Email Evidence

Email Evidence of Complainant's Concerns in Correspondence with GCSRW - UMC Ethics Contact

Exact copy and paste records from emails -- statements indicate victim-employee's concerns about reprisal, retaliation, job-loss, harassment.

Responses from Darryl Stephens, Assistant General Secretary for Advocacy and Sexual Ethics
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, The United Methodist Church, indicate his concern for the victim-employee and the potential for harm to this individual and their family members.

from:	Sharon Howarth autisminfonow@gmail.com
to:	Darryl Stephens <dstephens@gcsrw.org>
date:	Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:10 PM
subject:	Sharon Howarth Urgent follow-up to phone call
mailed-by:	gmail.com

Dear Mr Stephens,

Thank you for the time you spent today in our phone conversation.

I am struggling with deciding how to best approach the DS with whom I've never had any appreciable contact.

One of our own congregational members is his long-standing secretary-- her presence and potential involvement, I believe, further hampers or could compromise completely my sense of anonymity and safety  in dealing with the DS directly on this matter.

Put simply, I feel certain that there is the strong potential of harm to myself or to that congregational member in my openly presenting myself and my needs in Mike Stonebreaker's district office, as we discussed earlier today.

If I attempt to get to him through initial phone contact to arrange an appointment, I also fear there is potential for manipulation i.e., making it necessary for me to just show up in the office without prior notice in order to assure that there isn't some 'covert' warning given to Pastor Greg. Without a third party present as an advocate and witness to accompany me, I do not feel safe enough in attending an unwitnessed/undocumented meeting which could possibly include Greg Reynolds. That particular outcome, would not only indicate a serious compromise in the ethical processing of my pending sexual harrassment and misconduct complaints, but would also constitute a tangible further threat to my position as a victimized woman in such a transaction. 

Thus, my position regarding the above outlined risks that I have identified means that I am at this point rendered incapable of managing a meeting to try to self-advocate for a solution to my concerns around the manipulations surrounding my severance pay which was due to be tendered today. 

I understand that I might seem unduly paranoid or worried about these barriers to equitable and just communications with my DS, but I truly believe that my concerns are not unfounded in this matter. I am also confident that I would not be the first female (lay or clergy) in similar circumstances to raise such concerns about anonymity and potential for harm.

Do you think it would be possible for your office to refer me to the North Alabama Bishop's office in lieu of walking blindly into the powder keg scenario I've just described? 

I certainly need to take some tangible and immediate action toward protesting the misconduct surrounding my severance pay, including the transparently blatant duress tactics to compel me to accept a 'gag-order' in exchange for my ability to take care of my family's basic survival needs from the severance that was promised to me.

Please advise me as soon as possible regarding your response to these queries...

Sincerely, 

from:	Darryl Stephens dstephens@gcsrw.org
to:	Sharon Howarth <autisminfonow@gmail.com>
cc:	Garlinda Burton <gburton@gcsrw.org>
date:	Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:29 PM
subject:	RE: Sharon Howarth Urgent follow-up to phone call

Sharon,
I think you are wise to anticipate these possible difficulties. I encourage you to wait until you've spoken to Garlinda before attempting to meet with the DS, for all of the reasons you mention. Please text her and she will respond as soon as she is able when she returns to work tomorrow. Garlinda's cell is XXX-XXX-XXXX.

In the meantime, I am making inquiries within the N. AL conference Ministerial Integrity Committee, which includes trained advocates for complainants. Either I or Garlinda will connect you with an advocate in your conference as soon as we have located someone who can function in this trusted capacity. We will not divulge your identity or details of your case to anyone in your conference; it will be up to you to make this contact once we have located someone willing to serve you.

Continued prayers,
Darryl

Darryl W. Stephens
Assistant General Secretary for Advocacy and Sexual Ethics
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women
The United Methodist Church

77 W. Washington Street, Suite 1009
Chicago, IL  60602
312-346-4900 Office
www.gcsrw.org
www.umsexualethics.org

from:	Sharon Howarth autisminfonow@gmail.com
to:	Darryl Stephens <dstephens@gcsrw.org>
date:	Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:49 PM
subject:	Re: Sharon Howarth Urgent follow-up to phone call
mailed-by:	gmail.com

Yes, thanks Darryl for your suggestions regarding delaying my meetings with the DS.

