Jim Gilley Takes Over As President Options

[Richard Sherwin]

Well said. Thanks.

For the first time in a long time I'm starting to feel a little optimism for the future of 3abn. May we all pray that Jim Gilley has the strength, hindsight and foresight, to bring this ministry back up to it's potential. Even so come Lord Jesus.

Richard

Thank you for joining us in this discussion of the ongoing events at 3-ABN. Your personal knowledge is helpful and welcomed. There is a consistency in what you and others are all saying about him. It has been said that he will not be involved in what has happened in the past, he will only move forward to the future. It may be that those who are saying such are not presenting his position well. But it is troubling to hear such about him.

As President of 3-ABN Elder Gilley does not have the option to refuse to deal with unresolved issues from the past. As a corporate voice for 3-ABN it may be that the time will come when it will be appropriate for him to issue a public apology in the name of the corporation for actions of the past. The implication that he would refuse to do so even if appropriate is troubling.

I am not convinced that Elder Gilley would refuse to do so. As I said, it simply may be that those who say this about him may not be representing him well.

While those comments are troubling, I also find comments about him that are encourageing.

I have publicly asked people to give him a clean slate, and time to demonstrate how he will lead as 3-ABN President. Only time will tell if he can effectively take control of 3-ABN. Only time will demonstrate if he will lead it in the direction that God wants 3-ABN led--whatever direction that may be.

Like all of us, he has his strengths and his weaknesses. It may be, if he is corectly understood, that one of his weaknesses is a refusal to deal with the unresolved past. If that is accurate, and it may not be, he will likely have some lessons to learn. No corporate President can simply dismiss issues from the past that are current, and expect them to simply go away. The lawsuit is a current issue. He will be required to deal with it, and to be involved in current legal decisions regarding legal strategy. He cannot say, as some have said, that he will not be involved it that lawsuit. If an out-of-court settlement is reached, he will be required, as President, to be involved in that settlement. The 3-ABN Board, and Dr. Walter Thompson, as its Chair, has made public statements in regard to Linda Shelton. Elder Gilley, as President, will be required to be involved in decisions in regard to any future statements about her and their content. He cannot escape that responsibility. If he thinks that he can escape these responsibilities, he simply does not understand the issues and responsibilities that he has assumed.

I will say again that we should give him time to demonstrate how he will lead 3-ABN in the future. It may be that those speaking for/about him are not representing him well. It may be that he will learn that he cannot exempt himself form current issues. It may be that he will lead exactly as God would want him to lead. We need to give him time. We need to pray for him, and 3-ABN.

But, we also need to say clearly that the past must be dwelt with, and he will have to exercise leadership in that.

[maggiecttr]

As President of 3-ABN Elder Gilley does not have the option to refuse to deal with unresolved issues from the past. As a corporate voice for 3-ABN it may be that the time will come when it will be appropriate for him to issue a public apology in the name of the corporation for actions of the past.

This brings to mind Pope John Paul's apology in 1998:

"The Vatican has apologized to Jews on behalf of the entire Roman Catholic community, for failing to speak out against the Nazi holocaust during World War Two. In his letter accompanying the apology, the Pope said the holocaust remained an indelible stain on the 20th century.
The Vatican's long-anticipated response to the killing of six million Jews was published in Rome. The Head of the Vatican Commission, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, said the Vatican's statement amounted to an act of repentance as well as an apology.
The document asks whether persecution was made easier because some Christians held anti-Jewish prejudices. But it also declares that many people were unaware of Hitler's so-called "final solution".
Pope John Paul has said he hopes the apology will help to heal the wounds of past injustices and misunderstandings between Christians and Jews.

Have a good Sabbath, everyone!
Maggie

[LaurenceD]

Very perceptive, maggiecttr.

Another small thing...I wonder what process elder Gilley will use to determine if adulterers should be invited to remain on the BoD (or as a consultant--which btw, get paid handsomely)....and what process he will use to determine if this fact should be explored, addressed, or corrected.

My personal opinion is that current progressive SDA institutions, or indirect affiliations, have a don't ask don't tell policy. But, if I remember correctly, Bystander doesn't see 3abn as a progressive institutional compound. It must be a scary thing to be left alone with one's own judgement, or a small group's judgement, as changes in moral perspectives distance us from the time of Christ--and his perspective on the issue.

BTW, I think your heart is in the right place, Dallas. Welcome.

