Tower of Babel and steeples on planet Earth (too numerous to count). Every knee shall bow, and He calls everyone with ears to hear (including PSC members, RF members, Mark and you and I) to come just as he/she is. He will separate the sheep from the goat.
AL-LE-LU-JA; SALVATION, AND GLORY, AND HONOR, AND POWER, UNTO THE LORD OUR GOD!
(Revelation 19:1 AKJV)
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NAAH,
Is NAAH an AI bot?
“Just like ChatGPT, Except CHRISTIAN(TM)”?
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That, indeed, is a noble thought! Jesus prayed that we would be one. Unfortunately, church folks didn’t listen to Him for the last 2,000 years and the result is that the Body of Christ has been chopped up and laying all over the field … denominations too many to number, churches splitting daily for things ranging from the color of the carpet to color of the preacher, nearly a 1,000 Christian churches in the Boston area alone, few believers praying for unity … divided we fall.
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Mark and PSC leaders have demonstrated that they do no want any true reconciliation. Currently they are making all the committee members sign a loyalty pledge and moving forward with revoking peoples’ memberships.
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I have made 2 separate requests for the video link to the August 11 meeting but have not gotten any response. Has anyone been successful in getting the link?
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
dee,
CC deSola,
Max,
Observant Outsider,
Restorative Fellowship is established by current and ex-members of Park Street Church who trust in God’s unfailing love and amazing grace for all repentant believers. We gather to worship, praise and thank God for His promise to restore and lead us in paths of righteousness. Our Lord is immortal, invisible, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient: THE GREAT I AM, THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. Restorative Fellowship is inspired, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit. There is no place for artificial intelligence in our mission.
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Beware the upcoming abomination that is planned for October 25th!
Solemn Assembly
The Board of Elders has finalized the date of the Solemn Assembly for Friday, October 25, from 7:00-9:00 PM in the sanctuary. This will be a time of prayer, fasting, confession, repentance, and humbling ourselves before the Lord together in the spirit of James 4:6-10. We are working with our Conference leadership in planning this gathering, and more details will be communicated in the weeks to come.
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Friend of Park Street Church,
Fasting for 2 hours isn’t much of a fast. (I’m being facetious). Will they take attendance? I’m serious about that question.
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A “Solemn Assembly” administered by these folks would be like the Pharisees in Matthew 23 who “for a pretense make long prayers.”
Do you reckon there will be any “confession, repentance, and humbling ourselves” on the part of Mr. Booker and the BoE … or is this only intended for the pew? I suspect that current church leaders don’t think they did anything wrong enough to have to humble themselves, pray and repent personally.
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And another thing from Matthew 23. Church leaders who approach such a gathering with unrepentant hearts are in danger of God pronouncing “Woe” upon them … that would definitely bring the ministry at PSC to an end, even though it might still go on without God in the house. Believe me, you don’t want “Woe” proclaimed over you! PSC leaders need to be very careful in this regard.
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It’s just a show of religious piety by PSC leaders … it doesn’t really mean anything at this point.
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anonymous,
Also – are the PSC eNews emails coming every week or less often like they were in the summer? I haven’t gotten one in the last 2 weeks.
Thank you!
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Would love to meet you, Dee!
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dee,
Hi Dee! I haven’t checked in in a while but noticed your note. I would love to meet you in person so feel free to reach out by email and let me know your plans. It might be good to introduce you to RF leadership, too. I know a lot of people will be excited to meet you.
~Susan
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Observant Outsider,
Observant outsider, do you know what the wording of the “loyalty pledge” is? Is it worded like the statement of faith or is it worded to say that “we’re not going to contest anything the Senior Minister in Board of Elders put forward?”
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NAAH,
NAAH, I know the latest AI craze is unnerving, but take heart. While it’s been true for a long time that “big brother“ is always listening, and now marketing vultures have even more opportunities to voyeur into our lives, God is always listening, and better still, God is always watching what THEY do with our information. Just always be smart about cyber security, by not clicking on any email you don’t recognize, nor any ads on Facebook. If you see something you’re interested in, Google the website, or, even better, enter the web address directly if you know it.