I have prayed and considered all the possible outcomes and though I am angry and financially vulnerable, I agree that waiting until tomorrow's discussion with Garlinda  (and in the near future, hopefully armed with an advocate to approach my just concerns at the local/regional level) is the way to proceed. It's just very hard to reconcile myself to the potential of additional loss in my ability to procure the most basic needs for our family at this juncture point.

I also think I should continue to pursue legal representation. From your side at GCSRW, would my obtaining legal counsel for my own position preclude your continued involvement? I am not currently considering litigation, just trying to secure an awareness of my legal rights pursuant to both civil and criminal codes in my state, EEOC statutory regulations. and ADA Civil Rights issues regarding my cognitive disabilities.

I don't anticipate that my obtaining legal counsel would sever your advocacy role, but wanted to visit that issue with you.

One additional note: I would be remiss in not disclosing to you and any others responsible to investigate or mediate this matter, that I truly believe I have been a particularly easy victim of the manipulations and compromised boundaries I have suffered under, due to my autism diagnosis and the resulting social/spiritual naiveté I demonstrated in placing my trust in Greg Reynolds' promised leadership and spiritual counsel in my life.

It is profoundly disturbing to me to find that I have wrongly invested trust, time and service into what I thought was a functional and safe professional relationship, only to realize that I have been used and controlled by someone who viewed me as nothing more than a ready resource and pawn in their power-brokered design for personal achievement.

Thanks so much, 

Sharon Howarth

from:	Darryl Stephens dstephens@gcsrw.org
to:	Sharon Howarth <autisminfonow@gmail.com>
cc:	Garlinda Burton <gburton@gcsrw.org>
date:	Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 2:04 PM
subject:	RE: Sharon Howarth Urgent follow-up to phone call

Sharon,

I encourage you to find the resources and persons you need to help you protect the best interests of you and your family. GCSRW has no investigative function, no official role in the conference's response to complaints of misconduct, and no role in encouraging or deterring you from seeking legal counsel. We are simply here to provide support and encouragement for you as a complainant, to connect you with an advocate in your own conference, and to advocate for fair process in church proceedings. In short, we seek to bring about the best approximation of justice for you in this situation.

I do not think that GCSRW's work conflicts with your seeking legal counsel, and I do not think that your seeking legal counsel would conflict with GCSRW's work.

Furthermore, your perceived vulnerability and trust in your pastor is not to blame. It is always the pastor's responsibility to maintain appropriate boundaries and to maintain a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of congregants.

Peace,

Darryl

Darryl W. Stephens
Assistant General Secretary for Advocacy and Sexual Ethics
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women
The United Methodist Church

77 W. Washington Street, Suite 1009
Chicago, IL  60602
312-346-4900 Office
www.gcsrw.org
www.umsexualethics.org


___________________________________________________________________

Initial contact emails -- referral links from GCSRW and discussion about appropriate contacts for advocacy for victim-employee.

from:	Darryl Stephens dstephens@gcsrw.org
to:	autisminfonow@gmail.com
date:	Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 2:08 PM
subject:	web links

Sharon,

Here are the page links I mentioned to you:

http://umsexualethics.org/VictimSurvivor/Encouragement.aspx

http://umsexualethics.org/VictimSurvivor/FilingaComplaint.aspx

Peace,
Darryl

Darryl W. Stephens
Assistant General Secretary for Advocacy and Sexual Ethics
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women
The United Methodist Church

77 W. Washington Street, Suite 1009
Chicago, IL  60602
312-346-4900 Office
www.gcsrw.org
www.umsexualethics.org

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon Howarth [mailto:autisminfonow@gmail.com]

Sent: Wed 1/11/2012 11:35 AM

To: Darryl Stephens

Subject: Re: web links

Thank you Darryl for the info on the articles-- please understand that this is difficult for me.

I need two weeks before I can speak with you again-- there are several reasons for this-- I am going through a period of extreme financial crisis, compounded most recently by my current church having bounced my December27th paycheck! They have made restitution--however, this latest oversight is just another indicator of my low status in that professional setting.

I need also to disclose that I am recovering from a brain injury which occurred in 10/09 and then I reinjured myself in early 2011 with an accidental head injury which resulted in a fall with multiple fractures of my wrist requiring reconstructive surgery. I lead worship at the piano!

