The Orion Monitor

Issue #5

November, 2004

www.OrionMonitor.com

The Merger that Never Was?

An Analysis of Pastor Frederico’s Latest Words Indicate That There Never Was a Mutual Agreement

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The Orion Monitor is an unofficial, unauthorized, irregular publication of the former Los Angeles Central Japanese church. As the name implies, the Monitor was originally created to monitor the Orion Chronicles. Its mission then was to provide the missing perspective on affairs affecting the members of the Los Angeles Central Japanese-American SDA church missing from the Orion Chronicles. With the demise of the Orion Chronicles and the merger of the LACJ with the Hacienda Heights SDA (HH) church, the Monitor’s focus will now be to report and analyze HH church events and issues infected with political correctness, suppression, and or history revisionism.

Orion Monitor Staff: Editor: Dennis Hokama; Senior Associate Editor: Dennis Hokama; Managing Editor: Dennis Hokama; Political Correctness Consultant: Dennis Hokama; Chief Financial Officer: Dennis Hokama; Circulation Manager: Dennis Hokama; Field Reporter: Dennis Hokama. (Lucrative contract offers have been extended to qualified candidates to fill some of these openings, but all have declined so fare, citing Equus cephalophobia.⁽¹⁾)

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In the last issue, entitled Can a Leopard Change Its Spots? theMonitor covered the latest attempt by the beleaguered Japanese Language Ministry Council to put their finger on the cause of their downward spiral since the merger. The title alluded to the Pastor’s unchanging behavior and modus operandi over the past six years. It also implied scepticism regarding the fruitfulness of the advice given by Elder Caviness that more talking could result in a drastic change for the better from the perspective of the Japanese language ministry.

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In the current issue, entitled The Merger That Never Was?, the Monitor continues to pursue the trail of the poltergeist that has bedeviled this merger from the beginning. There are two pieces.

1. Anatomy of an Agenda with a Stacked Deck.⁽²⁾ An analysis of an agenda that was put out by Pastor Albert to deal with a reported outbreak of "tension" between the Japanese and English language ministries. It’s significance is the shocking degree to the human mind can distort and misinterpret evidence when it is in denial.

2. Getting to the Source of the Tensions. A re-constructed transcript of the elders meeting that was convened to discuss and dispose of the elusive "Tension between the Japanese and English language ministries." Despite six years of unrelenting conflict, it is revealed that neither the Pastor nor any of the HH elders have the faintest idea of what the problem is, or who or what has been responsible. The source of the conflict is identified.

Disclaimer

I respect Pastor Albert Frederico’s integrity as a Christian, and believe that he is sincerely doing what is right in his own eyes. In the six years we have known each other, he has always been friendly, accommodating, and fair to me. This analysis will be critical of his conduct in his capacity as a Pastor, but nothing should be interpreted as casting aspersions on his character, because none is intended. Keep in mind that when one is in "denial," they are unaware of their convoluted perceptions and reasoning being used to legitimize their wishful thinking. Some will undoubtedly call this an "attack" on Pastor Albert. To the extent that this implies a personal attack, this is not true. However, I welcome all criticism, denials, and attempted refutations.

Background

On Friday evening (10/8/04) Pastor Albert Frederico sent an e-mail to his elders informing them of an agenda item that would be discussed the following day in an elders meeting. I had already been invited by the Pastor to be present at that elders meeting to discuss the tensions in the church a few days earlier. But upon reading the letter late Friday night, I was completely astounded by his mischaracterization of the problem, and realized that it provided a good example of what has been driving the Japanese church faction crazy for the past six years.

The Agenda Letter⁽³⁾

10/08

Dear Elders,

One of the subjects that I think we should talk about tomorrow is the presence of tensions between the Japanese and English ministries.

· Some feel that there are a lot of ongoing tensions between the Japanese and English ministries. Do you agree?

· If so, should we attempt to resolve them? How?

We could just 'ignore' it and move on.

I could visit with anyone who feels tensions.

You as Elders could discuss these tensions, resolve them here, and then talk to individuals that you know feel tension.

We could publish some sort of document listing the items of tension and each of the factors, or answers that should resolve them.

