Pastor questions story

September 26, 2004

Dear Sir,

I was shocked and appalled to read the front-page story in the September 24 edition of The Royal Gazette, entitled "Church prays for cash to pay $150,000 concert shortfall".

This story contained an alarming number of errors and misleading information that has not only caused Cornerstone Bible Fellowship much embarrassment and distress but, more seriously, has unfairly damaged our reputation and integrity within the community.

Contrary to the report, Cornerstone is neither "pleading" for cash nor has fallen into difficulties to pay for the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir concert held at National Sports Centre on September 4. In addition the church has most definitely not fallen into "arrears of $250,000", as your paper has incorrectly stated.

At no time did I or any other pastor at Cornerstone make such statements to your reporter Stuart Roberts or to your Chief Reporter Cathy Stovell. The fact that Ms Stovell told us she was appalled by the printed version of the story confirms some over-imaginative editing in order to make a more sensational story; a story that had no reporter's name attached to it.

The fact of the matter is, The Royal Gazette contacted me and asked what the next plans were for Cornerstone. I informed them that the next event is "Highlights of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Concert", a Television Special on TV 9 that will air on Tuesday, October 12 and that there were many people asking how they could make donations because they did not come prepared to give on the night of the concert and would like to now but did not know how to make such a donation. Hence I stated to your reporter that we will use this TV special to inform those who attended the concert and expressed the desire to give how they could make donations to this event.

I also stated that it is important to me that people don't feel pressured to give, but it would be appreciated if they so desired. I did not state that the church was in arrears, facing financial difficulty, or that we were pleading for help, because that would be completely erroneous. Conversely I stated that every bill that has been due to date has already been paid.

The fact of the matter is that we have already paid out over $300,000 through ticket sales and donations without having to touch church funds. I did state that we were awaiting statements on a few final bills that we have yet to receive that will total approximately $150,000.

In the meantime, between now and October 30, when the bills will be due, persons that wish to make donations can do so and it will be appreciated.

However, if at the end of October 30, donations do not cover the final bills, we will pay the remaining costs out of church funds which, by the way, will be money well spent as the message of hope reached out to more than ten percent of the entire population of Bermuda on the night of the concert.

This is a small price to pay to call our nation from violence to peace and to remember the loved ones we lost through Hurricane Fabian and the World Trade Center attacks and to encourage their families. We see this as an invitation to the entire Island to let them know that God loves them and that we love and support one another as we saw thousands of people that were touched spiritually through this powerful event.

It is true that concert ticket sales did not cover the cost of the event because we decreased the cost of the tickets by 70 percent in order to enable the average person to afford to come. The reason we did this was to bless Bermuda and have our country come together, and this mission was accomplished in an extraordinary way with more than 8,000 people attending a public event with no acts of violence or disrespect.

I do not regret the decision to decrease the ticket price. If I could turn back time I would do the exact same thing. We did this concert for the people of Bermuda and if God leads, we would do it again.

It is not our practice to beg or plead for anyone to give to us. Our church is made up of a group of people from more than 15 countries and various backgrounds that reflects the diversity of Bermuda. They are fully supportive of the ministry here, not only financially but with their service, time and energy, which was vividly evident on the night of September 4.

I am fully aware that many people, especially people who do not attend church, have been turned off by many church leaders around the world who beg for money, and rightly so. Rather we should pray, state the need and trust God to provide through various means, including touch the hearts of people, which is what we did on the night of the concert. We did not plea or beg and have no intention of doing so.

We therefore respectfully ask that The Royal Gazette print a full correction and an unreserved apology to Cornerstone Bible Fellowship regarding this matter.

GARY SIMONS

Senior Pastor

Cornerstone Bible Fellowship

Editor's Note: The Royal Gazette is investigating Pastor Simons' concerns and will make a full statement in due course. Notwithstanding that, we accept that the use of the word "arrears" could have been read to mean that the church was behind in paying its bills. This was not the case and The Royal Gazette apologises for the choice of the word.