You can also have someone help you to control what marketers can see to a degree on your phone and on sites like Facebook or Google. There are privacy settings that you can put on your phone so that they can see less information. I’m saying all this because I know you’re an older gentleman and the impersonal intrusion of technology in recent years is even more unsettling to people more mature in age, although I will tell you it annoys the heck out of me as well. I just had to do my first AI interview where I just video recorded my answers to several questions and sent them back to the company. It may be very convenient for a company to do this, but it’s incredibly impersonal and rather creepy actually. I almost declined the interview entirely.
I also know the law hasn’t caught up with how marketers go about gathering their information about us without having any real consent, like purchasing the random information Google and Apple, etc. collect when we speak next to our phones, but hopefully that will change someday soon. Make a point of shutting off your phone every so often and giving yourself a break. Again, “Big Brother” may always be watching, but God is always watching them.
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Unless I’ve missed something new, mobile phones are only listening if you have Siri or an android device enabled to respond to voice commands. For your own peace of mind and privacy… turn that setting off now! Unless you have a physical limitation or disability and need voice activated assistance… you can have Siri or another assistant turn on, to start listening, only when prompted by touching the device. The “Hey, Siri…” tool is unnecessary for those who have able-bodied-privilege. Search Google for ways to set up your privacy settings in ways you want.
.
And for your own safety… please don’t type a website URL in the address field! Use a reliable search engine and get used to looking at the search results carefully before clicking on anything. One way cybercrime happens is when a single typo is made in a URL or website address… criminals count on you NOT using a search engine to get to the legitimate website. Even if you think you know the URL, use a reliable search engine on a good browser and search first.
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Susan Lane,
Headless Unicorn Guy,
Is NAAH an AI bot? “Just like ChatGPT, Except CHRISTIAN(TM)”?
Hi Susan
Your kind and practical advice is truly appreciated.
Probably you missed a blog of 9/19/24 from the Headless Unicorn Guy (where is his horn if headless) suspected I am a Christian ChatGPT(TM). Do you know what’s that? 🙂
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New updates from CEO Booker… two more staff members are leaving. Notice his positive comments for those who don’t cite his disastrous behavior at the helm for their departures. Peace-faking has its consequences and I hope both Chris and Andrea can recover from Bookers abuse, and name it as such, in the months and years to come.
.
Trigger warning: abusive gaslighting and blasphemy from CEO Booker, read on with that in mind….
.
Also, it is too funny that these emails are protected by copyright at the bottom of each one! Got to protect your digital feces! Can’t have anyone stealing that hot pile without proper attribution!
.
https://mailchi.mp/parkstreet.org/staffing-update-7227909
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Dear Park Street Members,
By God’s grace, the fall season has gotten off to a good start, and I hope you’re encouraged and taking heart. I’m reaching out today to let you know that two of the beloved women on our staff have decided to make significant life transitions in the coming months. Please see the letters from each of them attached below.
After 15 years in her role, Chris May will be retiring from her part-time position as Minister to Women at the end of December/early January. Chris has served so well—routinely giving sacrificially above and beyond the responsibilities of her role—and she has been an important voice on our staff. We will miss her presence on our staff team and in helping lead worship but look forward to Chris and Doug continuing to offer their wisdom and love as part of our church family—as they have been doing for over 55 years!! Andrea Zvara will also be stepping away from her role as Director of Global Outreach on December 1. As she explains in her letter below, she and Jim have long desired to be near their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, and with grandbaby number two scheduled to arrive on Christmas Day(!), they are moving to Lynchburg, VA, to be present with their family. Upon their return to Boston 11 years ago from serving as full-time missionaries in Central Asia for 18 years, Andrea joined our staff team and has provided excellent support for our missions program ever since. As someone with firsthand experience on the field, she has been a great encouragement to our missionaries over the years. After their return from overseas, Jim continued to serve as a PSC missionary, offering consultation to various Bible translation projects, and he remains in that role. What a tremendous gift and blessing they have been to our community!