[Artiste]

This brings to mind Pope John Paul's apology in 1998:

"The Vatican has apologized to Jews on behalf of the entire Roman Catholic community, for failing to speak out against the Nazi holocaust during World War Two. In his letter accompanying the apology, the Pope said the holocaust remained an indelible stain on the 20th century.
The Vatican's long-anticipated response to the killing of six million Jews was published in Rome. The Head of the Vatican Commission, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, said the Vatican's statement amounted to an act of repentance as well as an apology.
The document asks whether persecution was made easier because some Christians held anti-Jewish prejudices. But it also declares that many people were unaware of Hitler's so-called "final solution".
Pope John Paul has said he hopes the apology will help to heal the wounds of past injustices and misunderstandings between Christians and Jews.

Have a good Sabbath, everyone!
Maggie

Maggie, the "act of repentance as well as an apology" concept makes a lot of sense. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.


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[Artiste]

As President of 3-ABN Elder Gilley does not have the option to refuse to deal with unresolved issues from the past. As a corporate voice for 3-ABN it may be that the time will come when it will be appropriate for him to issue a public apology in the name of the corporation for actions of the past. The implication that he would refuse to do so even if appropriate is troubling.

I am not convinced that Elder Gilley would refuse to do so. As I said, it simply may be that those who say this about him may not be representing him well.

Those were astute observations, as usual, from you, Observer.

Perhaps Dallas can check again with Elder Gilley to see if this misunderstanding can be rectified.


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[lurker]

At this point in time I do not think Jim Gilley knows the character of the one he is dealing with. Like so many others before him, there may be a time when he gets bitten. Then he will know. I'm "waitin and watchin".

[Artiste]

At this point in time I do not think Jim Gilley knows the character of the one he is dealing with. Like so many others before him, there may be a time when he gets bitten. Then he will know. I'm "waitin and watchin".

Well said, lurker.



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[Johann]

Well said, lurker.
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There have been many hearings in this case. Till now there has not been one where anyone has heard Linda's side of what happened. Will it now be a fair hearing, or will it just be repetitions of what has happened in the past?

This post has been edited by Johann: Sep 10 2007, 04:19 AM

[Artiste]

I am ready to drop the scandal as soon as the victims of Tommy Shelton have been provided restoration. Plus, all of the victims of Danny Shelton in particular, be exonerated and receive restitution. Yes, this would include Linda, the co-founder! She too should be a paid consultant.

I believe Jim will tackle this head on and do his own investigation. He needs to read every side! Then he needs to allow time for reconciliation. As time passes, people will judge the new 3ABN for/by their transparency in all their actions and nothing will be hidden.

Fran, I believe that this is of utmost importance! For victims to be exonerated and receive restitution, Linda especially included!

For the new 3ABN to be successful, this will have to happen.


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[Whitey]

What a beautiful character testimony that Dallas gave for Jim Gilly.
To have a friend like Dallas would just warm my heart if I was ever put under a microscope and investigated for flaws. Thank you, brother out of Dallas, for speaking up for the pastor of your church.

Also, I have over the years read and supported comments by Observer pertaining to the 3ABN debacle. His comments in this thread pertaining to the President switch are sound and helpful. Especially the observation given in this paragraph :
“Like all of us, he has his strengths and his weaknesses. It may be, if he is corectly understood, that one of his weaknesses is a refusal to deal with the unresolved past. If that is accurate, and it may not be, he will likely have some lessons to learn. No corporate President can simply dismiss issues from the past that are current, and expect them to simply go away. The lawsuit is a current issue. He will be required to deal with it, and to be involved in current legal decisions regarding legal strategy. He cannot say, as some have said, that he will not be involved it that lawsuit. If an out-of-court settlement is reached, he will be required, as President, to be involved in that settlement. The 3-ABN Board, and Dr. Walter Thompson, as its Chair, has made public statements in regard to Linda Shelton. Elder Gilley, as President, will be required to be involved in decisions in regard to any future statements about her and their content. He cannot escape that responsibility. If he thinks that he can escape these responsibilities, he simply does not understand the issues and responsibilities that he has assumed.”

I am praising God’s intervention for answering our prayers that D.Shelton be removed from direct leadership. It all has been very lovingly done so he can save face. And for those who need him emotionally in their minds, he is still around and will be seen often as usual in meetings, tv shows and making even more records. What is important is how multiple lives have an opportunity to tune into sound biblical chrisitan messages on tv.

The great controversy is still going on for followers of the Evil One or followers of the Holy One. It’s God’s chess game and He will win it.

Our present prayers now ought to be for an out of court settlement.
Elder Gilly knows how a long year court battle will gobble up huge amounts of church members donations to 3ABN and surely he will make every effort to put a stop to that as soon as possible.

