A Statement on Recent Developments in Church Leadership
Read the Statement
The purpose of this communication is to inform you, the congregation of Coastal, of recent important developments and changes in our leadership.
As you may know, we as a church body recently provided our lead pastor, Matt Stokes, with a three-month sabbatical. Pastor Matt had labored for many years without a sabbatical and the Elders wanted Pastor Matt to have an extended break where he and his wife Laura could rest, be refreshed, and engage in spiritual renewal. Leading up to the sabbatical, the Elders had been concerned for the overall health of Pastor Matt, his wife, and family. Matt’s sabbatical began on January 1st and was scheduled to end around April 1st.
During Pastor Matt's sabbatical, he had full access to financial resources, a paid sabbatical coach, and access to personal professional counseling and care.
Unfortunately, during Pastor Matt’s sabbatical, the Elders began receiving reports of patterns of behavior that had already caused us concern prior to his sabbatical, and now were being exacerbated during the sabbatical. These behaviors and decisions in question were incongruent with the role of a pastor.
As a result, Pastor Matt has been suspended from all leadership positions at Coastal, including his position as Elder and Lead Pastor.
Although we do not intend to provide here a detailed explanation of all these behaviors, we believe it is important for you to understand both, (1) some of the basis of our decision, and (2) the process by which we have come to this decision.
Over the past several months, leading up to Matt’s sabbatical, it became apparent to us that Matt had become increasingly disconnected from the pastoral and administrative staff who are managing the daily operations of the church. This has created an erosion of trust in Pastor Matt’s leadership. Prior to and during his sabbatical, we also observed an increased pattern of what we believe is impulsive, independent decision-making. This display of autonomy, including making unilateral decisions regarding ministry activities, staffing, and the use of Coastal resources, is, in our view, unprecedented and not warranted by the circumstances. When asked to explain or justify these unilateral decisions, many of the explanations Pastor Matt offered were not compelling, and this further eroded our trust in his judgment.
In addition, prior to and during Pastor Matt’s sabbatical, Matt violated specific provisions of the Coastal Christian Code of Conduct, including the Coastal Christian Employee Handbook Alcohol Policy.
The Elders of Coastal are responsible for and empowered to handle all forms of Church discipline within the Church, in accordance with the Scriptures, our Bylaws, and Standards of Conduct in our Employee Handbook. Therefore, the Elders attempted to work together in a spirit of humility and gentleness with Pastor Matt, and an assembled team of counselors, coaches, and consultants on a restoration plan.
Upon Pastor Matt's return from his sabbatical in mid-March, the Elders invited Matt to meet together. Matt rejected this invitation and unilaterally decided to go on a mission trip to South Africa without any consultation with or input from the Elders. Upon his return, the Elders met with Pastor Matt many times. The Elders provided Matt with notice of the allegations of inappropriate behavior, and an opportunity to explain his perspective and behaviors, and then invited him to provide input to develop a comprehensive restoration plan that would include repentance and an opportunity to restore relationships. We also asked Pastor Matt to draft a statement that he could make on a Sunday, letting the church know what was going on in a general way, while we worked with him on the restoration plan. He said he would do this but did not. This did more harm than good and eroded the health of the church.
Specifically, along with the hope to make a mutual church announcement, the proposed restoration plan would have provided Pastor Matt with the opportunity to receive a fully paid extended leave so he could pursue professional assessments, counseling, mediation services and retreats. The end-goal of this plan was for Matt to eventually be reinstated to his position of Lead Pastor and Elder.
We provided Pastor Matt with these opportunities for restoration because we recognize and admire the many gifts and strengths he has, and strongly desire him to be able to return to ministry at Coastal.
In response, Pastor Matt declined to fully cooperate in this process of restoration, refused to voluntarily step down temporarily from his leadership positions as requested by the Elders, rejected the restoration plan, and has failed to engage with the Elders in seeking reconciliation with him. Further, when these issues were brought to light, Pastor Matt attempted to fire several of the pastoral staff (namely Matthew Maher, Chris Einwechter, and Matthew Glancey) based on his allegation of “insubordination,” which in fact was a failed attempt on his part to stop the pending board's action for restoration. As a result of Pastor Matt’s choices, effective April 18th, the Elders have suspended Pastor Matt from all leadership positions at Coastal. At this time, Pastor Matt will still receive his salary and benefits pending further decisions and discussions.
Here is what you should know at this point: Pastor Matt’s healthy return was and still is our number one priority.
Contrary to inaccurate rumors, no leader or Elder at Coastal is interested in replacing Pastor Matt as Lead Pastor. Such unsubstantiated speculations and accusations have created further difficulty to this process and have undermined our church unity. In addition, this has never been about taking his authority (as some of the rumors have also speculated), but rather this is about accountability, something that Pastor Matt has refused to abide by.
The Elders continue to value Pastor Matt's giftedness and love him tremendously. That is why, in consultation with counselors, we spent many hours developing a restoration plan for Pastor Matt. That is also why we are heartbroken that Pastor Matt has declined to participate in any restoration plan.
At this time, we ask for your continued prayers for Pastor Matt, his family, our Elder board and church leaders. We are very aware of the ramifications of this announcement, but do not want any of us to lose hope. We are followers of Christ and seek to honor Him in word and truth. As such, we are asking you to join us in 40 days of corporate prayer over this situation. A restoration program has been offered and is still on the table for Pastor Matt to accept.
