Surrounded by Police!

It would be an understatement to say that the weeks prior to this account were extremely stressful (see previous “Telltale” posts).  For some time, we’d been experiencing authoritarian-type issues with the new pastor of our home church.  During one confrontation over a post I made on Facebook, he’d even expressed an extraordinarily high view of himself, stating that “God appointed me the shepherd of this church”(!).

Over several years as things were heating up to a boiling point, there was pressure to meet with church officials who wanted to know our beliefs concerning the role of a pastor.

That year (2017), we were in the middle of conducting two creation conferences in two states (NC, VA) with Frank Sherwin of the Dallas-based Institute of Creation Research as our guest speaker.  The schedule had us ending up in Virginia Beach, so we made some calls to pastors in that area that resulted in meeting opportunities after the second conference.  It was during this time that Heather’s dad helped us construct a letter to the pastor and deacons detailing what the Bible says about a pastor and a letter of resignation as members from our long-time church!

For me, this ministry had been my spiritual foundation since 1987, as I attended the Christian school for my junior and senior high school years.  Each year in the fall, they would take the 7^th through 12^th grades to an amazing camp called the WILDS for a spiritual emphasis week at the first of the school year.  It was in my junior year that I dedicated my life to the LORD at this camp.  In short, both the church and school have been extremely important to our lives and ministry for over 40 years, and we are indeed eternally grateful for how the LORD has used that ministry!

Since the church property had been the only place we’d parked our rig for more than 20 years since the beginning of our itinerant ministry, it was the first time we had to find another spot to park during the school year!  Little did we know how difficult that was going to be!  Through the process, we discovered that our county was like one big HOA (homeowner’s association)!   As we anticipated a change and not being familiar with county ordinances, I called and spoke with a commissioner to get some information about how we could get started with owning property and living in an RV.

When I told Commissioner Barbara Beatty about our ministry and that for more than 20 years we had lived in an RV as our home, she abruptly stated, “You can’t do that.”  I was quite taken aback and didn’t know what to say or how to respond!  In short, they don’t allow anyone to live in an RV…even on their own land…for any reason whatsoever!  So, we had to find another way.

As for our resignation and search for a new spot, we considered what to do next and began making phone calls.  We found out about Hickory Cove Bible camp in nearby Taylorsville and an RV spot there with full hookups that was designed for groups who came to work at the camp.

The camp staff were extremely friendly, gracious, and understanding of our needs as they allowed us to park our rig there temporarily, although sometimes that was a little tricky when camp activities were going on and we needed a place to park during the summer!  We enjoyed our time there at a beautiful and quiet spot with nearby walking trails that meandered through peaceful woods or a boat dock by the lake that was a beautiful spot for an evening or morning quiet time in God’s Word.

When we returned to NC from VA to park our rig at the camp, there were some new things on our “plate” to do now that we were no longer church members.  One of those things was to move our stuff that we had stored in different places in or behind the school.  Also, our mail receptacle there had mail that had come in while we were away.  What’s more, I still had building keys and a code for the alarm system.  Given the recent surreptitious behavior by certain individuals, we were not sure who we could trust.  After setting up our rig at the camp on Monday, I needed to make a trip to the school to get mail.  Not wanting to encounter anyone there, I waited ‘til nightfall.

When I arrived at the church, I saw a car in the breezeway between church and school.  Not wanting to see who it was, I went somewhere else to wait for a while.  I returned a little later to find the vehicle still there, but the school building was dark.  So, I disarmed it and retrieved our mail as quickly as possible.  As I was leaving the breezeway in our minivan, I remembered the stuff that we had stored outside behind the large storage building at the back of the school property.  Thinking I should check to make sure everything was still there, I drove back and found it all as I had left it.  I then drove to the front entrance to head back to camp.  I looked both ways before pulling out and let a vehicle pass which was a police vehicle.  Not thinking anything about it, I pulled out to head for home.  As I did so, the cruiser that had passed quickly did a quick U-turn and flipped on its lights and came up close behind me!  My first thought was that he was on a call and would quickly pass, but that was not the case!  He stayed right behind me and did not go around! I certainly wasn’t speeding as I’d just pulled out!  It soon became clear that the officer was pulling me over–but for WHAT, I wondered!  This situation was perplexing and even a bit scary!

Given the church situation and the behavior of certain of the leadership I once trusted made me wonder if someone somehow had set up a sting operation! Perhaps, I thought, this happened because we no longer were church members and still had building keys and alarm code!  The cruiser continued behind me with flashing lights as I turned left at the corner on the way back to the camp.  So, I quickly turned into the parking lot of the nearby Pizza Hut/Family Video.

As I did so, three or four MORE police vehicles pulled up and surrounded me, all with flashing lights!!  I had NO IDEA what was going on!

As I sat in the driver’s seat wondering what to do, I contemplated what to say to the officer who told me to keep my hands on the wheel and asked to see my driver’s license.  As my mind was racing, all I could remember telling him was that I’d gone to check my mail, and I showed him the mail in the seat beside me.  The officer had my license for a short time, then returned it and said I could leave.  He didn’t mention anything about the reason for pulling me over.  I then left for the camp and related the scary scenario to Heather’s great surprise!  It wasn’t until later that we learned what had happened to cause such a rash response from the police.

In the same general parking area as Pizza Hut was a Family Video store.  What I didn’t know at the time was that there had been an armed holdup at that store, and the gunman apparently escaped in the direction of the school.  At least to the police it likely appeared that the suspect had a getaway vehicle and/or stashed his gun somewhere on the ministry property.  When I had exited the property in my minivan, they thought I was that gunman! 

It was only a week later that my heart leapt into my throat as at the same spot in front of the church blue lights again came up behind me, only to pass by a few seconds later…whew!  Talk about déjà vu!!  It took me a bit to get over my “blue light PTSD”!  Seriously, it wasn’t long after we’d moved from our church that in the same parking lot someone was killed in a shooting!  To us, this served as confirmation that we were not meant to be parked in that area any longer!

This blog post finally brings our “Telltale Tidings” series of posts to an end.  While we did not like the whole ordeal as we were going through it, we can look back over the years since and see our great God’s wonderful plan.  We thank and praise HIM for bringing us through it all.  Without it, we likely wouldn’t have our own piece of property where in 2020 we built a small house and installed our own spot for parking our rig. No more being shuttled around from place to place or kicked off church property! Because of what took place over 8 years, the LORD opened our eyes not only to political wrangling in the church, but also to His Word and to the design that the Creator has for His believers to function in the assembly!  All of this likely would not be the case without the saga of Telltale Tabernacle Tidings!