We could have some sort of public meeting, where we air out the tensions, resolve them and leave them behind. It could be a special board meeting or an open forum of some sort.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Pastor Albert

XC Pastor Obara, Dennis Imai

I wrote the first version of this paper hastily on Sabbath morning before I left for Loma Linda, and had Pat (my wife who is a church elder) take it to the church to make copies (It will be in the appendix at the end of this piece). These were eventually passed out during the elders meeting and read silently. Some elders pointed out some inflammatory words, which I agreed should not have been used. I agreed to edit the paper and take them out. While I was at it, I decided to add a disclaimer, background statement, and make some other editorial changes that clarified what might have been unclear. You are now reading the result of those editorial changes.

As I prepared the document on Sabbath morning, I had in mind many events that I had no time to include. Now that I am editing it, I will go into more detail. Most recently, there was the board meeting on 9/23, which featured a confrontation between Pastor Albert and Shindo Matsuda in which Pastor Albert refused to answer challenges by Shindo regarding his handling of the building committee. I had interviewed Shindo, Dennis Imai and Pastor Albert in a follow up to the unresolved confrontation that everyone had witnessed in the board meeting. Surely that must count as an unmistakable publicly visible sign of tension between Pastor Albert and a member of the Japanese language group! I interviewed Shindo after the weekend to confirm that it was, and that it had not been resolved even after his private discussion with Pastor Albert.

I had in mind an event three weeks before, on 9/19, when a 22 member contingent of the Japanese Language Council, including English speaking young adults, had gone to the Conference office to express their dissatisfaction and frustration with Pastor Albert and the current regional alignment. Although direct discussion of Pastor Albert was forbidden, and most of the dissatisfaction had to be expressed in terms of regional membership, the unanimous conclusion was that the present arrangement was not acceptable, and that all talks of building on the property ought to be tabled for the present until that situation could be resolved.

In the past six years, there has hardly if ever been a time when the Japanese side did NOT have a fresh grievance against Pastor Albert. Four or five years ago, I personally attended two meetings which were called solely for the purpose of confronting Pastor Albert over his systematic attempts to unfairly manipulate the process to get his way. I agreed to be the spokesman for these two meetings, because I thought that the problem had been that nobody had spoken frankly enough to Pastor Albert. Upon being confronted, Pastor Albert denied doing anything intentionally, claimed it was inadvertent, but promised he would be more careful in the future. Within a day or two, Harvey sent me a vicious e-mail, accusing me of having "attacked" Pastor Albert and hinted at trouble if I didn’t lay off. Within two weeks Pastor Albert had committed the same offenses that he had denied doing intentionally. I told the English speaking Japanese group that had asked me to help Pastor Albert to see the light, that the case was hopeless because I had stated the problem as clearly as I was capable of doing, but that Pastor Albert denied any responsibility and had continued doing exactly the same things that we had complained about. Furthermore, instead of getting back to us, he was relaying all criticisms to Harvey, who proceeded to try to intimidate me by e-mail (which I showed to Dennis Imai).

Dennis Imai and I both agreed that we could not stay engaged in the process unless we were willing to publicly confront and humiliate Harvey also, which would have resulted in a catastrophic conflagration that would have splintered the whole church because of the Pastor’s heavy reliance of Harvey, and Harvey’s alliance with many of the influential members on both sides. Since we would have been blamed for destroying the church just to satisfy our own egos, we agreed that it would be the lesser of two evils for us to just turn the other cheek and withdraw from active participation, hoping that things would work out anyway.

There may come a day when the meticulous documentation of these incidents is appropriate, and I will be happy to provide that in gory detail if it comes to that. But for now, the issue is not whether these complaints can be documented sufficiently to determine whether they were meritorious or not, but whether there was a long standing and chronic state of tension and conflict between Pastor Albert and the Japanese ministry supporters, the existence of which Pastor Albert could not help but be aware.

Analysis of the Agenda

An Instance of "Stacking the Deck"

The most persistent and serious criticism of Pastor Albert by supporters of the Japanese language ministry is that he has destroyed the integrity of the church process by shamelessly "stacking the deck" and persistently manipulating the process whereby the church deliberates and makes decisions. The importance of this analysis is that it will demonstrate that in something as simple as the publishing of an agenda, the deck has been hopelessly stacked, such that short of a mutiny by the elders, one of the church’s highest deliberative bodies has been blinded to the very problem which they are gathered to discuss. Although this is just one instance, this kind of subtle deck stacking has been ubiquitous for the past six years. Let me explain what I mean, by going through his memo, line by line:

One of the subjects that I think we should talk about tomorrow is the presence of tensions between the Japanese and English ministries.

