THE MISSING ELEMENT - ACCOUNTABILITY: Dealing with the Long-Term Accreditation Issues at Southwest Baptist University ... and Providing a Parakletos

This week, once again, while attempting to provide a peaceful solution to this situation, Marie was confronted with the same obstacle that has so often hindered progress.

The obstruction is all too familiar: since the Missouri Baptist Convention has effectively rescinded responsibility and control of Southwest Baptist University by refusing repeatedly to take reasonable action against unethical (and even dangerous and criminal) conduct by the SBU and MBC administration, employees and Trustees, how are Southwest Baptist University's long-term accreditation issues to be addressed -- short of actually closing down the school and/or firing a large portion of the Trustees and staff?

If Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention ever had the maturity and integrity to actually  come to terms with their failures and grapple with these issues, few doubt that they would emerge stronger, more vibrantly transformed, and more dedicated to the cause of Christ than ever before.

As it is, however, the SBU and MBC officials querulously and arrogantly shrug off every attempt at communication and berate, threaten, or abuse anyone who inquiries about these issues.

THE MISSING ELEMENT IS ACCOUNTABILITY.

After a series of incidents over the last several months, Marie is more than convinced that it is NOT her place to become interminably enmeshed in the lengthy and ongoing process of resolution. 

As she has made clear to SBU and MBC officials, she believes (and has firmly believed for years) that her calling is elsewhere and that she should relocate, as soon as possible. 

She has been alternately ignored, mocked, and brutalized for her efforts to encourage a peaceful reconciliation.

However, though persistent prayer and inquiry, the Holy Spirit has provided a method of assistive and supervisory direction and management.

This week, Marie has begun working with a seminary -- one of the oldest in the United States, which is affiliated with a prestigious ivy league university -- who would be competent to partner with SBU and the MBC to provide extended oversight and accountability as Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention contend with an array of entrenched ethical, moral, and legal issues.

Affirming the place of the local church in resolving these issues, Marie will ask that the pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri to collaborate with this seminary in arranging for this cooperative care and supervision for Southwest Baptist University.

For her part, as Marie stated in her letter (dated April 13, 2010 letter here) to Dr. David Tolliver, who is a recent Southwest Baptist University Trustee and the current executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, Marie affirms that she remains willing to participate in the Educare Forum.
 
Over the next several weeks, we will be posting daily bulletins as we track the emergence of this coalition, which has been assembled as a manifestation of Grace, to become a parakletos -- to advocate, to plead the cause, to act as an intercessor for Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention as they struggle to overcome these challenges.

INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE, Minimizing Further Harm: Individual Letters Issued, Followed by Pastoral Letters, then the Letters to the Southwest Baptist University and MBC Trustees

INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE, Minimizing Further Harm

In order to minimize further harm to those involved, several individuals will be notified by mail concerning the events of the next week.  Those individual letters should be arriving on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (May 6 - 8).

Additionally, the letter to the pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar should arrive within that time frame.  The pastors will be asked to intervene by taking positive action in this situation.  If they are unwilling or unable, the pastors will be asked to deliver the letter to the Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustees, who will be meeting on Monday and Tuesday, May 10 and 11 at SBU.

If the issue remains unresolved by that Tuesday, the Missouri Baptist Convention will be asked to intervene.

REDIRECTION: Although substantial alterations have been required in order to accommodate the significant changes in the situation, we will be working with First Baptist Church of Bolivar this week to effect a resolution.

NEXT POSTS - Thursday - Saturday, May 6 - 8, 2010: Several letters, including the letter to the pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri.

Illuminating the True Pathway and the Day of Reckoning: A Letter to the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board & First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri

 Faxed to: Dr. David Tolliver at the Missouri Baptist Convention, Jefferson City (Wednesday, April 14, 2010 about 1:10 pm)

____________________________________

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
Mailing Address
Bolivar, MO  65613

Dr. David Tolliver, Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director,
and the members of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board   
% Missouri Baptist Convention
400 East High Street  
Jefferson City, MO 65101    
           
Dear Dr. David Tolliver and members of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board:
                               
In order to address the call for greater transparency in dealing with a variety of ongoing moral, ethical, and legal issues at Southwest Baptist University and within the Missouri Baptist Convention, my colleagues and I have designed an online educational forum, known as the Educare Forum.

The Educare Forum, which will initially furnish only private access, provides an outline and summation of these concerns and delineates a pathway to resolution.

