Letter to Richard Jordan May 9, 2000

Donald Sommer
2200EnglishAve.
Indianapolis,IN 46201
RichardJordan
P.O.Box 97
Bloomingdale,IL 60108
Ivan Burgener
Paul Sadler
G@PY
May 9, 2000
Dear Mr. Jordan,
Greetingsin Christ.
1.
I appreciatedour shortdiscussionlast Saturdayduring the Bible ConferenceandI
enjoyedthe messageyou deliveredon forgiveness.I alsohada discussionwith
Dan Grosswho encouragedme to contactyou directly regardingthe many longstandingreportsconcerningyour reputatioq consistentstoriesfiom peoplethat I
know andrespect.
2.
Becausethey involve your integrity, pleaseconfinrr,deny or correctthe
information in the following storiesasI havereconstructedthern
3.
Before you werehired by the BereanBible Societyyou wereactivelypromoting
the doctrinethat the King JamesBible was the perfectlypreservedword of God
for the English speakingpeople. You advocatedthat therewereno errorsin the
Englishtranslationof the KJV aswe haveit today. You believedthat if someone
correctsthe translationbasedon the Greekthat they arein effect alteringGod's
word. You were instructedandgreatly influencedby a Bible teacherin
Pensacola"FL namedPeterRuckman who wasa very strongadvocateofthat
position. At somepoint you cameinto conflict with Ruckmanbecauseof your
views aboutmid-Acts dispensationalism.A small group of othermenwere
dismissedfrom a Bible Schoolthat PeterRuckmanoperatedbecauseof their mid,dctsposition,amongthosewere Art WatkinsandE.C. Moore. You did not leave
wilh thesemen.
4.
For a time you pastoreda churchin Selm4 AL which held stronglyto the view
that the KJV is the perfectlypreservedword of God. You werealsoactiveas a
speakerat Bible conferencesand other activities in Alabamaandneighboring
states. Sometime in the late 70'sor early 80'syou madecontactwith C.R. Stam.
Eventuallyyou were askedto join the BBS as its president. At somepoint you
madean agreementwith Mr. Stamthat you, asthe presidentof the BBS, would
not makean issueof your position on the natureof the KJV. Thereis a tape
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recordedmeetingofthe BereanBible FellowshipboardofFeb. 5, 1988on which
you statethat suchanagreementexistedandyou did in fact breakthat agreement.
PastorStambelievedstronglythat the KJV wasa very reliable translationandhe
too defendedits authoritybut neverwent to the point of claiming it to be a
perfectly preservedtranslation. Likewise, in his writings he frequentlysuggested
altematetranslationsofwords andevenwould go to the point of suggestingthat
somepassagesrnaynot havereadin the original asthey do in the KJV (e.g.Rom.
8 :l)
5.
In the early 80'syou begana Bible training programat the BereanBible Society
which eventuallydevelopedinto what today is GraceSchoolof the Bible. While
Mr. Stamwasawarethat theseclasseswere going on, he was not awareof all that
was beingtaught. It was in theseclassesthat you were teachingthis group ofmen
that the KW wasthe perfectlypreservedword ofGod for the Englishspeaking
peopleandthat therewasno needto alter the translationbasedon the Greek.
Therewere apparentlyother doctrinesaswell that causedcontroversy,
particularly on the natureofprayer, but they turnedout to be secondaryissues
when comparedto the amountof firror that aroseover the natureofthe KJV.
6.
Eventually newswasfiltering backto individuals in the leadershipof the BBS
that you were in fact teachingthat the KJV wasa perfectly preservedBible, the
translationofwhich couldnot be altered.The issuewentbeyondthe choiie
betweenthe TextusReceptusvs. the WestcottandHort text but includedthe
actualtranslationofthe words into English. PastorStamandthe bomd ofthe
BBS learnedofwhat you wereteachingthroughlettersandtelephonecalls which
they receivedfrom individualsthat had heardyou say suchthings at various
conferencesand speakingengagements.Peoplewere also learningthesethings
through someof the men you weretraining in your schoolat the BBS.
