Open Letter to Mercy (Church Discipline and Restoration)

AN OPEN LETTER TO MERCY MOVEMENT CHURCH, MY FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND MY COMMUNITY FROM PASTOR JORDAN

I want to share openly about an important season I am preparing to enter. I know this announcement may bring questions, concerns, and many different emotions. My desire is to communicate with honesty, humility, and hope while honoring Jesus, His Church, and everyone involved. From the beginning, I want to say clearly that I receive this season and the process ahead as a beautiful expression of God’s grace and a profound gift to my life, my family, and Mercy Church.

As I shared with our church 2 weeks ago, at the end of August, I will step away from preaching and serving as an elder of Mercy Church for a minimum of six months. During this time, I will willingly submit to a formal process of church discipline led by the pastors and overseeing-elders of Steele Creek Church out of Charlotte, NC.

I want to make clear from the beginning why I am doing this. I am not entering this process merely because it is expected of me or because it may provide a path back into ministry. I am doing this because I love Jesus. I belong to Him, and I want every part of my life to honor Him. I want to know Him more deeply, obey Him more completely, and become more like Him. If there is anything in my heart, character, or life that does not reflect Christ, I want it brought into the light and transformed by His grace.

This process will involve regular meetings with the elders overseeing me, a thorough examination of my past sin and the fruit of my repentance, continued counseling and accountability, and an honest evaluation of my character, marriage, relationships, and spiritual health. I will be expected to answer difficult questions truthfully, receive correction humbly, follow the direction of those overseeing the process, and make any changes they believe are necessary.

The purpose is not simply to determine whether I can return to ministry. It is to care for my soul, honor Jesus, protect His Church, and examine whether my life demonstrates the character Scripture requires of a pastor and elder. Before I am a pastor, preacher, or leader, I am a follower of Jesus. My relationship with Him matters infinitely more than any position I could ever hold.

For clarity this decision is not the result of a new moral failure or a newly discovered pattern of sin. It is connected to the serious moral and relational sin from my past that I confessed several years ago. During that season, I violated appropriate boundaries, failed to reflect the character required of a pastor, and caused real harm through my choices.

What I did was sinful, and I remain fully responsible for it. I do not want to minimize it, excuse it, or place responsibility anywhere other than where it belongs. My sin was first and foremost against God, but it also affected people He loves deeply.

Following Jesus means taking ownership over that sin, accepting its consequences, caring about the harm it caused, and pursuing the kind of repentance that produces lasting fruit.

Following my confession, I stepped away from ministry and began pursuing repentance, counseling, accountability, and change. Over the past several years, Courtney and I have walked through countless difficult conversations, counseling, and ongoing accountability.

Through it all, Jesus has been extraordinarily merciful to us. He has not abandoned me in my sin. He has confronted me, corrected me, forgiven me, carried me, and continued revealing areas of my heart and character that need to be surrendered and transformed.

For several years, I have prayed for the opportunity to submit to a formal process of church discipline. I have asked the Lord to raise up a healthy, established church with qualified elders who would be willing to examine my life, shepherd me carefully, and lead me through this process.

Although I once hoped this opportunity would come sooner, I trust the perfect timing and providence of God. In His kindness, Steele Creek Church has now stepped into that role. Their elders have demonstrated faithful, biblical leadership while shepherding a healthy and thriving church with wisdom, conviction, and care.

When they offered to oversee this process, Mercy’s elders and I believed it was an answer to prayer and an opportunity to which I should willingly and gratefully submit.

I do not believe genuine repentance should fear examination.

True repentance does not ask how little accountability is required. It welcomes truth, correction, and whatever is necessary to walk fully in the light.

John writes, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7).

Jesus is the light, and I want to walk with Him. I want nothing hidden, defended, or protected from His transforming work. I do not want to merely speak about repentance. I want the fruit of repentance to be visible, tested, and confirmed over time.

As Paul writes, godly repentance produces “what earnestness…what eagerness…what zeal” (2 Corinthians 7:11). That is the spirit in which I want to enter this season: earnest in my repentance, eager to walk fully in the light, and zealous to honor Jesus with every part of my life.

Biblical church discipline is not rejection or punishment for punishment’s sake. It is an expression of the loving discipline of God. Jesus loves us too much to leave us enslaved to sin, deceived about ourselves, or isolated from the care of His people. His discipline is intended to bring sin into the light, produce the fruit of repentance, protect His Church, and restore His children to spiritual health and faithful Christian living. God never disciplines to destroy his children but to deliver them. God always disciplines with restoration mind.

Scripture also teaches that those who lead the Church must be above reproach. Because I have served as a pastor and elder, it is right for qualified spiritual leaders to examine my life, repentance, character, marriage, relationships, and qualification for ministry carefully. The responsibility of shepherding people who belong to Jesus is too sacred to treat casually.