Consequently, everything takes me longer now with my cognitive processing challenges and my wrist issues that I am still walking out.

I will read the articles you linked (I suspect I may already have read one of them!) and will write my statement to you as soon as I possibly can.

I do want to disclose one additional part of my life that will help you to understand where I currently stand as a member of the UMC denomination and as a woman working for a UMC congregation.

Due to my husband's disability issues, I was a* tri-vocational* ministerial staff as worship leader for most of the eleven years I have served in this district. Notably, I have never seen any female worship leaders paid what would be considered a living wage, as compared to the average $40-60k salaries that pastors are apportioned here, so I always had to work a total of at least 3 jobs in order to serve in the local UMC congregations here.

During my service here in Alabama, my taxable earnings have never been above the federal poverty guidelines.

Since my brain injury and then, the wrist fractures (due to my residual balance and coordination problems after the brain injury), I had to resign from my University of North Alabama keyboard accompanist position, my music teaching position and my second church worship appointment that I maintained from 2005-May of 2010.

These vocational losses have greatly affected both our family security andmy stress level (in addition to my husband's autism issues, we are supporting and caring for 3 autistic sons, 20, 17 and 13 years of age) and we are currently facing eviction. I just received certified notification of this action while composing this email to you.

It is not hard to understand then, why my low-income status and vulnerability due of my family's extreme dependency on my income is, in part, why I have felt so ensnared in the manipulation and co-dependent leadership issues involved in keeping a covenant of silence regarding Brother Greg's sexual improprieties.

Because my children and family depended on my $1000 per month stipend that my current appointment had been paying me, I have been under the pressure of tolerating behaviors that I wouldn't previously have accepted in the workplace. I am ashamed that I allowed myself to dwell silently for so long in such a victim stance, without seeing myself better empowered to resolve my conflict with this pastor.

I did ask the pastor in April of 2010 for any UMC referrals that he could make which might assist me in attaining domestic missions affiliation in order to better support my call to serve in contemporary worship development in our UMC district.

Specifically, since I had shown loyalty of service and commitment by choosing to serve in the congregation he pastored (when circumstances forced me to choose between two churches), I reasonably expected some professional support in his actions toward making brief inquiries and introductions at the denominational level. It is noteworthy to understand that I also took his congregational worship position at a cut in pay.

My request for his assistance was a direct result of my need to investigate the potential of becoming credentialed to serve missionally and thereby develop my own support in order to serve in that inner-city neighborhood church congregation without the undue burden of maintaining multiple jobs.

Those heartfelt pleas for support and assistance went completely unanswered. Sadly, I now understand that my relationship with this pastor has never been about anything other than *his* needs getting met.

I feel tremendously demeaned in having been used in this manner.

That said, now you can better appreciate the serious circumstances I find myself in and I must work in these next two weeks for my family's survival and create with God's help and direction, some future plans for more stable income support for us.

I guess that without originally intending such, this email really constitutes an addendum to my actual incident report/statement, documenting the context of my duress and dependency in the highly manipulated and damaging pastoral/worship leader relationship that I have endured since June of 2009.

Therefore, please include this email letter as part of that statement.

Your prayers would be so greatly appreciated. I will welcome any email responses you wish to make until we can set a phone appointment.

I will continue to move forward in pursuing God's will in this matter and plan to send my statement to you in two weeks.

Thank you so much for your help so far. The knowledge of the GCSRW's existence and support has meant so much to me already as I try to discern the path that God is lighting for me to follow both in ministry direction and on my family's behalf.

Sincerely,

Sharon Howarth

from:	Darryl Stephens dstephens@gcsrw.org
to:	Sharon Howarth <autisminfonow@gmail.com>
date:	Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 11:40 AM
subject:	RE: web links

Sharon,

I will keep you in my prayers. When you are able, please let me know when you'd like to schedule another phone conversation. In the meantime, may I share this email with my supervisor, Garlinda Burton, who also provides direct advocacy for survivors of sexual abuse and harassment in the church?

Peace,
Darryl

Darryl W. Stephens
Assistant General Secretary for Advocacy and Sexual Ethics
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women
The United Methodist Church

77 W. Washington Street, Suite 1009
Chicago, IL  60602
312-346-4900 Office
www.gcsrw.org
www.umsexualethics.org