We are living in a time when the cost of standing for truth is becoming increasingly apparent. Seventh-day Adventist pastors who have devoted their lives to preaching the gospel are facing pushback, silence, or even firing for speaking the truth in love. These individuals are not seeking personal gain or rebellion—they are striving to uphold righteousness and call God’s people back to His Word. Their experiences remind us of a sobering reality: when the church drifts from its foundation, those who challenge this seismic shift face opposition, just as Martin Luther did during the Reformation.
During the worship service at the Village Church, where Pastor Ron Kelly was serving, the Michigan Conference made a public announcement about his termination on Sabbath, December 7, 2024. The message was conveyed by the Michigan Conference Executive Committee that after much prayer and discussion, it was decided to “transition the senior pastor out of the Village Church.” According to the statement, this decision was made in order to “follow God’s leading.” In the same video, the Village Church’s head elder clarified that Pastor Ron Kelly was “transitioned” not only out of the Village Church but also out of the entire state of Michigan. [1] In other words, he will no longer be permitted to serve as a pastor in the Michigan Conference.
This announcement was streamed live and shared on multiple video platforms. Simply put, announcing the firing of pastors in public settings often serves as a calculated warning to others: do not cross or question church leadership. This public dismissal not only humiliates the pastor but also sends a clear message to other pastors and congregants that challenging authority comes with severe consequences. It stigmatizes the pastor, effectively branding him as “nuclear waste”—to be avoided and shunned by other church conferences or entities. This creates a culture of fear and compliance, where loyalty to leadership is prioritized over accountability to God’s Word—silencing prophetic voices and discouraging others from standing for truth and righteousness.
On Sunday, December 8, 2024—the day after the public announcement of Pastor Ron Kelly’s firing—Michigan Conference leadership, including President Jim Micheff, held a town hall meeting with Village Church members to discuss issues and listen to any concerns they might have had. Below, one of the members who spoke to President Micheff outlined some of the problems that caused the Conference to drift apart from Pastor Ron Kelly.
• “We look to you, Elder Micheff, for leadership and support. We expected you to be a shepherd, but when the wolves came with their aggressive mandates, you acted as a hireling and left us to fend for ourselves in the act of cowardice. You betrayed the holy trust, and in the time of crisis, you failed to do what you needed to have done. God did not leave us alone, but He raised a true shepherd in the person of Pastor Kelly, who did not flee when the wolves came but who defended and cared for the flock, and in spite of fierce opposition, it is evident to the whole global church that Pastor Kelly has humbly submitted to God and that he was blessed in his endeavors, but you, Elder Mitch, magnified your guilt by persecuting the innocent and the righteous. It is very clear to us today that you have misused your authority by seeking to cancel and terminate the man who sacrificially and diligently ministers to the flock of God for this time. I’m glad that in the midst of this confusion that you have caused by your wrong judgment, God has given us clear guidance on what needs to be done. Ellen White, our prophetic authority, has written a chapter entitled ‘The Conference President’ in the Loma Linda Messages, page 324, and I quote: “When a man is placed as president of a conference, it is not to be supposed that he is to mold and fashion the minds of the workers in that conference after his own human ideas and that if men do not follow his ideas, they may be brought to terms by his saying to them, ‘You cannot receive wages from this conference unless you do as I tell you’.” (Loma Linda Messages, p. 324). Elder Mitch, this is exactly what you have done against the clear counsel of God. So where do we go from here? The quote continues. “I am instructed to say that when a man swells to large undue proportions, the people should assemble and in the name of the Lord release that man from office” (Loma Linda Messages, p. 324). In order to resolve this major crisis in our church in obedience to the clear counsel of God and in the name of all believers who perceive the damage that you have caused, I call on you to step down from your position and allow the church to be led by a faithful shepherd who will truly care for the flock (applause).” [2]
During this Sunday’s town hall with the Michigan Conference, Pastor Conrad Vine also spoke and called on President Micheff to step down, among other things:
• “I feel partly responsible for what is happening here today, but I have spoken for millions of Adventists worldwide, and it’s come at enormous personal cost to me and my family. And the treatment of the Church of my family, because there is a cancel culture from the top of the church to the bottom. It is vicious. We are told, “We pray, we pray, we pray,” then we knife our people in the back. It is brutal, and it’s hurting my children’s faith and the faith of many children out there today. Just so the members know, you met as a conference executive committee without telling me, without informing me, without prior discussion, and you voted for a ban. There was no prior notification. There was no discussion. You did not follow Matthew 18. You did call me the next day with Pastor Kelly, or two days later, but we had no idea that a ban had been placed upon us—and had a conversation, and we thought it went well. At the end of it, you gave me a letter saying—you said Satan seeks to divide the church, essentially calling me an agent of Satan. The church manual says this: “Members have a