An open letter to Pr. Ted Wilson, President at the SDA General Conference

Dear Elder,

Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m Patrick Miller, a brother from Jamaica (I would use my Church address but I was cut off from the Church as I shall show you in the next paragraphs).

Currently, I’m alone at my cold house which used to be warm when my lovely wife was still with me, a wanderer at the sheer edge of the church where I used to be a Deacon, Men’s Ministry Leader, Elder in Training and certified Sabbath School Teacher.

The Church disowned me and right now I’m wondering: so, I don’t belong to my brothers? Am I really disfellowshipped to belong to others where I am a bird of different feathers?

Dear Elder and Brother, I and Lavern Brown Miller married in 2012 at Moneague Seventh-day Adventist Church, North Jamaica Conference, Jamaica Union of the Inter-American Division with high hopes of starting a new life in a church where we became “new creatures”.

Things started changing in 2016 when misunderstandings broke out between me and my wife Lavern on grounds I cannot tell here (may the Holy Spirit reveal them to you).

My immediate Pastor Fitzroy Bailey at Moneague SDA Church came several times to our house at the invitation of either himself or my wife to counsel us which was okay for me to receive the man of God.

Unfortunately, nothing improved as our relationship worsened to the knowledge of Pastor Dr. Karl Archer President at the North Jamaica Conference.

Pastor Archer ordered Pastor Bailey to stop coming to our house (for reasons I can’t confirm), advising that our family matters be tabled before the church board.

For reasons I cannot say here, it became clear that Pastor Bailey was actually not helping to change our bad relationship and perhaps had it not been for him, I and my wife would most likely be still together.

A couple of weeks after Bailey’s coming to our house, my wife left and went to live at her mother’s house where I continued visiting her and other people I counted capable of counselling us in an attempt to bring her back.

At this time, I was becoming very unhappy with Pastor Bailey for his unscrupulous interference into my marriage which left me a grieved broken soul, losing grip of the life I had for long longed to live.

Some of us started questioning how Pastor Bailey got ordained for ministry when his character seemed to be not matching the ministry and I was willing to spearhead the act of asking the Conference to remove him from our church.

I openly criticized him about his behavior and asked Pastor Archer at the Conference to revisit Pastor Bailey’s behavior and act appropriately.

I found out that Pastor Bailey and some other five in the conference had campaigned for Pastor Archer to become President of the Conference and so, he recommended their ordination as a reward.

I talked to the Union and then to Pastor Balvin Braham at the Inter-American Division, asking them to look into Pastor Bailey’s matter.

Pastor Braham advised me to submit the case to the local church board such that it would ascend to the Conference, Union and then to him at the Division which I did but the Union blocked the case from proceeding to the Division.

In early 2017, I met with Pastor Bailey and openly warned him that his days were numbered, a word that made him take me to the state authorities seeking prosecution against me.

Pastor Bailey immediately orchestrated the idea of removing me from the church membership such that he would bear no fault for taking a brother in the courts of law.

Church members demanded that I should be tried in the presence of the whole congregation and on the day, the congregation defended me, overwhelming the aggressive church leaders.

Instead of ruling in my favour, they declared another trial and thereafter launched an undercover campaign against me among the church members such that the second trial nailed me to the wall of the unworthy.

On 21^st March 2017, the letter that disfellowshipped me was issued with hypocritical words: "most painful decision"

After the church had disfellowshipped me, Pastor Bailey pursued his initial plan to have me prosecuted on charges of life-threatening but the allegations were substantiated and dismissed at the court of law.

I won under the laws of the Republic but the same motive had already had me disfellowshipped at my church on grounds of insubordination, violating church protocol, disrespect of church authority and threatening church leadership.

As you’re aware, Elder, a Seventh-day Adventist, even when one stops identifying him/ herself with the Church, cannot find another satisfying church or be free to associate with non-believers.

I feel drained in my soul. I’m living with the friction of thoughts that has worn the substance of being in me.

I know I’m a victim of a system that favours corruption and the dominance of the will of the few top leaders upon the majority of church members.

I’m sure, Seventh-day Adventists around the world know how the Church system can seal fates of innocent individuals, groups and can favour top leaders to do their will upon those below them.

Dear Elder, we the Protestants have no hidden agenda in this world and therefore don’t fear to talk about such bad things in our church because our goal is to win souls and not to win seats in this world.

This is why I have no problem telling this.

May you receive the salve that the Holy Spirit applied to Elder James’ eyes to see what was fit for the Church of God at his time and may you examine my matter at my local church.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Your Brother,

Patrick Miller

.......................................

Faith Reporters 

Email: faithreporters@gmail.com

Tel: +250788240436

May God bless you