Pastor Albert takes for granted that the (primary) tension is between the Japanese and English ministries. I doubt that anybody told him this, and assume he came up with this self serving characterization on his own. Note the subtle arrogance, the self righteousness, and condescending implication and tone of the letter. The unstated premise of the letter is that Pastor Albert is above the fray, because the tension that exists is between the Japanese and English ministries, rather than between him and the Japanese church ministries. He presumes to be the one looking down benignly from above, trying to solve the tension that exists between the squabbling ministries under his supervision.

Given the continuous running battle the Pastor has had with the Japanese language ministries, this automatic pass he awards himself in this memo, requires a level of naivete that I find impossible to accept. Consider the overwhelming evidence against the presumption that Pastor Albert should be given an automatic pass:

During the board meeting just about two weeks ago (9/23/04), we all witnessed the level of frustration and anger that Shindo felt toward Pastor Albert concerning the long running building committee. Shindo said he wasn’t even given the respect of a human being. The Pastor refused to answer Shindo’s questions and requested that they have a private meeting. Shindo rejected that offer, demanding a public reply instead.

I only cite this one specific instance to show that there is no way that anybody with a sound mind could responsibly exclude the possibility that Pastor Albert was at least part of the problem. Note also that the incident Shindo referred to did not even happen recently, but has simmered openly for more than a year, and most people on the Japanese side know this story, and consider it an instantiation of Pastor Albert’s modus operandi. His tendency to encourage secrecy in committees was reported and published in print by the Orion Monitor in 1998. I propose that any prudent person seeing that public confrontation must at least consider the possibility that Pastor Albert is a prime candidate for being part of the reason for the "tensions" he says exists. In view of this, I can reach no other conclusion than that the Pastor’s exclusion of this possibility indicates an extreme case of denial.

I know that Shindo and Albert washed each other’s feet the following Sabbath. But I spoke to Shindo after the weekend. Shindo said that the foot washing indicated only that he did not take what Albert did personally, but that none of the ministry issues were settled satisfactorily in their private meeting. Furthermore, Dennis Imai who was there as a witness, said he was horrified by the patronizing and condescending manner with which the Pastor tried to placate Shindo, who is a very proud man. Shindo is still awaiting a satisfactory answer to his challenges. The fact that Pastor Albert thought the problem had been completely solved by their private meeting is only another indication that his state of denial makes him incapable of having the necessary sensitivity to know when he has solved a problem rather than aggravated it. My own interview of Pastor Albert’s interpretation of the event and the answers he gave to me concerning Shindo’s questions, led me to conclude that his answers could not have satisfied Shindo’s concerns, and did not satisfy mine either.

Apart from the embarrassing public expressions of hostility and frustration directed against Pastor Albert by one of the backbones of the Japanese language ministry, I suggest that on general principles alone, it is not responsible for a Christian Pastor to automatically exempt himself from scrutiny, and attempt to direct attention everywhere other than himself. If this were a football game, I think it fair to call it a misdirection play.

Finally, it is a logical contradiction that one can claim certain knowledge that they are not the cause of said "tensions," while also admitting to being mystified by the exact nature and source of said "tension." If the Pastor knows the exact nature of the "tensions," then let him proclaim to us exactly what it is, and what caused it. If he cannot do this, (and he certainly has given us no indication that he can) then it follows that he cannot rule himself out as the cause of the tensions. To proclaim one’s innocence while admitting ignorance of the exact nature of the tensions, as the Pastor does, is to lapse into logical incoherence.

· Some feel that there are a lot of ongoing tensions between the Japanese and English ministries. Do you agree?

Some feel?? Note the implication here that Pastor Albert himself does not personally have any reason to suspect such a thing, but knows that "others" think so. Yet it is Pastor Albert himself who was embarrassed publicly in the most recent board meeting by a furious representative of the Japanese language ministries. It was so serious that he had to call an emergency elders meeting after the board meeting mainly to deal with the potential repercussions of this confrontation. Yet it is only "others" that seem to know of any tensions? And why does the Pastor presume that this tension is between the ministries, when the anger was directed specifically at him? This is again an extreme instance of denial; a denial that he could have anything to do with the tensions, and a denial that he personally knows of any such tension. I argue that neither denial is at all credible given what Pastor Albert has seen and heard, unless he is in a deep state of denial.

· If so, should we attempt to resolve them? How?