Because the Missouri Baptist Convention affirms a controlling interest in Southwest Baptist University, we look to the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board to oversee, execute, and enforce any necessary and judicious disciplinary action against those who have perpetrated these injuries and injustices.

 
As previously stated, my concerns involve the harm done to me, my family, and my friends by the employees, administrative and governing officials, and supporters of Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention, who willfully aided, abetted, counseled, and induced the commission of acts resulting in: 
•    slander, defamation and the malevolent and formulated provocation of hostility, ill-will, and hatred;
•    sexual harassment, molestation, humiliation, and discrimination; 
•    physical injury, intimidation, and abuse;
•    multiple instances of actual and threatened retaliation;
•    the fallacious invasion of privacy and violation of confidentiality;
•    forgery or tampering with academic, medical and other records;
•    subornation of perjury and witness tampering;
•    obstruction of justice and abuse of/denial of due process;
•    financial duplicity, extortion, and insurance fraud,
•    and the abuse and negligence of administrative, executive, pastoral, and ministerial functions, privilege and authority.

Additionally, these claims regard the actions of the employees, administrative and governing officials, and supporters of Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention, who permitted, facilitated, encouraged, and rewarded others in: 
•    the deliberate and repeated infliction of physical damage, pain, and suffering;
•    the calculated pattern and practice of the imposition of social, psychological, and spiritual distress, anguish and suffering;
•    the coordinated conspiracy to defraud, slander, and cause physical, financial, or other harm in collaboration with officials of the Southern Baptist Convention, and other church officials (both SBC churches and others),
•    and the ongoing conspiracy to defraud, slander, and cause discriminatory abuse and physical, financial, and other harm based on disability, religious belief, and/or gender in collaboration with local business persons, community members, politicians, and city, county, and state officials.

 
This week, the Educare Forum password and access information will be provided to the current and former pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri – Dr. Ray Leininger, Dr. Rodney Reeves, and Rev. Billy Russell. 

If the pastors and leadership of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri can produce no viable pathway to resolution, on Sunday, May 2, 2010,  the Educare Forum will be opened and extended to the members of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board, the officials of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (which is SBU’s accreditation agency), the officials of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the members of the Southwest Baptist University Student Government Association.

At that time (May 2), I will ask Dr. David Tolliver to distribute the access information to each of the members of the current Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board.

If, by Sunday, May 9, 2010, a clear pathway to resolution is still not evident, my colleagues and I will request that Dr. C. Pat Taylor, several administrators, professors, and staff members, and the entire current Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustees resign during the Southwest Baptist University Trustee Meeting to be held on that Monday and Tuesday, May 10 and 11, 2010.

In order to publicly clarify the reasons for this request, an expanded version of the Educare Forum will be opened to the students and the general public on Sunday, May 9, 2010.

Dr. David Tolliver, I ask that you distribute this letter to each member of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board by no later than Wednesday, April 14, 2010. 


It is my purpose to complete this process by Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2010, which commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the believers in Jerusalem, which may be considered the birthday of the Lord's Church.               

This timetable will enable me to relocate in time for the June summer term at my new, out-of-state university and seminary.

It is my prayer that the Grace of God’s Spirit will be reveled within each of us as the Holy Spirit comes along side us as a parakletos -- one who is “summoned, called to one's side” and “called to one's aid,” one who ”pleads another's cause before a judge,” and “an advocate,” one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor.” (Strong's G3875 - parakle-tos).

It is my hope that we, through this process, may evidence in our lives the Incarnation of Christmas, the Resurrection of Easter, and the Power of the Holy Spirit, which is celebrated in Pentecost.

I pray that we, by our lives, may illuminate a clear pathway through the fear, faults, failures, lusts, greed, arrogance, hypocrisy, and willful rebellion that does so easily beset us, that we may irradiate a True Path, not becoming a cause of darkness and stumbling to others.  

May God grant us His Wisdom and Blessing in confronting these issues, and further conforming to the Image of Christ through the Revelation of His Justice, Mercy and Love.

May God grant us His Wisdom and Blessing in confronting these issues, and further conforming to the Image of Christ through the Revelation of His Justice, Mercy and Love.

For, By and Through His Justice, Mercy and Love,


Marie O’Hara

Faxed to: Dr. David Tolliver at the Missouri Baptist Convention, Jefferson City (Wednesday, April 14, 2010 about 1:10 pm)
and
First Church of Bolivar, Missouri (April 14, 2010 about 1:20 pm)
and others.

