Greg Mitchell To Neil McCann Reply (Warning Contains A Lot Of Vitriolic Garbage)

Neil,

I am saddened by your decision, but not surprised. You’ve been headed this way for some time now. 

Your letter(s) were obviously not written to resolve anything, but rather for public consumption, and to give you justification for your intended course. 

So, I will respond to the blatant dishonesty, false premises and faulty logic presented in your letters. 

1. You state as the basis of why you wanted a meeting, and the reason you now choose to disassociate yourself that “Greg Mitchell and Tom Payne did not even give me the courtesy of a reply to my letter, Monday, Sep 4, 2017…” 

           a. I did not reply to your letter 

                         1. Because it wasn’t addressed to me – it was simply cc’d to me; I am cc’d on all kinds of letters – which people do simply to inform me and keep me in the loop. You are the first person in my 33 years of ministry who has ever claimed offense at failure to respond to a cc’d letter. 

                         2. We have a structure in place in our Fellowship that is based on Matthew 18 that has worked very well for many, many years. According to the Bible (and our Leadership structure) – it is incumbent on you to fully exhaust all avenues personally, trying to resolve your conflict. Then, if you can’t resolve it, you take it higher – which in this case, would then be me. We even have a further option if that fails – the possibility of requesting a meeting with the Board of Elders. So to claim that you have to disassociate because I failed to respond, is simply false logic. 

           b. You claim Pastor Payne did not respond to your letter – which is blatantly untrue! Pastor Payne had a number of conversations with you about these issues.                                                                                  1. After each conversation, he would call and inform me of how it went. 

                        2. When you made this claim (no response on Pastor Payne’s part) when you sent your request – He found his files and notes that substantiate both when he spoke to you and what he spoke about.    

2. You asked for a meeting and quoted Matthew 18. You asked for “2 witnesses of my choosing” which is faulty: Matthew 18 doesn’t say you get to pick who the witnesses are. We do not allow the person making a complaint to determine who gets to hear it. 

           a. We did allow 1 witness of your choosing (Rob Walsh). When I asked Rob to attend, I even told him that in fairness to you, I would prefer to not tell him any of the issues. 

           b. We asked Nigel Brown and Daryl Elliott to attend – because you were making extremely serious accusations against Pastor Payne – and Pastor Brown and Elliott are on the Australian Pastor’s executive. This shows how seriously we took your letter. 

3. I note that now in your ‘disassociation’ letter, you add 1 Timothy 5:19 NKJV Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. 

This is bad doctrine, Neil. In Matthew 18 ‘witnesses’ refers to those who will hear someone else’s complaint. In 1 Timothy 5:19 ‘witnesses’ refers to accusers. The ‘witnesses’ do not mean the same thing, and neither scripture can be used to insist that you get to determine who will hear your complaints. 

            c. You asked for 2 witnesses, and we wound up arranging 3. 

4. When we first informed you that Rob Walsh would be coming, you then responded saying that due to ‘Pastor Tom Payne's obviously close relationship with you both’ you insisted on your own choice of witnesses. Now in your ‘disassociation’ letter you add Daryl Elliott to your seeming disqualifying factor of ‘closeness.’ 

            a. What a strange thing Neil, that someone staying in contact with their Pastor now makes them suspect in your eyes. Very revealing of your heart. 

            b. Your faulty logic is ‘they’re close to Pastor Payne’ so that’s not acceptable, but your answer is insisting on someone very close to you – and that is not only acceptable, if you don’t get your way – you have to leave the Fellowship?!! 

            c. You manage to impugn the character of Leadership: Pastor Mitchell, who has demonstrated his character and ability to navigate disputes for decades, and myself (I do have broad experience) cannot be trusted to hear issues and decide fairly. Both Pastor Mitchell and myself have had to make stands, and at times decide against both family and friends. But when it comes to you, we’re suddenly disqualified and you have ‘totally lost confidence’. You also manage to impugn Pastor Nigel Brown and Pastor Daryl Elliott. 

           d. This speaks to the real issue Neil: It’s not a procedural problem – it is naked pride! A bit of success has inflated your opinion of yourself, and you feel qualified to pass judgment on fellow Pastors and Leadership. 