I wastold that at onepoint Ted Fellows,who wasattendingyour classes,related
to Dick Ware,the pastorat the time in GenoaCity, someof the thingshe had
beentaughtin your classes.Dick recognizedimmediatelythat thesewere
problematicdoctrines. Among thosedoctrinal issueswasthe abovementioned
teachingaboutthe natwe of the KW.
8.
At first PastorStamdid not acceptthe storiesthat you wereteachingtlre doctrine
of a perfectlypreservedKJV. He choseinitially to ignorethe reports.Becausethe
numberofstoriesweremountinghe decidedto confrontyou on theissue.At that
time you reassuredPastorStamthat you believedessentiallythe sameas he did
aboutthe natureof the KJV. In orderto proveyour sincerityhe askedyou to
write an article for the Berean Searchlight statingyour position. The result of
that meetingwasthewell-knownadicleof Novermber1986entitled"Reverence
Due the King JamesVersionof theBible."
9.
Soonafter the article waspublishedthere wasa meetingofthe BBS boardto
discusstheseissuesof doctrine,particularlythe issueofthe KJV. Atthat meeting
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you apologizedfor all the troublethat the organizationhad experiencedbecause
ofyou. You seemedto be truly contrite andrepentant.Accordingto paul Sadler
anyoneobservingthe meetingwould comeaway believingthat you admittedto
having causeddivision asa result ofyour teachings,that you were sorryyou had
doneso, andthat you would try not to further the controversy.A letter was
written by PastorSadleressentiallystatingthosefacts.You andthe other board
membersreadthe letter beforeit was mailed. No one contestedthe contentof tha
letter.
10.
At the 1986ThanksgivingDay conferencein Riverdale,IL therewasa heated
discussionover the Searchlight article. Therewere severalmenthat hadbeen
influencedby your teachingwho wereupsetbecausethey felt that the article
deniedthe very things which they hadbeentaughtby you. At onepoint yow wife
approachedyou with the article and confiontedyou saying,"This is not what you
believe." You wereoverheardto havereplied, "Thesewords don'tmeanwhat you
think they do." You were alsoreportedto havesaidto someofthe menthat
supportedyou, "Dont believeeverythingyou hear,I believewhat IVe always
believed.
"
1 1.
Whenthe story ofthese statementsreachedPastorStamhe now felt that the issue
went beyondthe doctrinebut involved a credibility problemaswell. The issue
had now becomepublic andtempersandtensionswere escalating.PastorStam
againmet with you severaltimes after the Novemberconferenceto discussthe
matter. After thosemeetingshe relatedto Paul Sadlerthat you talkedfor hours
andyet he (Stam)still could not figure out exactlywhat your positionwas.
12.
It was reportedto me by Paul Sadlerthat PastorStamdiscoveredyou usedthe
BBS audio duplicatingequipmentto producea setoftapes that very clearly
outlined your position on the KJV. You alsoproduceda secondserieson the
issueat a later time (which I believeis the setI listenedto) in which your
terminologywas muchmorereserved.
1 3.
Eventually everythingreacheda headin August 1987. At this time PastorStam
was convincedthat you could not be trustedandthat you did in fact teachthat the
KW was a perfectlypreservedBible which could not be corrected.PastorStam
also strongly disagreedwith your teachingon prayer. At that boardmeetingit
was decidedthat you would be separatedfrom the BBS. Therewasdivision
amongthe boardmembersin that somewantedsimply to acceptyour resignation
and othersdemandedthat you be fred in order to demonstratehow seriousthey
believedyour actionswere. The sidefor terminationwon over andthat ended
your relationshipwith the BBS.
l+.