UPDATE! DAY OF RECKONING ... AND A WAY FORWARD: Letters to Southwest Baptist University's Accreditation Agency, the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Committee, SBC, Others

A joint letter to:

The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA, Southwest Baptist University's accreditation agency, here)  

 and the Executive Committee of the Missouri Baptist Convention, which will be meeting this Monday and Tuesday, April 12 - 13 

 and the Southern Baptist Convention.

NOW POSTED AS:

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 about 3:40 pm:

Illuminating the True Pathway and the Day of Reckoning: A Letter to the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri  (here)

and, within the next day or so:

The letter to the Pastors (former and current) of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri.

DOCTORAL STUDIES AT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: Letter to Pastor Billy Russell (and Others), First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO

Monday, February 22, 2010

From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
Mailing Address                                        

Bolivar, MO  65613

Pastor Billy Russell, Former Pastor Ray Leininger,
      and Former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves
316 North Main
Bolivar, MO 65613
Office Phone: 417-326-2431   Office Fax: 417-326-4706

Dear Brothers in Christ:

Over the last few years, I feel as though I have earned enough credits to receive a Doctorate -- a PhD in Patience.

It seems, however, as if all of us will be earning some postdoctoral credits in that subject this week.

Honestly, sirs, I would rather spend my time this week completing research (via distance studies in conjunction with my new American university and seminary) for my Doctor of Ministry (DMin) at the University of Wales - Trinity St. David in Lampeter. (see here).

Nonetheless, as stated in my previous, faxed letter of Thursday, February 18, 2010 (here), I have been able to prepare the means of resolving this conflict privately via a combination of telephone facilitation, online communication, and third-party intervention.

Additionally, if mutually desirable or necessary as an alternative or adjunct method, I have, this weekend, made arrangements for legally binding Mediation.

However, today, I was informed of an unavoidable scheduling conflict that will hinder progress for several days.

Therefore, you will receive the initiatory mailing within the next few days – no later, I am told, than the end of this week.

Again, I thank you for your assistance in this matter.


Praying for Patience,


Marie O’Hara

PASTORS' CALL, THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE: Marie's Letter to the Pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO

Thursday, February 18, 2010, FAXED about 10:36 am

From the Desk of Marie O’Hara

Mailing Address
Bolivar, MO  65613

Pastor Billy Russell, Former Pastor Ray Leininger,
      and Former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves
316 North Main
Bolivar, MO 65613
Office Phone: 417-326-2431   Office Fax: 417-326-4706

Dear Brothers in Christ:

It appears that this situation has become like the unusual weather of late – wild, unruly, not entirely pleasant or safe, and subject to abrupt and unpredictable changes.

Within the next three days, I will be contacting you by mail concerning a new means of resolving this conflict privately via a combination of telephone facilitation, online communication, and third-party intervention.

So as to avoid needless complication and redundancy, during the initial discussion, it would be advantageous, if possible, to work with you three only – Pastor Billy Russell, former Pastor Ray Leininger, and former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves. 

If you are willing to participate and administer in this process, I will need your affirmation of that intention by noon on Monday, March 1, 2010.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.


Praying for your Wisdom and Integrity,


Marie O’Hara

UPDATE - NEW ARRANGEMENTS for LENTEN JUBILEE?: Ash Wednesday's Choice for the Leadership of First Baptist Church of Bolivar

NEW ARRANGEMENTS for LENTEN JUBILEE?:  

Ash Wednesday's Choice 

for the Leadership of 

First Baptist Church of Bolivar

This Wednesday, which known as Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar, the pastors and leadership of the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri, will be given access to an opportunity to intervene in this situation.  

This intervention is NOT an easy way out; it is a challenge, but it is a beneficial challenge, if these individuals are ready and willing to mature and grow in the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Their reception to this initial challenge will determine the viability of this possible resolution.

A response is required within one week -- by 10:00 pm on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 [Updated to March 1, 2010  (see here)]. 

Additional details will be posted over the next several days and on Ash Wednesday.  

We welcome your prayers. 


Happy Valentine's Day. 

UPDATE:  The First Baptist Church of Bolivar leadership was contacted on the morning of Thursday, February 18, 2010  (see here).