5. You include your original letters, so I will briefly address a few of these issues: 

           a. The supposed undermining of Pastor Harold Warner…you are attempting to make a second-hand complaint on Pastor Warner’s behalf – which is not Biblical. 

           b. You are claiming he undermined Joe Campbell – you know this is false. He spoke to you and used the fact that when making a major decision, you didn’t consult headship and get their input. He made it clear this was simply to illustrate that you seemed to not have a Pastor. 

           c. Claiming the ‘ill sentiment of many others’…this is what rebels always do: They claim their opinion is shared by ‘many’ to bolster their own opinion and desired outcome. Neh 6:6 it is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu says… 

           d. ‘He name drops Prescott, Pastor Wayman Mitchell and Pastor Greg Mitchell to create the perception that to challenge him would be to come against all of you and be considered an act of rebellion.’ In fact, I have personally observed the opposite: When Daryl Elliott took over a very difficult situation, on many occasions (I can recall at least 10 instances) he has given Daryl direction, then encouraged him to ask my input, and told Daryl he defers to my direction. 

6. You include the letter signed by Carlo Rokobuta. What unbiblical nonsense! 

           a. Carlo and Courtney never came to Pastor Payne and brought any of this to his attention, before leaving the church. 

           b. When Pastor Payne heard Courtney was telling people she had left the church, he spoke to Carlo twice, and Carlo didn’t mention any of this – and in fact lied. 

           c. After already leaving, he then sends a letter with a shotgun list of supposed violations – WITHOUT A SINGLE SPECIFIC EXAMPLE TO BACK UP THE CLAIMS! What human relationship can work on this basis? 

           d. You then use this unbiblical letter as ‘proof’ of Pastor Payne’s unfitness. So then, according to your logic, if someone was to write a letter and says to you, “Neil, I’m disassociating from you because you’re a womanizing drunkard,” with no concrete examples of why they believe that… it’s true – simply because it was written??? That’s outrageous and unbiblical. 

           e. Since they left the church a number of ladies have come and said that Courtney was badmouthing Pastor Payne and the Fellowship – for a long time before they left. 

7. The final issue is your badmouthing to Jamie Harries. 

           a. You reached into the Beechboro congregation and for over a year badmouthed Pastor Payne and the Fellowship. 

           b. You use the twisted reasoning of friendship making it ok to speak against someone’s Pastor (where does the Bible say that?), and that you are simply gathering witnesses against an elder (a novel twisting of scripture), so it’s ok, and further, if you don’t you’re giving the devil an advantage. Incredibly twisted. 

           c. You wouldn’t tolerate someone doing this to you in your church for a second! 

           d. But regardless of your twisted opinion, the Bible lists among the 7 things God hates – He that sows discord among brethren. Prov 6:19 

           e. I note that you only requested a meeting when you knew that Jamie disagreed, and your badmouthing was known. 

Neil, we’ve known each other since we were teenagers. I have rejoiced in God’s goodness to you in blessing your ministry. But I have been grieved for some time at the incredible level of pride you have exhibited in recent years. I remember when you were on the run from David Vicary, and he almost destroyed you, and Pastor Mitchell graciously helped you, and gave you the opportunity to go to New Zealand, and invested in you. But now that you have some success, that is thrown out the window. The real issue is that your incredible pride means no one can speak into your life. In your meeting request letter, you state ‘In closing I want to confirm my commitment to the Australian fellowship and submission to your headship…’ and a mere 17 days later, you announce you are leaving, then write ‘I have totally lost all confidence and trust in the present leadership…’ Bottom line: No one can tell you anything, and you now choose to be completely independent. 

Lets be clear about what you’re doing. There was spiritual authority involved in your salvation, your training for ministry, and releasing you into, and investing in your ministry. You now choose to reject any spiritual authority in your life. You call it disassociation, which makes it sound better, but it is rebellion. Claiming that supposed offenses justify your rebellion is the same strategy Absalom employed in his rebellion, and every rebel has used since. 

I am astounded at each new rebel who rises, in spite of the abundant evidence of destruction of those who have chosen to reject covenant relationships and spiritual authority – somehow convince themselves it will turn out differently for them. In leaving, you are choosing to close the churches you planted – setting the cause of the Gospel back in New Zealand. You are not better or smarter than rebels who have gone before you, and it won’t work out any better for you. 

How foolish to think (like all rebels) that you can violate spiritual authority, but it won’t play out in your people: Are you so blinded as to think they will not do the same to you at some point? Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 

Neil, you will answer to God for the destruction you are about to unleash on the precious people that God has given you. 

Greg Mitchell