April 7, 1997

Dear Barbara:

Thank you so much for the time and interest you took in writing to Pastor Finley several weeks ago. As his administrative assistant he has given me the privilege of writing to you in his behalf. As he and I discussed your letter we were impressed with the fact that your questions and concerns were from a sincere heart that seeks each day to stay hidden in Jesus.

As I personally read your letter, I ascertained that you appreciated Pastor Finley's emphasis of people being accountable to God alone for their religious opinions. Personally I can tell you from a close association with him that Pastor Finely does in fact believe this and in his personal relationship with people seeks to grant this freedom to everyone.

I must remind myself that it is important to remember that such personal freedom does not mean the same thing as using something that belongs to someone else. Let me pose a hypothetical situation: Just suppose a bishop of a large diocese, for whatever reason, should decide to start a little church or maybe a club and call it "Seventh-day Adventist." I believe that you and I would both agree that such an action would not be correct for someone who in reality is not a Seventh-day Adventist. Next it must be decided, what technically is a Seventh-day Adventist? My point is this. . . If anyone or any group has officially adopted a name that identifies them and their mission, then that group certainly has the right and privilege to use that name exclusively. Just because an individual independently decides that God has given them that name does not automatically mean that in fact He has, as in the hypothetical case above. This is not religious freedom to be misleading in the use of a name that has already been adopted by a group of people.

In addition, I think you would agree that neither would it be religious freedom for the hypothetical situation mentioned to use the tax exempt status that has been granted to the first users of the name. What about a group of homosexuals who claim to use the name Seventh-day Adventist, that certainly would not be religious freedom for such a misuse of a sacred name, would it? Another example we could use would be for a group of scientists to represent themselves as Seventh-day Adventists but who publically and boldly proclaimed evolution.

Seventh-day Adventists are a corporate body as a whole. The Apostle Paul specifically shows how the body, the church is not made up of separate parts who act independently of one another, one claiming one thing and another claiming something else. you and I both know that the name is certainly not what saves us. Instead it is a saving relationship with Jesus Himself! Therefore as children of the heavenly king, and as we continue on in our journey of life, approaching His soon return, let us not be sidetracked by Satan's attempts to cause us to focus on the wrong things. Remember the church is not perfect because we the people who compose it's membership are not perfect.
God bless you is my and Pastor Finely's prayer as well,

David W. Wolkwitz,
Administrative Assistant to Pastor Finely