Evangelical Free Church of America Seeks To Defrock Pastor For Defying Lockdowns

Evangelical Dark Web ^ | September 17, 2023 | Ray Fava

[Morgana]

The Evangelical Free Church of America is the orthodox version of the credobaptist tradition stemming from Swede immigrants to the United States whereas the Evangelical Covenant Church has embraced liberalism. However the powers that be at the top echelons of the organization are extremely liberal and vindictive. After defrocking Pastor Jeff Kliewer, the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, they have their sights on a new target: Pastor David Whitney. His crimes stem from his refusal to shut down his church during lockdowns.

In the small town of Taneytown, MD, a Republican organization, the Tri-District Republican Club held a Constitution Day fundraiser. Evangelical Dark Web was a sponsor of this event, as it’s founder, Ray Fava is also the president of the club. Pastor David Whitney was the keynote of the event given his work at the Institute on the Constitution. Despite teaching on the Constitution and God-given rights, Whitney explained that for defying lockdowns in 2020, under the orders of Governor Larry Hogan, the Board of Ministry Standing was coming after him.

David Whitney is the pastor of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church of Bowie, Maryland. He explained that his church met in a 7th Day Adventist church, but when that church decided to lock down, they insisted on continuing to meet, as the Bible commands. So they met on the property of Michael Peroutka Peroutka is also a renown Constitutional scholar a part of the IOTC. Because it was private property, a health inspector could be arrested for trespassing if they tried to enforce Hogan’s mandates.

Earlier this week, Whitney published a response to the Board of Ministerial Standing of the EFCA.

Back in November of 2020, my cluster in EFCA East met by Zoom. During that session each pastor was asked how his church was doing during the pandemic. I replied that we had not shut down in-person worship during this time for two reasons:

The first being the command of our Lord Jesus in Hebrews 10:24-25:

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

The second being that the Governor of Maryland has no constitutional authority to shutter churches. It is a violation of his oath of office.

My statements seemed to upset and anger several pastors in our cluster. I didn’t know it at the time, but three pastors began investigating my sermons and demanded a meeting just before Christmas. The timing did not work for me, so we ultimately met on Zoom in February 2021. Prior to the meeting I asked Pastor Guy Kneebone for a list of questions they would be asking so that I could prepare. No list was ever provided, a clear violation of the Biblical Standards of Justice.

By not locking down, Whitney had made the other pastors look bad in their sin.

Pastors Kneebone, Kynes, and Riedel interrogated me for two and half hours. They were very aggressive in their attack on many things which I said in the sermons they had listened to. Pastor Kynes said he would be horrified if anyone in his congregation every listened to any of my sermons. Pastor Kneebone spoke of how they were spending a great deal of time and effort studying and learning from CRT. He and the others stated they believed I was a Christian Nationalist and that such a stance was unacceptable in the EFCA.

They made it clear that nothing I was preaching was in error doctrinally, nor in violation of the EFCA Statement of Faith. They, however, concluded that I was not of the “Ethos” of the EFCA and asked me not only to consider leaving the EFCA, but they also stated that I needed to answer them, telling them my decision.

In conversation, Whitney explained that the other EFCA pastors disliked how he preached on sodomy. So what started out as an issue of gathering, branched out into his views on other things.

One of the other things would be Christian Nationalism. Although, Whitney refuses to accept the label in the pejorative usage by the EFCA questioners, he does embody someone who believes in establishing or restoring a Christian heritage to a nation. In liberal fashion, the EFCA wants to purge Christian Nationalists from their ranks, both Jeff Kliewer and Whitney have been charged with it.

Additionally, the EFCA accused Whitney of violating his church’s constitution which had to do with not having a congregational meeting which was due to a failure to reach a quorum.

David Whitney travels to Minneapolis to face his accusers in an interview this week. Prayers for him are appreciated.

[Morgana]

I've never heard of this church has anyone here have?

I posted it because it had to do with COVID and the lockdowns. I'm shocked they would do this.

[nickcarraway]

What does the Bible, or this organizations charters say about lockdowns?

[21twelve]

Our church closed down for two or three weeks at the start of Covid. Then they re-opened in spite of the strict rules here in Washington state. The preacher said how the Bible instructs us to be in community with each other, breaking bread, etc.

I can’t recall when it was - a year later perhaps, where the courts (state?) said churches were exempt from the lockdowns.

[Morgana]

I know nothing about this church, was hoping someone here would.

I know what the Bible says. Number 4 on the Hillbilly ten comandments

Hillbilly Ten Commandments
1. Ain’t but One God.
2. Honor yer Ma and Pa.
3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’.
4. Git yer hide ta Sunday meetin’.
5. Ain’t nothin’ come before the Lord.
6. No foolin’ with another feller’s gal.
7. No killin’, ‘cept fer critters.
8. Quit yer foul mouthin’.
9. No swipin’ yer kin folks stuff.
10. Don’t be hankerin’ for it neither.

