LAWSUITS AND RECONCILIATION

Unity based on love and truth is to rule within the Church. In order for such a spirit and surroundings to thrive, it is important to solve disputes as soon as they arise. But how should they be solved? 

The EXCOM has emphasized three points in the reconciliation process it has offered in the mining case:

  1. Eden has done nothing wrong so the problem lies with the church members

  2. The reconciliation process outlined in Matthew 18 should be adhered to

  3. Legal action taken against church members—e.g., the owners of Eden—is an unchristlike resource according to the words of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6

 

EXCOM’s Attitude towards Eden

First, the EXCOM has—for unknown reasons—consistently defended Eden.[1] The EXCOM paced itself firmly on Eden’s side before GCAS started its investigation, while GCAS investigated the case, and after GCAS finished their investigation. To state that there is nothing concerning in a company that is being investigated because one asked for the investigation, is strange to say the least. And how does one know that there is nothing wrong when the investigation has not even been concluded? The same can be said regarded the attitude of EXCOM once the investigation was completed. Even though it turned out that GCAS did not investigate the case down to the core, and even though GCAS tried to come as close to calling breaches of contract just that without using the term “breach of contract,” President Gavin Anthony affirmed at the GCAS meeting that the EXCOM had at no time even seen “a theoretical reason so sue Eden.”[2] And even though the President said at that same meeting that unanswered questions from the church boards were many pages,[3] the IC administrators declared—without answering those same questions—that there was nothing wrong about Eden’s operation. This view of the EXCOM is clearly unacceptable to church members and does not pave the way for any reconciliation. It seems as if the EXCOM does not want any major investigation here in Iceland, and in their mining report included in the meeting documents for Session 2022, the EXCOM declared that they believed that further discussion about the mining case would only be damaging.

 

The EXCOM’s Reconciliation Process

Second, the EXCOM started a three-stage reconciliation process they asserted was based on Matthew 18:

  1. On 2 March 2022, the EXCOM invited the most prominent of critical church members to a meeting.[4] The meetings would be held on an individual basis. No explanation was given as to why the invitees could not meet as one group at one meeting. This unexplained procedure did not appeal to most of those invited. Some opted out, others answered late due to sickness, and still others asked for a joint meeting (that request was left unanswered). Finally, two to three met individually with the administrators[5]

  2. Next, the EXCOM invited the church boards (but not those invited at the first stage of the reconciliation process) to a meeting on 24 May 2022 where the GCAS report was presented. No attempt was made to answer the questions submitted by the church boards

  3. The EXCOM made provisions for the church boards to vote on if they wanted another open information meeting about the mining case. The majority of the church boards accepted the offer. The EXCOM decided not to hold the meeting and presented a motion to Session 2022 in their mining report that church members would cease all discussion pertaining to the mining case, for providing answers to the questions of the church boards and church members would only have bad consequences 

The EXCOM’s reconciliation process can hardly be regarded as promising if the EXCOM is not willing to answers the questions that church members and the church boards have concerning the mining case. Furthermore, this procedure does not reflect the reconciliation process described in Matthew 18. In that chapter, a reconciliation process is outlined to address the situation when one church member wrongs another church member. The one who believes they are wronged is to speak in private with the offender, then with witnesses, and finally before the entire congregation: 

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Matthew 18:15–17, NIV. 

When the EXCOM connected its reconciliation process to this passage, did it mean to say that those they invited to the first meeting had wronged the IC? And why were the invitees not part of the next two stages of the process? This confusing and opaque process unfortunately reflects the modus operandi of the present EXCOM (2019–2023) and not the meaning and intention of the text.

 

First Corinthians 6

Third, the EXCOM has strongly maintained that according to the Bible and Ellen White it is wrong and unchristlike for a church member to sue another church member. In support of this claim, the EXCOM has mainly cited 1 Corinthians 6.[6] There, Paul states quite clearly that church members should not bring their cases before worldly courts. The Apostle says it is a disgrace to believers not to be able to solve their cases among themselves and bringing their disputes to unbelievers: 

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 1 Corinthians 6:1–8, NIV. 