Maybe the "others" are right, but maybe the "others" are just having paranoid hallucinations. But the Pastor himself has apparently no idea as to which of these possibilities are correct. Even if those who believe such tensions exist are correct, it is apparently a viable option for the Pastor to refuse to make an attempt to resolve them. I envision a shrug of the shoulders as he writes this. "Maybe we will, maybe we won’t."

How? Well, now that the Pastor has succeeded in defining the potential problem as "between the ministries," which largely excludes himself, and a problem of which he apparently has no personal knowledge of, those who follow his pointed finger elsewhere, have no chance of solving it, if he himself is the primary culprit. With leadership drawing up misdirection plays, how can loyal elders be expected to accomplish anything so long as they follow his pointed finger?

We could just 'ignore' it and move on.

Is this just a rhetorical option? Given the level of denial demonstrated so far, and given that this tension has existed for six years with no resolution, perhaps the Pastor thinks this is a viable option. But the decision to ignore and move on, presupposes knowledge about the problem that one does not in fact possess, and is therefore a logical contradiction. Theoretically, there are problems which are best ignored, given that it can be established that nothing constructive can be done to address them, and the problems pose no major threat to the mission. But how can one know that nothing constructively can be done, or that it is not fatal, until one first identifies it, and comprehends its nature to the point where one can make an informed judgment that it can be responsibly ignored? It is logically impossible to know whether a problem is appropriate to ignore unless one first takes the time to analyze it. Therefore, an a priori decision to ignore a real world problem before coming to terms with its nature is an intellectually bankrupt option under any circumstances.

I could visit with anyone who feels tensions.

The presupposition here is that Pastor Albert is not the source of the problem, but the magnanimous hero who will intervene to rescue those who are caught up in paranoid thinking and false perceptions. Thus, it is assumed that those who feel tensions, have such feelings only because they are deluded, whereas the Pastor’s belief that such tensions have no actual basis, and are therefore invalid, is the TRUE view. The arrogance, condescension and paternalism in this sentence is as shocking as it is offensive. It conjures up the image of the Great White Missionary visiting an African village of savages to dispel their irrational fear of ghosts and spirits. How can one who sees the problem from the perspective of the "Great White Missionary dealing with ignorant savages" be capable of heading an open minded investigation into the nature of these tensions?

Remember that he is the one who was accused publicly in front of the Conference President of treating a board member in a way not fit for a human. In his attempt to resolve that problem privately, he used condescending and patronizing words, expressions, and gestures that were described by a third party as a further insult to Shindo’s intelligence as an adult. This has been a chronic accusation by at least the Japanese side, and I see that condescension even in this very sentence in his letter to his elders. This offer, after all, presumes spiritual superiority and greater understanding over those members who entertain unjustifiable beliefs which are causing them to have tension.

But if in fact Pastor Albert’s characteristic words, deeds, and beliefs are causing this tension, then sending Pastor Albert to soothe those who mistakenly feel this tension would be like pouring oil on fire in an attempt to put it out. I submit that this is indeed the case, and that Pastor Albert is in massive denial, which has caused the crisis to deepen and worsen over six years.

You as Elders could discuss these tensions, resolve them here, and then talk to individuals that you know feel tension.

Although plausible on one level, this statement trivializes the "tensions" as if it is some petty thing that can be disposed of readily, and that the Elders can march out dispensing the solution like a magic pill. The presupposition is that Pastor Albert will preside regally over this discussion and act as a facilitator to make sure the Elders do their job. The hubris, self righteousness, and condescension in this sentence is palpable. There is no inkling of any humility or the capacity for self examination in this sentence, or in the letter. He is incapable of asking the self critical question, "Is it I?" but always focuses instead on, "What’s wrong with everybody else?" Then he tops it off by denying that he is in denial.

I propose that anybody other than Jesus Christ Himself who always begins an investigation of a problem by first exonerating himself and then automatically assumes that the blame and responsibility must lie somewhere else, should always be assumed to be in a state of denial.

We could publish some sort of document listing the items of tension and each of the factors, or answers that should resolve them.

If Pastor Albert is serious about this, then why not include this document in the packet you will distribute to show that the elders took their responsibility seriously? The time for playing patty cake and doing the soft shoe is over. Since the patient is in critical condition, remaining in a state of denial that results in the status quo is probably sufficient to finish off the patient.

We could have some sort of public meeting, where we air out the tensions, resolve them and leave them behind. It could be a special board meeting or an open forum of some sort.

