The Restored Church Worldwide Leadership’s Response to Andrew Smellies Letter
Our Dear Family Worldwide,
Below, we have provided a detailed response to your letter. I hope that you will allow your congregations to “hear both sides” as you have pleaded with members of our churches while simultaneously telling your members not to read our initial letter.
1. Harboring deceit and the removal of church funds to support their faction. (Proverbs 26:24)
Harboring deceit:
The story Jason referenced, where Samuel takes a heifer and sacrifices it while anointing David to protect his life from Saul, is just one of several where someone who is acting in the interest of God conceals their intentions to carry out God’s will. (I Samuel 16) Another great example is the story of Jehu, who God called to conspire against Kings Joram and Ahaziah because of their unwillingness to repent. (2 Kings 9 & 10) He conceals his intentions to accomplish this godly request.
Despite Jason concealing his intentions in the last few weeks, he never lied when being questioned by Raul or anyone else regarding our plans to leave. Raul asked what Jason said to Michael Peterson, which was detailed in his exit post on Facebook. Jason responded, “I told him what I have always said: “If the movement drifts incurably from the sound life and doctrine in the Bible, I will leave. It is what I have always said and what I thought we all believed.” Additionally, he said that “none of us wants to leave the movement.” This was categorically true and remains true to this day. None of us wanted to leave the ICC then, nor do we now. We have all had to risk our livelihoods to do so. That is why we pleaded and begged for Raul and the ICC Central Leadership group to repent, but you refused, forcing our hand.
Indeed, Jason’s life was not in danger, nor anyone else’s. But our livelihoods were certainly on the line. As has been true for years, if any of you caught any inclination that we decided to leave the movement, you would have waltzed into our respective cities and fired us all immediately. Hours before we publicly announced our decision, we, along with everyone in our churches, were kicked off the USD21 servers and stripped of all employee communications. This is the speed and ferocity with which the ICC’s Central Leadership has always acted when threatened.
If we truly believe that the ICC’s leadership is in a state of non-repentance, then how could we, in good conscience, not make plans to leave and bring those we have been entrusted to shepherd along with us?
*We are deeply saddened that you labeled us a “rebellion and a faction,” even citing Joe Willis’s sermon Rebellion Is Always Wrong. Was the ICC a “faction” or a “rebellion” when it left the ICOC? Was the ICOC a “faction and rebellion” when it left the Churches of Christ? Was Joe Willis himself in sin for planting a Church in Sydney, Australia, when the ICOC had already done so? Your hypocrisy on this issue is astounding.
Question about monies:
The Dimitry’s did not take any money upon their departure. They provided severance pay to the countless members of their staff who live paycheck to paycheck. Each staff member resigned and, consistent with our movement for years, got a severance check. (There have been countless instances when staff resigned from our movement and received a severance.) Many who resigned from the CAICC have worked for the church for years and only received about a two-week severance pay upon their departure. Unfortunately, they felt forced to leave due to the ICC’s Central Leadership’s refusal to repent, not knowing if they would have to return to the secular world. This is not to mention that the vast majority of these contributions were given by members of the church who will be coming with us.
(Note: If we did anything legally wrong regarding this decision, we will correct it, regardless of what it would mean for us financially. Can the ICC say it will do the same for the many wrongdoings we stated in our letter?)
2. A lack of love and concern for foreign missionaries despite claiming to be committed to world evangelism. (2 Corinthians 8:3-4)
A lack of love for foreign missionaries:
It was our greatest hope that upon seeing the error of your ways, you would repent and that together, we could continue working toward evangelizing the nations. That is why our letter ended with A Final Plea For Unity. What has been clear since its dissemination, and your failure to address any of the actual merits of our letter, and have instead worked hard to censor your members from reading it, is that you have no intention of changing a single thing regarding what has been raised. After all, this is why we felt we had to leave, as we finally concluded there was “no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36)
Upon our departure, we know there will be financial ramifications both locally and globally. This breaks our hearts, as we have never wanted to hurt missionary efforts anywhere. This is why we pleaded and begged you to repent and change course, but once again, you were unwilling. Apart from our actions, the finances of the ICC are already eroding as many churches are no longer making central admin payments, Special Missions collections have fallen hundreds of thousands short around the world, and we have begun to collapse churches due to our decline. And at least one other World Sector has shared his plans to leave the ICC due to financial insolvency.
If you do not repent, then through godly division, we hope to fill the hole that you have created by helping those who still want to be part of a church around the world where the Bible is the standard, not a church oligarchy. Additionally, if we faithfully restore a Book of Acts Church as detailed in our growth chart, we will quickly return to the countries we are in and reach the
millions who live beyond the ICC’s ability to evangelize. (See the projected growth chart below)
3. Slander, selfish ambition, and a lack of willingness to make every effort for unity. (Ephesians 4:3)
Slander:
Slander is defined as stating an untruth. Nothing written in our letter was written without corroborating each claim by multiple witnesses or were things that we had witnessed firsthand.We often used the word “alleged” or “reported,” even in places where our information was corroborated, while also using references and footnotes. We could also have used quotes from other leaders worldwide but chose not to, wanting to spare them your wrath. Moreover, in our meetings with Raul, neither he nor any of the other WSL Shepherds disputed any of our claims. In most of the corruption section, we just asked for an investigation, hoping that our information was wrong. But again, you refused to do so.
There was much we left out that we could not corroborate. Yet, even in this letter, you accuse us of “selfish ambition” when the Bible expressly condemns the judging of motives. (1 Corinthians 4:5) Many of the WSLs, including you, Andrew Smellie, have claimed that Jason Dimitry was in sin for years. What sin might you ask? The sin of arrogance and pride. Many of you judge Jason’s motives while disseminating his supposed sin all over social media. A man
that day’s ago you all willingly embraced. Ironically, you began this section with the word slander, which is followed by your slandering of Jason’s motives. Aside from this, Jason and Sarah have been asked by Raul to eventually become World Sector Leaders, which is a role they declined as they could not join the group with a clear conscience.
Our lack of efforts for unity:
Many of us spoke to Raul for months, begging for changes to be made, which is accounted for in our letter. Why didn’t we seek further unity with the WSL’s? We did, as is detailed in our letter. Yet, not a single one of you who was called or messaged was willing to defend your actions regarding the retention of John Causey. Our consciences are clear, as we have tried “again and again.” (2 Chronicles 36) Many of you WSLs know what we have stated in our letter is true, yet you will remain silent.
Have you, Andrew Smellie, or anyone else from the WSLs group reached out to our leadership team for clarification since we made our announcement? No, you have not. This is despite our pleas for unity. Why not if unity is so important to you? Because it is not unity that you seek but a defense for what is indefensible. You have become staunch defenders of an institution as a
replacement for God’s Word.
Despite what you may feel and the strength of our words and actions, we love you and long to be unified in our efforts for the world. We will continue to pray for your repentance and for the many souls affected worldwide if you do not.
Much love,
Jason Dimitry
Fernando Chavez
Kyle Bartholomew
Evan Bartholomew