To view one of the elements of that restoration plan, click or tap the button:
As you may know, we as a church body recently provided our lead pastor, Matt Stokes, with a three-month sabbatical. Pastor Matt had labored for many years without a sabbatical and the Elders wanted Pastor Matt to have an extended break where he and his wife Laura could rest, be refreshed, and engage in spiritual renewal. Leading up to the sabbatical, the Elders had been concerned for the overall health of Pastor Matt, his wife, and family. Matt’s sabbatical began on January 1st and was scheduled to end around April 1st.
During Pastor Matt's sabbatical, he had full access to financial resources, a paid sabbatical coach, and access to personal professional counseling and care.
Unfortunately, during Pastor Matt’s sabbatical, the Elders began receiving reports of patterns of behavior that had already caused us concern prior to his sabbatical, and now were being exacerbated during the sabbatical. These behaviors and decisions in question were incongruent with the role of a pastor.
As a result, Pastor Matt has been suspended from all leadership positions at Coastal, including his position as Elder and Lead Pastor.
Although we do not intend to provide here a detailed explanation of all these behaviors, we believe it is important for you to understand both, (1) some of the basis of our decision, and (2) the process by which we have come to this decision.
Over the past several months, leading up to Matt’s sabbatical, it became apparent to us that Matt had become increasingly disconnected from the pastoral and administrative staff who are managing the daily operations of the church. This has created an erosion of trust in Pastor Matt’s leadership. Prior to and during his sabbatical, we also observed an increased pattern of what we believe is impulsive, independent decision-making. This display of autonomy, including making unilateral decisions regarding ministry activities, staffing, and the use of Coastal resources, is, in our view, unprecedented and not warranted by the circumstances. When asked to explain or justify these unilateral decisions, many of the explanations Pastor Matt offered were not compelling, and this further eroded our trust in his judgment.
In addition, prior to and during Pastor Matt’s sabbatical, Matt violated specific provisions of the Coastal Christian Code of Conduct, including the Coastal Christian Employee Handbook Alcohol Policy.
The Elders of Coastal are responsible for and empowered to handle all forms of Church discipline within the Church, in accordance with the Scriptures, our Bylaws, and Standards of Conduct in our Employee Handbook. Therefore, the Elders attempted to work together in a spirit of humility and gentleness with Pastor Matt, and an assembled team of counselors, coaches, and consultants on a restoration plan.
Upon Pastor Matt's return from his sabbatical in mid-March, the Elders invited Matt to meet together. Matt rejected this invitation and unilaterally decided to go on a mission trip to South Africa without any consultation with or input from the Elders. Upon his return, the Elders met with Pastor Matt many times. The Elders provided Matt with notice of the allegations of inappropriate behavior, and an opportunity to explain his perspective and behaviors, and then invited him to provide input to develop a comprehensive restoration plan that would include repentance and an opportunity to restore relationships. We also asked Pastor Matt to draft a statement that he could make on a Sunday, letting the church know what was going on in a general way, while we worked with him on the restoration plan. He said he would do this but did not. This did more harm than good and eroded the health of the church.
Specifically, along with the hope to make a mutual church announcement, the proposed restoration plan would have provided Pastor Matt with the opportunity to receive a fully paid extended leave so he could pursue professional assessments, counseling, mediation services and retreats. The end-goal of this plan was for Matt to eventually be reinstated to his position of Lead Pastor and Elder.
We provided Pastor Matt with these opportunities for restoration because we recognize and admire the many gifts and strengths he has, and strongly desire him to be able to return to ministry at Coastal.
In response, Pastor Matt declined to fully cooperate in this process of restoration, refused to voluntarily step down temporarily from his leadership positions as requested by the Elders, rejected the restoration plan, and has failed to engage with the Elders in seeking reconciliation with him. Further, when these issues were brought to light, Pastor Matt attempted to fire several of the pastoral staff (namely Matthew Maher, Chris Einwechter, and Matthew Glancey) based on his allegation of “insubordination,” which in fact was a failed attempt on his part to stop the pending board's action for restoration. As a result of Pastor Matt’s choices, effective April 18th, the Elders have suspended Pastor Matt from all leadership positions at Coastal. At this time, Pastor Matt will still receive his salary and benefits pending further decisions and discussions.
Here is what you should know at this point: Pastor Matt’s healthy return was and still is our number one priority.
Contrary to inaccurate rumors, no leader or Elder at Coastal is interested in replacing Pastor Matt as Lead Pastor. Such unsubstantiated speculations and accusations have created further difficulty to this process and have undermined our church unity. In addition, this has never been about taking his authority (as some of the rumors have also speculated), but rather this is about accountability, something that Pastor Matt has refused to abide by.
The Elders continue to value Pastor Matt's giftedness and love him tremendously. That is why, in consultation with counselors, we spent many hours developing a restoration plan for Pastor Matt. That is also why we are heartbroken that Pastor Matt has declined to participate in any restoration plan.
At this time, we ask for your continued prayers for Pastor Matt, his family, our Elder board and church leaders. We are very aware of the ramifications of this announcement, but do not want any of us to lose hope. We are followers of Christ and seek to honor Him in word and truth. As such, we are asking you to join us in 40 days of corporate prayer over this situation. A restoration program has been offered and is still on the table for Pastor Matt to accept.
To view one of the elements of that restoration plan, click or tap the button:
We also ask that you refrain from entertaining rumors and engaging in speculation or slander and urge you to follow these precepts: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29-32).
If you have any specific questions we ask that you please talk to Norm Johnson or send us an email at [email protected].
With Heavy Hearts,
If you have any specific questions we ask that you please talk to Norm Johnson or send us an email at [email protected].
With Heavy Hearts,
The Elders of Coastal Christian