fundamental right to prior notification of the disciplinary meetings, which can only take place in a church business session, not at a conference office. And the right to be heard in their own defense, introduce evidence, and produce witnesses, no church should vote to discipline a member in the circumstances that deprive the member of these rights. Written notice must be provided two weeks before the church board meeting and two weeks before the business meeting and include the reasons for the disciplinary hearing.” It also says, “Members may be disciplined for sufficient cause but only at a properly called business meeting after the church board has reviewed the case.” You are in clear violation of the church manual. Pastor Kelly, among other reasons, defended my right to a business meeting. You have spoken with the elders on two separate occasions. You’ve spoken with the church board, you’ve spoken with the elders, and myself. Those are four meetings. All those witnesses will testify to it. You have demanded that the leadership of the church move me from my positions without going through a business meeting. You are setting aside the rule of law. And if you can do this to me, then from now on the conference can say to any church, “Remove that member because they disagreed with the dominant narrative.” You have besmirched my name before the whole world. I think you should resign, sir (applause).” [3]
Do we truly want to live out the principles of peace, unity, freedom, respect for one another, and accountability in the church, or are we just interested in talking about them? If this is true, we must acknowledge that these objectives will never be achieved through blind obedience or forced conformity to human dictates. Such demands undermine the essence of biblical faith and betray the principles of the Protestant Reformation, where human authority supersedes even the authority of God’s word and the liberty of conscience. Is the Michigan Conference conveying a new expectation of unquestioning obedience, loyalty, and affirmation—in which its pastors are not encouraged to think critically or question authority but are expected to comply blindly and enthusiastically?
Seventh-day Adventists are Protestants. It’s in our DNA. We are not Roman Catholics. Being a Protestant means that we must be committed to ongoing reform. The Protestant movement encourages critical examination of teachings and practices to ensure they align with Scripture, recognizing that the church must always strive to be faithful to its biblical foundations. Tragically, modern trends in Adventism today reveal a troubling drift away from the foundational spirit of Protestantism—the courageous commitment to ask questions, seek clarifications, and stand for truth, even if it means speaking against abuses within institutional authority. Increasingly, the “protest” within Protestantism is being silenced by an increasingly authoritarian leadership complex. This shift mirrors the very issues Martin Luther protested against: the suppression of individual conscience, the elevation of human authority above Scripture, and the demand for unquestioning loyalty to flawed decisions.
When churches prioritize unity at all costs and discourage critical thinking or dissent, they risk becoming what they were originally organized to oppose. The heart of Protestantism is not rebellion for its own sake, but the conviction that fidelity to God’s Word must always come before allegiance to man. As this conviction fades, so too does the transformative power of the church, leaving a legacy of negative leadership structures with excessive controls rather than biblical reformation through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Sources
[1] https://www.youtube.com/embed/0bgZqVImJD8?si=vQ27XsOog2kP3IIQ
[2] https://www.youtube.com/embed/GTqvF_PTzVQ?si=_xcHOe-BBBI0x0nC
[3] https://youtu.be/CaNa3PaLZ0E?si=_SG4Ip3xRu2WwuP9
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Brothers and Sisters,
Faithful Seventh-day Adventists have also been canceled in like manner as you see in display here at the Village SDA Church. I, my wife, my wife’s parents and two close friends were disfellowshipped at two separate locations one year apart for daring to believe the Bible as it reads and as it was believed in prior to THE 1980 vote that was said to bring unity but really has just hastened in Babylonian uniformity. We also have been misrepresented and did not have the right to stand before accusers for part of the time. The conference leaders are operating under the guise of holiness and piety when out of our conferences is flowing away millions of youth and millions of dollars into the world’s coffers. We are in a terrible state of affairs and Christ, the literal Son of God, needs to regain his rightful headship of this denominated people. Yes it is time we returned back to God and God’s principles which established this church. It is time not to pray so much as to act what the Lord has already commanded us to do and that is to remove conference leaders out of compliance with God and place in its ranks sacrificing leaders accountable to God. Our leadership right now mirrors what is being done in politics and it makes Christ want to spew us out of His mouth. How dare we even call ourselves Seventh-day Adventists when we act like the world? There are an increasing number of instances where the conferences are going against their own church manual/policies in order to come after individuals and I have been through it first hand. 10 years ago I wouldn’t have believed that it could happen but it does. Uniformity is wanted so that the conferences can call it unity and parade a fake Adventist narrative and receive government funds. And to top it all off they have trademarked the word Adventist so that even true Adventist’s cannot take that name which is a standing rebuke to the world! As I read the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy I compare what we could be and what we are and the contrast is strikingly at odds.
