![]() That pastor, Bryan Pickering, wrote a statement that was read to the congregation Sunday, July 11 stating, “I have seen several congregants (current and former), elders (current and former), and a former administrative assistant profoundly mistreated by elders in various ways. He gave no public explanation for his departure, but an 1,800-word article by Julie Roys attributes the exodus to a church culture that one other departing pastor described as “domineering,” “bullying,” and responsible for other “damaging behavior.” Meyer, resigned last week, even though his biography remains on the church’s website. Now, Meyer is part of a growing exodus of leaders and members leaving Bethlehem, a church with some 4,500 members on three campuses which is seen as a flagship church in Converge, formerly the Baptist General Conference. Meyer’s most recent title was pastor for preaching & vision at Bethlehem’s downtown campus. ![]() He now serves as pastor emeritus of the church and chancellor of the college and seminary. ![]() Piper had served the church for three decades. The congregation voted 784 to 4 to elect Meyer, and Piper stepped down as senior pastor one year later. Jason Meyer, a graduate of the church’s Bethlehem College and Seminary, was a leading choice, even though, as he later told Leadership Journal, the responsibility seemed too big to bear. ![]()
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