May 5, 2005
Dearest Friends and Supporters,
This is a letter that I never thought I would write but I feel that it has become necessary. After much careful prayer, study and consideration Shelly and I agree that we can no longer maintain our present relationship with Greater Grace World Outreach. I will not go into all of the details here in this letter as many of you already know the reasons why and some are considering similar actions. Some are not considering any action and others have already taken some action. For those of you who do not know I will be happy to explain to you the reasons and to personally answer any questions that you have if you will be so kind as to ask.
It is important to us that you know that our doctrine will not change in any significant way. We will continue to teach, love and invest as we have been trained to do in Maryland Bible College & Seminary and Baltimore. The form of church government we practice is the same as what many of you practice in your churches. What we will continue to teach in regard to the balance of delegated authority, the office of the pastor/teacher and other related issues is what I believe you all practice and teach. However the confusion in Baltimore and the hermeneutical issues relating to delegated authority and church government are not consistent with all that MBC&S has taught nor with the Scriptures. This is the core of the issue although to be certain it is far more complicated than what I am presenting here. The doctrinal changes that we will make will simply define in greater detail the above mentioned issues with a proper hermeneutical balance.
Shelly and I have been on the foreign field for six years now and are very content serving God as we are and are excited and filled with expectation for what God is doing here in Chile. Things are going extremely well. We feel, however the need to be transparent with you about our standing with Baltimore.
We have waited for God to work, we have communicated our concerns with Baltimore along with many of you however our efforts have fallen on deaf ears and chaos dominates the leadership in Baltimore. Many of our friends that love God have been marked and spoken ill of by leaders in Baltimore. Some have been accused of being “off” or “into evil”. A practice that we have seen far too often and grieves us deeply. We know these people personally and these accusations are false. Their years of sacrifice are set aside and they are black listed. In some cases students that they sent to Baltimore will not talk to their own pastors, believing the worst of those that invested and sent them there. These conditions show no sign of changing in the near future. If they do, we would be available to reconsider.
I don’t believe that this practice is as common place in the affiliate ministries. I know you all personally and many of you have supported us since we began to serve on the field. We have visited you and have had sweet fellowship. It is our prayer that this will not change. As far as we are concerned it will not. Our love for you remains firm. We make no distinction between those that continue in fellowship with Baltimore and those that do not. We think no more or less of any one. We are not bitter and will not speak evil of any one.
We are aware especially due to the strong feelings of many, that this could affect our ability to stay on the field. If you choose to not support us as a result of this change of relationship we do not judge you. We thank you for your faithfulness in supporting us over these years and sincerely wish you all the best that God has for you. Our only request is that you notify us of your intentions one way or another so that we may plan accordingly.
We are convinced that this is God’s will for us and we pray that the ministry that we have here does not suffer as a result. Already these past weeks and months have been terribly troublesome to us and have made it very difficult to remain focused on the work here. It is God we serve, not man and we accept His perfect will for us. He remains our only focus. This ministry belongs to Him and He must build and sustain it.
We will not be attending the convention in Baltimore this year and our travel to the US remains uncertain due to finances depending on the responses that we receive to this letter. As a result I cannot say for certain that we will be able to visit you this year, however if we return we will do our best to visit you if you will still have us. Our stay in the US would have to be much shorter than usual due the Bible college schedule here but we would make every effort to visit you or at least meet with you to answer any questions.
Thank you in advance for your continued friendship and your notification one way or another of your continued support. May God bless you greatly.
In Him,
Pastor Mark and Shelly Fellows
PS. I write this letter on behalf of ourselves and not on behalf of the entire ministry here in Chile. However, P. Gary, the elders and I are in agreement on these issues as the accompanying letter reveals.