Rev. Dr. Odinga Lawrence Maddox,I must think that he is a dictator with all power over every aspect of Mt. Hope Church members. The last time I checked, this was still the United States of America and every person has the right of free speech. Who gave him the authority to determine when a church member can speak while in attendance at a church meeting, when that person has not done anything "wrong". I understand that there is a discipline that the A.M.E. Zion Denomination adheres to in terms of practices and procedures. However, the discipline is not arbitrary and no pastor is able to use descretionary power to punish a church member simply because the pastor does not like what that member has done. If church members know, first hand that wrong-doing has and is taking place in a church, I believe that it is that member's christian and moral duty to do his/her best to have the situation stopped. Since we are supposed to be serving GOD; I believe that this is what our Lord & Savior would most certainly want. One shouldn't keep silent since he/she then becomes a culprit the same as the wrong-doer; whether it is the Pastor or anyone else in the church!
The reason for this post is to inform you that I, Glover Davis, Jr., received a letter from the Mt. Hope Church office. The letter was from the Rev. Dr. Odinga Lawrence Maddox,I (the pastor of Mt Hope Church). I will not transcript the wording per se at this time but will simply give you the most relavent quotes: "I, herewith, by the power invested in me as pastor of Mount Hope remove your name from the membership roll and along with all the rights and priviledges of a member forthwith. You are being asked to return any and all property, e.g., keys and/or records to Mount Hope immediately".
Sincerely,
Odinga Lawrence Maddox,I
Pastor
cc: Dr. Cynthia Willis Stewart
Presiding Elder, Westchester District
Brother John Williams, Chairman, Steward Board
Sister Marie Baxter, Pastor's Steward
This is the end of Pastor Maddox's letter
The full text of the letter will be scanned into this site by tomorrow so that you may see for yourself the pityfull, non-sensical and untrue rationale that he came up with. For those of you who might be in this site for the first time, you will need to read the previous postings by me, as well as the comments to the various postings, to get a partial idea of what this vengance campaign is about by this "man of GOD". Under no circumstances would one of GOD's chosen behave as he has behaved over the past 3 to 4 year. If this kind of behavior is what GOD would have for his preachers of the gospel and those who minister to his flock, then some of us must be worshipping and serving the "wrong god".
I don't believe this to be the case, so I will pursue a course of justice that will seek to right this igregous wrong that the pastor is trying to perpetrate. Unfortunately, the Presiding Elder, Dr. Cynthia Willis Stewart, has done absolutely nothing to correct the sorry situation that has prevailed at Mt. Hope Church for way to long. Exactly what is the role of presiding elders and bishops? I always believed that they were the people who would look out for the welfare of the churches under their charge and to monitor and supervise the effectiveness of the ministers and the presiding elders (in the case of the bishops).
I will not include Bishop George W. Battle in this yet as I am not sure that he has been made aware of the total situation, even at this point. I don't know him at all but I find it impossible to believe that he would know about the situation at Mt. Hope Church and choose to do absolutely nothing about it. I truly don't believe that he is a callous person who wouldn't take his position in the church's heirarchy extremely serious. GOD I pray that i'm correct, otherwise heaven help Mt. Hope A.M.E. Zion Church.
As a note of interest, please check Sunday's edition of the journal News - main section, page 10A at the bottom of the page. This is a plea for all to take note of the plight of Mt. Hope Church and keep themselves abreast of developments as they occur.
I pray that GOD will continue to give me courage to do what I know in my heart is right(I am not alone in this belief as numerous others are also; they just are not willing to put themselves out the way that I do - God bless each and everyone of them that at least have had the right thought about the situation).
Glover Davis - 40-year member of Mt. Hope A.M.E. Zion Church.
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Oh, by the way, I firmly believe that it was The Rev Gregory R. Smith (and not The Rev. Ralph W. Gullette - as has been stated incorrectly by Rev. Dr. Odinga Lawrence Maddo,I over the past couple of weeks) whose vision was to have housing developed on the Mt. Hope A.M.E. Zion Church property.
