First Baptist Church of Clinton, LA is no longer a member of ARBCA. We chose to remain in the association, even though our initial investigation in 2017 discovered wrongdoing (and possible crimes), * for several reasons:

First, we believed that additional information might come to light that could make what happened in 2000 irrefutably clear. This, in fact, proved to be the case. A letter from Tedd Tripp to Earl Blackburn (mentioned later in the timeline) discovered in July of 2019 was the first definitive proof of a cover-up that we have found.

Second, we believed that remaining in ARBCA for the sake of obtaining justice for all wronged parties would be more faithful than resigning and failing to try to obtain justice. We sought to obtain justice as the timeline in our letter of resignation shows, but we failed.

Third, in all Baptist associations, justice takes time because of the periodic nature of the corporate gatherings. In ARBCA, the General Assemblies are the ultimate means by which justice can be sought, and they only meet once each year.

Please consider the documentation below.

Our Letter of Resignation

*Note: When we say that we "discovered wrongdoing" we mean that in 2017, we found ARBCA to have unwisely (and thus wrongly, incorrectly, inadvisably, injudiciously, etc.) recommended Chantry's church to the 2016 GA. We felt so strongly about this wrongdoing that we wrote letters and met with th AC and other leaders about this matter at the 2018 GA.

When we say that we found "possible crimes" in our 2017 report to the church, we are referring to the police reports, which the elders obtained directly from the Prescott Police Department, and distributed to our congregation. We are also referring to the testimony of the detective on the case, which we referenced in our 2017 report.

A copy of the original police report, obtained in 2017, has a stamp releasing it to a particular elder of FBC. The elders made dozens of copies of that report available to all the members of the congregation. Everyone who attended the October 2017 informational meeting has access to a copy of the report which the PPD released directly to an elder of FBC. This fact is attested by all the extant copies in possession of those who attended the meeting.