Our commitment to global missions remains a top priority, and I’m hopeful you can all join us for the Mission Conference in early November. I’m grateful that Andrea will continue to serve in a consulting fashion, even after her move, which will help to ensure a level of continuity through this time of transition. We will also remain committed to our women’s ministry, and I’m grateful for the many volunteer leaders who serve in various ways, including facilitating the women’s Bible studies across the city. I am in conversation with the Elders and working with the Personnel Committee to assess our needs and to make thoughtful and wise decisions about our staff moving forward as these transitions draw nearer. We are seeking to be faithful to the Lord’s leading of our community and our various ministries, and trust that he will draw the men and women to our team that he has prepared and called for service among us, much as he did in recently bringing Polo Kim to us. Please pray for wisdom.
I’m sure many of you will want to express your gratitude to Chris and Andrea in the coming months. We are planning a reception for each of them on a Sunday closer to their transitions to celebrate and give thanks for their ministries.
In this time of rebuilding, I’ve been asking God to wash over us afresh with wave upon wave of his grace. That prayer has been inspired by Paul’s reassuring words in 2 Corinthians 9.8: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Let’s keep our eyes fixed upon the Lord who is our rock and foundation, the one who doesn’t change, and may he indeed make all grace abound to us that we might abound in every good work, for his glory.
Grace and peace in Jesus,
Mark
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A Letter from Chris May:
Greetings faithful Park Streeters,
Wendell Berry, one of my favorite authors, declares, “The only lasting truth is change” and I think he is right. That tiny grandbaby I held in my hands is, in what seems like the twinkling of an eye, riding a 2 wheeler, taking gymnastics or karate, and holding my hand to make sure I don’t fall. Change happens, and sometimes it catches us by surprise but always we have a God who is ever present even in change and transition. One of my favorite psalms, 121, ends, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
I am thankful for that promise for I will be undergoing a transition myself. I’m planning to retire at the end of December/early January after serving as your Minister to Women for 15 years. This service has been a joy and a privilege. I have learned from so many of you as we have walked together along the pilgrim path—your faith, courage, compassion, humility and honesty have been an inspiration to me. But I will still see the stellar Park Street women in action as I don’t plan to leave this church after I retire. I will miss my colleagues though, those current and those I have served alongside in the past. You all have been an inspiration to me, and the laughter, tears, prayers and hard work we have shared will not be forgotten.
I believe the Lord Jesus is still living and active in our church, as he is in every church and fellowship that calls upon his name. Jesus is still saying, “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid” (Mat. 14:27) and “Behold, I am with you, even to the end of the age” (Mat. 28:20). So as I look forward to more time with my beloved family and some new ways to serve Christ’s Kingdom, I end this letter with another Wendell Berry quotation from my favorite novel of his, Hannah Coulter where Hannah says:
“You mustn’t wish for another life.
You mustn’t want to be somebody else. What you must do is this:
Rejoice evermore,
Pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks.
I am not all the way capable of so much,
But those are the right instructions.”
With deepest gratitude,
Chris
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A Letter from Andrea Zvara:
Dear Park Street Family,
For the last several years, Jim and I have been experiencing the joys of being grandparents. Our daughter’s family, especially our granddaughter, Isla, has been tugging on our hearts to be a bigger part of their lives and we agreed that when they had a second child, we would move closer. Over the last two years, we made several starts toward that end, but several failed pregnancies delayed our plans. This spring we were overjoyed when we got the news that they were expecting again and the Lord has been gracious to sustain this pregnancy. We feel like God is guiding us to be a part of our grandkid’s lives in a more constant way and to support our daughter and her husband as young parents. We would also like to be in closer proximity to my 87-year-old mother, who is living alone in North Carolina.
So it is with mixed emotions that Jim and I share that we will be leaving Boston to move down to Virginia around the beginning of December. We want you to know that this move is not the product of the challenging year which we have all been through at Park Street Church. While we feel encouraged at the signs of hope that we see in the church, we acknowledge that the timing of this move is not ideal. Still, we are convinced that this is the Lord’s plan for us.
