September 18, 2002

Dear Beloved Holdemans,

Today, we are members of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. We have gone in and out among you for almost seventeen years, happily putting our shoulders to the work supporting the doctrines you hold dear. You have given us your confidence and a certain honor far beyond what we deserved.

Tonight we will be excommunicated. No longer will you call us brother and sister. No longer will you greet us or shake our hands or eat with us. The confidence you had in us will be completely shattered, for you will consider us deceived, turned over to Satan, and on our way to hell. You will be watching for our spiritual decline.

And yet tonight, as the martyrs went to their deaths singing, so we have a calm peace in our heart and can face with singing our excommunication. As our forefathers prayed for those who slew them, so we can pray for those who excommunicate us. We hold no ill will, no bitterness, no offence. What you do tonight, we would have approved of a few years back. Like Saul of Tarsus, we would have stood by watching the garments as others were excommunicated for the same charge.

The charge will be heresy—heresy for believing that every born-again soul is part of the One True Visible Church, the Bride of Christ.

We ask that you, with an open heart, hear our story. For our story is not about justifying ourselves—it is an urgent plea we make with you. We fell in love with you many years ago and we cannot just walk off and shake the dust off our feet. We wish to show you why we renounced the books we had written, why we willingly, knowingly, and deliberately gave up all we held dear, why we accepted being shunned the rest of our lives by you and our children and grandchildren. We wish to show you what is so important, so valuable, that we were willing to count all things but loss.

In Christian love,

Will and Vivian Stoppel

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September 18, 2003

Dear Beloved Holdemans,

 On this one year anniversary of the day we were formally severed from your organization, it is hard to know whether to feast in celebration of the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free--or to fast in prayer for you who are still in bondage.

The joy and richness of blessing that Christ has given us this year far surpassed what we asked or expected.  Having once traded grace for law, and intimacy with Christ for idolatry toward "The Church," that renewed relationship with Jesus is doubly sweet. And grace is doubly amazing. This has been one of the happiest years of our lives.

But every single day of this past year, we have thought of you with yearning love. Never have we prayed with such earnestness than in this past year.  So today we dedicate this day as a special day of prayer for you, our beloved Holdemans.  We ask that God will open your eyes and awake you from your slumber so that you may see Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. We pray that instead of teaching for doctrine the commandments of men, you will be renewed to worship Christ in spirit and in truth--and in liberty.

In Christian love,

Will and Vivian Stoppel

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September 18, 2004

Dear Beloved Holdemans,

The sky has never been so blue, the clouds never so fluffy, the air never so sweet as we find life now. Our hearts are thrilling with melody of praise and wonder at the indescribable joy to be found in worshipping Christ in godly liberty. Sometimes the sheer happiness of it all is so huge that we just can't get our arms around it. Truly, our cup overfloweth.

  And as we go on, our detour through CGCM becomes more and more like a distant troubled dream.  It is hard for us now to believe that we once traded the grace of Jesus Christ for the idolatry of that organization.  It is hard now for us to believe that we once submitted to the concocted commandments of men and eclipsed the glory of Jesus Christ with a Pharisee's righteousness. This shame was the single largest mistake, the worst regret, of our lives.

But God has forgiven and healed us, and left us with a testimony to all : not only is there life when one leaves any of the many "one true" groups, but there is abundant, joyful Christian life! Blessings untold!

Our prayers for you all are always seasoned with sympathy and longing that you might someday exalt the Lord Jesus Christ instead of an erring organization--and thus also enjoy this sweet birthright of every Christian.

 

In Christian love,

Will and Vivian Stoppel