In the meeting of 9/19/04 between Elder Caviness, Elder Chough and the Japanese Language Council, they were forbidden to voice much criticism of Pastor Albert because Elder Caviness said it was not fair unless Pastor Albert was there. Because of that, there was much pent up frustration. The unspoken implication was that another meeting ought to be called in which Pastor Albert was present. So the Japanese Language Council may welcome such a meeting, especially in light of the last board meeting. (But I do not speak for the Japanese language council.)

The Core Issue Responsible for the Tension

I have so far been following Pastor Albert’s agenda, which I would argue consists of nothing but evasion, misdirection, and denial. But to stop here would leave a wrong impression that needs to be corrected at this point. It would be wrong to conclude that I am implying that it is Pastor Albert himself that is to blame for the misfortunes that have befallen the Japanese language ministries since the merger. It is not.

The core issue is NOT Pastor Albert’s personality or his management "style," his chronic denial of any responsibility for the problems he causes, nor his inability to logically analyze evidence staring him in the face, his patronizing, paternalistic attitude, however serious such deficiencies may be for a Pastor.

What lies at the epicenter of the tensions between the ministries is Pastor Albert’s understanding of the merger agreement, which appears to be in fundamental contradiction to that of the Japanese language ministries. (Please note that I did not say Pastor Albert’s theory of the merger is wrong; only that it is in contradiction with that of the Japanese language ministries.) That was the underlying source of the problem with the building committees, for the architectural plans developed, imply a theory of the merger. It has been Pastor Albert’s promulgation of his view of the merger, coupled with his secretive committees, condescension, false analysis, denial, and misdirection plays that have set everyone’s teeth on edge, and have brought this church into a crisis by creating tensions between Pastor Albert and the Japanese Language Council, but also secondarily between the English and Japanese Language ministries.

I believe it is quite possible that he would have gotten along adequately if not famously with the Japanese language ministries had they viewed him as one who identified with their theory of the merger, and sought to promote it, rather than one who has been perceived as crushing, thwarting, and cheating it at every opportunity. Crushing, thwarting, and cheating is usually more tolerable when it is a tactic used on your behalf, rather than against your perceived best interests. Had he used the same "managerial style" on their behalf, only the procedural theorists would have been offended on the Japanese language side, and they are not numerous enough to constitute a major political threat.

This is not mere speculation. Early on in the merger process, the same procedural irregularities were noted and commented upon in print as far back as 1998. But most in the Japanese language ministries were dismissive of them and attacked those who complained about the same irregularities which they now find oppressive and sinister. At the time of the merger, Shindo and Reijin were among the most loyal and aggressive defenders Pastor Albert had. I know, because they both attacked me for questioning the merger process.

What has changed? I suggest that it was the realization that Pastor Albert was working from a different merger theory than theirs. Once they realized that, then all the tactics, and his "managerial style" suddenly made all the difference in the world.

The Japanese culture in general, and this Japanese church in particular, has a historic weakness for paternalistic, undemocratic leadership. But when such leadership turns against them, then they are ill equipped to oppose it because they loath noisy public confrontations. This cultural reticence for confrontation is reinforced by the theological paternalism characteristic in ethnic churches which assumes that the Pastor knows best.

What Exactly Did We Agree Upon?

If we are serious about addressing and solving the tension between the ministries, the first order of business would be to have Pastor Albert spell out his version of the merger agreement, and force him to defend it with logical arguments against the criticisms of those who disagree. I challenge him to do this, and I challenge the elders to force him to do this in writing. No more squirmy evasions, denials, or misdirection plays.

Then we will argue whether or not that coincides exactly with the understanding of the Japanese language side, and whether those differences can be reconciled. No more ambiguities can be tolerated, because that gives the advantage to Pastor Albert because of his long history of secretive tactics and his inability to recognize what he is in fact doing, due to his deep state of denial.

Do we not all deserve to know what his operating rules have been and are, and whether they will stand up under scrutiny? The unwillingness to confront and settle this issue for six years is irresponsible and negligent. This increasing tension between the ministries is a logical and predictable result of that, and the collateral damage this negligence has caused over the years is sickening. The merger has no meaning unless there can be mutual agreement upon which it is based. At the moment there is none. Is it not time to address this fundamental question? And does not the Japanese language ministry do well to feel unsettled until that question is resolved?

1. Fear of finding a horse head in their bed the next morning.