On January 1, 2014, almost one year since he stepped down as elder, the Boerne Christian Assembly [BCA] issue a formal and public statement on their website about Mr. Phillips’ resignation from the eldership and his “inappropriate relationship” with another woman. The statement was immediately disputed on Facebook by Robert J. Renaud, a former writer and speaker with Mr. Phillips’ defunct Vision Forum Ministries.
The public statement stated that he resigned a month before he confessed his sin to the church leadership:
“Doug Phillips served as an Elder for Boerne Christian Assembly until January, 2013, when he resigned from his office. This resignation from the office of Elder was submitted prior to his confession to church leadership in February, 2013 of an inappropriate relationship with a woman (referenced in his Statement of Resignation from the office of President, on the Vision Forum Ministries website) and associated deception. In the months following, efforts were undertaken toward the goals of restoration and repentance between the parties involved and their respective families.”
The Elder, Bob Sarratt, and provisional Elder, Jeff Horn, expressed their desire to do the right thing by disciplining Mr. Phillips and seeking full repentance that would include a “display of repentance.” The Elders are seeking full restoration and healing by “the work of the Holy Spirit.”
The statement continued:
“Doug Phillips confessed these sins, professed repentance of these sins before his local church body, and has been publicly rebuked by the Elders of his church for those same sins.”
Mr. Phillips publicly confessed his sin nine months later, October 30th, at the Vision Forum website. His name on the board of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches was silently removed from the website sometime between March 9 and October 21, 2013.
However, some of the details of this church statement are disputed by former staff worker at Vision Forum, Robert J. Renaud. It was first noted on Jen’s Gems that Mr. Renaud commented on Peter Bradrick’s facebook page (former executive assistant to Mr. Philips):
“Did you see the pathetic statement by the BCA elders?…This is terrible. I personally told Bob Sarratt he was negligent for not dealing with this issue for eight months and keeping it quiet. He never informed the VFM board of the infidelitiey [sic].”
Mr. Renaud did not specify what part of the public statement he disagreed with. As of this date, this is the first full statement from a former Vision Forum worker clearly contradicting a public testimony of the events surrounding Mr. Phillips’ scandal.
Whatever the outcome of this scandal, many Christians are hopeful that healing will ensue as well as “works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20). Regardless of the outcome, may God be glorified.
