SIGN THE PETITION FOR DAVID BOLTE’S RESIGNATION!
CHANGE.ORG LINK BELOW:
DISCLAIMER – I CREATED THIS SITE AS A RESOURCE FOR FAMILIES OF TLS. ALL INFORMATION SHOULD BE CONSIDERED OUR OPINION, BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE. WE HAVE NOT BEEN PLEASED WITH THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY FROM CURRENT SCHOOL ADMIN AND LEADERSHIP. THERE SEEMS TO BE A GREAT EFFORT TO KEEP INFORMATION FROM PARENTS AND DISCOURAGE FAMILIES FROM SHARING AND TALKING ABOUT THE CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP THAT TOOK PLACE ON JUNE 30, 2025.
ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NOT SECRET OR NEW TO THE CURRENT SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION. REQUESTS HAVE BEEN SENT AND LEFT UNANSWERED AND THERE HAS BEEN NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
THERE IS ALSO AN OPEN LETTER TO DAVID BOLTE, AMANDA BEAVER AND THE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST DISTRICT – LUTHERAN CHURCH MISSOURI SYNOD DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EVENTS THAT RESULTED IN THE DISMISSAL OF PRIOR ADMINISTRATION AND THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.
DUE TO THE LETTER SENT FROM AMANDA BEAVER ON AUGUST 12, 2025, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO CREATE THIS IN ANONYMITY DUE TO THE FEAR OF RETALIATION AGAINST MY FAMILY AND CHILD(REN) ATTENDING TLS. IT HAS BEEN MADE CLEAR THAT RAISING CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS FOR THE CURRENT ADMIN WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND IF WE DON’T LIKE IT, WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO WITHDRAW. THE LETTER IS BELOW.
JUNE 30, 2025
WHERE IT ALL STARTED. BELOW IS THE LETTER SENT TO FAMILIES FROM DAVE BOLTE. DESPITE WHAT THE LETTER SAYS, AN EMAIL SENT DIRECTLY TO DAVE REQUESTING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WAS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED AND NO REPLY WAS RECEIVED.
August 12, 2025
So many events have precipitated this and I feel like this is the best way to disseminate information to those of us parents who have concerns not only about what transpired, but also question if TLS is still the Lutheran school we knew, loved, and wanted for our family. We’re less than a full week into the school year and the answer to that very question is emphatically no for us. But we’re stuck for now. I find myself asking how we’re going to survive this year and shield our chil(ren) from this chaos and complete destruciton of the Christian environment we had.
When our family received this letter at the end of June , we wondered what happened. We weren’t alone as text messages and phone calls from other TLS families followed. As someone from corporate America, it’s obvious Mrs. Rohloff and Mrs. Chapman did not leave on their own accord. This saddened our family for several reasons. As with most of the staff at Trinity, we had a fantastic relationship with Mrs. Rohloff. She showed compassion for our children and was easily approachable. Greeted us every morning with a smile and hug. It’s obvious she loved Trinity and all of the familes and kids. The few times we had questions or issues, she was available to listen to us and discuss a solution. We didn’t have much interaction with Mrs. Chapman besides when we originally toured the school and went through the enrollment process. But the few times we did and during drop-off, she was always kind and a pleasure to deal with. I’ve since found out Mrs. Chapman has been there for 17 years. How in the world do you throw someone out after 17 years? Especially from a Christian Church & School?
It was obvious enrollement was up. Families were happy. Kids were happy. Staff was happy. So what went wrong?
We’ve been at Trinity for more than a few years (keeping it vague so to try and remain anonymous). Last year, we experienced the greatest growth at Trinity, even in the face of the tragedy that impacted the Rohloff family last summer. Our experience was witnessing tremendous faith displayed by a mother who had just lost her oldest child. It impacted the entire campus. It felt like the entirety of TLS grew closer and strengthened their faith in God. I know our family did. To witness Mrs. Rohloff show up every day for the kids and families at Trinity, to put her faith on display and to lead TLS was nothing short of amazing, especialy in the face of grief and loss. We felt the kids and families of TLS rally around her and each other. Exactly what we should do as Christians.
To our family, last year was the best year we had at Trinity. It felt more like home than ever before. Teachers were great! Academics were great! Faith was flowing! God was alive on that campus.
Then, it was all stripped away.
The admin we love was removed.
The school we love was dismantled.
Decisions were made by a “leader” and a board that spent no time on campus and doesn’t know any of the children or families.
Make it make sense.
And all of this 2 weeks shy of the 1 year anniversary from the most tragic event a mother could ever experience?!?
What the heck happened?
