Vincent and the

Sinning Leaders

A Case Study

Submitted by:
MOISES Y. ACAYAN

Submitted to:
DR. MINHO “AWIT” SONG

In Partial Fulfilment of
the requirements for
PASTORAL EPISTLES

ASIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

54 Scout Madriñan Street,
Diliman, Quezon City

JULY 25, 2016

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 I. INTRODUCTION

Background of Pastor Vincent:1

Pastor Vincent was born and raised in the province. He took his Bachelor’s degree in

Nursing from a provincial state university. He became a christian during college, through a

campus ministry of a college para-church organization. He grew in the faith, and was given

leadership roles in the said campus ministry. In the course of his service in the campus ministry,

the leaders of the said para-church organization observed and recognized his potential of

becoming a youth pastor. His church pastor also noticed the spiritual gifts of Vincent, and

encouraged him to pray and discern whether he has a calling from the Lord. After praying and

fasting, Vincent heeded the call to become a youth pastor. After graduation, he initially practiced

his nursing profession, and thereafter resigned to take seminary training.

Vincent’s church pastor recommended him to go to Manila, and enroll in a Seminary in

Quezon City. Prior to his seminary graduation, Vincent met the youth pastor of the College

Fellowship in Sta.Cruz, Manila. The said Youth Pastor that she will be pursuing a Master of

Theology abroad, and that her position as Youth Pastor of College Fellowship will be vacant. In

his desire to serve in a similar campus ministry. Vincent got interested in learning more about the

Youth Center and College Fellowship. He was then introduced to the ministry of the Youth

Center in Sta. Cuz, Manila to him.

Background of the Youth Center:2
After a youth retreat hosted by a certain Filipino-Chinese church, several young people

dedicated their lives to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon seeing a large number of

commitments to follow Christ, a certain pastor began to ask on how these young people can

grow in their saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially those who are not attendees

of any Christian church. He also had a vision to reach the students in various schools in St. Cruz,

1 Full name and specific details about Pastor Vincent is not disclosed for confidentiality purposes. This is an
actual case incident, hence, must be treated with utmost confidentiality.
2 Specific names were removed in order to maintain confidentiality.
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Manila with the gospel. For these reasons, the Pastor contacted other pastors and elders from

different Chinese-Filipino churches for a meeting to be held in a restaurant.

During the meeting, they prayed and came up with a unified vision of having a youth

center that would minister and cater to the spiritual needs of young people. The venue, the need

for full-time staffs who shall oversee the ministry, and the creation of a Board of Directors were

among the matters discussed. It was also agreed that the venue for the youth center shall be in a

rented space in Sta. Cruz, Manila. Moreover, as to the composition of the Board of Directors, it

was settled that its composition shall be representatives from various churches. Hence, the Youth

Center was established.

Upon its establishment, small groups were created with the goal of leading young people

in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, teaching them God’s word, and training them to be

Christ disciples. Further, with the support that the youth center was receiving from churches, it

became the para-church organization of these churches. As years went by, fellowship groups

were organized by the youth attendees themselves. Few years after the establishment of the

youth center, the young professional attendees started to organize themselves. Several years

after, the college attendees also organized themselves into a college fellowship. Thereafter, the

Student Fellowship was likewise organized for high school students. These various youth

fellowship groups were allowed to organize, in order to cater to the spiritual needs per age-

groups. Each age-group has different specific spiritual needs which cannot be addressed by a

mixed age-group. As years went by, the original venue of the youth center was transferred to

another location, but still within Sta. Cruz Manila. For decades, the youth center had been the

second home of most of its youth attendees. Some of its’former attendees are now successful

members of society, and leaders of various churches in the Philippines.

Today, the youth center continues to minister and evangelize its nearby schools. Its

mission statement is “Primarily to bring young people to the knowledge of the saving knowledge
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in our Lord Jesus Christ, to nurture them into Christ’s disciples, and direct them to Bible-based

Churches”.
Currently, majority of the high school attendees are from the two schools where the youth

workers are teaching values education. With regard to college attendees, all of them graduated

from these two schools, and are currently studying in the various colleges and universities in

Metro Manila. Moreover, most of the attendees are non-christians and/or new in the Christian

faith.

