Erwin McManus and the "low morale" of the Church on Brady

The truth "emerges."

In my previous post "Revisiting Erwin McManus' Revisionist History, Part 2" http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2008/01/revisiting-erwin-mcmanus-revisionist_26.html I included this direct quote from Erwin McManus:

mosaic experiment

From: erwin

Comments

several of your comments or questions ask for a bit of our story. mosaic is over 50 years old. born out of s.b.c.roots we are still affiliated. church had many great features when i came 10 years ago, yet faced some real crisis. it had been stuck at 500(adults and children- about 300 adults) and had been declining for 4 years. they were in about $1,000,000 debt, deficit of nearly $90,000 and a little more than a thousand dollars in the bank. low morale was no small contributor to the situation.

Source: Online discussion with Erwin McManus on his book, "An Unstoppable Force," 2002 http://easumbandy.com/fileadmin/community/Coaching_Seminar_Archive_Files/Erwin_McManus_062002-An_Unstoppable_Force.pdf

This is an article in The Presbyterian Outlook dated October 10, 2003.

[To my readers: Please follow the link and read the entire article.]

Leader of Mosaic says he almost tore his church apart to make it successful,

By Leslie Scanlon, Outlook National Reporter, http://www.pres-outlook.com/HTML/mosaic101003.html,

The above link is now broken. Here is a new one:
http://www.pres-outlook.com/html/mosaic101003.html
(YW, May 11, 2008)

Sorry, once again the link has been broken. To access this story, please go to http://www.pres-outlook.com/index.php and search for Erwin McManus. (YW, May 21, 2008)

[Unless otherwise noted, the following quotes are from this article:]

PORTLAND — It sounds like a success story now: a young, growing, multicultural congregation in Los Angeles that’s reaching all kinds of people for Jesus. But there was a time in that Mosaic ministry when people were so upset, when there was so much change and conflict, that Erwin McManus couldn’t sleep and he gained 30 pounds and his right eye twitched uncontrollably for a year from the stress. On Sundays he used to sit in his car outside the worship service, unable to bring himself to get out, until an elder would come and bang on the car window and insist that he stand up and preach, saying, "Erwin, it’s time. The music’s almost over."What McManus was doing then — putting into play the same convictions about ministry and about what’s right that’s made Mosaic grow and that people now are trying to copy — actually was making his church smaller. People were leaving because they didn’t like what he was doing. McManus is loud and forceful and not too politic, he skips the shirt and tie and wants a church that’s apostolic and prophetic — that has the zeal and the can’t-stop it fire for God that the first-century apostles had. He thinks a pastor should be a revolutionary, reaching out to tell the world about Jesus, not a nurturer of church institutions and property and the people who are already there.

When reporters and book authors quote Erwin about the "low morale" and "falling attendance" of the Church on Brady/Mosaic, are they aware of the fact that most of this ocurred AFTER his succession as pastor? The paragraph above implies that people left because "they didn't like what he was doing." While this may be partially true, what is conveniently missing from this statement is the fact that Erwin McManus also "invited" people who disagreed with him to LEAVE THE CHURCH during his address at the June 27, 1997 "Believe the Impossible" fundraiser at Union Station!

Several ex-members of Mosaic has since labeled this fundraiser the "Believe or Leave" campaign.

"He thinks a pastor should be a revolutionary, reaching out to tell the world about Jesus, not a nurturer of church institutions and property and the people who are already there."

If Erwin felt this way about being a pastor, then why did he agree to become the pastor of the Church on Brady in the first place? Doesn't this statement imply that he did the congregation a grave disservice by agreeing to become their pastor?

He talked about selling the church property as a witness to New Testament values, sending so many people off to do mission work there’s no one left to come to worship, worshiping in different places in different ways — the people stay where they already are, the pastor drives around.

What does Erwin mean when he says "selling the church property" would be a witness to New Testament values? How does this fit in with the "Believe the Impossible" capital fundraiser which raised approximately $700,000 towards the PURCHASE OF A NEW BUILDING?

Since Erwin knew the Church on Brady was already a well-known and highly commended church in the area of foreign missions why did this become a problem after he assumed command?