I do not bring up this point because I am "a groupy" of Rev. Smith, but simply as a point of fact. It was under Rev. Smith's charge that the plans were developed in 1992/1993 and even displayed in the vestibule of the church until a few years after Rev. Smith had moved on during 1993.
I feel that we should even give the devil his due if it is warranted, no matter how you feel about a person. If that person did actually do something, you can't undue that deed by simply omitting his/her name. The truth is the truth! If one didn't know the history of Mt. Hope Church, you would be led to believe that Rev. Maddox actually took over the pastorate of Mt. Hope Church from Rev. Gullette (wrong!!!).
THIS BLOG IS SEEMINGLY THE RANTS & RAVES OF ONE IN NEED OF HELP. PLEASE SEEK THAT. DON'T BOTHER TO RESPOND, AS I HAVE FOUND IT UNNECESSARY TO RETURN TO THIS SITE. JUST WISH YOU WELL... MENTALLY.
May God bless the church you seek to destroy.
To"anonymous said"
Surely someone is ranting & raving and guess who it is; you! When someone post a message or sends an e-mail in all capital letters, everyone who knows that this person is angry, screaming, ranting & raving. I won't comment on your mental state of mind as I am not qualified to do so. Maybe you can give me your office number for your psychotherapy practice and I will make an appointment for analysis. Of course I am willing to pay because you should not have to offer your professional advice for free!!!!
How about this; May GOD bless the church that is being destroyed. What are you, the christian saint doing about having the church be what GOD would want it to be. Please search your soul so that you may find the moral courage to do what is right. It is very easy to determine what is right but extremely hard to do so, for most people.
May GOD also bless you in spite of your shortcomings.
Mr. Glover Davis has a personal vendetta against Rev. Maddox. I think that it is a shame and a disgrace to have a so called Christian maligning the name of the pastor in charge. Your threats and display of anger about the situation at Mt. Hope shows me you think you should be in charge Mr. Davis. Get on your knees and start praying.
"anonymous said"
You have yet to address how any of what I said is not true and you know why? Because all of it is actually true and you may or may not know it. However, others in the church definitely know it to be the truth. Your defense of the pastor is noble but very misguided.
Furthermore, GOD knows this to be true. Continue to attack me for telling the truth if you wish but it does not make you say so. I hope one day you will be able to see things for what they are and not be blinded by your devotion to the pastor; that will not get you into GOD's kingdom. However, it will definitely get you some "brownie" points with the pastor.
Who do you worship; The pastor or GOD almighty???
Incidently, I don't take kindly to those that are supposed to minister to us showing malice and disregard for someone who points out the truth in a situation; afterall I thought at least church is where the truth had a better chance of being told. If the truth hurts, to bad for the wrongdoers; especially if they are supposed to be called by GOD to spread his word and show the way to the kingdom. You are right, I don't care for the pastor's behavior at all over the last 5 or six years!!
Addendum to response to "anonymous said"
The first sentence of the second paragraph sould have stated ....it does not make what you so to be so; instead of ....."it does not make you say so"
My apology for being a tad careless.
Well Mr Davis, I was shocked to see these issues aired out in the public but I guess you had no choice. I am a former member of St. Catherine A.M.E. Zion Church and now a Baptist deacon. I have always admired the setup of the A.M.E. Zion Church (pastor, presiding elder, bishop)but everyone has to be on one accord for the betterment of God's church. You being a trustee, the way you have spelled out the problems of Mount Hope, it seems like you know what you are talking about! Do you have any physical proof (papers, bank statements, etc? Is there anyone at the church willing to help you that can be trusted? I know the presiding elder from my days at St Catherine. She had me removed as Pastor's Steward because I missed 2 quarterly conferences due to my job despite written explanations and my paperwork submitted. No chance to hear me out but I am not bitter because God put me in a better situation. Church should be about our Father's business not about just personal gain! I do not know Bishop Battle personally but I suggest that you, the pastor, the presiding elder and the bishop get together this week at the Annual Conference and lay it all out on the table before Sunday. I will be there Sunday for the appointments and if the Bishop chooses Rev Maddox to remain at Mount Hope, I suggest you pray to God and let it go. Thy will be done! In His own time will He make the judgement about Mt Hope. I do remember when Mt Hope had a thriving congregation and the last time I visited, I was taken aback by the attendance. You have fought your fight, now its time to leave it at the altar and let God carry the burden! May God bless you and may God bless His church! By the way, all of those anonymous people need to stop hiding behind the word anonymous and make themsleves known. God knows who you are!
