BROWNSVILLE Normally, Moises Molina—bivocational pastor of Brownsville’s Iglesia Bautista Jericó—would have paused at the chain link gate before entering the yard of the modest home, but the gate was open and Molina and team proceeded to a side door under the carport. 

Molina knocked, swallowing his surprise as the door swung open, revealing a man behind a table stacked with guns, cash and packages. 

“I am Moises, a church planter in the neighborhood,” Molina explained, focusing on the man, not the contraband. “We are letting people know we are here for you guys. We would love to pray for you, if there are needs. We think God can be a blessing in your life. I also have a message of love for you about how Jesus Christ is changing lives all over the world.” 

“I have faith. I have my Jesus here with me,” the man replied, indicating a large sacred heart medallion on his chest. “I appreciate what you are doing and what you do around the community, but don’t come here again.”

“No problem. We’ll see you around the area,” Molina answered as the man shut the door.

No opportunity opened that day for Jericó’s team to share the gospel with the likely drug dealer, but they did share it with a couple who was leaving the house at about the same time.

“We preached to them,” Molina recalled. “Now, I see them at the temple. They congregate with us. We didn’t impact the gentleman who was making the sales, but Jesus did save the couple and their kids.”

Walking the block to tell neighbors about Jesus is commonplace for members of the new church, which was incorporated officially in early 2018. They have contacted 5,000 homes at least three times since 2013 when the outreach began as Molina’s sending church, West Brownsville Baptist, launched plans for a new church on the other side of town.

As people responded to congregants knocking on doors, sharing at parks and sponsoring community events, Iglesia Bautista Jericó grew from a monthly Bible study to a weekly meeting. Sunday services began Christmas 2016.

The church meets at the Genesis Learning Center, made available by the owner after hours in what Molina calls a “win-win” arrangement whereby Jericó assists in the upkeep of the donated space.

“It is such a blessing,” said Molina, who uses his experience as a building designer to suggest improvements to the property.

 “The community knows that is where the church meets,” Molina said. “We are the church in the daycare.”

Today, Jericó features a full schedule of weekly programs, emphasizing in-home discipleship. Sustained community outreach sets the pace.

“Everything happens when we are out there,” Molina said. “Every day a different ministry is out on the streets reaching the lost.” 

Among the outreaches is something called ‘Park Church,’ where members hold short outdoor services for visitors at local parks. An annual Christmas Bash hosted 100 community kids last year for snacks, gifts and a play. Jericó also trains youth and college groups in door-to-door evangelism using SBTC curricula. 

Molina focuses on building the congregation from new converts. In fact, people who are already Christians are encouraged to return to their former churches.

“Our growth may be a bit slower because of that policy,” Molina admitted, noting that the congregation has grown from “zero” to 40, with a core group of around 10 assisting in evangelism. “We are looking to fill heaven, not chairs in the temple.”

The commitment to Jericó has proved challenging but worthwhile to Molina and his wife, Beatris, a paralegal in the Cameron County District Attorney’s office. 

Molina’s story mirrors the traditional American dream. His parents left Mexico a quarter century ago as violence began, walking across the border bridge to a McDonald’s where Molina’s father phoned a friend, who took the family to church at West Brownsville.

Molina’s parents recommitted their lives to Jesus; Moises and his sister trusted Christ at West Brownsville, and there the family stayed.

While the senior Molinas became permanent residents and took low-paying jobs, their children finished college. Molina’s sister, Maricruz, works in economic development for the State of Texas in Austin. Molina earned degrees in building design and business as a DACA student and became a regional director of Texans for Greg Abbott before entering full-time ministry.

A recent outreach saw Jericó members dispensing sno-cones and sharing Jesus at Cabler Park.

Among those who responded that day was Diana, a Christian who had drifted into the practice of Santa Muerte, a Mexican cult that seeks favor from the so-called patron saint of death.

“She didn’t know how she had spiraled from knowing the Lord to worshiping death,” Molina said. “She was still wondering if God was willing to forgive her for turning her back on him to go after idols.”

Not long ago, Diana gave her testimony in Sunday School.

“How blessed we have been,” Molina said.

Jericó is the 13th of 17 West Brownsville church plants to date, Molina said, expressing gratitude for the financial support and encouragement of the SBTC.

As for the future, Molina envisions shelters for orphans, pregnant women at risk for abortion and recovering prostitutes.  

“The Lord has allowed a big dream,” he added.

FORT WORTH  An attorney for terminated Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson issued a media release late Monday afternoon (June 4) defending Patterson against alleged “wide-spread misrepresentation and misinformation.”

