Church Responds to Reports about Former Minister

Altus Times
December 18, 2014

http://www.altustimes.com/news/home_top/150930794/Church-responds-to-reports-about-former-minister

The former pastor of the Elm & Hudson Church of Christ, Tom Bailey of Altus, was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 16 on a complaint of Child Sexual Abuse. (see the full story on the Altus Times website, altustimes.com) He has since been released from the Jackson County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

The Interim Minister for the Elm & Hudson Church of Christ, Daniel Ingram, provided the following statement from the church Elders about the reports, Bailey, and their church:

“In the past few days, Elm & Hudson Church of Christ has been mentioned in several media reports, and we felt it would be helpful to provide some insight into how our congregation has been impacted. On November 30, Tom Bailey resigned as our minister, effective immediately. As you might expect, he gave us very little information about the circumstances or reasons for his resignation, but our church leadership acted swiftly in accepting the resignation and doing their best to minister to those involved. Since that time, the charges now being reported in the media have come to light, and we remain deeply saddened by this situation. While none of these allegations relate to our church or to Tom’s role at our church, we have members of our family that are hurting and struggling. We ask the community to pray for Tom, his family, and all who are affected during this difficult time, especially the female victim who has been mentioned in the articles.

Here at Elm & Hudson, we are a broken people reaching out to a Savior who makes us whole. We are earnestly seeking to pour out God’s love on those most affected by this situation, and our sincere hope is that we will draw even closer as a family during this process. Elm & Hudson has been a loving family and an important part of the Altus community for over 100 years. We have always done our best to accomplish God’s purpose here on earth, and through His power, His love, His grace, and His mercy, we will continue to do amazing things here in our community for many more years to come.

Our future has always rested on one man: Jesus Christ. We will continue the important work of the Lord throughout the coming months, and we want the community to know they can continue to count on us to provide services and support in a variety of ways. Our members are currently involved in a ham giveaway, a school supply drive, and we are scheduled to host the December meal for our community’s people in need on December 27. Each of those programs is proceeding as planned. As a family, we understand hurt, and we understand struggle. Our goal is that we will continue to reach out to those in our community that are hurting and struggling and lift them up in their difficult time as well.

Only together can we overcome our pain. God never promised us that this life would be without pain, but He did promise us that we did not have to face it alone. We are growing closer daily as a family, and we will do everything in our power to continue to spread the love, hope and peace that we have through Jesus Christ. In everything, we will continue to love our God, love our family, and love our community.”