[HighSierra5]

I went to John MacArthur during the scamdemic. There were no masks.

[Bulwyf]

To be fair, its no murdering, killing and murdering aren’t the same thing.

[SaveFerris]

Acts 2:38
New King James Version

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38&version=NKJV

John 3:17-18
New King James Version

17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be Saved.

18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A17-18&version=NKJV

Romans 10:9-10
New King James Version

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be Saved.

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9-10&version=NKJV

And now for my canned posting - Covid-19⁽⁸⁴⁾ was a dry run, even if by accident, for the Mark of the Beast

THE FOLLOWING IS SOMETHING SAVED FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS

Global.........basically, UPON THE ENTIRE WORLD (for all intents and purposes)

Covid-19⁽⁸⁴⁾ ---> Covid-19⁽⁸⁴⁾ is not the Mark of the Beast.

(I'm just saying that for the thread)

BUT:

The parallels are downright eerie.

A clear warning of things to come.

Covid-19 came as a snare. Now it's not THE snare.

But still, it came as a snare. UPON THE ENTIRE WORLD.

A snare that came upon the entire world and institutionalized Global tyranny almost overnight.

Determining if you can travel, BUY and in some cases SELL.

Or if you can even work a job.

Tyranny upon tyranny.

The parallels are just too eerie and too spot-on.

This is a very clear foreshadowing of Revelation chapter 13 and the sheep are blind to it.

[cuban leaf]

Enquiring minds want to know: Do they have more members than Westboro Baptist?🤣

[ifinnegan]

Sounds weird.

It wasn’t about gathering.

The inquisitors were liberals, their issues were not about Covid, they were being disingenuous.

On the other hand what is Evangelical Dark Web and Christian Nationalism.

[Flaming Conservative]

I was a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church back home. Liberal would be the last word I would use to describe it. It was extremely conservative, peopled, with few exceptions, with devout, Godly congregants. Of course, that was over 20 years ago.

[Psalm 73]

I've been a member of an Evangelical Free Church of America church for about 20 years - most are about as conservative as you can get, but each church is an entity unto itself, as long as they adhere to basic biblical tenets (inerrancy of scripture, etc).

There are wokesters hiding EVERYWHERE.
They can't touch this pastor and they know it.

[MarMema]

Conservative churches here in northern Mi.

Huge one in Gaylord. Very active, giving community.

[grcuster]

I use to attend their church when I lived in Colorado and that particular church was pretty conservative and followed the bible closely. I don’t know if they have changed as I have left the state and back to a souther baptist church down south.

[Morgana]

“Christian Nationalism.”

They keep posting about that and I have no freaking idea. Evangelical Dark Web is just the name of the news site.

[AnAmericanMother]

Our church (a large, Catholic suburban parish that tends conservative - we chant the Mass in Latin at the 10 o'clock. If you don't like Latin, you can go to 8:30, 11:30, or 6 p.m.)

We shut down for one Sunday and did online. Then our rector said, "The heck with this!" Decided that folks who were worried could watch from home (and the bishop gave a dispensation) but that the rest of us would soldier on, with masks and distancing between family groups as a "fig leaf". That gradually disappeared - but after that first Sunday we never missed another one.

The rector is a feisty Irishman of the old school (he retired after some 50 years in harness a couple of weeks ago). Just the sort of fellow to stand up and say, "No!"

The choir dropped the masks after one Sunday (couldn't sing and couldn't hear). We had one scare, but that choir member turned out to have caught it somewhere else, and nobody else got it.

[fatboy]

I belonged to several Evangelical Free churches (EFCA). Pre-mil pre-trib quite conservative/Biblical. Probably the best know E-Free personality is Chuck Swindoll, the flagship seminary is Trinity Evangelcal Divinity School. My local congregations were solid Bible, Bapsistic in practice, far from liberal.

Sadly, in recent years, the EFCA it is losing its focus.

[21twelve]

One of the inquisitors: “Pastor Kneebone spoke of how they were spending a great deal of time and effort studying and learning from CRT.”

Our pastor gave an online discussion (3 hours in two parts) discussing CRT and how it was not Biblical and socialist in origin.

Recently he gave a sermon on the Ten Commandments (just a quick overview on all of them). The Third: “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” is not about cuss words (no - you can't still use them, goes under “vulgar” behavior) but is about attributing ideas and theology to God when they are not supported by scripture.

CRT would fall under the third commandment.

[cyclotic]

I’ve been there. I met him and Mike Peroutka who I greatly admire.

If it was closer it would be my church. Unlike the overwhelming majority of mostly useless church leaders, Whitney understands the Constitution and the absolute fact the Larry Hogan broke his vow.

At the service I attended, we sang a few songs,!Whitney had a short talk about some current events and how they affect believers, then a song, then a sermon.

Other pastors just willingly bow to atheists like hogan when they tell them how and when they can meet.

P

[SaveFerris]

Friday Bump