Among Fort Worth, Texas, attorney Shelby Sharpe’s claims:

• “No reasonable reading of” correspondence from Patterson’s personal archives suggested former Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student Megan Lively “reported a rape to Dr. Patterson” in 2003 when he was Southeastern’s president “and certainly not that he ignored” such a report, “as is alleged.”
• “Dr. Patterson first learned of the charges that he allegedly did not report a rape at SEBTS during the May 22 board meeting” of Southwestern’s trustees. “Dr. Patterson’s response was that he had no recollection of a rape being reported to him.”
• During the May 22 Southwestern trustee meeting, “Dr. Patterson explained the full context” of a 2015 email concerning a rape allegation by a female student at the Fort Worth seminary, including his alleged statement that he wanted to meet with the accuser alone to “break her down.” Patterson’s explanation was “to the apparent satisfaction of the full board, as evidenced by the fact that the full trustee board voted to name Dr. Patterson ‘president emeritus’ instead of terminating him.”
• “Dr. Patterson flatly denies that private SEBTS archives were ever stolen,” and his personal attorney has invited Southeastern to “join with him in having Peacemakers Ministries provide an arbitrator agreeable to both parties to decide the ownership of” disputed records “in accordance with 1 Corinthians 6, which prescribes how Christians are to settle disputes rather than using the secular court system.”

Southeastern Seminary issued a June 4 statement in response to Sharpe’s release, noting “SEBTS does not believe” official communications by Patterson while he was president “were maliciously removed from the property. However, we believe there is a misunderstanding on the part of the Pattersons and their attorney as to what is owned by SEBTS under the work for hire doctrine.” Southeastern said it had not yet received a request to settle disputed documents through Peacemakers Ministries.

Baptist Press will publish an expanded report later today on the release by Patterson’s attorney and Southeastern’s response.

The full statement released by Shelby Sharpe follows.

**********

Following is the statement released June 4 by attorney Shelby Sharpe of Fort Worth, Texas, titled, “The release of facts in response to further accusations against terminated SWBTS president Paige Patterson.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Given the wide-spread misrepresentation and misinformation regarding Dr. Patterson, it is important to set the facts straight. Insofar as they continue to be misrepresented publicly, accurate and appropriate responses will be issued.  

This media release is in response to a release late Friday afternoon, June 1, 2018, from Kevin Ueckert, chairman of the board of trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), concerning an executive committee decision of May 30, 2018, to terminate Dr. Patterson immediately.  

The sole purpose of this release is to set forth facts and to put into perspective the committee’s decision and the way in which that decision was made. 

Following is an itemization of the facts regarding the middle of the night termination made by the executive committee without all the relevant documents on which to base a decision: 

• Chairman Ueckert states in the release that the executive committee received student records from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) that contradicted an answer Dr. Patterson gave to a trustee’s question during the full board meeting of May 22.
• Dr. Patterson was terminated without an opportunity to see the material or to respond to it.
• Neither Dr. Patterson nor his legal counsel was notified of the existence of this material allegedly incriminating Dr. Patterson prior to his termination.
• To date, requests by Dr. Patterson’s legal counsel to see the material have been denied.
• At Dr. Patterson’s request and after being made aware of the name of the Southeastern student making the accusation against Dr. Patterson, Dr. Patterson’s staff checked the terminated president’s personal archives for any related correspondence. Letters found from the accuser to Dr. Patterson appear to validate that Dr. Allan Moseley, the SEBTS Dean of Students, and not Dr. Patterson, handled the matter. The accuser also apologizes for what she called her sin and makes no mention of or reference to rape.
• Copies of these letters were provided to Southwestern’s legal counsel on May 31, 2018.
• Because the executive committee did not give Dr. Patterson an opportunity to respond before his termination while in Germany for a long-standing commitment, the committee did not have in hand all relevant documents on which to base its decision prior to making that decision.

Following is an itemization of the facts pertaining to the charge in the chairman’s release that Dr. Patterson lied in answer to a trustee’s question at the May 22 board meeting: 

• The incident in question concerns a time period in which Dr. Patterson was in the process of moving to Fort Worth, Texas, from Wake Forest, North Carolina, approximately 15 years ago.
• A personal ‘thank you’ letter to Dr. Patterson provided to Southwestern Seminary’s legal counsel plainly states that a student at SEBTS first interacted with a faculty member and then with Dr. Moseley. She thanked Dr. Patterson for being able to stay in school and for the way in which the school handled the matter.
• No reasonable reading of the letter suggests that the student had reported a rape to Dr. Patterson and certainly not that he ignored it, as is alleged.
• Dr. Patterson first learned of the charges that he allegedly did not report a rape at SEBTS during the May 22 board meeting. Dr. Patterson’s response was that he had no recollection of a rape being reported to him. 
• To date, as far as we are aware, all parties with direct involvement and knowledge of the situation have stated rape was not mentioned. These individuals include the Dean of Students at SEBTS at the time, a woman assigned to meet with Mrs. Lively, and several staff members.
• Thus, when Dr. Patterson was asked about this charge during the May 22 meeting, he did not have a recollection of any such accusation.
• Significantly, one of the trustees sent a communication during the May 22 meeting to the SEBTS woman assigned to counsel the young woman, and this former SEBTS staff member further confirmed what Dr. Patterson shared. 

