After a turbulent number of weeks that have seen the resignation of both eight Executive Team members as well as founding pastor, Jeff Wright, the Board of Green Pastures Church, Ballymena, has finally issued a statement outlining what has been going on behind closed doors.
In a statement emailed to church members on Thursday (5 May), the Board said the ministry had experienced an ‘extremely challenging time’ over the last few weeks and acknowledged the ‘hurt felt by many people’.
The statement goes on to provide an update on the ‘current position in relation to Ps Jeff Wright's involvement with Green Pastures Church.’
The full statement can be read below.
Dear Green Pastures Church Family,
In the last few weeks Green Pastures Church has been through an extremely challenging time. We want to acknowledge the hurt felt by many people.
We are writing to provide an update to you on the current position in relation to Ps Jeff Wright's involvement with Green Pastures Church.
The Board has been facilitating a formal review into staff complaints of alleged behaviours by PS Jeff Wright which have purportedly had a detrimental and significant impact on the mental and spiritual well-being of those staff. This review is being carried out by Trusted HR Limited who are an independent firm with expertise in this area and who have no connection either to the Church or the Board. The Board await the outcome of this review.
At this stage the Board do not believe that the complaints give rise to moral or financial failures on the part of Ps Jeff Wright. Rather we understand that they mostly centre around issues relating to the style of leadership adopted by Ps Jeff Wright.
The Board has communicated with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland in respect of the complaints received and the process that has been instigated. The Charity Commission has advised that the Board has acted in accordance with the principles of good governance and has endorsed the actions taken to date.
During the process of this review the Board advised Ps Jeff Wright that as a matter of good governance he would be suspended from his voluntary role as Lead Pastor whilst the review was being conducted.
Contrary to the Board's expressed wish, Ps Jeff Wright continued to attend the Church and held meetings with staff and also with church members resulting in further complaints being made by staff members to the Board.
The Board's hope of dealing with staff complaints via the review process was met with a lengthy letter received from solicitors acting for Ps Jeff Wright. Up until this point the Board had not instructed solicitors in this matter but felt that it had now no option but to respond through representative legal counsel.
The Board then received notification that 8 members of senior staff intended to resign from their positions given the perception that Ps Jeff Wright was disregarding steps being taken to investigate complaints.
Subsequently, the Board was advised that Ps Jeff Wright publicly communicated to church members that there was to be a sale of Church property and that contracts would be signed imminently.
The Board was not aware of the full details of any agreement regarding the sale of land and was therefore obligated to ensure that any arrangements in respect of the sale of Church property were in the best interests of the Church. The Board
therefore notified the Charity Commission of the position and sought legal advice to ensure that the interests of the Church were protected.
We are aware that on Sunday 1st May, Ps Jeff Wright announced his resignation as Lead Pastor and as a Director of Green Pastures.
The Board believes that the steps that it has taken to date are reasonable and
proportionate, in the best interests of the Church, in compliance with good governance, approved by the Charity Commission and in line with legal advice that has been received.
We are aware that there have been various statements made about both the Board as a collective and as individuals - we do not propose to respond to those at this time.
Faithfully, The Board of Green Pastures Church
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