I have a problem through affiliation.
You see, I am a member of a United Methodist Church that I love deeply and sincerely.
That is not my problem.
My problem lies in a portion of West Michigan United Methodist Conference and more specifically, their camp section that governs over Lake Michigan Camp in Pentwater.
I have learned in my military life that if you see a problem with something you can do one of two things-
ignore it
or
present a solution.
Because this problem doesn't directly impact my life at this moment in time, ignoring it could be really easy.
Then that quote comes screaming in my head:
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (or women) to do nothing"
Edmund Burke
If I took the easy route to ignore the problem, there would be kids who could potentially miss out on an awesome summer camp experience where they would feel loved and learn about the love of Christ. There is also this family, my dear friends, that have been uprouted from their passions, and a major part of the Conference that is getting away with it all.
Then there is the second route- to present a solution to the problem. My influential power isn't all that great- shoot, I have five followers on this blog (love you all), but, I know that they can share this on the amazing social networking sites that blow things up in a split second. Some of those things I shake my head at and wonder what could possess people to want THAT kind of attention, but other times I rally behind the cause in prayer because that IS what I can do. I really hope that this goes "viral" for my friends, for a church section that so desperately needs a change, and more importantly, for the kids who should be loved on just as much as others are at this church.
Do I have you wondering what the problem is yet?
It is this.....
My friend, Nick Delaney, was fired from his job as director of Lake Michigan Camp.
So what? People get fired all the time, right?
True.... however.....
There is undeniable evidence that he was fired because he was organizing a LGBTQ camp for 2015.
(the Q stands for "questioning"- I had to ask on that one as I didn't know myself)
Got your attention now, don't I?
There is actually another problem to this.....
The conference is NOT being transparent in this at all and will not give us the true "why" Nick was fired.
Interesting, isn't it?
Before I go into more details, I want to give you a quick background on Nick and his family.
In December 2012, Nick moved his family into the house on Lake Michigan Camp. His family consists of his wife, Jacci, and their three beautiful young children. Nick and Jacci have this on fire passion for children. I have never seen anything like it before. They would take vacation time to dean a camp in the Dowling area for elementary kids. If you have ever simply worked at a summer camp before, you can have a slight knowledge of how difficult of a job it is to be a dean. But they loved it. Their hearts are with children of all walks of life to show them Christ's love in a fun, uplifting fashion.
So, Nick moves his family into the Lake Michigan Camp. He was given a verbal contract that the first two years of working/ living there would be a learning time and the third year would be an evaluative time.
Yup, the math doesn't add up... he was fired at one year eight months on the job.
One of the items Nick was tasked with was to fill up the camp in the summers as it was losing revenue and was only at about 11% occupancy in the summer. NOT GOOD for a camp.
However, Nick was not given much of anything else in direction as there are no guidelines, job descriptions or evaluative criteria for a site director. So basically, there is nothing to measure his job performance against. How can one do a job successfully without knowing what is expected of them?
But Nick did indeed improve the camp in measurable ways.
He successfully arranged several work camps to fix the facilities that were there and to clean up things that had been neglected for years. He also increased the camp's occupancy. Unfortunately, I don't know all the details of this for you, but I do know that the camp had a deficit over $50 grand a year before he started working there. This year is was projected at just $800. That's a pretty amazing feat in just two years time.
One of the camps that he informed his boss that he was going to do was for a LGBTQ group. He had a pastor lined up to dean that week and all were very excited to give these teens a place where they could go and be comfortable in their own skins without fear of persecution and learn about God. No matter where you stand on the LGBTQ spectrum of support or lack their of, Jesus told us that no one is exempt from His love, and to me, I take "no one" literally.
Proverbs 8:17 says, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me."
God doesn't say, 'I love those who love me but only if they agree with the majority of people and only if they choose to be just like everyone else because I love it when my children follow the crowd and don't think for themselves."
Nope, and thank goodness for that.
Can you imagine if we were all the same with no thoughts of our own and no personality conflicts?
Ugh... that would be sooo very BORING!
And then why would God send Jesus to die for us? I mean, Jesus was sent to die for our sins, and he was the only one who NEVER sinned. Yet, "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
I could keep going and going on this one tangent. Whether I personally can agree with one way of life over another is between God and I. But God blatantly tells us repeatedly to LOVE and treat everyone, even those who are different or who perhaps sin differently than us, the same- with love and compassion.
Ok... tangent over....back to Nick's story.
The man who fired Nick did so two days before the conference board convened to vote on it.
Yup, you read that right... he was fired BEFORE the board met.
There is some that say that the board met in August to discuss his employment at the camp. They said they voted on it then but didn't want to tell him until after the busy camp season slowed down. Which, by the way, was after two of their three kids began school.
Here is a link to a discussion on Facebook for you.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WMCUMC/
My question is this, if there was a board meeting in August about Nick's future employment at the camp, where are the minutes from that meeting? Why is the conference not showing it's members the proof?
My other question is why wait until after the busy season to tell his family and give them 30 days to move out? Do they remember that Nick and Jacci had to short sale on their house when they moved so that they could focus on the camp and not on their other home? Do they also know how difficult it is to find a place to rent that is big enough for a family of five as buying for them isn't an option thanks to the short sale?
If they truly represent God's teaching, then why didn't they talk to him about his job performance one on one and give Nick time to improve? Why did they send him an email on the 28th of August (after the supposed meeting to discuss his employment occurred) excited to talk with him about the camp and how well it is going?
I just can't wrap my head around how terrible they have treated this young family with a true gift for camping ministry and how nontransparent they have been from the beginning.
Now onto a solution....
At this point, Nick doesn't want his job back. Would you?
However, he and his family should get a formal, public apology from the conference "leadership" on the un-Christ like fashion they have been treated.
He should receive a year's severance as he was promised at a minimum three year job at the camp from day one.
The meeting minutes for ALL conference board meeting should be made public on their website immediately after the meeting has occurred.
The LGBTQ should be good to go for the 2015 camping season.
And last but not least, the so called leadership at the conference needs to change. They have been in those positions for too long and there should be something written in their by laws about term limits per individual, not seat position- as even our forefathers knew that positions of leadership can be destructive not just to the person but to where they are governing over.
There also needs to be a clear, concise job description for the future site directors of all camps within the conference and detailed for each specific one. Along with this, there should be a mission and vision that is adhered to whether their are personality conflicts or not.
Jesus was not everyone's favorite, in fact, the organized church was the one to crucify him in accordance to God's will. This tells me that personality conflicts will exist, especially when you are doing God's will.
For the Delaney's, they are joyous about being in the same crowd as Jesus. Even with all the wrongs against them, they know God is with them.
They are also very optimistic about the future God has in store for them. He never takes something away just because. I think He does it to open up room in our lives for more ways to serve Him where it is needed the most.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please share to get the word out. We need to stand together in order for any changes to be made.
West Michigan Conference Website
Well written.
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