Following is an itemization of the facts in response to the accusation that an email from Dr. Patterson to the SWBTS chief of the campus security department contains a statement that is “antithetical to the core values of our faith and to SWBTS”: 

• The fact that an isolated statement from an email is being widely distributed by SWBTS trustees without providing adequate context is unfortunate.
• Dr. Patterson explained the full context of the statement to the apparent satisfaction of the full board, as evidenced by the fact that the full trustee board voted to name Dr. Patterson “president emeritus” instead of terminating him without salary, benefits, or residence as the executive committee later did on its own.
• The student in question had given several different accounts of her story to authorities, school administration, and her family. Dr. Patterson was seeking to understand what actually occurred among the many contradictory statements.
• Anyone who knows Dr. Patterson knows that he never meets alone with women without clear accountability practices in place. He preferred that there be no police presence so the young women would not feel intimidated. 

One must wonder what transformed the explanation of this statement from satisfactory at the May 22 meeting of the full board to “antithetical to core values” when considered by the executive committee May 30. 

Following is an itemization of the facts related to the accusation that Dr. Patterson failed to deliver documents belonging to SEBTS in his possession: 

• Dr. Patterson flatly denies that private SEBTS archives were ever stolen.
• Curiously, these accusations are now surfacing after more than 15 years, which raises the question of motive. Why raise the issue of supposed missing archives after all this time when correspondence shows that the question was raised and settled in 2004.
• This request was actually made to Dr. Patterson’s legal counsel.
• Dr. Patterson’s legal counsel immediately began an investigation which included contacting Dr. Chris Thompson, who supervised the transfer of Dr. Patterson’s library and personal archives from SEBTS to SWBTS.
• Dr. Thompson provided a letter (included below) referencing what transpired. In the letter he writes emphatically that the materials transferred included no SEBTS materials.
• Dr. Thompson had an obligation to SEBTS that no SEBTS papers leave its campus, and he attests to that in his letter. 

Following is an itemization of the facts responding to the chairman’s charge that the papers given to the SWBTS’s legal counsel are SEBTS papers: 

• Any reasonable reading of the letters reveals that they are personal, not institutional.
• Many officials of organizations receive ‘thank you’ letters.
• The fact that an official responds on institutional letterhead does not change the personal nature of the letter received nor any response to it.

To resolve the dispute about the true ownership of the documents in question, Dr. Patterson’s legal counsel has requested Southeastern Seminary join with him in having Peacemakers Ministries provide an arbitrator agreeable to both parties to decide the ownership of the records in accordance with 1 Corinthians 6, which prescribes how Christians are to settle disputes rather than using the secular court system. So far, SEBTS has not accepted this request.  

While confident that no SEBTS documents were taken, Dr. and Mrs. Patterson are glad for SEBTS to have copies of any appropriate correspondence that they are unable to locate.

It is regrettable that these matters have been handled in the manner that they were. Had Dr. and Mrs. Patterson been included in the process and given an opportunity to respond, a much more amicable and less public outcome could have been achieved.  

Letter by Chris Thompson, referenced above.

South River Baptist Church

May 31, 2018

To Whom it May Concern:

In 2003, while serving as Special Assistant to the President, I assisted Dr. and Mrs. Patterson in the move from Southeastern Seminary to Southwestern Seminary. This relocation involved the packing of the Patterson’s personal belongings, their expansive library, their personal files, archived material related to the Conservative Resurgence and the Southern Baptist Convention, and the T.A. Patterson historical collection. I was employed by SEBTS and had access to all locations where these items were located. All materials were loaded into a tractor trailer and two 20 foot Ryder trucks.

Office staff at Magnolia Hill and in the President’s Office identified and boxed files that were to be moved to Southwestern in the weeks leading up to the move. Material consider relevant to SEBTS was not taken. Archival material not related to SEBTS was collected from Appleby Hall. The T.A. Patterson historical collection and other archival material related to the Conservative Resurgence were collected from the archival room in the SEBTS library. All items were collected on a Friday and Saturday during office hours and loaded for shipment.

I continued employment at SEBTS until the end of August 2003 and began work at Southwestern Seminary in September of 2003.

Contrary to allegations, nothing was stolen. No building or rooms were broken into to acquire the material. Everything taken was considered as material belonging to Dr. and Mrs. Patterson.

Dr. Chris Thompson
2659 S. Chipley Ford Rd
Statesville, NC 28625
704-876-1520
southriverbaptist.com

Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.