(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST/RWOC VIDEO)
Hope Hilley Carpenter, wife of Pastor Ron Carpenter, has addressed for the very first time their marital woes that were made public last year before the congregation she and her husband founded over 20 years ago. Mrs. Carpenter repented and apologized to members of Redemption World Outreach Center, but did not cite the specific sins or behavior she regards as stumbling blocks to her husband, family and church community.
This past Sunday, Pastor Carpenter took a few minutes before his wife joined him before the congregation to touch on his sermon series, “What Makes a Man?” Carpenter referenced Ephesians 5:25 and 1 Corinthians 13, the first a Bible passage that call on husbands to love their wives like Christ loved the Church, and the second a reminder to believers that love is the greatest virtue.
When Carpenter finally transitioned from his brief sermon to call his wife before the congregation, worshippers stood to their feet, many of them clapping and some of them hooting in joy, according to a video recording of the service.
“Well, I knew this day would come,” said Mrs. Carpenter once the applause died down and she was seated next to her husband at the front of the church. “I’ve been waiting to be able to talk to you and just kinda share from my heart.
“There’s no way I could take this time, and we don’t have enough time for me to really adequately tell you my journey, tell you what God’s done for me.”
“That’ll be in a book maybe,” she added jokingly. “It’ll take a long time.”
“But I did want to come to you today and apologize to you. That’s my sole purpose,” said Mrs. Carpenter, visibly holding back tears. When she paused to wipe her eyes, a few voices from the congregation could be heard yelling, “We love you!”
“You know I normally don’t need to use notes, so today I had to write everything down so I wouldn’t forget what I wanted to say the most,” Mrs. Carpenter continued. “I’m so thankful to the Lord for just allowing me this day, for being so gracious to me and so merciful and so good.
“I’m so thankful for you … I don’t know that I could have healed or that I could have recovered at another church, pastoring another people. You’re just so special and you’re a rare breed. And I’m so grateful to the Lord for being here today. … I know so many people never make it to this place.”
Mrs. Carpenter went on to say, “I am fully aware of the pain and the hurt that I caused so many people. I haven’t been just skipping along worrying about me and my family … I’m fully aware of how broad it reaches. And I probably don’t know how far it goes, but I know that I have hurt you and I’ve hurt many people …”
“I hurt my husband, who is your pastor,” she continued. “You have no idea the depth of pain that we’ve walked through. I jeopardized everything that we had built. Our time, our energy, our money, our resources, our family, our church, our retirement. And I know that trust takes a long time to be regained and I’m willing to walk through it and take the time to get his trust back.”
By that point in her remarks, both Pastor and Mrs. Carpenter were wiping the tears from their face.
Mrs. Carpenter went on to apologize to their children, saying, “I know I compromised my values, and that I said one thing and did another. And I hurt you. I allowed things into our home that affected you. I left you, I left you through those selfish years. And I’m so sorry.”
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: The Christian Post
Nicola Menzie
BCNN1 WP 