I can speak for our family and other families we’ve spoken share the same sentiment: No one was unhappy with the prior administration. So why the drastic change?
Here are all of the questions our family has?
- Why were they let go without talking to the families who pay to attend the school?
- Who made the decision? Was it David Bolte alone?
- Why won’t anyone, including David Bolte reply to any emails? His letter said to reach out with questions and when we have, no response was provided? Same goes for Amanda Beaver. Her lack of leadership makes me question this entire situation.
- How did someone on the board who made the decision to remove Mrs. Rohloff and Mrs. Chapman end up as Dean of Students (Mr. Gross)? Remove someone and then receive a job? We find it reprehensible and extremely questionable. How was this not planned and malicious?
- David Bolte has never been involved in the school. He knows no one on campus. Why does he have any say in the school administration? We’ve attended for years, including church semi-regularly. I’d bet my life he doesn’t know my first or last name, or that of my child(ren).
- Why weren’t families communicated with about all of the changes in administration and staff, including teachers? Was it to prevent us from leaving or making an informed decision with the facts?
- Why did we have to purchase school supplies this year? Why the short notice?
They were always included the last few years. - Why is the Dean of Students also the Athletic Director?
- Why weren’t we told that Mr. Kaehne left the school? Why did he leave? Was it due to the administration choice?
- Why weren’t families told about new teachers and their classroom assignments until BTS (Back To School) night? Did we miss the emails? Or was this another blatant attempt to keep families uninformed by current admin?
- Why aren’t any teachers listed as accredited teachers on the AZ state website? Are they accredited? Please provide proof.
- What happened to the art class / art teacher (Hogan)? She was gone most of last year and parents weren’t informed.
- What about NJHS? Both teachers who were in charge aren’t there anymore.
- Why were changes made to the student handbook just a week before the start of school? Again no communication and transparency from current administration?
- School safety – Why is there a big section of fence missing?
- Who are the members of the school board? Why aren’t they parents who actually attend and have a financial and academic interest in the school? Why is there no transparency?
- Why is there such a focus on dress code? There are much larger issues to address. We don’t need to measure skirts every day or get weekly classroom visits. Communicate with parents not the kids. COMMUNICATE! Seems to be a common issue.
- Chapel – What happened to the modern chapel format that engaged the kids? My child(ren) says chapel is boring. It used to be their favorite time.
- Teachers seem unhappy and unwilling to answer questions about the state of the school and current concerns? Just direct us to admin. Why? It wasn’t like this in the past. Teachers were open and communicative.
- Why can’t parents ask questions of current administration? There was supposed to be a meeting and admin cancelled it. Why?
- Will honors students receive course credit if the teachers aren’t accredited / certified? See question above about teaching credential concerns.
- If TLS can’t afford things as we’ve been told, how can it afford a dean of students? Seems a bit ridiculous a school the size of TLS needs a dean. We never had one before. Or was just a promise / condition for voting to remove prior admin?
- Why can’t parents discuss issues and communicate in the parking lot amongst themselves? Preventing communication doesn’t foster a healthy, Christian environment.
Should we just take this off campus. What don’t they want us to tell each other? - How much of the church expenses are covered by the school? Can we see the school and church budget? I have concerns about the integrity of the financial scope of both the church and school. Where does our tuition money go?
- How can I get on the board? I need an admin job.
- Does it violate any Lutheran church rules to have a husband and wife on the church payroll?
- How do we contact the school district about our concerns, both religious and academic? Who is in charge? Do they have to approve admin changes? Why or why not?
- How do we remove a pastor? Do we need a certain amount of parent votes / support?
What if he’s found to be dishonest? - How do we voice concerns about the safety of our children and quality of their education without fear of retribution now? We can’t speak up at all or we’ll be asked to leave or forced out like the prior administration?
Want to show your support or have questions? Email us: tlsfamilyaz@gmail.com
ROMANS 16: 17-18
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
PROVERBS 12:22
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
161 responses to “TLS Updates”
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As a parent to a child in her class I am very disappointed she would abandon the kids before school ended. It is very selfish.
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Mrs Krieger is one of the most resilient, strong women we have ever met. The only reason she’s been able to hold on this long is because she loves the kids and cares about the kids. What these teachers are put through is horrific. However, there gets a point where you can no longer stand for the wrong, where your mental health and over all health has to be prioritized. If you can’t see that, you are also a part of the problem.
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You should be asking yourself how has Beaver let things get so bad that teachers can’t even stay for the remainder of the year?!?! First Miss Grace, now Krieger……..who’s next?!
