Phil,

What a history lesson!  Of course, knowing nothing, I'd taken this testimony 
at face value and applauded what I read!

Now, why shouldn't anyone be forgiven their past unsupport of their family, 
if they've truly repent4ed?  No, you don't know but, because you don't know 
it's probably best if you hadn't mentioned all this!  <Smile>

Perhaps it's time I went back to bed and tried again to get some sleep!

--
Carol - Reading, UK

To you, o Lord, I lift up my soul;
In You I trust, o my God.  . . .."  PS25:1-2 NIV.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 11:37 PM
Subject: Re: Darrel Scott's testimony


>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.
>