In the next two paragraphs of this article Erwin goes on to complain about the "welcome part" of the church service and how it was actually "unwelcoming" to visitors. As a former member, I don't recall any complaints made about this part of the service but I do remember that many visitors often complimented the Church on Brady for it's friendly atmosphere.

In fact, here is an excerpt from a post dating back to December 7, 2004 in "A Voice of Hope" written by "Lu" (aka: "Soundchick")

http://soundchick.typepad.com/blog/2004/12/mosaic_a_conver.html

Mosaic: A Conversation

I felt a strong sense of God's presence as soon as I walked through the door. I knew the people here lived by their faith, not just expressed it on Sundays. Not only that, there was true community at Brady. I know Erwin is at times fond of talking about how he nixed the "Welcome" time because members were stepping over guests to greet each other. However, I never saw that in my years at Mosaic. In fact, to quite the contrary, I'm the product of members constantly greeting me. Even after I was serving on the sound team I was often greeted by members whom I had not yet met and who welcomed me warmly during that welcome time. I saw how much they loved the Lord through how the showered me with attention and love. I also saw servanthood modeled by staff and elders that I'd never seen before. I remember seeing a staff member straightening chairs and cleaning up trash between services. It's an image that will long stay in my memory. My dad had served on staff and several churches, and I don't ever remember seeing anyone on staff doing such "menial" labor. I was amazed, and I was hooked. I felt compelled to follow their leading. I also saw hope reflected in the lives of the people around me. They followed hard after Jesus, which means they often took hard blows in life. But they never gave up, never stopped serving Jesus, no matter what happened. They also never pretended to not hurt, or pretended all was well in life. They were honest about where they were and what they were feeling.

Going back to the article in the Outlook National Reporter there is this memorable quote:

He ended up doing work with the urban poor in Los Angeles, at a Southern Baptist congregation that was 60 years old, in debt and losing members, but had no real sense it was dying. But the process of making change was painful — in the early days, McManus said, the congregation lost 100 people in just a month.

"He ended up doing work with the urban poor in Los Angeles. . ."

The physical building of the Church on Brady was located in an economically depressed area of East Los Angeles but the congregation itself was not "poor." It was mostly a racially diverse mixture of Hispanics, Asians (from the nearby communities of Monterey Park and Alhambra, cities with large Asian communities), and Anglos with a few other races mixed in.

". . . in debt. . . "

Yes, the Church on Brady was in debt but this was due to a recent rebuilding project which, when completed, actually raised the value of the property above the amount that was owed.

". . . but had no sense it was dying . . ."

Dying? The church was THRIVING before the arrival of Erwin McManus!

". . . in the early days, McManus said, the congregation lost 100 people in just a month."

In the years leading up to 1993, when Erwin McManus took over, the Church on Brady under the leadership of Pastor Thomas A. Wolf was experiencing steady growth to the point where it was forced to take on a massive rebuilding project to make more room. In a very short time, even the newly remodeled and expanded church building became too cramped to hold the growing congregation.

Soon after Erwin McManus took over as lead pastor, the "Believe the Impossible" campaign was begun to raise money towards the purchase of a larger facility, specifically; it was held in the hope of raising enough money to purchase the Chicago Title building located at 1515 Walnut Grove Avenue in Rosemead. This was a huge, industrial building complex on a very large lot with more than enough parking spaces for the existing congregation. As further incentive for the congregation to "give sacrificially" arrangements were made with the property owners to hold a Sunday service in this building along with tours of the complex. (I was an eye-witness to this event.)

Later, at the "Believe the Impossible" capital fundraising banquet, Erwin encouraged everyone to "believe" and "give sacrificially." The crowd was encouraged to sell off personal property, antiques, and collector's items. The crowd was also asked to defer making any large purchases such as cars and homes and instead put that money towards the building project

I remember Erwin telling the crowd that God would honor this step of faith. I also remember Erwin's "invitation" that if anyone felt this was not God's will they should feel free to seek out another congregation.

At this time it seemed as if Erwin was interested in creating a "mega-church" of his own but the campaign failed to raise enough money to meet the several million dollar price tag attached to the Chicago Title building.