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Let me ask you … if your job was putting your mental health and physical health in jeopardy… would you have continued for 51 more days of school? I doubt it. Teachers have a tough job daily thinking of all the needs of every child in their class. All day, weekends, and every waking hour. If you add admin abuse it will put everyone healthy person over the edge. Those teachers are not sitting at a desk but interacting with their students. It is a tough job!! Be considerate of their mental health instead of judging them.
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Shame on you!! Being selfish! Do you realize what she has been through?? You should stop talking because you have no idea what you are talking about! Mrs. Krieger is an amazing teacher!
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I suggest you ask yourself why a dedicated teacher of many years would resign. Instead of looking at HER and calling her selfish, look at the administration and the toxic environment THEY have created. She is an absolutely amazing and loving teacher. Get a clue and stop drinking the Beaver/Bolte Kool-aid.
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You don’t make it through 39 years of teaching being selfish. As a parent as well, I know this took a lot to get to this decision. Trinity lost an outstanding teacher because the administration and pastor are selfish.
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I would like to personally thank whomever started this website for bringing this truth to light. What happened to the previous posts? Is there a way that they can be restored? As the Pacific Southwest District is looking into what is happening, they serve as a chronological record of things that have occurred.
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There are enough comments that there are 2 pages… look for the 1. 2 and click on them to get the older posts
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I must be blind I don’t see the option for the second page
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If you click on the date from a previous comment, it should bring up an option for page 1 or 2 at the bottom of the comments.
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EVERYTHING at Trinity cost you extra now.. cheerleading.. etc. If you are going to participate or attend this year’s auction, you are absolutely crazy! Praying for you and your family.
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EVERYTHING at Trinity cost you extra now.. cheerleading.. etc. If you are going to participate or attend this year’s auction, you are absolutely crazy! Praying for you and your family.
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I’m
Confused…. As far as I know most
Schools charge a fee for sports, and or have boosters to raise the money for the fees needed to cover uniforms, tournaments, etc. why is this any different?-
Those are public schools. This school has the highest tuition in the West valley and don’t pay for anything for the kids. It’s wild you can’t see that. Where is all the money going?? Not to the kids or families, we know that for sure. If you want to pay money into a crooked church, that is on you. Denial is a real thing.
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They are even making everyone buy their own field day shirts this year! Our family will not be spending $18 a piece on those shirts. That’s crazy!
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As a parent who has been with Trinity for several years, we have always had to pay for field day shirts. However I agree, $18 for a shirt to be worn once isn’t happening.
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If you got the recent email about the golf carts breaking Trinity’s waterline, know that waterlines are buried anywhere from 18 inches to 5 feet below ground. Your golf carts didn’t break anything. Roxanne likes to lie about things to make rules. She’s been doing it forever. Ask anyone that works there. It’s a “unspoken” thing but everyone knows she has a lying problem. For some reason they can’t just say, Hey! We don’t want you to park there. The lying at this place is ridiculous.
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Roxanne lies about everything.
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I’m sorry… at this point I feel like these people are questioning our intelligence. This is narcissistic. Everyone look up gaslighting. What they are doing is by the book. Seriously! I can’t wait for my family to leave this place.
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Oh my gosh! Yes!! They are gaslighting everyone here! It’s heartbreaking!
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Oh my gosh! Yes!! They are gaslighting everyone here! It’s heartbreaking!
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As a parent why don’t you leave now? I would never leave my child somewhere I am so unhappy with. That’s the part I can’t wrap my head around if it’s so awful, why are you still there? You have literally spent your time discussing how awful it is publicly but you stay? If your answer is for your child, wait your child loves it? Also, Not a sheep? Then stand up for that you believe in and leave. Looks like a sheep to me hiding behind a keyboard and still attending a school you dislike so much.
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You do realize every other private school in the west valley has a wait list. And for some families, withdrawal means paying the rest of the year’s tuition and or forfeiting ESA funds because once those are deposited, there’s no transfer option. Trinity does have a contract and it comes with a cost if you decide to transfer mid semester. I think a lot of families are waiting until the year is up to apply elsewhere. I have been so unhappy with this year’s changes, but leaving to go to a public school wasn’t an option. The school has gone downhill, but the teachers are still doing their job, and that is our only blessing. This is our family’s last year. We are done with the non Christian values this school has displayed. The dismissal of long time families and staff tells me they truly don’t care. Trinity is not a family anymore. Families and teachers were told to never step foot in that church by the pastor, can you believe that?! The pastor fired teachers and told them, they were not allowed to attend the church. Pastor is driving people away and he’s the reason why it is struggling. It’s obvious the church is in debt and the school’s main mission has become to recoup those funds. Trinity has the highest paying tuition, yet there are not providing more than the surrounding schools. This page was created to inform parents of the school’s issues. Families can comment on this page to express their frustration, it’s a safe place and common ground for unhappy families.
