Multiple staff members had discussed Ryan’s behavior with him in one-on-one meetings ( Mt 18:15). Since 2016, the most noteworthy of these attempts occurred during the Fall of 2019. Many of us attempted to follow scriptural guidelines for dealing with conflict within the church.
#Moments of hope church series#
This series of resignations was a result of the toxic culture that the Carsons had created for staff due their behavior and utter lack of accountability to leadership. Over the summer of 2020, nearly every employee resigned from Mission Community Church. The Carsons then replanted MCC in a different location in South Charlotte and 4 years later the pattern repeated. Subsequently, other staff and nearly 80% of the church members left MCC because of Ryan’s abusive leadership. In 2016, an associate pastor at MCC and a lay leader confronted Ryan with the exact same experiences expressed by so many in 2020 which resulted in the pastor’s resignation and both of the leaders deciding to leave the church. In 20 the Carsons faced nearly identical crises. The Carsons have exhibited a pattern of sinful behavior that has already repeated itself through multiple iterations.
Former staff, leaders, volunteers, and members have shared common personal experiences of spiritual and emotional abuse by Ryan Carson dating back to the founding of MCC in 2013 through 2020. Ultimately, this gave Ryan a position where he could control and abuse through this perceived trust, bond, and inclusion. Many quickly felt that we were home and that we belonged in the “family” the Carsons’ facilitated. His ability to identify people’s unique giftings and callings initially attracted others to himself, especially those desiring to be part of an authentic community. Ryan’s dynamic personality and charisma was felt by all. Ryan was not only our boss, but a friend, pastor, spiritual leader, and, to some, a father figure, officiant, and counselor. We not only worked together but we shared many aspects of our personal and familial lives together. Over the years we have all lived life with Ryan and his family.
It is our hope that this letter, as well as our testaments, will spur accountability and healing for Ryan and Bethany Carson, while also providing a warning, so that others involved in ministry with them may not experience spiritual and emotional harm. The leadership of Moments of Hope Church has received official communication from Mission Community Church’s board about Ryan’s current disciplinary disqualification from ministry and have remained silent. Furthermore, Ryan and Bethany are sowing seeds of divisiveness in the body of Christ by spreading false narratives and lies about the very people whom they have abused and abandoned. Ryan, and his wife Bethany, remain unrepentant and unwilling to consider the feedback and testimonies of numerous former friends, church and community leaders, church members, and church staff. Ryan currently remains under biblical disqualification from pastoral ministry ( Titus 1:5–9, 1 Tim 3:1–10), by the leaders of Mission Community Church, due to the patterns of spiritual and emotional abuse that dozens of members, leaders, and staff have experienced at the former church which Ryan pastored. This letter is being made public in response to Moments of Hope Church’s hiring and affirmation of Ryan Carson as a part of their church ministry. We have a deep desire to (1) honor and obey the Word of God ( 2 Tim 3:16–17, 1 Tim 5:19–22), (2) protect the body of Christ from harm and maintain the bonds of peace ( Eph 4:3), (3) see Ryan and Bethany set free, healed, and delivered ( Jms 5:16), (4) see Spirit-enabled repentance and, if possible, reconciliation ( Acts 3:19–20, Prov 28:13, Ps 32:5), and (5) participate in God’s plan for discipline and restoration ( Mt 18:15–20, Heb 3:12–13, 2 Cor 13:11). This letter was written by a combination of former staff, leaders, and members of Mission Community Church who were closely involved with the church ministry and Ryan and Bethany Carson from 2013–2020. Moments of Hope Church: An Open Letter Regarding Ryan Carson
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