A Call to Order

By Larry L. Crain

Churches and church leaders increasingly find themselves locked in court battles and mounting conflict over legal struggles. Among the reasons for this are:

• A shifting societal landscape, and redefinition and departure from the scriptural view of marriage and human sexuality;
• Failure to provide safe harbors by adopting careful

• Language: English
• Publisher: Larry L. Crain
• Release date: Apr 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218186180

Book preview

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A Tale of Two Rivers

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness . . ." ⁴

TWO R IVERS B APTIST C HURCH was by all modern-day accounts a successful, vibrant, growing congregational church. In its best of times, it served as a beacon of evangelical teaching and ministry in Nashville, Tennessee, for more than three generations, eventually boasting of almost seven thousand members and a vast, global missionary outreach. The church was blessed with an exceptionally gifted pastoral staff and leadership. It was a relevant church that did not shy away from controversial moral and political issues of the day. It was often in the national headlines serving as a frequent platform for some of the country’s most influential leaders who spoke at rallies on conservative and family topics. In 2006, it hosted a pre-election Stand for the Family rally sponsored by Focus on the Family Action, featuring such influential leaders such as Dr. James Dobson and Dr. Richard Land. In 2005 Two Rivers hosted Justice Sunday II, a rally highlighting court rulings on such issues as abortion and Ten Commandments displays. Dobson also spoke at the event, which was held three weeks before the confirmation hearing of now-Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Also, in 2005, Hardball with Chris Matthews hosted a program at the church focusing on religion’s role in politics.

The worst of times for the church culminated in a disastrous collapse, with events reminiscent of C. S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters.⁵ The budding conflict began with the defiance of one dissident church trustee who began lashing out at the pastor and church leadership, hurling unfounded accusations of authoritarianism and church mismanagement. Dr. Jerry Sutton—a well-respected pastor who had selflessly served the Two Rivers congregation for twenty-two years, sought conciliation and offered to meet with the trustee and address his concerns. Some of the church deacons and others on staff at first downplayed the significance of such far-flung allegations. They knew that the source of these charges was a lone individual who had a history of divisiveness at earlier churches he had attended. Little did they realize, though, the nature of the flame being kindled by these reckless and defaming remarks, or the proverbial cancer that would metastasize, leading ultimately to the church’s destruction and