The congregation is not just split, it's more of a 90% to 10% split.
Over 75%, probably upwards of 90% of the people in the church, have said if we submit to Jonathan Shelley as pastor,
then they will not return to steadfast Jacksonville.
Now that is a bold-faced lie and anyone who's actually out there in Jacksonville
knows that that's a bold-faced lie that supposedly 90% or upwards of 90% of the people out there
will just refuse to come back if Jonathan Shelley's the pastor.
Take a look at this video that some of the people out there have put up.
We here at Steadfast Jacksonville want to make ourselves very clear.
We support Pastor Jonathan Shelley. We are a satellite church.
Pastor Jonathan Shelley is the one that we support.
We are not interested in going to war with Fort Worth.
We want to be in unity with Steadfast Fort Worth
and we are not interested in going rogue or just cutting off the umbilical cord ourselves.
We support Pastor Shelley as our pastor.
And all of God's people said, Amen.
So if you're out there in Jacksonville, ask yourself the question,
why would he tell this bold-faced lie that supposedly over 90% or upwards of 90% of the people
just will refuse to come back to the church if Jonathan Shelley is the pastor?
I haven't heard from a single person who feels that way.
I've gotten many calls from people in Florida and text messages
and not a single person has expressed that to me except one, Adam Fanon.
He's the only person who is refusing to get under Pastor Shelley's leadership that I've heard from.
I'm sure that there are others out there, but over 90%, that's a bold-faced lie.
Leslie Romero, as I understand it, is innocent in this.
She's done the right thing and Fort Worth has apparently crucified her last night,
accusing of all sorts of crazy things.
This is another bold-faced lie.
In the three-hour meeting last night in Fort Worth that he was not a part of,
we talked about Leslie Romero and everyone unanimously agreed that she did the right thing,
she's a godly Christian, we support her.
All the men that were at that meeting all unanimously agreed that she did right
and she was not accused of a bunch of crazy things.
This is just another lie or someone lied to him or whatever, but it just didn't happen.
And I think that's problematic that all of the bank accounts that are now in Pastor Anderson's name
and yet Steadfast Baptist Church does not have a pastor.
This is another bold-faced lie.
Not a single bank account has been put into my name.
All of the bank accounts have been put in the name of Brother Kevin Edelman,
who is a respected man in the church with a financial background,
and so he has taken control of all of the bank accounts.
Because there are financial issues at play here,
Romero had to be taken off the bank accounts immediately
and Brother Edelman's name put on so that he could get access to the records
and an outside auditor is being hired.
The meeting is going to take place on Monday morning
with a guy who's a forensic accountant, a lawyer, a CPA,
who is going to come in and make everything legit with the books.
He's going to fix everything and he's going to be hired to handle everything right
and to audit the books.
And the same thing needs to happen in Jacksonville, Florida.
It needs to be audited by an outside entity,
a professional accountant, lawyer,
who can come in and make sure that everything is legal and right.
There's a lot of things that were intentionally withheld from us in Jacksonville.
In fact, there is a conspiracy and a cover-up that's taking place in Fort Worth.
There is absolutely no conspiracy or cover-up taking place in Fort Worth.
Rather, an outside independent CPA accountant lawyer
is being hired to come in and fix everything legally
and do the right thing legally.
One thing that Adam Fanon is right about
is that information was withheld from him, Adam Fanon,
and he brings this up over and over again about it.
Why wasn't I brought in to the financial situation?
Why haven't I been told about the finances, the books, the books, the books?
Why was this information withheld from me?
The issue that's been going on here is the lack of communication.
There is fraud and a cover-up of the finances going on in Fort Worth.
There is a lack of information that's willfully being kept.
Pastor Anderson called me three hours later and he said,
Well, what do you know?
And I said that he is stepping down.
He said, Okay, good.
Now Pastor Anderson at that moment chose not to give me
the pertinent information that needed to be shared, that I needed to know.
He didn't discuss anything with the financials.
I was given bad information.
I was completely in the dark about the exact details.
Meanwhile, the people involved have refused to tell
the actual leadership in the church what's going on.
There's also professional or corporate responsibilities with the banking.
I believe there should be an investigation.
Pastor Anderson has shunned me from talking about this.
There's a question of the money that has disappeared
and the accounts that were taken recently.
I believe that the books should be an open book.
I'm a little bit upset that there's been a cover-up,
that details have been hidden.
As an ordained leader of Steadfast Baptist,
I should have been in Fort Worth helping the people there,
helping make decisions, and I wish that the books were opened up
with the financials, and I wish that the information
had been shared with our congregation, because it's changed the story
as we have been withheld the information.
I didn't want to have to go there,
and I didn't say this in my video about Adam Fannin,
but since he's just forcing this issue,
then I will be glad to answer for why he was kept out of the loop,
because of the fact that the vast majority of the sins of Romero
took place in Jacksonville, Florida.
That's what all the evidence shows.
That's what he himself said.
This has been a pattern of every time he goes to Jacksonville,
these things are going on.
How were we supposed to know that Adam Fannin is not involved in this?
Now, I'm not accusing him of that,
and if anyone accuses him of that without evidence, they're wrong.