But how is one to follow these admonitions? The EXCOM has made no attempt to explain how one is to apply this text as a whole. In order to grasp Paul’s words, it is necessary to understand history (what was the function of the court in Paul’s day?), law, and theology. Following are some issues that have be made clear if one wants to heed the text:

  1. Paul admonishes church members not to bring their disputes to court. But what was the function of the court in the first century? If the text is still applicable, to know this is essential, since Paul’s admonition is then means that believers today should not go to the modern day institutions that serve the same purpose as the court did in his day. Here is where things can get tricky fast. E.g., was there a police in the time of Paul? Or did the court at that time serve the purpose that the modern police has? If so, should believers today not seek police assistance because of crimes that occurred among them? By this example, the author is not calling any church member today a criminal—the point is simply this: it may be much more complicated to apply this text to modern context than the EXCOM makes it look like

  2. If an Adventist seriously harms another Adventist without committing an actual crime—by, for instance, somehow taking over his money in an unjust but legal way—and the guilty party refuses to recompense—is the harmed party supposed to do nothing? The EXCOM says Yes[7]

  3. It is a known historical (and biblical) fact how easy it can be for people to use religion as a cover-up for injustices. If an Adventist wrongs another Adventist and refuses to listen to anyone in the Church and refuses to participate in the reconciliation process outlined in Matthew 18, how is the issue to be solved? 

The fact of the matter is that despite the assertions of the IC, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has sometimes been forced to go to court—e.g., suing its own members, e.g., when it has been discovered that Treasurers have stolen from the Church. The author has not had time to collect data on this matter but anyone can search for such information on the internet or tried to obtain information about such cases within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The disposition of the EXCOM has proven to be an obstacle in settling matters in the Church. The EXCOM has refused to answers the questions of church members or to investigate the matter properly. How the EXCOM has followed the reconciliation process described in Matthew is hard to see: the parties involved in each stage have changed and the third stage has not taken place. In addition, the EXCOM excludes any legal action from being taken outside the Church. In other words, the EXCOM considers the mining case to be a non-issue. The only problem the EXCOM believes exists is the church members who have asked questions and criticized the case. 

However, if these three steps are followed correctly, peace will be restored in the Church. Here the three stages will be briefly described.

 

Investigation

First, church members have to receive answers to their questions and it is necessary to investigate the mining case properly by involving Icelandic lawyers. If the conclusion of such an investigation and information provision to church members confirms that Eden violated the contracts and that the new contract is in violation of the constitution and bylaws of the IC, then it is Eden (and not critical church members) that has wronged the denomination and that would have to be dealt with. That should be done, for instance, by following the reconciliation process outlined in Matthew 18.

 

Matthew 18

In Matthew 18:15–17, Christ describes the three stages of a reconciliation process within the Church and what consequences follow in case of a non-agreement: 

  1. “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

  2. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

  3. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;

  4. and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector [i.e., not a member any longer, and yet not shunned—Jesus, who spoke these words, gave a personal example of how to interact with tax collectors—as men he wanted to become disciples].” Matthew 18:15–17, NIV. 

This process is meant to lead to reconciliation. At each stage, the offending party is spoken with in the hope that they will see their wrong so that reconciliation can be reached. But this process is also meant to close the case. And if the respective parties do not want to participate in the reconciliation process, or if the Church does not want to utilize the process—how are disputes to be solved? “To look forward” can hardly be regarded as a conclusion of an issue if it is still unsolved.

 

Litigation and First Corinthians 6

It is worth emphasizing that if one reads closely, Paul is not opposed to disputes between believers being settled by judges. His concern is who passes the judgment. According to Paul, the Church should solve its own disputes without bringing them to court. 

And how is the Church to solve its internal issues} The procedure is outlined in Matthew 18. 

If the disputing parties refuse to participate in the reconciliation process, it is doubtful whether Paul’s prohibition against legal solutions applies. To reject any reconciliation process while also upholding Paul’s prohibition simply means that church members can get away with wronging each other. That hardly reflects the will of the denomination. And not solving issues hardly results in unity and love.

 

Litigation and the Church Manual

Litigation is discussed in the Church Manual in the chapter on church discipline, on pp. 60–61. Although litigation is generally spoken against, it is admitted that sometimes litigation against church members is necessary/permissible:

While there are, in the modern world, occasions for seeking decrees of civil courts, Christians should prefer settlement within the authority of the Church and should limit the seeking of such decrees to cases that are clearly within the jurisdiction of the civil courts and not within the authority of the Church or for which the Church agrees it has no adequate process for orderly settlement. . . . Examples of such civil cases may include, but are not limited to, the settlement of insurance claims, the issuance of decrees affecting the boundaries and ownership of real property, the deciding of some matters involving the administration of estates, and the awarding of custody of minor children. . . . Should the Church fail to respond to a request for help in reconciling a difference, or if the Church acknowledges that the nature of the case is such that it is not within its authority, it should be recognized that the member has exhausted the possibilities of the biblically outlined procedure for the settlement of differences and that what he/ she should do beyond that point is a matter for his/her conscience.[8]

