Boerne Christian Assembly

Doug Phillips Excommunicated From Boerne Christian Assembly

HA Editorial Team6 Comments
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Kirk Cameron and Doug Phillips.

By R.L. Stollar, HA Community Coordinator

Doug Phillips, the former president of Vision Forum and one of the leading advocates of Christian Patriarchy within the Christian Homeschool Movement, was publicly excommunicated today from his former church, Boerne Christian Assembly (BCA). In a statement released today on BCA’s website, BCA elders Jeff Horn and David Fry declared the following:

“After much prayer and careful deliberation, and having fully communicated to Doug Phillips his Biblical responsibilities and our concerns, regarding sins, arising out of his public confession, there has not been a response we deem satisfactory. Therefore, the Elders of Boerne Christian Assembly have moved to excommunicate Doug Phillips from the Body of Christ. In doing so, we have sought in good faith to follow diligently the process set forth by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:15-17. This has been a process in which BCA has demonstrated great longsuffering and patience, has offered many and earnest appeals, and has sought much counsel from men of other churches.”

This statement comes several months after BCA revealed in July of this year that Doug Phillips had left Boerne Christian Assembly and had become a member of another Church “without a letter of transfer from Boerne Christian Assembly” — a requirement affirmed by Phillips himself while he was an elder at BCA. Phillips left after BCA “sought to exercise oversight and accountability” on account of allegations that Phillips had groomed and sexually assaulted a young woman.

You can read Boerne Christian Assembly’s full statement here (or archived as a PDF here).

** Update: The Phillips family has fired back against the BCA. In a statement posted on Doug Phillips’s wife’s Facebook page, Beall Phillips alleged that,

“Today, Boerne Christian Assembly, a church with no jurisdiction over any member of my family, and with about six remaining active member families which includes the three recently elected leaders, (some of whom are personally entangled in controversies and conflicts of interest related to a highly publicized lawsuit) has chosen to dismiss BCA’s historic principles of church government, ignore the Scriptures, and reject their duties to honor civil jurisdictions.”

Read the Phillips’s statement here as a PDF.

Vision Forum Ministries to Cease Operations

HA Editorial Team5 Comments

closing

By R.L. Stollar, HA Community Coordinator

Twelve days after Doug Phillips resigned as president of Vision Forum Ministries due to “a lengthy, inappropriate relationship,” the board of the non-profit has stated the organization will be closing.

In a statement dated today, November 11, the Vision Forum Ministries board explains,

In light of the serious sins which have resulted in Doug Phillips’s resignation from Vision Forum Ministries, the Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of all involved to discontinue operations. We have stopped receiving donations, and are working through the logistical matters associated with the closing of the ministry. While we believe as strongly as ever in the message of the ministry to the Christian family, we are grieved to find it necessary to make this decision. We believe this to be the best option for the healing of all involved and the only course of action under the circumstances.

You can view the statement on their website here; we have archived a PDF of the statement here.

According to Julie Anne Smith at Spiritual Sounding Board, this comes “nine months after Phillips stepped down from his pastoral role as ‘teaching elder’ at Boerne Christian Assembly.”

Vision Forum, Inc., the for-profit counterpart to Vision Forum Ministries, has made no similar statement. Their blog post today is an offer to view a World War II film directed by Geoffrey Botkin. As of November 6, Doug Phillips said he “retain[s] ownership of Vision Forum, Inc.” Phillips also said he will continue “serving as a foot soldier.”

While the non-profit Vision Forum Ministries will “discontinue operations,” it is important to note the board “believe[s] as strongly as ever in the message of the ministry.” Indeed, while Phillips has ceased speaking and teaching engagements, the for-profit side of his ministry continues to sell his speeches and his teachings.