Letter writers got it wrong
In response to the letters to the editor in the March 27 issue of Dallas Voice:
Paul Taylor spoke of Cathedral of Hope winning the Readers Voice award for favorite place to worship. That may be true, but the people voting really don’t know what’s going on at CoH. The stage show is enough to get many people’s vote.
It’s natural that CoH would win the award. Winning the award doesn’t mean that church leadership is good. It only means that CoH won a popularity contest.
Rob Rowntreewrote about things as ifhe attends CoH regularly. Just like him, many CoH members have no idea what’s going on at the church. Many people like Mr. Rowntree live elsewhere and are not actively involved in the church. The CoH leaders have authorized use of church funds to protect themselves from their unethical deeds.
Jason Shockleystated that "the trio" is making things worse. That must mean things are already bad. He would be right.
The church leaders made things bad, and they are making things worse. Stepping down would be the best thing for the church.
James Zackey was right that people are helped by CoH.
However, there are countless people who were CoH volunteers, who helped many people and who also have been ostracized by CoH clergy for asking questions. Lay ministry leaders have been run off in large numbers. It’s major turnover at CoH, which is costly.
The good things done by CoH members to help the community do not justify the narcissistic and unethical conduct of CoH leaders. It’s not Christlike.
If some people at CoH wish to keep their heads in the sand and keep their eyes shut when it comes to the business of the church, that’s their prerogative. However, in the long run, the body of Christ is damaged by the actions of church leaders and not by three men who stand for truth and justice.
2 Timothy 3, on godlessness in the last days:
"1. But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3. without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4. treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — 5. having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them!"
I will heed that advice and stay away from CoH leaders.
Dallas
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This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 3, 2009.
Wow…it is amazing, Blake Ashlock apparently knows everything about everything. I guess he is right and the thousands of people who attend the church are wrong! Must be nice to be so sure sure of yourself. I can only hope that this poor misguided fellow will follow through on his promise: “I will heed that advice and stay away from CoH leaders.” Since he has all the answers, maybe he should go start his own church of 1.
I have watched over the years as the CoH Leadership has driven off anyone who disagrees with them or asks too many questions. Be sure to read the article in this issue of the Voice about Mel White, He was fired for the same reason Mr.Ashlock was disenfranchised. The sermon topic for Sunday is “My way or the Highway”. Rev. Hudson has been trained well by Piazza, who was supposed to leave in 2003 after the last scandal. There are not “thousands of people” who attend church. The average weekly attendance is a little over 1000. There are 3700 “members” but over 2000 of them haven’t been heard from in over five years and they are listed as inactive because the church has no way to contact them. I attend the board meetings and by their own admission, there are about 300 people who actually support the church financially. CoH is a cult and nothing more. I love the people there and won’t leave because I enjoy the social activities and I have met most of my friends there. They have spent $258k more than they have taken in this year. The groundbreaking for the “Peace” chapel was 17 months ago and not a shovel of dirt has been turned If they believed in Peace they would have sat down with Mr. Ashlock and tried to work this all out but he knew too much. Eventually, they will self destruct!
To call Catheral of Hope a cult is ridiculous. You can come and go as you want. They do not force you to serve in any ministry or tithe at the church. Blake AshCOOK made a good decision to stay away from the leaders of the church. For he is unworthy to attend the church.
Dear Bob Justice and Frank Cooper. I am so glad that the 2 of you seem to have all the answer yourselves as well. As a member of the famous “Trio”, I too believe that we made the right decision in what we did with this article 2 weeks agao, and I will always stand behind and support Blake and Gene on this quest. It is so sad however, that you two, along with several others have chosen to stick your heads in the sand, while passing judgement on a subject that neither one of you obviously knows NOTHING about. I hope and pray that you both are not hurt someday by the actions of COH leadership, the way the rest of us and hundreds of others have been hurt over the years as well.
I would say that, rather than being a ‘cult’, the majority of the active members are there for social reasons and to pray/worship in a place where they feel comfortable. There is nothing wrong with this; however, these people do not become actively involved in the church financially or by volunteering.