But at the same time, when there's all of these squirrelly things
going on financially, and when the sins were taking place
in Jacksonville, Florida, and every single person I talk to here in Fort Worth
says that Romero and Fannin are like two peas in a pod,
and that they were best buddies, super close.
He was the only person Romero was close to.
That's what everyone here is telling me.
Why would I just be in a hurry to just make sure that Adam Fannin
is up to speed on everything and keep him in the loop and everything?
No.
We need to audit the books in Jacksonville and in Fort Worth,
and not internally.
It needs to be an outside contractor brought in
who is an expert in forensic accounting.
And look, if the books are audited by a third party,
which is what has to happen,
then they're either going to implicate or exonerate Adam Fannin.
If the books show, and if the documentation shows
that Adam Fannin was not involved,
then I'll be the first to say, don't accuse him of anything.
And if the books show that he's guilty,
obviously he's going to be condemned.
So forgive us for using common sense over here in Fort Worth
that if all the sin is taking place predominantly in Jacksonville, Florida,
and his name is on one of the bank accounts,
we just need to wait and see what the independent auditor says.
That's it.
So there's no cover up.
And he's like, oh yeah, the leaders of the church aren't being told.
No, the leaders of the church were being told everything.
You weren't being told, Adam Fannin,
because I don't trust you, other people don't trust you,
and based on your behavior, you just keep proving us right.
Why are you so interested in getting into the finances
and being involved in the finance?
You know, I'm not even going to go there.
I don't want to say anything because, you know,
it's all going to come out anyway.
Now, I am the only ordained, God-ordained leadership
in all three of these churches.
And as you know, there are different people from the outside
that are taking control of situations in other local churches
like the one in Fort Worth.
So another theme throughout his video
is to talk about these outside influences
and, you know, how dare these outsiders, you know,
come in and have anything to do with this.
And people are talking about me as if I'm an outsider coming in.
Well, you know, I didn't just barge in and butt in
and get involved in this.
This all started from Mrs. Romero calling me.
I'm the one who confronted Romero about his sin.
So whether I like it or not, you know,
I'm the one that's involved because I was right.
But secondly, I'm the one who actually sent
Pastor Romero to Fort Worth to start this church.
So to act like I'm an outsider is ridiculous
when I'm the one who confronted Romero
and I was brought into this by the church
and I have repeatedly said to the church
that I'll go home whenever they want me to go home.
You know, they want me to step in
and be the interim leader
during these three days without a pastor
until Pastor Shelley can be ordained this Sunday.
We've had some issues with outside influences.
I was fielding questions for the people here in Jacksonville
to Pastor Shelley, Pastor Anderson, Pastor Jimenez,
and five other pastors in the new IFB movement.
So the irony here is that he talks about how
we're not a denomination and we're supposed to be independent,
these darned outside influences,
but then he keeps talking about how he basically
is on the phone with seven other pastors
in the new IFB movement.
So who's talking about a denomination
and who's bringing in the outside influences?
He's going around shopping opinions
from seven different pastors
and then, you know, he has the gall
to complain about outside influences
and we're not a denomination, we're independent.
Trying to give them answers
and then relaying questions and answers
to the five plus pastors that I've been dealing with here.
Now with all the pastors I've been dealing with,
not all of them are on the same level of understanding
of what's going on behind the scenes
and, you know, there are a lot of other pastors
on the sideline that are kind of raising an eyebrow saying
I don't think this is the best way to do it
because I'm fielding so many questions
from so many different states.
Frankly, it's wearing my family out.
So many pastors, so many other states,
and he's the one to talk about outside influence.
And, you know, we're not really worried
about the outcome of Fort Worth as much right now
because it's become obvious that they want to cut us off
and they want nothing to do with us.
Folks, this is what Adam Fanon wants you to believe.
They want to cut us off.
They want nothing to do with us.
Nope.
Steadfast Jacksonville is continuing.
That church will continue.
Period.
Pastor Shelley is dedicated to keeping that church open.
That church will not cease to exist.
If they have to go rent another building
because Adam Fanon's name is on the lease or whatever,
it's not even going to matter.
There are so many people
that are behind Pastor Shelley in Jacksonville.
There are a ton of people, plenty of people
for that church to continue to grow and thrive.
You know, Adam Fanon's making it sound like,
oh, the congregation's all with him
and Fort Worth doesn't want anything to do with us.
Nope.
You're out in the cold, Adam Fanon,
and there is still Steadfast Jacksonville
under the authority of Pastor Shelley,
who was chosen unanimously by a meeting
of all the men of the church last night.
He's been elected.
He's not inaugurated, but this Sunday night,
he's getting ordained.
It was a unanimous decision.
The men were there.
And so the church in Jacksonville
not being under the authority of Steadfast Fort Worth
or cease and do this,
that's not even on the table.
That's not even an option.
That's just not going to happen.
So look, if you're in Jacksonville, Florida,
and you're a member of Steadfast Baptist Church,
don't even buy into this lie for a second
because Pastor Jonathan Shelley is not forsaking you.
Your fellow church members are not forsaking you.
Don't listen to this 90% garbage.
I showed you a video earlier of a big group of people
that are staying on board,
and there's way more people
outside of just that one little video
of some people that got together and made that.
Okay, so the show goes on in Jacksonville.
Don't fall for this for one second.