Email Plea to DS to Pay Severance Due to Family's Poverty
This communication was in response to an email from UMC District Superintendent Stonbraker's email in the a.m. hours of April 16, responding to the formal complaint filed to Bishop Wm. Willimon on April 13 by the victim-employee.
Note the statement in paragraph 5, revealing the complainant's being told that DS Stonebraker and Conference Attorney Terry McElheny, knew that they were delaying the disbursement of her severance pay, while she and her family went hungry and without funds for medical needs.
from: Sharon Howarth
sharonhowarthauthor@gmail.com
sent by: autisminfonow@gmail.com
to: Mike Stonbraker
<mstonbraker@northalabamaumc.org>
date: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 4:28 PM
subject: Re: MINISTERIAL SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
COMPLAINT
mailed-by: gmail.com
Dear
Rev. Stonbraker,
I
am writing to thank you for your quick response this morning, regarding the
complaint I have filed, and your offer of an appointment in your office on
April 25th, at 1 p.m.
While
I can appreciate that the timing of this complaint has come during a very busy
time in your administratively scheduled responsibilities for the upcoming
charge conference, I nonetheless need to amplify and restate my request for
immediate redress and resolution of the following, as quoted from my letter to
Bishop Willimon:
“ 2. That the “gag order” be
removed from my resignation documents, and my severance be paid to me
immediately.
I have done nothing wrong and it has never been my intention to “make trouble.”
I want Mr. Reynolds to be held accountable and get the help he needs AND I
expect to be fairly compensated, without manipulation and retaliation, rather
than being treated as the “villain” in this scenario.”
If
you and/or the Bishop continue to move forward in investigating my other
complaints without immediate attention to the
severance manipulation issue I have formally addressed to you, I am being unnecessarily pushed
toward needing to consider what actions are available to me to take care of my
family's needs, in light of the employment harassment I am currently
experiencing.
I
unequivocally state here, that I have no desire to do anything outside of the
UMC precedents and procedures outlined. I was notified by Van Brown, New Vision
SPRC chairman, that the Florence UMC District office has been aware of the
conflict of interest regarding the attempted 'gag order' from Greg Reynolds,
for close to a week. I believe this has been adequate time for the DS and the
Florence District's legal counsel to find an appropriate and legal remediation
to the pastor’s improper and duplicitous influence of the SPRC committee’s
administration of my severance funds, so that my family and I are not unduly
and unnecessarily harmed.
In
this past week my family faced the following stress-filled and unhealthy
circumstances directly to the delays in my fairly and justly being paid the
severance that the SPRC intended me to receive:
Our
family went for extended periods of time without food, our phone lines were
shut off, I face repossession of our only car, I have needed prescription
medications that I have no means to pay for.
My
rent is now also past due, and I am in a very vulnerable
position as a member of the denomination who now has no pastoral or church
covering to properly seek benevolence assistance within the denomination I have
faithfully served for over a decade.
The
GCSRW secretary has expressed real concern about my family’s health and
security needs being compromised by the manipulations instituted by Greg
Reynold’s attempts to implement a wrongful gag order against me--in essence, he
knowingly threatened my ability to properly care for my children and disabled
husband.
I
have requested an update from Van Brown, SPRC chairman at New Vision UMC and
have not received any reply. I assume that he has not responded because his
hands are now tied, due to the district’s involvement at his request for legal
advice regarding the release.
I
have the utmost respect for the damaging nature of the sexually-charged
evidence presented in my complaint, and the need to allow the District and
Conference leadership to proceed without widespread local/regional knowledge of
the matter.
However,
my losses due to the employment harassment promulgated against me in an attempt
to elicit a cover-up must not be allowed to continue to bring harm to myself
and my family. I should not have to personally bear any further, the
consequences of Greg’s misconduct. I have suffered enough loss already, in
facing unemployment and the serious personal loss of a safe, biblically led,
environment of spiritual nurture.
By not signing the tainted
severance “release” provided by Greg Reynolds (which was reportedly prepared by
an immediate family member of the pastor rather than an attorney of unbiased
record), I have remained faithful to the UMC Book of Discipline regarding
denominationally proscribed Ministerial Sexual Ethics codes and proper
reporting of such misconduct. The result is that I have been exposed to
unfounded punitive actions for not going against biblical truth and church
discipline in refusing to be swayed by wrongful coercion.
Therefore,
as stated in my complaint, please inform me as to what actions you
and/or the Bishop will institute to immediately resolve the gag order attached
to my SPRC voted severance pay.
Please
also, respond with concrete and facilitated steps to assist me as a UMC member
in good standing who has no access to pastoral referrals and benevolence
assistance, during the delay period while your office resolves the issues
regarding my severance which was to have provided for my family
during this crisis, which I hereby remind you, I did not cause.
I
was able to get a message to my daughter and she has expressed willingness to
meet with us to answer your questions regarding her eyewitness account. She
explained that she has to teach at her job in Huntsville during the meeting
time you proposed and since she has no substitute instructor available to her,
she can’t get out of teaching her classes that day.
Trying
to meet later in the day on the 25th is not possible for
her--her daughter’s Christian elementary school doesn't have aftercare late
enough to facilitate the drive here and back to Huntsville to pick her up in
time.
Her
alternate availability would be on the prior, Tuesday, April 24th in the morning. Since she
would be driving in from Huntsville, she suggested no earlier than 10 a.m. or
Thursday the 26th at the same time.
I
await your expedited reply, while reminding you, in grace, that I have and will
continue to pray for your wisdom and guidance to all parties in this very
serious matter.
Sincerely,
Sharon
Howarth