Background of College Fellowship:

College Fellowship’s mission is to evangelize and disciple college students, and channel

them to bible-believing churches. High school attendees, upon graduation, are then invited to

attend the College Fellowship. As part of its’ evangelistic efforts, members of the college

fellowship are encouraged to invite their classmates to attend the special events organized by the

fellowship officers, such as back-to-school parties, Christmas parties, Valentines Day, and other

special events relevant to college students. Moreover, tutorial services are given to its’ regular

attendees, and for those who are new to college fellowship. Should the attendees professed faith

in these events, a new believers group is organized. In terms of discipleship, special bible study

groups are organized for in-depth discussion of the bible and the christian faith. At times,

leadership seminars are also organized for its’ attendees in order to prepare them for their careers

after college graduation.

The College Fellowship for the longest time had been supervised by several youth

pastors. Aside from the Youth Pastor, the fellowship itself is led by its own set of officers who

are chosen among the members. The fellowship programs are set and determined by the

fellowship officers, subject to the approval of the youth pastor. The programs are set quarterly,

hence, quarterly meetings are held. The College Fellowship regularly meets every Saturday

afternoon. The fellowship program flow is as follows: Snacks, Praise and Worship, Short
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Message, and lastly, Acquaintance Games. Fellowship officers are in-charge in running the

program, except for the Short Message portion which is usually handled by the Youth Pastor or

guess speaker. As to what to sing, eat, and games to play, these are decided upon by the

fellowship officers. Further, the fellowship officers likewise decide the theme of the message,

and who to invite as speaker. The Youth Pastor merely supervises the fellowship, and does not

give much input.

As to the financial needs of the fellowship, the youth center only provides a meager

amount, and the fellowship survives through the offerings made by its attendees and by outside

donors.
In the past 10 years, College Fellowship has been supervised by four (4) youth pastors

successively. The first youth pastor left because he received a calling to pastor a church in a

province, while the second youth pastor resigned because of a gossip that he was having an affair

with another lady youth pastor. However, the gossip has not been proven to be true. He is now

abroad pastoring a church, along with his wife. The third youth pastor resigned because she was

called by the Lord to pursue another ministry, outside the youth center. Then the latest youth

pastor resigned because she intends to take further studies abroad.

Vincent as New College Fellowship Youth Pastor:

After being oriented about the ministry of the Youth Center and College Fellowship,

Vincent suddenly became interested to become the new youth pastor of College Fellowship. He

applied and was interviewed by the Director of the Youth Center. Then, he was asked to

immediately report and assume the position of the Youth Pastor of College Fellowship.

Problem Encountered by Vincent:

As the new youth pastor was hired to supervise and lead the College Fellowship, Vincent

encountered and faced several challenges in the first few months of his ministry as the new

Youth Pastor. He is never acquainted with the fellowship, and it is his first pastoral work, after
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seminary graduation. These challenges were not conveyed to him by the former Youth Pastor.

However, his major concern is the bad reputation of some fellowship officers who are allegedly

involved in sexual immorality, i.e., fornication. These fellowship officers are allegedly dating

and fornicating with some of the female members of College Fellowship. To make the matters

worse, Vincent was asked by the youth director not to rebuke or confront these fellowship

officers because their parents are influential, and had been the patron of the youth center in terms

of monetary donations.

Statement of the Problem:

Vincent came and asked, what should I do with these sinning fellowship officers?

I. SOLUTIONS FROM THE PASTORAL EPISTLES:

The Apostle, through Timothy, warned the Ephesian Church of the seriousness of the

errors propagated by the false teachers. Aside from the false teachings, Gordon Fee opined that

these false teachers may have been involved in sexual immorality with some of the young

widows.3 Though Paul did not elaborate on the issue of sexual immorality, nonetheless, there are

sexual overtones wherein these false teachers were involved, just like the sinning male

fellowship officers.

In light of the problem faced by Pastor Vincent, the following principles can glean from

the Pastoral Epistles are applicable in the present situation, to wit: Standing Strong in the midst

of Adversity; Due Process in Dealing with Erring Leaders; Excommunication for Unrepentant

Church Leaders; and Careful Evaluation and Appointment of New set of Fellowship Leaders.

Standing Strong in the Midst of Adversity

3 Gordon Fee, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988),272.
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 Paul reminded Timothy, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and

self-control” (2 Ti 1:7 ESV). Gordon Fee explains that the word fear denotes “cowardice” or

“terror that overtakes the fearful in extreme difficulty.” 4 In short, Paul is reminding Timothy that

God did not give His spirit of fear unto Timothy but that His spirit gave him power, love, and

self-discipline, as he faces hardships in Ephesus.5 In like manner, Pastor Vincent should not be

afraid in confronting the sinning male leaders of College Fellowship, even if their parents are

patrons of the youth center where he is currently serving.