"deacon scott said"
Deacon Scott, I very much appreciate seeing your comments on the sight. I feel like i'm in this struggle alone (except for GOD) but you know what I mean.
You are 100% right about the "anonymous" persons, please have the guts to identify who you are and also try and refute my information if you can.
Its good that you saw for yourself the awful attendance that Mt. Hope Church has since you were actually there in attendance at least on one Sunday. The situation is so depressing and its hard to leave it alone when you know with the right person leading, it could get better.
You really seem to be a good man and tried to stay above the flap at St. Catherine Church. And I commend you for that, but it was the Presiding Elder who removed you from the Pastor's Steward position (in my opinion, that was wrong) and you didn't have to sit in her presence every Sunday and all meetings and etc. like with Pastor Maddox.
I am not as good a man as you in that regard. It is just not in me to accept this state of affairs for our once thriving church. Please read the first postings of my letter to the members and to the Presiding Elder, which are just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more, our church needs help and the Bishop needs to act in the best interest of our church on Sunday!
In reference to having written information, I obviously can't get to the improper documents and etc. but these things I know for a fact; believe me when I say this and I am 100% willing to have my contentions challenged!!! However, to prove them, the church's financial records must be made available. I challenge those that are have control of the records to make them available so they can refute what I have said. Please accept my challenge since the financial records of the church should be open to any member if they wish to see them!
Glover W. Davis
Re: all of those anonymous people need to stop hiding behind the word anonymous and make themselves known. God knows who you are!
Its funny how a word from a man of God can convict you in your spirit...God Bless you Deacon Scott.
I refer to my self as a prophet because of the visions that I have been blessed with.
The Dictionary interoperation of a prophet is:
1. somebody who interprets divine will: somebody who interprets or passes on the will of a deity
2. somebody predicting the future: somebody who foretells the future
3. advocate of something: somebody who advocates a cause or idea
4. somebody who is inspired: somebody considered to be an inspired leader or teacher
The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words states that a prophet is:
English Word; inspired man, to speak by inspiration, foreteller
After reading your post I realized I need to stand on what the word of God says and stand in my calling.
I do not have a church home, but was a member of Mt Hope in my youth. Needless to say when I returned to Mt Hope, after my wilderness experience (all praise to the Lord) I could not believe the manipulative behavior that was taking place. I was inform that I should give at least $6,000.00 a year in tithes alone. Instead of being embraced with the love of the Lord. I felt as if I was being pick pocketed.
While attending bible study, I was in form that suicide was not a sin. The leader use the metaphor of someone that was close to death as an example. Needless to say my spirit was not at rest in my Fathers house. When Mary ask Jesus where He had been, he told her He was handling Him Fathers business and I am all about building the Kingdom of God not man. I did not want to post my name in respect to my family. I know first hand the attack going on in Mt Hope. If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything. I realize that I am putting my self in the line of fire, but for God I live and for God I will die. Saying this I have set the wheel of satin in motion but as the word of God says no weapon form against me shall prosper. So saints of the living God it is time to get on the battle field and let God arise and his enemies be scattered. I continue in prayer that the will of God be done, not just in Mt. Hope but all of His Kingdom.
Acts 15:16-18
16" 'After this I will return
and rebuild David's fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things
18that have been known for ages.
God Bless
John Eric Clinton
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