The money that was raised during the "Believe the Impossible" campaign was never used to purchase a new building. According to an email sent by Eric Bryant, the current executive pastor of Mosaic, to a donor who asked for a refund of his contribution to the "Believe the Impossible" campaign the money from this fundraiser "has been spent." I've learned that in February of 2007, ten years after the fundraising banquet at Union Station, these same funds were used to pay off an existing debt on a daughter church of Mosaic which has been renamed Mosaic Inland. (See "A Revisionist History of the Church on Brady? http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/03/revisionist-history-of-church-on-brady.html )

When Erwin says "the congregation lost 100 people in just a month," is he referring to the people who left in response to his "invitation" to leave? What about those who might have left once they realized that their "sacrificial giving" appeared to have been in vain?

To turn things around, the congregation made a commitment to mission — McManus said he spent some time pondering the question, "Is it possible to send so many people out that a church ceases to exist?" Mosaic sent 400 people on mission trips in a year, some of whom weren’t sure at all they were ready to go. "We even shut down all of our services one Sunday because there was no one left," he said (adding that they forgot some visitors might not know and show
up).

The Church on Brady was already committed to foreign missions and had been commended for this by the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, http://www.universal-disciple.com/about%20us.htm.

"We even shut down all of our services one Sunday because there was no one left," he said (adding that they forgot some visitors might not know and show up)."

To my readers: Was there ever a time when Mosaic failed to hold services because "there was no one left?" If so, I would like to know the exact date of when this occurred.

The age of the congregation dropped like the temperature in winter: from an average age of 50 to 24, with a high percentage of single folks. Mosaic now is 40 percent Asian and has members from more than 50 nationalities.

I remember feeling the loss of the Church on Brady's senior citizens. I used to be the secretary for the church choir when it had 75 members, many of whom were older people. One of the first changes that Erwin made after taking over as the Pastor was to eliminate the choir in favor of small worship teams. Rehearsals went from open meetings to closed sessions "by invitation only." I felt a great sense of loss when the older women whom I had looked up to during my time in choir left the church because they felt there was no longer a place for them.

Erwin McManus has said and written (or allowed others to say or write) a lot of negative things about the Church on Brady, its congregation, its leaders and its former pastor but he doesn't like it when his critics say negative things about him. This is what he has to say about his critics from his latest interview:

Assist News Service, January 28, 2008 Story by By Dan WoodingFounder of ASSIST Ministries http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2008/s08010207.htm

[Again, PLEASE read the entire article!]

"How a Salvadoran came to America, changed his name, and became a husband, father, writer, futurist, activist, artist and spiritual and cultural leader: Erwin Raphael McManus now serves as the lead pastor and Cultural Architect of Mosaic in Los Angeles"

I then asked Erwin McManus if he considered himself to be a controversial person.

“When you say a ‘controversial person’ that sounds like a self identity,” he said. “I think I’m a person who seems to create a lot of controversy.”

I then pointed out that some websites put out all kinds of negative critiques about him, so I wondered how he dealt with this.

“Well, obviously when someone says something negative about you, especially something that’s untrue, that’s hurtful, it can be disturbing and certainly because I have a nineteen year old son, and a fifteen year old daughter, and another daughter who is our foster daughter who lives in Indonesia as a missionary, and when they’re reading all these things that are said about me, it’s very painful because people don’t factor in that you have a wife and you have kids and you have family,” he said.

“But I don’t really want to say what they say about me because it gives them more publicity than they deserve. I think the reality is that in Christianity when someone doesn’t conform to our standard understanding of what a person’s supposed to say and do, we immediately feel like they’re somehow heretical or disconnected.
“I once shared with my wife that I think a part of the problem with modern Christianity is that we really seem to be in an adversarial position against creativity, innovation, imagination and human uniqueness. I think that’s a fundamental problem and it’s not just about me.”

Negative criticism of Erwin McManus is nothing new. When anyone chooses to place oneself in the public eye, especially as a "person who seems to create a lot of controversy,” one also has to expect that negative publicity is just par for the course. As a celebrity pastor for more than 10 years now, shouldn't his wife and children already possess the necessary coping skills to deal with critics?