At somepoint after your terminationfrom the BBS someof the peoplethat were
on its mailing list beganto receiveunsolicitedliteraturefrom you. As the newsof
this filtered backto the BBS leadershipit becameclear that you obtainedthese
namesfrom the BBS offrce. Whenconfrontedwith this fact vou would resoond
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that friendsofthose receivingthe mailings hadrequestedthat cbrtainnamesb€
put on your list. However,there was clear evidencethat thesenameswere
gatheredthroughrecordsin the office ofthe BBS. They deducedthis by the fact
that therewereseveralaccountsof individuals whoserecordon the BBS mailins
list had minor errorsin the spelling of their name,a middle initial, the title they
usedor someother suchthing. Whenthey receivedliteraturefrom you the same
errorswereon t}readdresses
of the mailings theyreceived. A story suchasthis
was relatedto me by a friend. Many more havetold me that they.neversignedup
to receiveinformationfrom you, but their nameswere on the BBS mailing list
andthey assumedthat is whereyou got their addresses.No one claimsthat you
left the BBS with all the information on the mailing list, but a greatnumberare
convincedthat you took namesand addressofa selectgroupof individualsfrom
the organizationsrecords.
1 5.
I wastold by PastorSadlerthat PastorStamactuallytalked to the postmasterin
Chicagoandhe wastold that it is a federaloffensefor an employeeto take
information from an organiztion's mailing list whenhe leavesthe organization.
The postmasterencouragedthe BBS to prosecute,but after discussionthey
believedthat it would be an unscripturalact to bring a fellow believerto court.
1 6.
The final story in this sagarevolvesaroundan attemptby someofyour supporters
within the BereanBible Fellowshipto try to influencethe vote for boardmembers
to favor your doctrinalposition. Therehad beena greatdealof controversyafter
your terminationfrom the BBS asto whetheror not you shouldbe allowedto
speakat the 1988summerconferenceofthe BBF. Therewas a factionon the
boardthat wantedthe BBF to be controlledby thosewho suppoftedyou
personallyanddoctrinally. Apparentlya plan wasdevisedby an individual
namedRalph Balog (now deceased)to usea political techniqueknown as "bullet
voting." He composeda letter in which he encouragedpeoplethat were not
membersof the BBF to join the organizationandto vote for only oneof tlree
nameson the ballot in the pastoralcategoryeventhoughthereweretwo spots
openon the boardin that category. The onethey wererequestedto vote for was
Tom Bruschawho was supportiveof you personallyand doctrinally. Ivan
Burgenersharedwith me copiesof two lettersin which Balog describedthe plan
or in which he encouragedindividualsto vote accordingto his suggestion.
According to Ivaq his son-in-lawwas at your houseduringthe springof 1988
when he overhearda groupofmen supportiveofyou discussingbullet voting in
your presence.He did not know exactlywhat they weretalking about,but after
the plan was later exposedhe realizedthat they musthavebeendiscussingthe
idea RalphBalog waspromoting.
17.
AlthoughBalog'splanmighttechnicallybejust a politicaltechniqueandnot
illegal, it wasviewedby manywithin the BBF asan unethicalway of trying to
influencean electionin a Christianorganization. WhenBalog'splan was exposed
Tom Bruscharemovedhis namefrom the ballot. The BBF boardremovedRalph
Balog'snamefromthe ballotandchargedhim with "official misconduct."This
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incident apparentlyinfluencedthe opinion of manypeopleagaiastyou. During
the 1988summerBBF conferenceyou did not show up for the messageyou had
beenscheduledto deliver,howeverit was reportedthat you wereat the
conferencegroundsduring the conferenceand met with individualsthat attended.
It wasreportedthat you wrote two very unkind lettersto Ivan Burgenerand the
BBF boardwhich werereadat the conferencegrounds. I wastold that someof
your supporterswent to your homeduring that week andearnestlyrequestedyou
to apologizefor thoselettersbut you refirsed.
18.
As I saidabove,this letter waswritten becauseI was encouraged
by Dan Grossto
firrd su1if ths rhingsthat havebeensaidaboutyou weretrue. I arnpresentingthis
information to you andrequestingyou to respondto it, eitherto confirln, denyor
correctits accuracy.
Sincerelyin Cbristy
Eozo49z.*."/
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Sommer/'
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