NEXT POST:  MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2010 

Friday UPDATE - MASS JUSTICE: THE RESIGNATIONS OF SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES, ADMINISTRATION and STAFF for MISCONDUCT, VIOLATION of POLICY and ETHICS?

MASS JUSTICE:  

THE RESIGNATIONS OF 

SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY 

TRUSTEES, ADMINISTRATION and STAFF 

for MISCONDUCT, 

VIOLATION of POLICY and ETHICS?

***UPDATE Early, early Tuesday (Feb. 9) morning!  Due to the hazardous winter weather conditions and previously-scheduled engagements, Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director Dr. David Tolliver is NOT expected to participate in today's meeting of the Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustees.***

UPDATE (Friday, Feb. 12., evening):   

New arrangements have been completed.  Details will be posted early Sunday morning ....  (See Sidebar for current updates.)

NEXT POST: Sunday, February 14:

MASS JUSTICE or LENTEN JUBILEE

 

The Resolution Plan will still be presented to the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board this week, though through a different venue. 

First Baptist Church of Bolivar will also be included in this presentation.

THE PEACEMAKERS: "Mercy and Truth Are Met Together; Righteousness (Justice) and Peace Have Kissed Each Other."

THE PEACEMAKERS: 

"Mercy and Truth Are Met Together; 

Righteousness (Justice) and Peace 

Have Kissed Each Other."  

______________________

Marie writes:

Love is not merely an attribute of God.

Indeed, Love is God's nature, His essence, the totality of His Being.

Even so, to be complete, Love (Loving Kindness or Compassion) must embody, incorporate, and integrate Justice (Righteousness), by bringing Love into bodily form, making Love a material substance, a reality in a real world.

The psalmist speaks a point to ponder when he said:

Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other.      

                                 Psalm 85:10 (KJV)

Does it stretch the metaphor to say that the mystery of such a union gives birth to Peace?

Please read these stories presented by the Associated Baptist Press this week on the subject of forgiveness.

______________________

Opinion: Forgiveness is an unmistakable mark of character 

Associated Baptist Press

Monday, February 01, 2010

An Excerpt:  ... So, if Christians model our lives after Jesus, then this truth should be beyond debate: Forgiveness is the indelible mark of Christian character.

As noted in the set of stories also published by Associated Baptist Press today on the subject, forgiveness is not the same as blind denial of wrong-doing or timid acquiescence to bullying, intimidation or evil.

Forgiveness does not accommodate transgressions, nor does it ignore consequences of wrongdoing. Forgiveness does not move the vulnerable and innocent back into harm’s way. And it is not weak sentiment.

Forgiveness opens oneself and others to possibilities not bound by fights, failures and foibles of the past. Christian forgiveness counter-intuitively extends divine love to the unloving and, humanly speaking, unlovable.

The power of forgiveness is infinite.  ... (Read entire story here).

______________________

Forgive Us: Christians struggle with radical forgiveness
Associated Baptist Press 
Monday, February 01, 2010

An Excerpt: 
At age 8, Chris Carrier was abducted, stabbed multiple times with an ice pick, shot in the left temple at pointblank range and abandoned in the Florida Everglades. Miraculously, he survived (although blinded in one eye). But what happened two decades later may be even more miraculous.

God’s forgiveness of sinners is not based on anything humans do but on what God already has done, said Randall O’Brien, author of Set Free by Forgiveness.

“Contrary to popular opinion, forgiveness precedes repentance,” said O’Brien, president of Carson-Newman College, a Baptist school in Jefferson City, Tenn. “Repentance is the result of God’s forgiveness -- not the cause of it. God does not love and forgive us because we repent. We repent because God loves and forgives us. That’s the radical gospel of the cross.”

Jesus demonstrated unconditional love on the cross when he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Nobody had repented of his involvement in his crucifixion before Jesus freely forgave, O’Brien noted. But God’s universal forgiveness of sinners does not mean universal salvation, redemption and reconciliation, he explained.

“Forgiveness is a necessary but insufficient condition for reconciliation,” said O’Brien. “Reconciliation is always conditioned upon the response of the forgiven.”

What’s true in the relationship between God and sinful people also holds true in human relationships, he explained.

“Forgiveness is a one-way street. Reconciliation is a two-way street,” he said.  ...

No excuse for offense
Forgiveness does not “look the other way” and pretend no harm as been done, O’Brien added. It does not minimize the damage caused or the offense committed.

“Forgiveness is not a substitute for judgment. Forgiveness is judgment. It is saying, ‘I judge you guilty, but I forgive you anyway,’” he said.