I watch only the last half hour of the two hour special talk with Jim Gilly on the program last evening. Danny as usual was all wound up and others had to wait long before getting a word in edge-wise before he wound down for a pause in rambling.

I have two questions that perhaps someone could answer who saw the whole show….

1. D.Shelton was implying that other members of the Board (who are very senior in age) will be exchanged for younger aged members. I ask now if he also explained the ‘reason’ for his own stepping down from the president position and just how did he phrase it?

2. Will it be made known just how the boasting of a non-denominational status will be affecting non-SDA donors when so much of the weekly programming is reflecting a Seventh-day Adventism doctrinal slant?

[Pickle]

The second thing you need to know about Jim is, that he will not be stuck in the past, as some seem to be, his job is to take over from here and move forward. If people have problems with what happened before he got there let them take it up with those people. Jim is a visionary that will look to the future not the past. So don't look for any apologize that have nothing to do with him, if you want an apology, better get that from the person who did something wrong. I do know that Jim is man enough to apologize when he has done something wrong, I know, because I have been on both the receiving and the giving end of an apology with Jim. Since he has nothing to do with the past at 3ABN don't hold your breath for the apology.

We aren't talking about the past. We are talking about the present. Seventh-day Adventist leaders should never fear to apologize. 1 Jn. 1:9 requires confession before there can be forgiveness of sin.

Is it remotely possible that Danny will try to make us think that Elder Gilley will ignore the present in order to somehow thwart Gilley's taking over? Did he do that in some way regarding the AF/3ABN merger?

[no_cults]

First, thanks for all the welcomes to the Forum not Blog sorry my bad!!

1)When you apologize for something that you had nothing to do with it implies that you did have something to do with it!
I am sure that Jim is sorry for all the pain on all sides the troubles have caused!

2)If you have nothing to do with a problem you can get sucked back into all the hard feelings the problem caused if you
start apologizing for "once again" something you had nothing to do with.

3) I believe we will all agree that what we need most to continue the spreading of the Gospel is a Clean Slate and to begin
apologizing for the past things will only get us stuck in the quagmire that is the past! If he apologizes to one person and not
another, or one group and not another or apologizes for one thing and not another or forgot that one person was offended for
this reason and another was offended for that, someone is going to get offended - and he had NOTHING to do with it! I hope you
get my point!!

I hope you will all join us live tomorrow as Jim shares with our congregation that he is leaving. www.dallasfirstchurch.org and judge for
yourself the kind of man he is!!
Happy Sabbath to you all

You make some good points and obviously have a lot of respect for Jim Gilley.
I hope and pray that your confidence is not mistaken and he can reverse
their problems and convince the "little old ladies" to support them again.

But, seriously to say that he was "appointed" by God may not be the best way
to characterize what is happening. My understanding is that he was pretty
much begged by Danny to take the job.

Danny is not God.

Now, although I don't know Jim Gilley that well, but what I have heard about
the man is definitely good. I seriously doubt he would have taken this job
unless he believed the situation was critical. From what I have heard he
was pretty much begged to take the job. I do NOT believe that Jim Gilley
will be a stooge. Right now, it is all huggy-huggy, kissy-kissy, but make
no mistake about it -- eventually Jim will have a run-in with DS. I am pretty
sure JG would not have taken the job without those 3 new board members.
Matter of fact, he would have been stupid to do it without that happening.
Jim is not stupid. He will have clout when that day comes and I have no
doubt that he will use it if necessary.

I would be dissapointed in Jim, if he didn't do a thorough job of getting
to the bottom of a lot of issues. All the way from Linda's dissmissmal
to Tommy's problems and most specially the financial issues. In short
order, he has a responsibility to right wrongs that were done and call
a spade a spade and not be part of a continued cover-up. People are
not stupid and I fully believe that JG knows that.

His immediate marching orders are very simple. Restore the previous
supporters confidence in 3abn that has been lost..... and do the right
thing. It is that simple. If he fails to do this or realize what needs
to be done, he will be doomed to failure.

Right now.... I believe there could not have been a better choice than
JG for this important task. I am more than willing to give him the
benefit of time and also my personal prayers to fix the problems.

Might I be so bold to suggest that we ALL pray for Jim Gilley as he
tackles this very important, yet difficult task. There is no question
in my mind the problems before him will not be solved by the effort
of mere mortals.

[Aunt B]

Praying...

[Treniece]

Now that Danny is no longer president, what is his present position at 3abn.

[no_cults]

Now that Danny is no longer president, what is his present position at 3abn.

I would imagine that there are many who think DS is still a great person.

I have no problem with a 3 mo. transition period.
Hopefully, then he will be "ex -employee"