Observance of Due Process
Paul instructed Timothy, “Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence

of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so

that the rest may stand in fear.” (1Ti 5:19-20 ESV). In this passage, we can see that Paul wanted

Timothy to observe due process. By due process, we mean that the sinning leaders must be

given an opportunity to explain and defend themselves. Clearly, 1 Ti 5:19 states that an

accusation or charge (κατηγορίαν) against an elder should only be accepted on the basis of two

or three witnesses. Church leaders are subject to public exposure, scrutiny, and criticisms, thus,

false accusations can easily be brought against them.6 Further, the guidelines laid down by Paul

for the Ephesian Church is for the protection of the an Elder from capricious or whimsical

charge.7 William Mounce states that the two or three witness rule is based on an Old Testament

legislation, especifically on Deuternomy 19:15 which states that “"A single witness shall not

suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he

has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be

4 Ibid., 227.

5 Ibid.

6 George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B.
Eerdmans, 1992), 235.
7 Fee, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, 130.
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established”.8 Moreover, George Knight III adds that the principles laid down in Matthew 18 are

to be observed as well.9 Anent the issue of the type of witnesses, Mounce states that these

witnesses should be actual witnesses.10 With regard to the nature of the accusation, he also

asserts that these are accusations involve extravagance and insubordination. Hence, these

witnesses should have personal knowledge of the extravagance or insubordination committed by

an erring elder.
Aside from the two or three witness rule, Paul exhorted Timothy to rebuke the erring

church leader in the presence of all ( ἐνώπιον πάντων ἔλεγχε ). Should the accusation against the

sinning church leader be true, then their attention should be called and be rebuked, for the sins

among the leadership should not be shielded or kept secret.11 Further, the rebuked must be done

in the presence of “all”. The term “all” may refer to the elders, but should also be taken to refer

to the whole church. Further, the reason for public censure is so that “the rest may stand in fear”

Gordon Fee explains that the fear is directed to the other elders, but such does not exclude the

church.12
In the case of the alleged fornicating male officers of the College Fellowship, Pastor

Vincent should not immediately censure these sinning leaders. As earlier discussed, he should

not allow gossips or rumors to be the basis to discipline them. There must be factual basis to

establish whether they are involved in fornication. Hearsay evidences should not be considered

and admitted against the said fellowship officers. The least he can do is to validate these rumors.

He can actually ask the person from whom he heard the news if he has personal knowledge of

the incident. Or he can also ask the lady members of the fellowship, who are alleged to be the

sexual partners of these male sinning officers. If these ladies would admit, then Pastor Vincent
8 Willaim Mounce, Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 46, Pastoral Epistles (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2000),
311.
9 Knight III, Pastoral Epistles, 235.
10 Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, 311.
11 Knight III, Pastor Epistles, 236.
12 Fee, 1Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, 130.
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should proceed with the disciplining process. Privately, Pastor Vincent should confront these

sinning male leader. After confronting them with their sin of fornication, there are two possible

scenarios, namely, that they will immediately admit their sin and repent, or that they will persists

in fornication. If these sinning male leaders confess, then as a matter of wisdom, it will be best

for them to immediately step down as fellowship officers, and be under the pastoral care of

Vincent. The purpose of such pastoral care should be restoration and reintegration to the

fellowship. In the meantime, they should not be allowed to take leadership roles. However, if

they fail to repent, and persist in fornicating, then their sin should be publicly announced in the

fellowship to warn the other fellowship leaders and members not to imitate the unrepentant

fellowship leaders. As to the female victims, who have repented, they should not be judged, but

counseled and discipled for purposes of restoration. However, if they are also unrepentant like

their partners, then they should also be publicly rebuked.

Excommunication of Unrepentant Fellowship Leaders

Aside from publicly rebuking the unrepentant leaders, we can also read about the concept
“
of “handing over to Satan” (παρέδωκα τῷ σατανα). In 1 Timothy 1:20, we read among whom

are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to

blaspheme”. We can read about the act of handing the sinning leaders to the domain of Satan,

and its purpose. Gordon Fee opines that the “handing over to Satan” pertains to the removal of

the sinning leader from the church. 13 He also states that the church is the “sphere of the Spirit,

where God is actively at work in people’s lives”. 14 By removing them from the domain of God,

the sinning leaders are given to the domain of Satan. William Mounce also asserts that such act

corresponds to excommunication, and is remedial as well as punitive in nature. 15 He also states

13 Fee, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 59.

14 Ibid.
15 Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, 68.
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such action or discipline is done to the extent of punishment, with redemption as the goal. 16

