As always has been planned, this Petition has been removed from here so that it may now be sent to all trustees and senior leadership of the church. The text of the transmittal email is provided below.

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Gentlemen:

Attached to this email please find a Petition calling for (1) the resignation/removal of Heath Lambert as Senior Pastor of FBCJAX and (2) the resignation/removal of each Trustee who stood after the morning service on March 8, 2020, to support Heath’s conduct addressed in the Petition. The Petition is signed by 131 individuals, with 2,764 combined years of membership at FBCJAX and 1001 combined years of service to the church body.

This Petition, which you most likely have already heard about, was never intended to be a clandestine effort to facilitate backbiting or the expression of any complaints regarding any substantive decision made by the church staff. Rather, this effort was made necessary to address the still-uncorrected and grievous wrong of misleading this congregation from the pulpit of the church, which undeniably occurred on February 9, 2020.

Many members are gravely concerned. Their abiding concerns have substantially increased since February 9, 2020, and still more so after March 8, 2020.

All prior, in-person efforts to resolve this matter have been refused. Individuals have met with and spoken to Heath - to no avail. Trustees steadfastly refuse to meet, which is hard to understand given this unprecedented and perilous time that directly threatens this church family.

In light of this, there simply was no other recourse for these faithful members to communicate to you. This Petition was easily avoidable, and members made efforts to avoid it.

You have always been the body to whom these concerns were endeavored to be relayed, both in person and now via this petition. This petition was the only remaining available forum to allow these concerned members to present their concerns to you. The petition format was the last avenue available for efficient and effective means of communicating to you. It also provided the most effective means for you to receive the communication.

This petition was available for signature for less than 48 hours. It was always intended to be available for this brief time only to allow interested folks to digitally sign it. With this always-planned transmission to you, the intended audience, the petition has been replaced by a copy of this email so that those folks who signed the petition can know you have received their valid concerns.

It is important to note two things. First, the Petition was made available only by link to be sent to identified individuals for their consideration. The Petition was not able to be searched for by key search terms by those not provided the link. In fact, numerous folks tried to find the petition by searching for it and were unable to do so. Second, the comments section of the link was disabled from the start so as to prohibit any opportunity for the petition to become an open forum for postings of comments beyond what was stated in the Petition.

We pray you will consider these individuals’ heart-felt and important concerns.

Respectfully,

Those who signed the petition