Some of you may be concerned about how this will impact the missions program of the church. It is my conviction that this program is the Lord’s and that we can entrust it into His hands. We have faith that God alone can redeem this past year. Faith that He can heal and rebuild this church. Faith that He loves our missionaries and those who serve him here and around the world and that He will sustain and provide for them. I will be working with Mark and other leaders to ensure that this is a smooth transition. I am willing to work remotely for as long as I’m needed. Jim will continue his work as a Bible translation consultant with teams in Central Asia, and we would love to continue supporting the missions program in any way we can.
We cherish your prayers as we prepare for this move and as we work with our church leaders during this transition. We are so grateful for your faithful and loving support for us as a family in our 18 years on the mission field and the last 11 years serving among you here in Boston. We look forward to continuing to be on God’s mission together with you.
Blessings,
Andrea Zvara
Copyright © 2024 Park Street Church, All rights reserved.
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NAAH I don’t have a huge understanding of them honestly, but here is a quote from the IBM site:
AI chatbots are chatbots that employ a variety of AI technologies, from machine learning—comprised of algorithms, features, and data sets—that optimize responses over time, to natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) that accurately interpret user questions and match them to specific intents. Deep learning capabilities enable AI chatbots to become more accurate over time, which in turn enables humans to interact with AI chatbots in a more natural, free-flowing way without being misunderstood.
NAAH chat bots are often used with virtual agents to help those automated agents learn how to interact with customers and provide better answers. They can be used by scammers, however, to gather information from people. I think that’s what headless unicorn guy may have been insinuating.
Headless Unicorn Guy, NAAH gave us his testimony a while back so he is legit. Stop being such a smart ass. And I agree with NAAH that if you’re headless, we have no proof that you are a unicorn, so now that we have established NAAH is not a chatbot you need to prove that you are truly a unicorn, or perhaps we should say, a former unicorn.
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The misspelled URL thing has totally happened to me. I’ve started to fill out forms on a site and didn’t realize that it wasn’t the correct website until it started asking for information. It didn’t need like my Social Security number. Definitely something for people to be aware of. The same thing happens sometimes if you call a phone number where people commonly give out private information like the Social Security office or the IRS, etc. If you miss a digit suddenly you get a recording that sounds generic and sounds like it could be the IRS or Social Security, etc. but doesn’t really identify itself. The scammers are everywhere these days.
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Can anyone post the text of the loyalty pledge?
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Can anyone post one example of an excommunication / revocation of membership letter?
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The morons running the Park Street “Church”… the Park Street Circus… are skating on thin ice legally in these matters. Not that they care about the laws of any country or state… they certainly don’t care for the good laws from the God who made them… so why bother about those pesky little laws of employment and corporations or bylaws. Those are for the masses and plebeians and they are the bourgeois! They can’t stoop to the level of mere law-abiding residents! (Clutching their pearls) Oh, there mere idea! Horrific!
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The Wartburg Watch has warned believers for years “DO NOT SIGN” any church agreements. The only “pledge” that a believer needs to enter into is the one written in red by Jesus … there are no church membership covenants required in the Body of Christ.
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I don’t think the committee members have been made to sign anything yet nor have they told anyone their membership is being revoked. All I know is that we should expect these to happen soon. I imagine that Susan Lane is at the top of their list, we will probably hear from her when she gets that letter.
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Friend of Park Street Churchet Church,
it is too funny that these emails are protected by copyright at the bottom of each one!Got
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https://mailchi.mp/parkstreet.org/staffing-update-7227909
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HA ! Friend of Park Street Church
Thank you for reading every small print at the bottom of eNews !
MAY BE THAT LONG AND MULTIFACETED DOCUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED (AND SIGNED) BY A PSEUDO-CHIRSTIAN CHAT/GPT AT A HIGH PRICE (PAID OUT OF THE ENDOWMENT FUND) THEREFORE MUST BE COPY-RIGHTED IN CASE SOME OTHER PSEUDO-CHURCH WISH TO KICK OUT SOME OF THEIR FAITHFUL EMPLOYEES.