Moreover, the purpose of the excommunication is for them to cease from blaspheming. Gordon

Fee explains that the point of Paul is not clear.17 However, he avers that the blasphemy pertains

to a conscious rejection of God’s grace.18

Moreover, Paul was also concerned with the attitude by which Timothy must show while

contending against the sinning leaders. In 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Paul instructs Timothy that “the

Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring

evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading

to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the

devil, after being captured by him to do his will”. Clearly, Paul wanted Timothy to observe

kindness, patience, and gentleness, in dealing with the sinning leaders. With regard to these

verses, Gordon Fee explains not being quarrelsome does not mean that errors should be

tolerated.19 Moreover, he must exhibit a disposition different from the false teachers, as well as

to those who were ensnared by these false teachers. 20 Timothy is to exhibit a stance that will

not simply refute the errors of the false teacher but also those who have been entangled by the

false teaching.21
Similarly, Pastor Vincent should remove the unrepentant male leaders of College

Fellowship. However, in doing so, he must exhibit an attitude of kindness, patience, and

gentleness. Pastor Vincent should not exhibit a vindictive attitude, but an attitude of mercy and

love. This kind of attitude should not just be shown to the unrepentant male leaders but also to

16 Ibid.
17 Fee, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 59.
18 Ibid.
19 Fee, 1 Timohty, 2 Timohty, Titus, 265.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
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the whole membership of College Fellowship. Pastor Vincent must be firm in removing the

unrepentant male leaders, and also merciful and loving towards them.
Careful Evaluation and Appointment of New Leaders
With the removal of the unrepentant male leaders of College Fellowship, a leadership

vacuum can occur. Paul cautions Timothy and the other Ephesian elders not to be “hasty in the

laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others” (1Ti 5:22). George Knight states that the

“laying on of hands” in this passage pertains to the public means by which people are set apart

for the office of an elder.22 By hastily consecrating an unqualified person into the position of an

elder, Timothy and the Ephesian elders would then be condoning the sins of the unqualified

person.23
In the selection of an Elder, Paul provided some characteristics which an elder should

possess, such as “above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled,

respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not

a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children

submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care

for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and

fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so

that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” (1Ti 3:2-7) Derek Prime and Alistair

Begg state that the “new testament places as great a stress upon character as a qualification for

spiritual leadership as upon gifting- in fact, probably more upon character.”24

In the same way, Pastor Vincent should not immediately install new officers in College

Fellowship in lieu of those who were removed. He must test the characters of those who will be

22 Knight III, Pastoral Epistles, 239.

23 Kinight III, Pastoral Epistles, 240.
24 Derek Prime & Alistair Begg, On Being a Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work (Chicago: Moody
Publishers, 2004), 36.
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replacing the unrepentant male leaders. As a guide, he can use the characteristics mentioned by

the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3:2-7.

II. CONCLUSION:
Pastor Vincent has the responsibility to take care of the ministry that God has entrusted to

him. Part of this responsibility is to set order in the leadership rank of College Fellowship. He

must be bold and courageous in confronting with the fornicating male leaders of the fellowship,

for the spirit he received from the Lord is not that of cowardice but of power, love, and self-

discipline. Further, he must not be intimidated by the parents of these unrepentant leaders.
In dealing with these male leaders, he must observe due process at all times. He must not

accept baseless and unfounded charges or rumors against these leaders. There must be sufficient

evidence to prove that these male leadaers are in fact committing fornications with the female

members of the fellowship. In the event that these male leaders fail to repent, then, their sins

must be publicly denounced. Moreover, excommunication should likewise be observed. Above

all, the goal for the disciplining process must be love and restoration, and not vindictive.
Moreover, Pastor Vincent should likewise test and evaluate the characters of the new

leaders who will be taking the places of those who have been disciplined. With 1 Timothy 3:1-7

as his guidelines, he can properly screen the candidates, in order to assure that they are qualified.

Derek Prime and Alistair Begg notes that “ it is the subtle enemy of our souls who tries to make

us think that God’s requirements concerning our life and character are either unimportant or

altogether too familiar.”25

25 Prime, On Being a Pastor, 35.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Begg, Derek Prime & Alistair. On Being a Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work.
Peabody, MA: Moody Publishers, 2004.

Fee, Gordon D. 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers / Paternoster
Press, 1995.

Mounce, William. Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 46, Pastoral Epistles. Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson, 2000.

Knight, George W. The Pastoral Epistles (The New International Greek Testament
Commentary). Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013.

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