A Brief Defense of Pastor Brian Schwertley against the Lies, Slander and Gossip of reformedonline.org and Dr. Frank Smith: Part 4

A Brief Defense of Pastor Brian Schwertley against the Lies, Slander and Gossip of reformedonline.org and Dr. Frank Smith: Part 4

by Brian Schwertley

Part 4 Sections:

Frank Smith’s Attempt to Circumvent 1 Timothy 5:19
Fred Fleming’s and Mr. Brown’s False Accusations Regarding the Lord’s Supper Incident

Frank Smith’s Attempt to Circumvent 1 Timothy 5:19

            When the Manawa session pointed out that 1 Timothy 5:19 had not been followed by the Brown’s, Dr. Frank Smith or the CRPC Presbytery, they received the following reply from the CRPC-Am. Pres. penned by Frank Smith: “You [the Manawa session] claim that the American Presbytery [CRPC] ‘denies the validity of 1 Tim. 5:19 and Proverbs 18:13, in practice, with reference to this [Manawa] congregational presbytery [session].’ This point is rather vague as stated, and so it is rather difficult to respond to it” (January 26, 2006). This answer indicates that Dr. Frank Smith and the CRPC Presbytery knew that they had not followed 1 Timothy 5:19 and thus saw the need to side step the issue. There is nothing difficult about this passage. Either it was followed or not. If it was followed, then produce the witnesses and give the dates they met with the church court to give their evidence. (Remember, their own Book of Discipline in the case of pastors and elders requires 2 or more witnesses to submit accusations in written form; see footnote 11.) [NOTE: This is footnote 11 in the full, PDF version, S.H.]

Fred Fleming’s and Mr. Brown’s False Accusations Regarding the Lord’s Supper Incident

            One of the prominent accusations of Fred Fleming and Mr. Brown (on Mr. Fleming’s website [reformedonline.org]) against Pastor Schwertley, is that on January 1, 2006 when Mr. Fleming and Mr. Brown came to the worship service in Manawa, Rev. Schwertley blocked Fred Fleming from leaving and even physically assaulted him. These accusations are false and reveal that Mr. Fleming and Mr. Brown are willing to blatantly lie in order to attempt to damage Pastor Schwertley’s reputation.

            This is what actually occurred. On January 1, 2006 Mr. Brown and Fred Fleming arrived unexpectedly at our meeting place three minutes before public worship was supposed to begin. (The Manawa church serves communion on the first Sunday of each month. Mr. Brown had been notified recently by presbytery that they had restored him to full rights as a member in the church at Manawa because the session at Manawa had failed to follow proper procedure. Remember, Dr. Frank Smith had deliberately refused to deliver the letter from the Manawa session to Mr. Brown and then lied about it to presbytery.[1] Presbytery knew this, but apparently did not care. [Remember, they wanted Mr. Brown to be able to attend and vote at the meeting on whether the Manawa church should leave the CRPC.] The members of the Manawa session believed that Mr. Brown was there to see if the elders would serve him communion. If he was not served communion, the presbytery could add on additional charges.)

            Mr. Brown and Fred Fleming were informed upon their arrival that they were welcome to attend public worship, but Mr. Brown would not be allowed to participate in the Lord’s supper. (Keep in mind the reasons for this decision. Mr. Brown had only attended public worship twice since April 2005 and since that time had ceased tithing. In addition, he had made it clear he had no intention of attending our church or respecting the decision to discipline his wife. Moreover, twice he refused to meet with the session to discuss the false accusations that he was spreading abroad in violation of Matthew 18:15ff. and 1 Timothy 5:19 [contumacy]. Obviously, such serious violations of Scripture and Mr. Brown’s blatant rejection of his vow of church membership could not be resolved in three minutes.[2] Therefore, the Manawa session had no other biblical choice other than to withhold the table from Mr. Brown. [Mr. Fleming was not ever a member and already knew he would not be served.] In addition, the presbytery’s decision to reject Manawa’s removal of the Brown’s from church membership was based on Frank Smith’s deliberate deceptions with regard to hand delivering the letter. If the session had served the Lord’s supper to a man so involved in serious unrepentant sinful behavior, they would have been guilty of sin themselves.)