Erwin McManus is concerned about how the "negative things people say" about him will affect his wife, kids and family. How does he reconcile this concern for his own family with the "negative things" he has said and written about OTHER people?

For example, did Erwin McManus "factor in" the effect his harsh words might have on the wives, kids and families of the following people?

1. Thomas Wolf (Former pastor of The Church on Brady)

In his online response to readers of his book, "An Unstoppable Force", Erwin McManus paints a very negative picture of Bro. Tom. http://easumbandy.com/fileadmin/community/Coaching_Seminar_Archive_Files/Erwin_McManus_062002-An_Unstoppable_Force.pdf

Several of you asked about our transition. Perhaps the most significant mistake we made was that the former pastor, who was here 24 years before me, remained as an elder and held the position of teaching pastor(although I did all the teaching). He was only 49 years old at the time of the transition, so it wasn't a retirement scenario. Though we held many common heart values, our approach, style and rate of change and implementation dramatically differed. Things worked well as long as I was furthering the vision and ethos he had established. Once that began to change as a result of my own personal leadership, things went bad fast. We underestimated the inseparable nature of spiritual leadership and individuals. You can give up your position, your title, really any formal authority, and if you have 25 years of leadership credibility, you have not relinquished leadership in that context. It was not necessary for him to oppose me or any of my actions - to simply remain neutral or indifferent was enough to turn people in the opposite direction. If he expressed concern, doubt or disapproval, it was nothing less than polarized leadership. The elders of the congregation who had all been appointed by him and had known him for decades eventually asked him to resign. As you may well know, this is unheard of. It's always the new guy that gets the boot. These men, though his best friends, were committed both to my leadership and the future of the church.

In the statements above, Erwin McManus implies that his predecessor, Tom Wolf, was:

* Taking credit for Erwin's work - " . . . held the position of teaching pastor(although I did all the teaching). "

Bro. Tom had just accepted a teaching position at Golden Gate Seminary, hence the "teaching pastor" title.

* Controlling - "Things worked well as long as I was furthering the vision and ethos he had established."

When Bro. Tom decided to step down from the pastorship of the Church on Brady, it was announced that he and the elders would be seeking a replacement that would "further" his vision.

* Unwilling to relinquish his position - "You can give up your position, your title, really any formal authority, and if you have 25 years of leadership credibility, you have not relinquished leadership in that context."

Bro. Tom had established a strong loyalty with his congregation. Did Erwin expect the congregation to simply transfer 25 years worth of hard earned trust to an as-yet-untested newcomer?

* Manipulative - "It was not necessary for him to oppose me or any of my actions - to simply remain neutral or indifferent was enough to turn people in the opposite direction. If he expressed concern, doubt or disapproval, it was nothing less than polarized leadership."

Bro. Tom remained as an elder. As an elder, wasn't it his job to express his concerns, doubts or disapproval? What are elders supposed to do?

*Subjected to church discipline - "The elders of the congregation who had all been appointed by him and had known him for decades eventually asked him to resign."

This is NOT true. Bro. Tom was approached by the elders and asked to consider taking a leave of absence from Mosaic to give Erwin McManus time to solidy his leadership position at the church. Instead, Pastor Wolf decided to tender his resignation.

I find Erwin's last statement regarding the elders of Mosaic rather troubling,

"These men, though his best friends, were committed both to my leadership and the future of the church. "

I believe these men acted in what they felt was the best interest of the church yet there is something about the way this statement is worded that hints at betrayal. I don't see why Erwin felt it necessary to include this statement in his comments.

NOTE: During my research for this and all my other entries here at Solid Foods, I have never come across an instance in which Bro. Tom has said or written anything negative about his successor Erwin McManus.

2. Mr. Robbie Sortino (Former Youth Pastor for Mosaic, founded Mosaic Pasadena)

Erwin revealed painful, highly personal information provided to him during private counseling sesssions. Erwin also describes Mr. Sortino as, "emotionally broken," "coming on staff prematurely," "depressed," having a heart filled with "violence and anger," having a "hardened heart," and that "He saw anyone who worked for "the institution" as the enemy, and that included me."