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If both parents work full time what do you expect them to do with their child? Tough time of the year to switch schools. The teachers will protect the children from the crap!! We have to hang in there until May! Then we are more than out of Trinity.
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We have not left YET to support the teachers and due to the contract plus waiting lists. We absolutely will not be here next year, however. Teachers have already left or have plans to leave plus countless families. You don’t have this that type of plans for a mass exodus without serious concerns of misappropriation of funds, dishonesty and corruption. As someone said above, if you don’t believe all of the above is going on, you really have drunk the Kool-Aid.
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Facts
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Are there any families here who have received scholarships through Trinity using the tax donations?? I’m genuinely curious. All the families I’ve talked to haven’t received a dime from Trinity to help with tuition but have participated in the double donation days. Are there any of you out there that has actually received help from them? If not, what are they doing with all that money?
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Our family hasn’t received anything from them.
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Any funds received are probably going to Bolte’s failing church and it’s large payroll for him and his equally narcissistic wife.
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None received here, even though it’s pushed every 5 minutes. Also.. stop giving to chapel offering. The Garuna foundation hasn’t received a dime from Trinity.
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Oh my gosh! They are stealing from them too! How do people not see how evil and awful this place has become?? 😭😭
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None. They also promised other scholarships that all of a sudden don’t exist anymore.
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Our amount is very low! Where is it all going?
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Please 🙏🏼🙏🏼 Anyone who reads this. Please don’t “donate” anymore money, tax dollars, or to this ridiculous auction this year. Just wait. If you are on the fence, I get it. But give it a year or two.. if you feel like you are being sucked dry. You aren’t the only one. This is my first time ever posting. But I’m at the point that I feel something is not okay. I talk to friends who have kids at other schools. My kids aren’t getting anything. I’m paying way more than them and my kids can’t even eat in a lunch room or have an art class. I feel like I’ve been lied to and taken advantage of 😭 We are looking for new schools now for next year and we are heartbroken 😞
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I appreciate you posting. Our family feels the same way but I didn’t feel like I could post on here. Thank you for speaking the truth.
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Rumor has it that another family got kicked out recently. Why are so many families getting kicked out?!
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That is so sad. What kind of school does that to kids with a month and a half left in the year. I still can’t understand the people posting on here in favor of this administration and pastor. How are you okay with all the terrible things they are doing? It maybe isn’t impacting your family directly so you just turn a blind eye. Is that being a Christian??
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**When the Judge Has No Mirror: A Call to Save Our Church**
The church was never meant to be a courthouse.
It was meant to be a refuge — a gathering place for saints and sinners alike, which is to say, a gathering place for all of us. We come broken, we come doubting, we come carrying grief and failure and questions we are afraid to ask out loud. We come because the grace of God is offered freely, not because we have earned it, not because we deserve it, but because of His mercy alone. That is the foundation. That is the mission. That is what makes the church unlike anything else in the world.
When we lose that truth — when we replace grace with control, forgiveness with judgment, and dialogue with expulsion — we no longer have a church. We have an institution. And institutions without grace will always eventually fail the people they were meant to serve.
Ours is failing. And it is time to say so out loud.
**We Are All Saints and Sinners — That Is the Point**
Every person who has ever walked through those doors came as a sinner in need of grace. The pastor. The staff. The families in the pews. The member who asks hard questions. The employee who pushes back. Every single one of us. The church does not exist to gather the already-perfected. It exists because none of us are perfect and all of us need something bigger than ourselves.
When that truth is forgotten — when one person begins to operate as though they alone have the authority to determine who belongs and who doesn’t, who is faithful and who is doing the devil’s work — the entire foundation cracks. Not because we are being unkind to say so. But because it is simply true. No human being gets to be both shepherd and sovereign. That seat is already taken.
**A Pattern That Can No Longer Be Ignored**
This is not about a single misstep. This is not about one difficult decision or one bad day. What has unfolded here is a pattern — and any one of these things alone would warrant deep concern. Piled on top of each other, they tell a story the congregation deserves to hear clearly:
– Staff have been fired and families expelled — people whose children were baptized here, whose vows were blessed here, whose loved ones were buried from this church — dismissed with no conversation, no appeal, no grace. Just “leave and don’t return.”
– Raises have been taken by leadership while the rest of the staff received nothing. Family members have been placed on the payroll.
– emails about parking and dogs — energy spent managing appearances while real people are hurting and real questions go unanswered.
