A Question Regarding Excommunication

I founded CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte in 1991 with the help of Bob Kauflin.  In 2003, I turned the church over to Mickey Connolly so I could devote my full energies to SGM.  Sally [not her real name] is a member at CrossWay and a friend.  She wrote Lu Webb, a mutual friend, with a question about my excommunication by Mickey.  Lu asked if I would respond to her.  Here is my answer 

From: Sally
To: Luther Webb 
Sent: Friday, June 8, 2012 1:08 PM
Subject: Re: Brent and Financial Help

Hi again Lu,

Can I ask a question?  Brent has said many times on his blog that he has been excommunicated from CrossWay.  In the few Family Mtgs. we have had where Mickey has addressed the issues regarding Brent, he has made it clear that Brent was not being excommunicated from CWCC.  Have you heard any of those tapes that you have heard that directly?

So is Brent misunderstanding what Mickey has done?  Or does he just disagree that about what our definition of excommunication is?

Thanks muchly!

From: Luther Webb
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 3:11 PM
To: Brent Detwiler
Subject: A Question from Sally

Brent can you answer Sally's question below?

Lu 

From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2012 9:06 AM
To: Luther Webb; Sally
Subject: RE: A Question from Sally 

Hi Sally,

Mickey claims he did not excommunicate me but that is exactly what he did along with the other pastors.  There is no way around it.  He applied the fourth step of Matthew 18:17b.  “And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

You don’t have to be member of CrossWay Community Church to be excommunicated.  You can tell people to cut off fellowship with a Christian outside your church.  That’s exactly what happened.  Excommunication means to ex-communicate.  It means to no longer communicate or interact with a person as though he is a Christian.  It means to treat a Christian like he’s an unbeliever with whom you can have no fellowship.  It’s not limited to removing someone from a membership roll.  I was excommunicated by CrossWay not from CrossWay as though a member.

Mickey went even farther.  He also applied Titus 3:10-11 and Rom 16:17-18 which deal with divisive heretics who were false teachers and false apostles preaching a false gospel.  These men were false brothers and not genuine Christians.  It was a terrible abuse of these passages.  He marked me and commanded people to avoid me and shun me or else leave CrossWay based upon his errant interpretation of these passages.  He forbid everyone from reading my blog or any of my documents.  Mickey demanded total obedience to him and absolute trust in all he said.      

This was especially frightening given how he deceived the entire church in his use of Scripture and commentaries.  That is the real issue!  Mickey doesn’t want people to read my material because of the truth it contains.  For example, as it pertains to him.  See CrossWay Pastors Threatened to Excommunicate Me for Being Divisive; CrossWay Pastors Proceed with “Marking” as Divisive Despite Appeals for Adjudication; Trust and Obey for There’s No Other Way to Possibly Stay at CrossWay!; and Mickey Connolly’s Deceitful Use of Scripture and Commentaries.

Furthermore, Mickey doesn’t want to use the word “excommunicate” to describe what he did because of the bad press it produces but that, and more, is what happened on November 13, 2011.  It was heartbreaking to hear Mickey mislead the church by such a duplicitous use of Scripture and commentaries and then command all my friends from CrossWay to cut off all interaction with me or else leave the church.  That was demagoguery.

Furthermore, it was ever so grievous that none of the pastors on staff would talk to me about Mickey’s sinful actions when I repeatedly reached out to them in private.  Instead, they chose to cover up for him.

You are welcome to forward this email to others.

In His grace,

Brent

Please forward this post to friends or direct them to my blog at http://abrentdetwiler.squarespace.com/.  You are also welcome to link my blog to your Facebook page or whatever.

##

Please Help - All Gifts & Tax Deductible Contributions Are Kept Strictly Confidential