Following repeated threats of disaffiliation by the Directors and Trust Board of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (‘Mount’) resigned from FIEC on the 14/4/26. The FIEC Trust Board then took the unprecedented decision to publish a public statement about Mount’s resignation on their website (24/4/26) supposedly providing some “context.” Mount is only one of over 600 Independent Evangelical churches. We are mystified and profoundly saddened by their harsh and headstrong response. There is no mention of the Bible, or our Saviour, or any concern for the glory of God. We should weep over the grievous handling of this and the breach of fellowship, which surely grieves the Holy Spirit, and profoundly saddens us. 

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The FIEC statement lacks transparency.  At no point does it explain that the complaints (about the leadership ‘culture’) were completely anonymous. When the complainants were given the opportunity to identify themselves, they collectively decided to remain anonymous.

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The Statement does not say that from the outset, the elders of Mount invited the complainants to meet them face to face, together with their present church leaders, as the Bible teaches. This invitation was unanimously refused by the group of complainants. In fact, it took FIEC nearly 5 months to communicate this refusal to the elders of Mount. This again is omitted from the FIEC Statement.

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The Statement is unclear to the point of being misleading. For example, it states that the independent review (which we thoroughly conducted) ‘did not include engagement with those who had raised concerns.’  Anyone reading this will wrongly assume that we, as reviewers, were less than rigorous, and that we did not choose to interact with the complainants – and yet those who wrote the statement know full well that the complainants chose anonymity and refused to be identified! 

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In the same paragraph the independent review is considered inadequate because it  ‘did not provide sufficient independent assurance in relation to governance, and the handling of concerns.’ The Trust Board had every opportunity to engage with the reviewers, but chose not to do so. Apart from some general correspondence, they chose to ignore the review. The average reader is therefore left with the impression that the reviewers were biased. This is simply not the case.  

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The statement openly claims that in order to ensure and demonstrate the objectivity of any independent review, the FIEC must be involved in the appointment of the reviewers. This concerns us, in the light of their claim not to adjudicate in any way.

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The statement  contains no admission of their poor handling of this entire process. The word of God expressly forbids God’s people from countenancing anonymous allegations. The FIEC chose to ignore what is written on the pages of Scripture (Deut 17:2-7, 19:15-19.  Matt 18:15-19.  1 Tim 5:19-21 etc.)

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As stated above, our response to this ought to be tears. All breaches in fellowship are grievous.  

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If you have been troubled by things said about Mount by outside parties, please feel at liberty to contact the Pastors / elders of Mount. But above all, please do pray for them, and for the wholehearted gospel work taking place daily. The church is in good heart, and the Lord Jesus Christ is Head of the church. He is strong and He is kind. 

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Warmly yours in our Saviour,

 

Stuart Olyott, Chris Rees, Paul Williams

 

Stuart Olyott (retired Pastoral Director of the Evangelical Movement of Wales),

Chris Rees (pastor of Bethesda Baptist Church, Narberth, Pembrokeshire)  

& Paul Williams (retired former pastor of Newtown Evangelical Church & Swindon Evangelical Church.)