1) we need a return to primitive Godliness and to using William Millers rules of Bible interpretation alone
2) we need to return to the fundamental principles based on unquestionable authority. This our spiritual foundation and we have invited in an evangelical/ecumenical foundation. Storm and tempest will sweep away the structure built on this faulty foundation.
3) we need to follow all the commands God has given in the Bible and the continuation of the Spirit of Prophecy. We are entirely off base and need to act quickly to correct many wrongs.
4) all along the way we need to be repenting yet boldly going forward doing God’s will.
Angels that excel in strength will be sent to our aid and reform this work rapidly. They are waiting for us to be obedient to God! Time to stop punching clocks and sitting in wasteful meetings. Time to stop misusing the sacred tithe. Time to stop with worldly policies in our schools. It’s time to obey the God and act.
Shawn Speidel
disfellowshipped volunteer school gardener, elder, junior class teacher, school board member and church board member from the Ardmore, OK Seventh-Day Adventist Church April 2022
PS We can have creeds or we can have the gifts of the spirit. We have chosen the creeds so the gifts of the spirit are languishing. WV 81-82 shows how the pioneers viewed this matter. We are patterned now after the other churches and not under direct command of the Holy Spirit.
“The Lord is soon to come. We want that complete and perfect understanding which the Lord alone can give. It is not safe to catch the spirit from another. We want the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus Christ. If we commune with God, we shall have strength and grace and efficiency.” 9LtMs, Lt 66, 1894, par. 18
I am so sorry for this. Stay strong. Follow the Bible !!! May God bless you and your family.
KJV Ezekiel 9
4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
May we sigh and cry for what has been done in the Michigan conference to Conrad Vine, Ron Kelly, and the members of Village Church, and beyond.
This all reminds me of when they dismissed Danny Veria
(Gentleman who had the 3 Angel’s messages on billboards, they fired him then apologised to a Catholic priest the same one who molested his relative.)
There’s a tendency to fire those who are uplifting the Spirit of Prophecy and those who are against it seem to be promoted/endorsed!
Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”
The tragic developments which have occurred this year in the Berrien Springs Village Seventh-day Adventist Church in relation to Pastor Ron Kelly and Dr. Conrad Vine is reminiscent of the treatment meted to faithful ministers in the Australasian/South Pacific Division a generation ago when they stood up against the teachings of the New Theology which had the backing of the leadership then and still persists today. Pastors like Colin and Russell Standish, Austin Cooke, Tom Turner, Thor Pedersen, are just a few of the men who were censured, disciplined, dismissed, or had their credentials removed for daring to declare the whole truth of God in the face of the aberrant teachings of Desmond Ford and the New Theology-minded administration in Australia. It is exceptionally painful to see Cody Francis, a former graduate and employee of Hartland Institute in Rapidan, Virginia (co-founded by Colin Standish and Hal Mayer in 1983) — knowing the history of how his president of Hartland was odiously mistreated by the denomination from the 1980s onwards — would embark upon like-minded misconduct of Pastor Ron Kelly and Conrad Vine in his position as ministerial director of the Michigan Conference.
In 1992, Pastor Russell Standish was sacked from denominational employment after 27 years of service for “refusing to comply with properly constituted church authority” for accepting invitations from around the world to preach present truth in meetings and convocations not endorsed by the General Conference, and for writing books and articles exposing the apostasy within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The then General Conference President, Robert Folkenberg, flew all the way down from Washington, D.C., to Singapore — where Pastor Russell Standish was based at that time in the Southeast Asian Union Conference — to personally oversee the dismissal. Later revelations by George Knight reveal that this was typical of his administrative style whilst in office.
“The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of our Conferences. If a man is sanguine of his own powers and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the best and only safe course is to remove him, lest great harm be done, and he lose his own soul, and imperil the souls of others. ‘All ye are brethren.’ This disposition to lord it over God’s heritage will cause a reaction unless these men change their course. Those in authority should manifest the Spirit of Christ. They should deal as he would deal with every case that requires attention. They should go weighted with the Holy Spirit. A man’s position does not make him one jot or tittle greater in the sight of God; it is character alone that God values.” Special Testimonies, Series A, Number 9, p. 19
It is incumbent upon every member not to allow one’s self to be subordinated to this misrule but, in Christian love and courage, to break the yoke that would impose silence where rebuke needs to be said, conformity where truth needs to be proclaimed, and coercion where liberty needs to be defended.