BTW: ALL MY BLOGS ARE EXPRESSIONS OF TRUTH AS PERMITTED BY DEE—NO COPY-RIGHT CLAIMED.
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They sent me a written letter in the mail that I was to meet in front of the entire elder board, or a select committee if I so chose, on specific dates (that have already passed) and at that time, the future of my membership was going to be discussed. Believe me, I was ready to meet with them with a multi tabbed folio of evidence as to why I opposed the Senior Minister and Elder Board leadership, along with a few supporters in tow and perhaps a lawyer, but I haven’t had the emotional energy nor the time.
I’m in the midst of finding a new job and a new apartment, trying to keep my head above water financially, and come up with the money for move-in costs such as first and last month’s rent and a security deposit, and that has consumed my time. I also am trying very hard not to send them a very curt email about their blatant lack of ethics, blind eye toward Mark’s spiritual abuse, the intentional ignoring/impeding of our congregational process which honors the voice of everyone in the congregation, not a demand for the enforced solidarity of “one voice.“ IMO they have martyred Park Street Church financially, membership-wise, and integrity-wise intentionally in favor of the preferences of a privileged few, and for their own pride.
Mark had the opportunity to bow out quietly early on, simply on the terms of being incompatible in his leadership style with a congregational structure with relatively little harm to his career. Yet, now that everything has gone public, he is going to hold onto his position tenaciously and the elder board is going to fight for their decision to hire him and brush off his problematic behavior as “leadership issues“ beyond all argument and reason. I don’t think there’s a humble person among them, and they would rather save face than confront how they’ve hurt the ministry staff and the church as a whole.
None of that is my fault, and IMO I don’t deserve to lose my membership for standing up to them, although that may happen. They can’t say that I am unworthy to be a member because I have disagreed with the leadership, nor been an outspoken, even contentious, contrasting voice in a church that is supposed to honor the voice of the congregation, not just the voice of a select few.
I stood up to the leadership because I believed that their actions were unhealthy and unethical as is my right and duty as a member of a congregational church, (as I stated to Pastor Booker in front of the members of the congregation at the Annual Meeting, to which no one contested) and they cannot deny, with the existence of Restoration Fellowship, that hundreds of others have agreed.
So, I may well decide to send them an email stating as much, and stating that I intend to maintain my membership, in spite of being an outspoken contrasting opinion to the leadership, until Restoration Fellowship becomes a formal church, and if not, in the hopes that there will be a significant leadership change at Park Street Church.
I will say that Restoration Fellowship has been a complete breath of fresh air from Park Street. The congregation is happy and mingles with ease. There is no stiffness, no tension, no elitist reserve. We wear name tags so we can genuinely get to know the people that we’ve walked past for years with nothing more than a polite nod on Sundays at Park Street. The worship is spirit-filled, uplifting, and each minister is regarded as an equal. All the ministers are very approachable and accessible, and spend the entire time that we gather after the service in fellowship with us, answering questions about the sermon, praying for us, and just being human. Park Street seems dreary and ominous in contrast, but the church has been good to me in many ways, so I’ll tentatively maintain my membership for now unless they revoke it.
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The Church of the Living God should be refreshing, not exhausting. Scripture says that a time of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord. When mere men are present with commands, demands, and personal agendas, the Lord is absent … thus, attendance in such places is exhausting not refreshing. Glad that those attending Restoration Fellowship can breathe again in the presence of the Lord.
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Max,
Thanks Max!
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Anyone that is part of RF leadership is getting formally excommunicated from PSC now. Mark tells people to pray for RF for how “lost” they are and for “mercy” from God. They call RF the prodigal son while not realizing they are the older brother who stays outside of the Father’s house.
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Congratulations! When the blind man spoke truth, giving testimony in church of being healed by Jesus, church leaders threw him out. Jesus went looking for him. When PSC throws out members for simply attending another church, Jesus will be with those believers … leaving PSC to do church without God.