If many of the members of CoH cared enough to know what is REALLY happening behind the scenes, they might think twice before throwing their “support” behind the leadership. Those that choose to bury their head in the sand and keep their minds closed as to what is going on, fine; but before they rally-up and speak their minds, they should become educated. The ‘Trio’ had every right to take a stand, had educated themselves, and spoke their minds.
The facts are that MANY members who were large contributors to the church, both financially and by volunteering, have left the church in large droves. And, the bleeding continues. The primary reason: Michael Piazza (I refuse to throw the term Reverend in front of his name because he is anything but). Mr. Piazza has been on a power trip ever since building the existing church. He may be a dynamic speaker behind the pulpit; but behind the scenes, he is a bully and many have been the recipient of his bile if he is ever challenged or questioned. I should know – I was one.
The church likes to boast it’s 2,000+ ‘membership’ but a large percentage of these members are no longer active. The reason the church can continue to count them as member is because these individuals have not written the church to have themselves removed from the rolls, or ‘revoking’ their membership.
My letter will be in the mail this next week. I continued to stay a ‘member’ because I was hoping for a change of leadership and was cautiously optimistic that Jo Hudson would bring a new day to the church. This has not happened, and as long as Mr. Piazza is associated in any way, shape or form, with CoH, there will not be change.
If CoH is going to thrive and grow, Mr. Piazza must be removed. The numbers don’t lie.
Having been a member of the Cathedral of Hope for at least 5 years and active in church ministries since about that time, I’ve experienced enough of the church to form a strong opinion about it. I believe wholeheartedly that the people who attend CoH are part of the Body of Christ. They are the reason most people enter ministry, lay or pastoral.
I also believe Blake, Bob and Gene were active in the church because they wanted to do the right thing for the people they served. This would include the most recent effort to flush out some concerns they’ve voiced regarding the pastors at the Cathedral. I realize that their passion may come across as drastic, but their voices should not be silenced. In the spirit of Christianity, I think we’re all called to fight for justice, and these three very much feel like the CoH leadership has been unjust. If people knew what type of dialogue the three had tried to have with leadership, people might be less quick to call them crazy. Wouldn’t most of us start to shout if someone ignored, talked over and yelled at us?
Speaking from experience, when you love a place, a space, and a people as much as a lay minister, it’s hard to pull the passion from the words. It might have been simple enough to have said, “Hey everyone. We just aren’t happy with how CoH handles money or it’s people, and we want that to change†but the frustration mounts when nobody with power will listen, and you can’t speak directly to the members. What results is a screaming match between two very-opinionated parties and the one with the power silences the uprising. Is that really right?
As we enter Holy Week as a Christian Community, I hope it becomes apparent to some of you who’ve shut out the idea of listening… that this is exactly what the historical church did to Jesus. It refused to listen to his “radical ideas†and executed him. While I’m not implying that the “trio†are Jesus, I think it’s in the spirit of our very faith to listen to the concerns of our members and not to ignore what we find “outside our comfort zone.â€
I pray that my pastors will listen, my fellow members will listen, and Bob, Blake, and Gene feel welcomed back into our flock.
Happy Easter to all.
It seems that many people close their ears to things that they don’t want to hear, even if it is the truth. For those in opposition to the trio, maybe you can take a step back and start asking yourself questions as to why they would continue to pursue a cause so passionately. This is not a war, but a way of expression. If the church leaders would only listen to the facts presented against them instead of disclosing their close mindedness, then the church can thrive and do the good that it was established to do. The stain that is left from previous scandals dealing with the leadership of the church has caused so much turmoil that one should take a closer look at themselves and see what can I do to change this image of this church that I have created.
Many times we tend to look the other way in hopes that the discrepancies will fade away in the background. This issue is not one of those causes that will fade in the background. It is our responsibility to guide ourselves in a direction that promotes diversity among each other and hope for the peace to overwhelm the needs we aim to aspire. This is a reflection of who we are and coming so far in the inclusive efforts to bring peace, justice, and acceptance. The leadership needs to push their own greedy agendas to the side and look at the bigger picture. Justice and truth shall prevail even if so many people close their minds to hearing something that may upset them or do not agree with. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but once they have closed their ears then it becomes more than turning your back on things that need to be expressed. As the previous commenter stated, if you turn and look away, how do you know what you follow is the correct path to justice?