Forgiveness involves choice -- choosing not to punish an offense, Denison observed.

“It is not pretending that the person was not harmed or excusing harmful behavior. When a governor pardons a criminal, she does not deny the reality of the crime, but rather chooses not to inflict the punishment prescribed by the law. God forgives our sin in the same way and calls us to treat others as he treats us,” Denison said.

Forgiveness does not mean enabling future bad behavior or imperiling innocent people. O’Brien cited the example of a woman who has been physically abused by a spouse. Forgiveness does not mean placing oneself -- or others who are vulnerable -- in a position that facilitates future abuse."  (Read entire story here).

______________________

Forgive Us: Is forgiveness always appropriate for Christians? Associated Baptist Press 
Monday, February 01, 2010

An Excerpt:

Accountability and idolatry
Justice requires accountability, Rosell insisted. Ministers and their congregations sometimes act as though the only requirement for forgiveness is to change the victim’s attitude and to simply say: “We forgive you.”

“Sometimes what’s counted as forgiveness is the unwillingness to hold a brother accountable.... That is a sin,” he said.

Part of the problem in churches also stems from “pastor idolatry,” he added. “We make a god of the pastor, and when he sins, we often can’t recognize it because of our idolatry.”

Often clergy abusers aren’t held accountable because some church members will pressure the rest to “forgive” him or her. Lack of accountability opens opportunities for further abuse, he said.

An act of obedience
Christians must forgive in obedience to God, said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

... Land emphasized that lack of forgiveness “will hinder growth and your spiritual relationship.” Believers should hold those who hurt them accountable, and in cases such as abuse, should remove themselves from the situation. But in every case, Christians must forgive.  ...  (read entire story here).

______________________

______________________

JUSTICE DELAYED and DENIED?: MBC Exec. Board to Address the Misconduct of Southwest Baptist University and MBC Personnel and SBU Accreditation Complaint During their April 2010 Meeting

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
 

 
From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
Mailing Address
Bolivar, MO 65613

Dr. David Tolliver,
Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director
% Missouri Baptist Convention
400 East High Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101 

Fax: (573)-635-0904

Dear Dr. David Tolliver:

In regard to my previous letter dated Friday, January 15, 2010 (see here), please consider this letter a formal request that the issues identified in the January 15 letter regarding the misconduct of Southwest Baptist University and Missouri Baptist Convention officials and personnel be added to the agenda of the forthcoming April 2010 meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board on April 12 and 13, 2010.

If my complaint with the Higher Education Commission of the North Central Association, Southwest Baptist University's accreditation agency, has not been addressed by that time, I further request that this issue be placed on the April 2010 agenda, as well.

I am concerned for my personal health, well-being and safety (and that of my friends and family) if these issues are not addressed by that time.

Next week, you will be receiving more information about these concerns during the Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustee meeting on Monday and Tuesday, February 8 and 9, 2010.

Thank you for you assistance and attention to these matters.

In His Love and His Justice,

 
Marie O'Hara

ONE PAINFUL STEP FORWARD: Marie's Letter to the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO (and the Missouri Baptist Convention)

Since mid-August 2009, Marie has been contending with injuries from a fall -- which resulted in a severe sprain, torn ligaments, damaged tendons, painful swelling and tenderness, and "kaleidoscopic" bruising. 

The symptoms of her organophosphate-induced neuropathy and immune damage have hindered and complicated her recovery, but she is finally able to take some tentative steps and is now making steady progress.

Most discouraging for her was the postponement of her planned relocation and enrollment in her new university, which had been scheduled for this past Fall Semester (2009).

Marie is again looking forward to relocating out-of-state, as soon as safely possible.

With that goal in mind, the following letters are being sent today.

  ___________

Monday, January 25, 2010

                            From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
                                   Mailing Address

                                          Bolivar, MO  65613

Pastor Billy Russell, Former Pastor Ray Leininger, and Former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves and the Staff, Trustees, and Deacons of the First Baptist Church of Bolivar
316 North Main
Bolivar, MO 65613
Office Phone: 417-326-2431   Office Fax: 417-326-4706

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The enclosed letter is being sent to Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director Dr, David Tolliver and the members of the Missouri Baptist Executive Board.

Over the next ten days, I will be mailing additional information to your current pastor, Rev. Billy Russell.