“If the cords are drawn much tighter, if the rules are made much finer, if men continue to bind their fellow-laborers closer and closer to the commandments of men, many will be stirred by the Spirit of God to break every shackle, and assert their liberty in Christ Jesus.” Review and herald, July 23, 1895
We would do well to ponder over the words of James White — the founder of the original model of church organisation in 1863 — as to what principle biblical organisation is built upon, what was its intended and proper purpose, and what are the evils that arise from its misuse:
“Organisation was designed to secure unity of action and as a protection from imposture. It was never intended as a scourge to compel obedience, but rather, for the protection of the people of God. Christ does not drive His people. He calls them…Human creeds cannot produce unity. Church force cannot press the church into one body…
“The minister who throws himself on any Conference Committee for direction, takes himself out of the hands of Christ. And that Committee that takes into its own hands the work of directing the ambassadors for Christ, takes a fearful responsibility. ‘One is your Master (Leader), even Christ, and all ye are brethren.’ May God preserve to us our organisation and form of church discipline in its original simplicity and efficiency.” Review and Herald, January 4, 1881
Further to this, we would do well to prayerfully consider these inspired statements regarding church organisation:
“Organisation, as carried out in the life as God means it shall be, brings every soul who is engaged in the work of God his submission to the divine will. It leads them to give themselves to God, to be worked by His Holy Spirit. Anyone who supposes that it does not mean this, are no longer to stand in responsible positions, having voice to control in the great closing work for these last days.” 1897 General Conference Bulletin, p. 80
“Organisations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan’s dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth and for the advancement of the kingdom of God.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 366
That is why the finishing of the work will not depend upon organisational machinery, denominational policy, hierarchical structures, man-made control but upon the moving of the Holy Spirit as He organises the way in which the message shall go forth to the world.
“Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning. There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins into His own hands.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 300
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“It means much to our physicians whether they are wearing the yoke of Christ or the yoke of some man. Those who are wearing a yoke that man has placed on their necks will have to be freed from this yoke before they can act the part that God desires them to act in the proclamation of the truth. Those who receive and believe in Jesus are not to wear any man’s yoke, neither are they to be non-committal in regard to where they stand. A fierce conflict is raging between two powers — the power of light and the power of darkness. This conflict has a vital interest for the people of God. The question that is asked us is, Who will stand on the Lord’s side? You can not remain neutral, and yet be Christ’s followers, His faithful servants.” Special Testimonies, Series B, Number 2, p. 44
This is truly a time to “sigh and cry” for all the abominations that be done in the church (Ezekiel 9:4; Testimonies for the Church, volume 3, p. 266, 267; Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, p. 210)
Para-church from now on. We started one four year ago and we are doing great. The Conference only want the money, so they leave us alone.
The attack on Conrad is an ongoing issue of “cancel culture” within the Adventist Church.
While I do not believe the Tithe should be used as a “weapon”, I do share Conrad’s angst against the unilateral decision to add “peer reviewed science” to SDA’s belief structure-this is unacceptable, and I regard it as extremely unhelpful against Gods Church. Having been personally published in a “peer reviewed journal” (of Automatica IFAC), and become a “peer reviewer” myself, I strongly would oppose any kind of “yielding of conscience” to the conclusions of “peer reviewed science”. All to often it is the “grants” and those with the “money bags” that provide strong nudges in the “approved direction” of the “approved conclusions”. Where Pharmacia is involved – those “approved conclusions” are heavily tilted to “profitable conclusions”, vs “healthy ones”.
While we may all recall the “shot down” motion by Johnathan Zirkle, requesting to add the “vaccine statement” to the GC Session agenda. Few, I think, recall that it was seconded – by Grace Mackintosh – Canadian Union Office Religious Liberty Lawyer. It was Graces regular job to assist Sabbath keepers to gain religious accommodation with employers. She regularly assisted folks with these and other related issues.
What is not part of general knowledge is that shortly after her “seconding the motion”, the “wheels of cancel culture” began to turn. Grace is no longer employed by the Adventist Church. Shame on those who participated or started these “wheels of cancel culture”. May the Lord place His house in order. It surely looks like it is about to fall…. Yet it will not. Pray for Grace, as a single mother, who is also taking care of her aged father…. And is no longer employed by our Church.