12 Comments

1. 

   rob war January 6, 2015 Reply

   Wow!, thank-you for publishing these minutes. There is so much there and raises more questions. In reading the early years you have, I was rather floored by the presentation of the Rebuilders manual which concerned Bill's teaching on divorce. What the minutes stated was that Bill submitted this for review by un-named pastors and that the so called response to it was over whelming in favor. There is no offer of support or proof for this and I can tell you that Bill's rebuilder was extremely controversial and not well received at all. I can remember the elders at the church I was in attendance at at that time struggled with this. I highly doubt anyone reviewed this and I highly doubt there was any favorable review by anyone. It was very very controversial and subject to much debate.
   I commend Tony for refusing the $6000 by off. I don't know who the Nairs are or what role they played.
   But having such a small board to overview this ministry with 3 members of the same family screams inappropriate over site to begin with and the rest is history.

   • 

     kevin January 6, 2015 Reply

     rob,
     I agree with you that it is very doubtful that there really were any pastors who reviewed the Rebuilder's Guide. I would imagine that it was very divisive.
     
     One of the things Rebuilders did was instruct readers that unless their church followed these guidelines, they were not acting scripturally:
     
     -The church should refuse to marry anyone who had been previously divorced.
     
     -The church should not marry anyone unless all 4 parents consent and are in full harmony, whatever it means to be in "full harmony".
     
     -Divorced people are not to be remarried, regardless of the reason for the divorce. They are to become Rebuilders who are committed to rebuilding other people's marriages.
     
     One can only imagine the conflict and division that these declarations caused in churches around the country, as followers set about instructing their pastors and elders that their church policies were not Scriptural and demanded that they change.
     
     And no Gothard teaching would be complete without his little anecdotal stories:
     What if you are divorced but have already remarried? A story follows about a man and woman who divorced. The man remarried and his family and business seemed to prosper. Their pastor had to talk to the couple and share with them that their apparent success made his job of talking people out of getting divorce, because the church members were holding this couple up as a model of a successful divorce. (as if real people actually behave that way.)
     
     The solution? The divorced and remarried couple were to write a letter explaining how they were wrong to divorce and remarry, which the pastor could use when counselling other couples. Problem solved, but it gets even better because this freed them from the guilt of their sins of the past and everyone lived happy successful lives from then on.

     • 

       rob war January 7, 2015 Reply

       The Church I was at did actually implement some of this and would not marry someone with a previous legal divorce as well as tried Bill's order of worship for a month. I think the elders found that this really wasn't workable for it's members and abandoned following the Rebuilder's teaching. I contact with the previous now retired Pastor (I still admire and respect him), he shared that he thought this teaching of Bill was unBiblical and unreasonable. But I consider it a lie that Bill stated he submitted it for "review" and found a "favorable" response because that is not true at all.

2. 

   Larne Gabriel January 6, 2015 Reply

   Ken Nair was one of the senior staff men along with Gary Smalley and Ed Martin who confronted Bill in 1976 regarding his brother's immorality. All three were basically forced to resign. Steve retained his position and was sent to the Northwoods. Housing was generally provided to staff members but their salaries were meager. Some staff sold their homes and closed their businesses or ministries when they came on staff. Most of the senior staff took financial loses to work for the institute. This was something they were glad to do as part of serving the Lord. Once on property they found that there was a double standard. I don't know the details of specific settlements but no one got rich and many lost a great deal.
   
   At the time the Social Security laws made it optional for all
   Churches and their workers to pay into the Social Security system. (This was later changed under the Regan administration)The Institute took advantage of this law and did not participate in the SSA system. However, the Institute agreed to pay $1000 for every year of service upon separation. This is the payment you see in some of the Board notes. Since the salaries were so meager and the women were discouraged from saving most that left ended up living on the separation pay. A few paid back into the system to restore their benefits. To most of us that was not a financial option or that it was it was even possible to do.
   