I want to be clear about my heart as I enter this season. I am not submitting to this process simply so I can complete six months and return to the pulpit. I am not entitled to ministry, leadership, a platform, or a particular outcome.

My greatest need is not to preach again. My greatest need is Jesus.

If I regain a position but fail to become more like Christ, I will have missed the entire purpose of this season. But if I walk more closely with Jesus, love Him more deeply, reflect Him more faithfully, and become a healthier husband, father, church member, and follower of Christ, then this season will have accomplished something far more valuable than returning to a platform.

My desire is to obey Jesus, honor His Church, love the people my sin has affected, and allow trusted elders to examine my life without pressure from me. I want to receive whatever correction, guidance, and care the Lord provides through them. Whatever the final outcome may be, I want to walk through this process honestly, humbly, and faithfully. I trust Jesus with the outcome.

During these six months, I will not preach or serve in elder leadership. However, Courtney, our children, and I will remain part of Mercy Church. We will continue worshiping alongside our church family, participating in the life of the church, and serving in whatever ways are determined to be healthy and appropriate.
I do not want to withdraw from the body of Christ. I want to receive the ministry, care, correction, and shepherding of the Church as a member of the Church. I want my children to see that following Jesus means walking in humility, submitting to biblical authority, and valuing obedience to Christ above position or reputation.

I also want to offer clarity concerning the relationship between Mercy Church and Steele Creek Church. Mercy is not merging with Steele Creek, and Steele Creek is not assuming leadership of Mercy Church. Mercy’s elders will retain responsibility for leading the church and making decisions concerning its ministry and future. Steele Creek’s authority will be specifically connected to overseeing this process of discipline, examination, and care in my life.

Mercy Church belongs to Jesus. It has never belonged to me. He is its Savior, its foundation, and its Chief Shepherd. He has surrounded this church with faithful elders and leaders who love Him and love you deeply.

Over the coming months, you will hear from these leaders in greater ways. They will preach, shepherd, pray, make decisions together, and continue leading Mercy in its mission to make disciples who make disciples. I am grateful for them, I trust them, and I hope you will encourage and support them as they carry greater responsibility.

I believe this can become an important season in the life of our church. It is an opportunity for all of us to remember that the Church is not built upon one person, one personality, or one preacher. The Church is built upon Jesus Christ. He is the One who saves, leads, corrects, restores, and sustains His people. The future of Mercy does not rest on my shoulders. It rests securely in the hands of Jesus.

I am asking you to pray for Courtney, our children, and me. Please pray that we would walk through this season with humility, courage, honesty, and faith. More than anything, pray that we would draw nearer to Jesus and that He would be glorified through every part of this process.

Pray for the elders of Steele Creek as they lead this process. Pray for Mercy’s elders, leaders, and preaching team as they carry greater responsibility. Please support them, encourage them, and give them the grace and freedom to lead faithfully.

I also ask that we resist gossip, speculation, and division. At the same time, I understand that sincere questions are not disloyalty and that trust cannot be demanded. If you have honest concerns or questions, I encourage you to bring them to our elders rather than carrying them alone or discussing them in ways that could cause unnecessary harm. We want to be a church that walks in truth, extends grace, and handles difficult matters with maturity and love.

While this is a serious season, I am not entering it without hope. Repentance is not a punishment to escape. Repentance is a gift purchased for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It leads us out of darkness, away from death, and into freedom, healing, and deeper fellowship with God.

My confidence is not in my ability to manage this process or determine its outcome. My confidence is in Jesus. He has been more merciful to me than I could ever deserve. He gave His life for me, carried the judgment for my sin, and rose again so that I could walk in newness of life. I trust Him with my life, my family, my calling, and this church.

I love Mercy Church deeply. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to preach God’s Word, worship with you, walk beside you, and witness what the Lord has done among us. I am profoundly grateful for your prayers, your love, and the ways you have cared for my family.

I am entering this season because I love Jesus. I love His Church, and I want my entire life to belong to Him. I want the fruit of my repentance to be examined rather than merely claimed. I want my life to demonstrate that no position is more valuable than obedience, no platform is more important than character, and no calling is greater than knowing and following Christ.

Jesus will remain faithful to His Church. He will continue building Mercy, shepherding His people, raising up leaders, saving the lost, and making disciples. I believe He will use even this season to deepen our faith, strengthen our church, and make us more like Him.

My prayer is that when this season is over, the name remembered most will not be mine, but the name of Jesus. May He be honored in my repentance, glorified in His Church, and treasured above everything else.

With love and humility,
Jordan