– The school principal was fired before the school year even began. More than twenty students left immediately. Many more families do not plan to return next year. A ministry built to serve children and families — potentially decimated.
– The congregation itself is shrinking. One by one, quietly, people are walking away. Not because they stopped loving this place. Because they no longer feel safe in it.
– Questions exist about the handling of tax credit funds — money entrusted to this institution by families and the state. Questions that deserve transparency, not deflection. A church with nothing to hide opens its books.
– The board, which exists to provide oversight and accountability, has not functioned as an independent check. Governance without independence is not governance at all.
And over all of it, the deepest concern of all — **one person has appointed himself judge and jury over this entire community, while he himself remains completely unchecked.** Every person who raises a concern is wrong. Every employee who is let go deserved it. Every family shown the door should be grateful for the clarity. And yet the one making all of these judgments answers to no one.
That is not shepherding. That is not servant leadership. That is not the model Christ gave us.
**When Church Becomes a Courthouse**
Scripture is clear about the kind of leader a shepherd is called to be. Not lord over the flock, but servant to it. Not one who drives the sheep away, but one who goes after the lost one. Not one who wields spiritual language as a weapon, but one who uses it to heal.
When a church begins to operate like a government institution — where the rules exist to protect the institution, where loyalty to leadership replaces loyalty to Christ, where forgiveness is conditional and belonging must be earned — it stops being a church in any meaningful sense. The form may remain. The building is still there. Services still happen. But the spirit that makes it a place worth gathering has been driven out the same door as the families who were told never to return.
We do not say this with bitterness. We say it with grief. Because this place has meant something real to real people for a long time. The faith formed here, the friendships built here, the sacraments celebrated and the sorrows carried here — that is not nothing. That is everything. And it is worth more than silence.
**Do Not Be the Next One to Quietly Walk Away**
This is the moment that determines what this church will be.
Every person who slips out the back without a word makes it easier for this to continue. Every family that quietly pulls their children from the school, every member who stops showing up without explanation, every employee who accepts their dismissal without appeal — each silent exit is counted as confirmation that everything is fine. That there is nothing to see here. That the shepherd is doing his job.
You are not alone in what you are feeling. The quiet in the pews is not agreement. There are people sitting in those seats every Sunday carrying the same doubts, the same grief, the same love for this place and the same fear about what it is becoming. They need to know you are there.
So here is the call:
**Talk to each other.** Find the people you trust and have the honest conversation. You may be surprised how many feel exactly as you do.
**Document everything.** Dates, words, emails, decisions. A pattern witnessed and recorded by multiple people carries weight that cannot be easily dismissed.
**Put your concerns before the board in writing.** Even if you doubt their independence — make them respond. Create a record that cannot be erased.
**Contact the denomination.** Their authority is limited, but their awareness is not without consequence. Multiple voices reaching that level signals a community crisis, not a personal grievance.
**And if there are genuine questions about finances and tax credit funds — know that those questions have avenues beyond the church board entirely.**
Most of all — **stay.** Not passively. Not silently. But present, engaged, and unwilling to let this place become something it was never meant to be. The church belongs to the people who have given their lives to it, not to the person who currently holds the title.
Grace is still available here. It is available to the pastor, to the board, to every person who has been hurt and every person who has done the hurting. That is the nature of grace — it is not rationed, it is not earned, and it is not the property of one person to withhold from another.
But grace does not mean looking away. Sometimes the most loving thing a community can do is refuse to be silent.
This church is worth fighting for. The mission is worth fighting for. The families who were told to leave and never return — they are worth fighting for.
**Do not walk away. Not yet. Not without being heard.**
*If this reflects your experience, share it. Someone in those pews needs to know they are not alone.*
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That is the complete post. Read through it and tell me if anything needs to be pulled back, sharpened, or if there are details you want added or removed before it goes up.
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Let’s also not forget the immorality of two staff members who are openly having an affair and have yet to be reprimanded by the administration and pastor. Both have made a mockery of their vows and their spouses/young children. It is public knowledge that both are currently going through divorces (coincidentally at the same time). All this while they parade in public together at church on Sunday. Mr. Toth no longer attends Trinity regularly although he is a called worker. What kind of example does this set for our students and families?
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Thank you for sharing such a well thought out message. I share this sentiment and am deeply saddened that our family will be leaving at the end of this school year. Your suggestions on how to navigate this mess are great. I know many from the school have been taking action. I hope this call to action reaches the congregation too and that the necessary changes can be made to preserve the church and school.
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Also let’s add that Gross was on the ‘board’ that fired Mrs Rohloff and Mrs Chapman and then was given an administrative job as Dean of Students. That was absolutely a conflict of interest.
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