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WHAT??!! WE’RE LOST? He drove away the flock and now he’s trying to blame the sheep. I do not throw around diagnoses lightly, but this is 100% narcissistic speech. Go ahead, blame the victim, but God doesn’t sleep, if you know what I mean.
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Mark Booker is not the ghostwriter for the Book of Life, and he better be careful. He is straying from accepted Christian thinking. Anyone who can agree with the tenets in creeds like the Apostle’s Creed or Nicene Creed is Booker’s brother or sister, whether he likes it or not. He did do an MDiv, didn’t he??
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https://www.dukehealth.org/blog/9-signs-of-narcissistic-personality-disorder
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If you can no longer fleece the flock, what good are they to you? This is not the heart of a true shepherd. Mr. Booker continues to demonstrate an arrogant spirit, with lack of empathy for others.
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Hi Observant Outsider:
If available to you, kindly post the official statement(s) from PSC leadership with regard to RF and the Rf registrants.
In Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, the Father did NOT disown his repentant son, did NOT even scold him! I have no seminary degree, but wil quote from Luke 15: 20. “HIS FATHER WAS FILLED WITH COMPASSION, RAN TO HIS SON, THREW HIS ARMS AROUND HIM AND KISSED HIM.
The older son was angry and jealous. Members of RF have been praying wholeheartedly and earnestly for the repentance and restoration of the PSC SM. If and when this happens by the grace of God, my personal fear is that I may be tempted to get very angry, — like Jonah did when God did not destroy Niniveh.
May the Holy Spirit empower us to stand firm again Satan’s accusations and fiery darts, and enable us to imitate our Savior Jesus Christ, with unfailing love for everyone made in the Father’s image.
Amen
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I do not have access to the communications and I will let those you received them choose to share if they want to.
Mark has a “dog that finally caught the mail truck” problem now. He finally is getting total control over all aspects of the church. The problem now is that he can’t blame anyone on the inside for their hardships. That’s why he needs to portray RF like this and I’m sure the early success and fruit irks him. I would expect the rhetoric to get worse as time goes on.
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Mark can’t win this one. He can’t stop us growing, growing in love again with Christian community; growing in understanding of church abuse; growing in freedom from fear. He’s powerless to control this outcome. It’s beyond his reach. Mark looks laughable, proclaiming as prodigal those he pushed out. Who will flourish, regardless.
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Less transparency is on tap for the 4:00 pm service and is coming soon in October.
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Live-streaming Update
Beginning October 6, we will no longer be streaming the 4 PM service. We are continuing to stream the 11 AM service which is available to watch live or after the fact at
youtube.com/parkstreetchurch.
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And this brings up a topic that irks me as well. Mark and Nathan do not do contemporary services well. They are just both too stiff and too locked into their traditional mindset. If they had had the humility to admit that and allow one of the ministers (such as Michael, but if Mark absolutely couldn’t work with Michael, there were other options) to manage the 4 PM service they would have retained the contemporary congregation and the tithes and talent that go with it. It takes courage for a manager to admit a weakness in an area and to delegate it to someone else who does it better. But both were too arrogant and blamed the 4 PM service crowd for the contentiousness between the services. If Mark wants to argue that point and pretend that wasn’t true, I would be happy to go in front of the congregation in his presence and restate what he told me in the foyer on the Sunday after he had announced that they were eliminating the 4 PM service.
In fact, his very first mistake was to remove Michael from leading the 4 PM service. Three Services was way too much for any one minister, which Mark eventually admitted, it took away an opportunity for Michael to develop his skills as a minister, and caused a great rift between them early on, simply because Mark wanted to control the content of all 3 services. He missed an opportunity to grow his Associate Minister, and he squandered an opportunity to restore the 4 PM service to its previous success. Now the church is truly hurting and he wants to blame Restoration Fellowship.
