December 9, 2024
Brandon Law
Moyie Springs, Idaho
brandonthelaw@gmail.com
(208) 946-1032Jim Micheff
President
Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
5801 W. Michigan Ave.
Lansing, MI 48917
jmicheff@misda.org
(517) 316-1500Dear Elder Micheff,
I am writing to express my disappointment with your treatment of Dr. Conrad Vine and Pr. Ron Kelly at Village Church. I understand that as I am not a constituent of your conference, you will likely discount my opinion as irrelevant.
However, as a committed born-into-and-raised-within-member of this world church—who still believes that despite its flaws (including human leaders) it is the Remnant Bride of Christ, I encourage you to consider this message as a broadly representative appeal on behalf of the Spirit-led ministries of both Dr. Vine and Pr. Kelly. It is becoming increasingly evident you have revivified the issues they identified and elevated the prominence of their ministries by your attempts to silence them.
I am a member of my local congregation (Bonners Ferry), and currently serve as Elder, Pathfinder Director, Junior Class Sabbath School Teacher, and Religious Liberty Leader, and as a member of the Bylaws Committee of Upper Columbia Conference.
During the alarming time of the pandemic, I faced a dilemma where I was forced to choose between my calling of 16 years and an elective medical intervention of dubious efficacy which I did not need nor require. Never before had my employer changed the terms of our employment relationship by prescribing mandatory medical treatments and my church piled on by attempting to rip the moral framework out from under my sincerely-held religious beliefs. A personal medical treatment decision is an issue about which reasonable people of good faith may disagree, but the acceptance or rejection of experimental medical treatments should remain a personal choice, never a compulsion by an employer who threatens termination for opting out.
As I walked through this dark valley, torn between what I believed to be conviction by God, and the reality of continuing in service to my community and provision for the needs of my family, there were two bright lights of leadership within our church who stood for the liberty of conscience of individual believers before God, despite the professional consequences they faced. I tuned in regularly to hear Dr. Vine’s and Pr. Kelly’s sermons, which encouraged believers to follow God rather than men, that our salvation comes from a direct approach and willingness to listen to God speaking to us individually rather than through any earthly—dare I say church hierarchical—body. Isn’t this message a distillation of the Protestant Reformation, which our denomination often rightly points to as the theological underpinnings of our movement?
Shortly thereafter, I composed an exemption request based on my sincerely-held religious beliefs related to the compelled medical treatment. Despite my temporal concerns for my career and my family, I relished the opportunity to tell my personal testimony of how I believed one of the ways I worship God is by taking care of the body He created. This belief is consistent with our health message teachings. Notably, I left out the fact of my affiliation with our denomination, because I had heard the statement already published by church leadership was leading to denials of exemption requests by employers. And this necessary omission deeply pained me.
In addition to submitting my exemption request, I joined an organization which filed a lawsuit and eventually secured a nationwide injunction against the mandate I was facing.
In the meantime—as I prayed about and considered how to provide for my family if I were terminated from my tenured career—I recalled I had earned a law degree many years before but had never taken the Bar Exam. So, in addition to my full-time job, I studied four hours a night, six nights a week for three months, and passed the bar in 2022 by God’s grace. I immediately sought ways to advocate for and defend those facing similar termination from employers for faithfully adhering to their religious beliefs during the pandemic. And God has provided ample opportunities for me to do so, including presenting on this topic at the 30th Annual Pacific Union Adventist Attorney’s Association Conference in Tucson, Arizona, last month.
I will continue to encourage dialogue with and repentance by church leadership for their unfortunate positions taken on this crucial matter of religious liberty. And I will continue to advocate for liberty of conscience on this topic in whatever positions God calls me to. I will share this letter as widely as possible on social media and with the Michigan Conference Executive Committee.
I plead with you to repent in humility from the course you are on and cease your persecution of these righteous men. Your continued efforts against Dr. Vine and Pr. Kelly are a distraction from our calling to share the Everlasting Gospel with the world.
Your duty now is to offer a full apology to Dr. Vine and Pr. Kelly, humbly repent before God, and resign from your position.
If you will grant me the courtesy of dialogue, I may be contacted by my cell phone or email listed above.
Your Humble Servant and Brother in Christ,
/s/ Brandon Law
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Commentary
None needed, this excellent letter speaks for itself.
“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling” (Isaiah 30:15).