Trust the trustees? LOL. Discovery shows SBC Elites like Danny Wood & others were more interested in defending Kevin Ezell than considering a whistleblower’s claims.
Discovery is underway in the case of Will McRaney v. the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). And one court filing has a few interesting items that shine a light on the buffoons playing in the SBC Swamp. Way back in 2016, before Will McRaney filed a lawsuit, McRaney attempted to handle the dispute with Kevin Ezell via the trustees. McRaney sent a letter begging for help. NAMB’s response was to call their lawyers—as this email exchange indicates.
Chuck Herring said: “My Fellow Trustee, James wrote these powerful words—’So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!’ (James 3:5) You received an email from Will McRaney today that called into question the integrity of our President and the strategic direction and effectiveness of NAMB. I have personally been involved in this situation for some time. His virulent opposition has gone too far. Your board officers will get with Kevin, his leadership team, and our legal counsel to formulate an appropriate response. At that time we will inform you about the NAMB’S actions. I would encourage you not to respond to Will personally. Please be in prayer for Kevin and His team. To God Be The Glory, Chuck Herring.”
Notice how your trustees respond to a plea for help.
Call the lawyers!
Yes, the trustees called the legal team to formulate a response. These guys loyalty was to their President and not the people who fund the mission of the SBC.
Also, note the trustee chairman urges the trustees to not respond to McRaney.
Shouldn’t trustees talk to those to whom they owe a fiduciary duty?
Instead, Call the lawyers!
You might not know what was in McRaney’s letter of concern: You can read that original Letter of Concern dated Feb. 3, 2016. It documents and links to other documents showing how Kevin Ezell has lied for years.
And lest you think that NAMB trustees were joking about calling the lawyers, NAMB’s legal team sent a letter to McRaney dated February 25, 2016. It is, of course, garbage. And you will note that NAMB was the first to introduce lawyers into the dispute between Will McRaney and Kevin Ezell.
This is a huge point. NAMB escalated this entire matter by making bringing in lawyers.
In fact, McRaney did not have an attorney until a year later–February 2017.
If this whets your appetite for even more information on the case, here are some of the early letters and legal responses.
Calling the lawyers was obviously an attempt to bully McRaney into silence. That is bad enough. However, there were internal items involving the board of trustees that shine a light on the petty and vindictive behavior of SBC Elites. For example, discovery has now produced an insight into the mind of former Shades Mountain Baptist Church Pastor Danny Wood. Below is an email with some commentary from the Capstone Report, from a legal filing that you can see attached at the bottom of this post.
Pastor Wood writes, “I am writing a letter to all the recipients of Will’s letter expressing my hurt feelings that he does not consider me having a leadership role in the SBC evidenced by leaving me off the list! (Actually he put my name but attached it to a fictitious email address…oh the inhumanity!)”
It wasn’t a fictitious email. It was an email listed on the church’s website. What makes this so comical is that Wood whines like a baby because the email was incorrect—but the email was incorrect because the SBC does not publish an email contact for trustees. One must go looking for emails on church websites.
So, if SBC Elites don’t want to miss an email, then they should publish their email contacts in an easier to find manner. Of course, then they wouldn’t get to whine like a little baby when someone sends it to an out-of-use or unused or erroneous email account.
But back to Wood’s email.
Then Pastor Wood—shows what really motivates his ministry: Money coming into his local church.
Wood continues in his email, “He has caused harm to me and my family and totally embarrassed me in front of 7500 members of Shades (granted 2500 are non‐resident and we have no idea where they are but 7500 sounds better). Having forfeited my big boy pants long ago, I will whine to whoever will listen and demand an investigation into this blatant character assassination that will result in fewer baptisms, reduced giving, and leaving countless missionaries and church planters out to dry due to our nonsupport. Kevin…everyone is in your corner praying for you and ready to go to battle with you and for you. Our shields are locked together surrounding you and your family. Thanks for your bold leadership! Danny Wood”
Reduced giving. Is Pastor Wood attempting a lame joke?
Even so, many a truth was said in jest—as the adage says.
Regardless, this legal filing shows how NAMB trustees operated in the McRaney situation. Given what we found in this one legal filing, trustees are likely to find more embarrassing things seeing the light of day.
And the recent ruling in the case, instructed Danny Wood and other NAMB leaders to provide even more of these types of items in discovery.
What is lurking hidden in their emails that will soon be public?
Here is the legal filing including the emails we mentioned in this post. The emails begin on page 3. Enjoy.