I did not comment on the speech given before congress by Darrell
Scott when it was first posted to blind-x because I was way behind
on reading my mail.  Now that I have a few minutes, I wanted to
say something about it even if it gets me into trouble.  This same
speech by Darrell Scott has come to me more than once over the
passed years.  It was recently posted on the electronic church
mailing list I have and I didn't comment publicly about it there
but probably should have.  In fact, I will post on echurch-l what
I am about to say on this list because I think it needs to be
said.  Anyhow, here are my comments.

Let me begin by saying that I have read Darrell Scott's speech
before and that I agree with everything he says.  I personally
know Darrell Scott and his family and I am always a little
uncomfortable every time I see Darrell speaking on these issues.
Let me explain why.  Darrell Scott was pastoring a church near my
home.  I joined Darrell's church and soon became involved in his
ministry.  About the time I joined his church, he had become
discontented in the pastoral ministry and in a few months, he
literally turned his church over to me to take his place.  He had
gotten involved in a multi level organization and was making more
money than the church had ever been able to pay him.  After he
turned his ministry over to me, he left the church and never
returned. We then found out that he had been using the church for
part of his business operations.  That is not, of course, illegal
but I considered it unethical.  We also found out that he had been
paying his own salary each week and ignoring the church bills.
This included the rent which was 2500 dollars a month.  When I
took over the church, I found out that we were at least two months
behind in all the church bills.  This came to about 6,000 dollars
that we were behind.  It took us several months to get caught up
and I went without a salary all that time.  the church also had a
number of people who were leaving because Darrell refused to work
with others in the church wanting to assist in different church
ministries.  The church had no board of elders or deacons of any
type.  Darrell always said he never believed in such
accountability in the operation of a church.  By the time he left,
we probably didn't have but 50 or 60 people left and it once had
been nearly 150 people.  At least that was what Darrell always
told me but I personally never saw more than 75 or 80 people
there.  About half the people who remained, quickly left when
Darrell stopped pastoring the church.  So not only was I stuck
with several thousand dollars worth of church debt, but I had a
fraction of the people left in the church by the time Darrell
left.  By the way, Darrell, at that time, was one of the best
Bible teachers I ever heard.  He was a great musician and our
worship services were fantastic.  His wife played the piano,
Darrell sang, and at that time, one of his sisters was a part of
our music team.  Since Darrell was doing a lot of traveling with
his new business, I took his place on Sundays most of the time.
The men of the church finally called a meeting and asked Darrell
to either pastor the church or turn it over to someone.  After a
lot of discussion, Darrell turned the church over to me in front
of all the men at that meeting that night.  Of course, half the
men there didn't believe I should have been the man taking
Darrell's place so many of them never returned to any of our
services.  Darrell never came back to any services again.  A few
weeks after he left the church, we learned that Darrell was having
an affair with the church secretary.  She, by the way, had left
the church when he did because she was working with him in his
multi level business and traveling with him as they did
presentations.  Darrell left his wife and children for this woman
and this woman left her husband and children for Darrell.  I never
heard if they actually got married or not.  Frankly, I cannot say
if they were having their affair during the time he was pastoring
the church or not but I can tell you some people believed they
were.  I was visiting a church a couple of years ago where some of
Darrell's relatives were members.  He was back in a church at that
time and was dating a woman.  I have not recently heard if he
married or not.  I do not know if Darrell was supporting his
former wife and children when he left them but I know for awhile
he must not have been because his own father and mother moved to
Denver from Louisiana to help her with the children while she went
out and got a job to support her own children.  His father had
been a pastor and since he was retired, he and his wife moved to
Denver to help Beth, Darrell's wife, raise the children while she
went out and got a job.  Doesn't sound like a father supporting
his family to me but then I didn't go around asking any
questions; I was too busy trying to clean up the mess Darrell left
at his church.  I was told much of this information by personal
friend's of Darrell's at the time and as I said, I did not go
around trying to find out all that was going on in his life
because I was too busy doing the ministry work.  I have not
bothered calling friends that know Darrell nor have I bothered
calling any of his relatives here in Denver to find out how
Darrell is doing now.  Frankly, I don't want to know any more than
I do right now.  I have no reason to believe that Darrell is
anything other than what he appears to be based upon the speech he
gave.  I have seen him on TV shows and heard him on radio talks
shows several times since his daughter was shot and killed at
Columbine High School.  I have never heard anything he said with
which I disagreed.  I just feel uncomfortable listening to him
when I know things in his background and how he left his wife and
five children, and his ministry, and how he screwed up his life
ten years ago.  I hope Darrell started supporting his former wife
and his children long before Columbine but I personally do not
know his relationship with his children to date.  I know his wife
has remarried and seems to be very happy.  I know that she and her
husband are faithful at the church they attend.  I have the funny
feeling that one day we are going to hear Darrell is running for
public office or that he is publishing a book.  Though I always
liked Darrell and he was always good to me as a friend, I have
trouble reading his speech and seeing him on television and
hearing him on radio talk shows because of what he did ten years
ago to his family and his church.  I know some are probably saying
about now, well, that was ten years ago.  Can't you forgive him?
There's nothing to forgive because I never had anything against
him and supported him, and his ministry, in every way I knew how.
I never spoke against him after he left the church and if anyone
in the church tried speaking against him to me, I didn't allow
them to continue.  I feel very uncomfortable hearing him talk
about his daughter when I know there was a time he did nothing to
support his family.  At least, if he did, he sure put his wife and
children through a terrible time back in the early nineties.  I
wish him well and I have nothing to hold against him but his
popularity over the last year because of his public appearances
personally bothers me because he seems to come across so pro
family now and yet he abandon his own family ten years ago for
money and sex.  At least that's what it appeared to be at the
time.  If, by this time, you are getting the picture that I don't
cut ministers much slack when they abandon their families and
screw up their church and people's lives, you are right.  I'm not
saying they cannot change and I am not saying they cannot be
forgiven for what they've done.  I do not think, however, when
they become self appointed spoke persons for a certain cause, that
their passed should be overlooked.  Anyhow, I thought some of you
would like to know this.  If you don't care to know it, forget
what I said.

Phil.