            After Mr. Brown was informed of the session’s decision, Mr. Fleming began repeating insults and accusations against Rev. Schwertley in a very loud voice, so everyone in the church could hear it (e.g., “You are a liar!”). Mr. Fleming was repeatedly asked to keep his voice down. Mr. Fleming continued his loud disruptive behavior and consequently Mr. Fleming and Mr. Brown were asked to leave. After not heeding repeated requests to leave, Rev. Schwertley gently placed his hand on Mr. Fleming’s shoulder and said it was time to leave. Mr. Fleming immediately responded by grabbing the front of Pastor Schwertley’s shirt and shoving him against a wall. (Because of Mr. Fleming’s obnoxious behavior public worship was delayed for at least 15 minutes.) Finally, after the Manawa elders said it was time to call the police, Mr. Brown convinced Mr. Fleming to leave. At no time did Rev. Schwertley block the front door or “grab” Mr. Fleming. If anyone doubts this account of the events, they are welcome to call Elder Tauts who was standing about three feet away the whole time (715-445-2535) and saw everything.

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[1] The habitual dishonesty of Dr. Frank Smith was further demonstrated in the witness lists he produced for the charges against Pastor Schwertley. Included in these lists were a number of people who believed that Rev. Schwertley had done nothing wrong whatsoever and were still attending the Manawa church. There were also people listed who had witnessed nothing (e.g., a person living in Pennsylvania at the time these events supposedly occurred). The point of the fraudulent charges and witness lists was to make it appear that the case against Rev. Schwertley was strong, when most of it was nothing more than gossip and slander from a few disgruntled ex-church members. Remember, two independent eye witnesses must be produced to support a charge against a pastor. The eye witnesses are to be interrogated and checked out before charges are brought. If witnesses are found to be inconsistent, or they have changed their story or if they are walking disorderly, their testimony is not to be accepted. The Manawa session can prove that Mr. Brown has changed his story and lied on a number of occasions. Further, the Manawa session (as a set church policy) does not allow someone who has stopped tithing and attending church, who has openly rejected the authority of the session to bring charges against anyone. The mote must be removed by repenting first. The fact that the Brown’s were living in open rebellion against their covenant of church membership and were repeatedly violating Matthew 18:15ff. and 1 Timothy 5:19 did not seem to bother Dr. Frank Smith and the CRPC at all. Why? Because they were not really interested in the Brown’s spiritual welfare, or in justice, or in arriving at the truth. They were interested in maintaining power and getting revenge against Rev. Schwertley for leaving the denomination. (How can we come to any other conclusions when all of the Brown’s sinful activities and violations of Scripture were not only ignored, but Manawa was ordered to serve them communion—which we [in obedience to the explicit teaching of Scripture] rightly refused to do?)

[2] Some of the vows Mr. Brown took publicly and signed in the Manawa church that the elders would have needed to discuss with him before he could be restored to membership and receive communion are as follows: “Do you promise that you will endeavor to forsake all sin and conform your life to His teaching and example? Do you promise to tithe to this church as a practical expression of the Lord’s dominion in your life and of your desire for the dominion of this church in the world? Do you promise to avoid the terrible sin of schism, which is an abomination to God (Proverbs 6:16, 19) by specifically doing the following: To abide by the three-step procedure found in Matthew 18:15-17 when offended by others? Avoiding backbiting and tale bearing either in public or private practice and conversation? Do you promise to avoid the terrible sin of schism by avoiding the following practices: Encouraging or developing ‘party spirit’ by gathering prior witnesses against a member of the church without having first admonished them in private as Matthew 18:15 specifies? Tale bearing and gossip, which reveals secrets in preference to withholding knowledge concerning the weakness of your brethren (Proverbs 11:13)? Exhibiting a disorderly spirit, which is given to meddling? Acting as a self-appointed judge in matters not directly your own? Refusing honest reproof? Being ‘impatiently angry’ (Proverbs 14:17) as a constant character trait? Being a witness against your brethren without a cause (Proverbs 24:28)? Exposing the name of the Lord, His church, or the good name of your brother to defamation, public or private? Do you promise to submit yourself to the government of this church (Hebrews 13:17) by specifically doing the following: Esteeming the officers of the church highly in love for their work’s sake? Count the elders worthy of double honor and receive any accusation against an elder only upon the testimony of two or three witnesses concurring in church court (1 Timothy 5:19-20)? Bring any controversy regarding the Scriptures or the subordinate standards to the officers [of this congregation] for clarification rather than to discuss disagreements among members [and those outside the congregation]?” (From the Covenant of Church Membership for Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Church, Manawa, Wisconsin)

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