Praying, as Always, for Your Integrity,

Marie O’Hara

  ___________

Monday, January 25, 2010

                            From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
                                   Mailing Address

                                          Bolivar, MO  65613

Dr. David Tolliver, 

Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director
% Missouri Baptist Convention
400 East High Street  
Jefferson City, MO 65101     Fax: (573)-635-0904
           
Dear Dr. David Tolliver:
                               
I am writing to request your presence at the next regular meeting of the Southwest Baptist University (SBU) Board of Trustees, which will convene on the campus of Southwest Baptist University on Monday and Tuesday, February 8 and 9.

As you know through your own recent term as a member of the Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustees, I have some outstanding claims against the university and, consequently, the cooperation asserting ownership and governance of the university, that is, the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC).

As the Missouri Baptist Convention affirms a controlling interest in SBU, I am looking to the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board to oversee, execute, and enforce judicious disciplinary action against those who have perpetrated these injuries and injustices.

To avoid confusion as to my intent, I will provide a brief summation of my concerns and indicate the remedy by which these issues may be resolved.

Specifically, my concerns involve the harm done to me, my family, and my friends by the employees, administrative and governing officials, and supporters of Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention, who willfully aided, abetted, counseled, and induced the commission of acts resulting in: 
•    slander, defamation and the malevolent and formulated provocation of hostility, ill-will, and hatred;
•    sexual harassment, molestation, humiliation, and discrimination; 
•    physical injury, intimidation, and abuse;
•    multiple instances of actual and threatened retaliation;
•    the fallacious invasion of privacy and violation of confidentiality;
•    forgery or tampering with academic, medical and other records;
•    subornation of perjury and witness tampering;
•    obstruction of justice and abuse of/denial of due process;
•    financial duplicity, extortion, and insurance fraud,
•    and the abuse and negligence of administrative, executive, pastoral, and ministerial functions, privilege and authority.

Additionally, these claims regard the actions of the employees, administrative and governing officials, and supporters of Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention, who permitted, facilitated, encouraged, and rewarded others in: 
•    the deliberate and repeated infliction of physical damage, pain, and suffering;
•    the calculated pattern and practice of the imposition of social, psychological, and spiritual distress, anguish and suffering;
•    the coordinated conspiracy to defraud, slander, and cause physical, financial, or other harm in collaboration with officials of the Southern Baptist Convention, and other church officials (both SBC churches and others),
•    and the ongoing conspiracy to defraud, slander, and cause discriminatory abuse and physical, financial, and other harm based on disability, religious belief, and/or gender in collaboration with local business persons, community members, politicians, and city, county, and state officials.
Obviously, Dr. Tolliver, I am not unaware of the possibility of your own tacit cooperation in these activities. 

Nonetheless, I am willing to work with you and the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board in crafting a redemptive and Christ-honoring resolution to this conundrum.

You may question how this is to be done, since so much of this malfeasance falls into the category of grave breech of professional ethics and criminality. 

I have no doubt the law of the land has been broken – continuously and purposely so.

Nevertheless, I have a higher concept of the Law.  The secular law, though it is to be honored and observed, is not my primary moral compass.

What, then, is my true claim against you?

Before Jesus Christ and His angels, hear me:  This is my testimony against Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention:
    ‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,    
 
    I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
          (Matthew 25:42,43 NIV)
                      
Though I am created in the image of the Lord Most High, you have treated me with slanderous contempt and derision. 

You have cheated me, cast me aside and left me to die, judging me to be of little worth, to be less than ... to be the least. 

Yet, I will not judge you.

There is but one Judge.  His verdict has already been rendered in the words of Jesus Christ:  
    He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
                              (Matthew 25:45 NIV)                           

You may call upon the lawyers of the secular law, political allies, and wealthy friends, but none will be able to prevail against this Judge and His verdict. 

Throughout time and eternity, this Justice will stand.

For in the eyes of this Judge, there is only one Law -- the Law of Love, which you have broken, shattered, shattered like glass. 

That, sir, is your crime.                 

And, that is the true crime of Southwest Baptist University and the Missouri Baptist Convention.

Therefore, Dr. Tolliver, I ask that you act in Love.  Attend the Southwest Baptist University Trustee meeting on February 8 and 9. 

In preparation for the meeting, I will be in communication with the current and former pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri – Dr. Ray Leininger, Dr. Rodney Reeves, and Rev. Billy Russell.  They will be contacting you with additional details.

In His Love and His Justice,

Marie O’Hara