And against the Church or its entities:  

Members should not instigate litigation against any Church entity except under circumstances where the Church has not provided adequate process for orderly settlement of the grievance or where the nature of the case is such that it is clearly not within the authority of the Church to settle.[9]


[1] “It seems that the EXCOM of the IC has not protected the interests of the IC sufficiently, at least not in relation to the first two contracts, and that the EXCOM has not followed up on the implementation and fulfillment of those contracts. There is no information available about the essentials of the third contract . . . Either the EXCOM of the IC was deceived by its contracting party or it deliberately had other intentions than protecting the interests of the IC when it came to the implementation and follow-up of the contracts.” Kristinn Hallgrímsson, lawyer at ARTA-lögmenn, legal opinion, quoted by Kristján Ari Sigurðsson, “Hverjum ber að gæta hagsmuna Kirkju sjöunda dags aðventista?” (Whose Responsibility Is It to Protect the Interests of the Icelandic Conference?), appendix 3.

[2] “We must make the point that the Executive Committee at no time has seen even a theoretical reason to sue Eden Mining.” Gavin Anthony, introductory speech, GCAS meeting, 24 May 2022, typed up by the author.

[3] “We [the EXCOM] have literally received pages and pages and pages of questions from people.” Gavin Anthony, introductory speech, GCAS meeting, 24 May 2022, typed up by the author.

[4] The author was one of those invited to meet with the EXCOM. Gavin Anthony, email to Jón Hjörleifur Stefánsson, 2 March 2022. The author communicated with the other invitees via telephone and emails and bases his narrative on those communications.

[5] On 8 March 2022, Pastor Eric Guðmundsson met with the EXCOM. Elísa Elíasdóttir also met with the administrators.

[6] “At the same time, we are very concerned that members have been calling for Eden Mining to be sued for what they believe is lost income for the church. The apostle Paul gives very clear advice about lawsuits between believers. He says we should not do this, and we should rather be cheated than take matters to a civil court which brings dishonour to God and His Church: 

1 Corinthians 6:6 “If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgement instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! 7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?” … Reading numerous accusations that individual church members or the Executive Committee are corrupt, threatening fellow members with taking them to court, threatening to find legal means to destroy the new contract, threatening to take these issues to the media, and sharing these accusations with outside organisations—this all brings much personal pain to fellow believers in Christ—precious people for whom Christ has died. Such behaviour brings disrepute to God and His church.” The EXCOM, open letter to the church boards, 16 March 2022, pp. 7–8, italics in the original.

“This is one reason why, previously, we publicly stated Paul’s advice for church members not talking about suing each other [1 Cor 6:1–4]. This has regularly been raised both in writing and in conversation: that we should sue Eden Mining for what . . .  people think they believe is lost money. We cannot say anything more than what the Bible has already said on this subject but if anyone is in doubt we can provide you with Ellen White’s very tough comments on this particular subject. She says that going to outside lawyers dishonors God, reveals our own lack of faith, and is an example of biting and devouring each other as is described in Galatians 5:15. She further goes on to say that by rejecting God’s advice not to sue each other we crucify Jesus again and demonstrate that we are not converted. Like Paul says in Corinthians: If we are defrauded, then we should suffer loss and allow God to judge the fraud“. Gavin Anthony, introductory speech, GCAS meeting, 24 May 2022, typed up by the author.

“The Bible leaves no doubt as to why you should not submit your case against your fellow believers to court: it would bring disgrace to God to go public with such cases (1 Corinthians 6:1–7).” “To go public with the dispute of the Church includes the same risk of bringing the same dishonor to God involved in going public with disagreements between Christians, which Paul warns against the Church against in 1 Corinthians 6:1–7.” The EXCOM, “Skýrsla um námuna” (Report concerning the mine), meeting documents for Session 2022, pp. 83, 84, translated by the author.

[7] “Like Paul says in Corinthians: If we are defrauded, then we should suffer loss and allow God to judge the fraud.” Gavin Anthony, introductory speech, GCAS meeting, 24 May 2022, typed up by the author.

[8] Secretariat, General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists, Church Manual, 19th ed. (Review and Herald, 2016), p. 60.

[9] Church Manual, p. 61.