And the “contentiousness between the services really was caused by Mark’s poor leadership of the congregation when it came to some political issues that came up when GH retired. Women in senior leadership for one. An exploding homeless ministry for two. Dealing with an international community that felt ignored and even discriminated against for three. Working with the congregational structure and not being closeted about decision-making, in fact, God forbid, including the Congregation in decision making for four. Listening to his highly experienced ministry staff for five, empowering and growing them instead of micromanaging them. We’ve never had the backlash from the ministry staff that we’ve seen with Mark, much less the ethics complaints. GH had earned the respect of the entire congregation, liberal and traditional, ministers, staff and congregants, and it was because he treated everyone with respect and treated everyone like an equal. He didn’t walk in like some demagogue who knew everything about how to run a church and we peons just needed to sit and obey.
Honestly, he won’t take constructive criticism from anyone, and it’s apparent that he’s surrounding himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear. IMO only God can reach him at this point, and I’m leaving it up to Him.
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Yep, I think it has come to that with Mr. Booker. In the meantime, Restoration Fellowship and displaced PSC members just need to move on “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead … to press on toward the goal to win the heavenly prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
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They’re probably embarrassed that you can look at a nearly empty church every week at 4pm. Well, I doubt they care too much and I would expect this service to be twilighted soon.
I had a pretty intense dream about PSC a few days ago. I’m not so self-assured that I would call my dream prophetic but it did make me realize something. Mark and others heard the voice of God and they called it demonic. God was clearly speaking through the congregation with the vote that took place in June. Instead of humbling themselves to this defeat they chose to remain in their sin. Given everything that has happened, as is the case with many such stories that Dee covers, I don’t think that we can assume that these people have an authentic relationship with God:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day ‘Lord, Lord, did we not drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me evildoers!'”
Matthew 7:21-23
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That passage in most Bible versions also includes preachers: “didn’t we preach in your name”
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“If we are to better the future,
we must disturb the present.“
– Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army
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Dee,
It was lovely to meet you yesterday and thank you for gracing us at Restoration Fellowship with your presence. We felt like there was a celebrity in the house! Please join us anytime you are in Boston. <3
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Sorry to miss meeting you, Dee! I wish we could get to Restoration Fellowship in person!
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Less transparency for the family ministry… no more emails will be sent out to the newsletter list. Only those who have kids who are already registered in the Church Center app will receive updates. Other headlines will be in the main email newsletter.
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https://mailchi.mp/parkstreet.org/psc-family-newsletter-oct2024-update-7228011
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PSC Family Ministry Newsletter
This will be the last Family Ministry Newsletter.
This past year, our experience learning and using the Church Center app has been fantastic for Family Ministries. So much so, that we have decided to move from the PSC Family Ministry Newsletter format to a system we think will keep you more up-to-date, but give you fewer emails to keep track of. From now on you can find quick links to upcoming events and important announcements in the weekly eNews. For all other specific event details, check your Groups in Church Center. There you can also reach out to leaders with questions, register for events, etc. Questions? Reach out to Stephanie.
All parents have been added to one or more groups in Church Center. You should have received an email every time you were added to one. You can go into the group to start a chat, see events, and any announcements we may have. This is all accessible through the Church Center app.
If you do not have the church center app, please download it. It is easy to use and makes checking in on Sundays quick as well.
To download for Apple, click here.
For Android, click here.
For any prayer needs or other needs, please email any member of the staff at any time. We would be happy to pray for you or help you in any way that we can.
– The Family Ministry Team
Adam, Leonard, Kristina, Stephanie, and Leslie
Family Ministry Plans
October 4 – Family Friday Night
October 19 – Pumpkin Carving
October 19 – Tweens Hayride and Bonfire
October 18 – Youth Corn Maze at Marini Farm
Have a Prayer Request? Click Here
Copyright © 2024 Park Street Church. All rights reserved.
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Did anyone ever get access to the church charter? Especially with the sycophants in charge of the bylaws committee (which is not permitted to be formed by the bylaws) I expect if no one has been able to access the charter yet, it will be buried even more. CEO Booker and his cabal likely hope we will all forget about these things…
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Please go to comment on the new PSC post located here.
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2024/10/04/i-visited-the-packed-reformation-fellowship-and-found-that-the-heart-of-park-street-church-is-found-on-the-15th-floor-of-a-boston-hotel/