   What I find interesting in the Board minutes is the inconsistencies of which employees had board approval for this payment and which did not. I think is shows that the board was only allowed to deal with what the Gothard's wanted them to know.

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     Sue January 6, 2015 Reply

     Thank you for sharing on the Nairs. I ha be their books and wondered how they fit into this puzzle.
     
     Church boards are not so different. My hubby served on 3 different church boards in just over 3 decades and will not serve ever again. Too much of the same thing all in the name of ministry and our Lord.

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     rob war January 7, 2015 Reply

     Larne,
     thank-you for your explanation and insight. I would image reading these minutes would bring back some difficult memories for you. I have no doubt that the staff took a financial hit working for Bill. The recorded minutes seemed very lacking in a number of areas but with his father being the recording secretary before he resigned could explain a lot of it. It really shows the sham of the board set up and the reason why ministries should not have boards made up of immediate family members. I think Billy Graham's guidelines state that. This scandal along with some of the other ministry scandals of the 1980's like Jimmy Swaggert, PLT with Jim Bakker had family on the boards that were supposedly running or overseeing the ministry. I think with Bill Gothard is that he had "support" from others stepping up and helping him cover it up and it was all bought up by supporting pastors. The way it was presented at the Church I was at is that it was all Steve's fault, Bill "took" responsibility so lets move on. The scandal should have stopped people in their tracks and re-examine not only IBYC but the overall teaching and it's soundness. That just didn't happen.

3. 

   J.B. January 6, 2015 Reply

   Did anyone else notice that the Scripture passage read at the first meeting listed in these minutes was the story of Abigail?

4. 

   Daniel January 6, 2015 Reply

   Can anyone help me understand the reticence to pay salaries to staff?
   A few trusted staff are paid reasonable salaries.
   It doesn't seem like they are afraid to spend money in other areas.
   Was it so that they could get more donations?
   
   Maybe its more of a control thing. I'm leaning in that direction. If staff doesn't have money to run around, etc., then it's easier to keep them close to the base.

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     J.B. January 6, 2015 Reply

     What I'm wondering about are all the appropriations to various people for personal, non-ministry use (home repairs, etc.). Does anyone know who these people are? If IBLP wanted to help them, that's great, but I can't escape the feeling that these people were "favorites" of the staff who received special favors for being compliant.

5. 

   David Pigg January 6, 2015 Reply

   "It is resolved by the Board of Directors I.B.Y.C.to express our sincere thanks to William Gothard Jr.,for the growth, spirit,and accomplishment of I.B.Y.C."Two words stand out here,as though ramrodded thruogh the mire of defying evidence,"sincere";when those acclaiming end justifies means in their hearts knew the evil behind the suppression of the evidence,sexual and financial misconduct,and the eventual slander of Tony G."Spirit",when the mysticism of God is reduced down to a legalistic formulaic rationalism,spurred on by an unrepentant organization,"You get out of it what you put into it."This works 100 percent of the time",[Irregardless of your spiritual condition?Memorize this and you'll obtain moral freedom."This is what,and I'll borrow from Larne Gabriel,is the "essence" of the "IBLP Machine".What the minutes can never show is the bullying,intimidation,and brutal slandar that remained behind the effective stonewalling done after victim after victim were thrown by the wayside.

6. 

   esbee January 10, 2015 Reply

   In reading the minutes I noticed that each meeting was opened with prayer...hmmm, prayers were said--- yet they were ineffective against all the sin, unfairness and nonsense that was going on in the whole organization...I think I am going to rethink and research how and when to pray.

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     rob war January 10, 2015 Reply

     Their opening prayer is more of a formality than anything else. I think even the US congress opens with prayer. Just because there is opening prayers done by people that lead less than perfect moral Christian lives doesn't negate prayers or even praying to God. This is true of reading the Bible. Just because Bill Gothard twisted it and abused it, doesn't take away from the truth of it as being from God. I think you like too many others that have been deeply hurt by this are sadly letting this ministry drive a wedge between you and God.