Original article written by Erwin McManus, "Broken People Can Become Whole Disciples," http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/areas/biblestudies/articles/040916.html

See also my article at Solid Foods, "Broken People, Broken Pieces or a Broken Pastor?" http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/broken-people-broken-pieces-or-broken.html

NOTE: One of Mr. Sortino's adult sons began the first "Mosaic of Pain" website as a MySpace page back in early 2007. The site aired criticisms of Erwin McManus. Apparently in response to the negative publicity this site was generating at Mosaic, the Sortinos were contacted by leaders at Mosaic and Mr. Sortino's son was "asked" to remove the site. As a last minute act of protest against Mosaic, Mr. Sortino's son installed a clock icon to count down the hours and minutes that were left until the site was scheduled to go down. He also embedded a video clip from the movie, "The X-Men 2" showing the scene where Mystique dives in front of Magneto to save him from being shot with a dart that would cause him to lose his mutant powers. She loses her powers instead and reverts to being a mere mortal. At this point, Magneto responds by saying, "I'm sorry, my dear. You're not one of us anymore."

Soon after this, a team of three leaders from Mosaic showed up, unannounced, at the Sortino's home around 10 pm. Since Mr. Sortino was not home at the time and there were minor children present, these leaders were denied entry. The very next day, the Sortinos received a visit from the police in response to a possible "threat" phoned in by Mosaic.

The police found no grounds for such a threat, no arrests were made and no charges were ever filed. The original "Mosaic of Pain" website was dismantled.

The Mosaic of Pain website, http://mosaicofpain.com/index2.html , has been resurrected by other formers members of Mosaic.

3. Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Marshall (Former Missionaries - Church on Brady/Mosaic)

Again, Erwin used personal information (regarding a child no less!) obtained during private counseling sessions in a [mass email sent out] * to other Mosaic missionaries.

Comment posted to Solid Foods, "Broken People, Broken Pieces or a Broken Pastor," http://solidfoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/broken-people-broken-pieces-or-broken.html

My wife and I experienced two similar situations with Erwin McManus. He divulged two very confidential matters that were told to him in Pastor/Parishioner confidentiality. And, in doing so he misled the individuals he told this information to. They were concerned why Linda and I had left Mosaic and Erwin used these two VERY personal (one involving one of our children) situations in an attempt to explain our departure. Fortunately, that person phoned me immediately and we realized the attempt at deception. It was painful, to say the least, to have a Pastor do this to you, but I now see that we were just one of many. Eddie Marshall

* Correction: This happened during a private conversation between Erwin McManus and another missionary couple. Please see comments below.

4. Mr. Frank Loaiza (Former Member - Church on Brady/Mosaic)

Erwin has misquoted and taken out of context a statement made by Mr. Loaiza regarding the balance between evangelism and discipleship: "Truth remains the same, lies always change," blog by Frank Loaiza, http://loaizas.blogspot.com/

Post made February 21, 2007

I have been told that Erwin has quoted me as saying that I said, "Mosaic is too evangelistic" This is simply not true, I never said this. I said that we had an unbalanced emphasis on evangelism and not enough emphasis on discipleship.

In addition to these examples, Erwin McManus has made this generic jab at former members of the Church on Brady:

The Baptist Standard, March 9, 2007 http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=6104

'Comfortable' Christians Lose Touch with the World

Starting Mosaic was not easy, McManus said, and many times he wanted to quit. But he always found the people who brought him the most problems were those who never brought a lost person to church.

Erwin says: "I think a part of the problem with modern Christianity is that we really seem to be in an adversarial position against creativity, innovation, imagination and human uniqueness. I think that’s a fundamental problem and it’s not just about me."

As an artist and writer, I have nothing against creativity, innovation, imagination and human uniqueness.

What makes me uncomfortable is the way in which Erwin McManus appears to be using these qualities to revise the historical facts of the Church on Brady, tarnish the reputations and accomplishments of Bro. Tom and other former leaders, and completely dismiss the generosity of the many good, christian people I had the privilege of seving alongside.

In the case of Erwin McManus, I leave it up to you to decide what the "fundamental" problem is.

"It’s not just about me.” - Erwin McManus

Yvonne W.