This is a response from Triumph Church’s attorney received February 3, 2020. Also, included is Timothy Bogle’s reply.
MARINE ADAMS LAW PC
400 Renaissance Center, Suite 2600
Detroit, Michigan 48243
Tel: (313) 961-5535
Fax: (313) 961-9897
| LYNN L. MARINE-ADAMS | ANTHONY ADAMS |
| Attorney at Law | Attorney at Law |
Admitted in Michigan and Ohio
Monday, February 03, 2020
VIA First Class Mail & E Mail
Mr. Tim Bogle
Attorney and Counsel
1702 Oldtown
West Bloomfield, Michigan 48324
tboqle@iuno.com
Re: Request for Retraction
Dear Mr. Bogie:
Thanks for the opportunity to respond to your communication. Triumph Church is one of the largest non-denominational churches in America. It is our express mission and purpose to minister to uplift the spiritual and physical needs to both church members and the surrounding community that we exist within. We have a progressive ministry which provides many religious, educational, social and financial programs in the metropolitan area. We have an outstanding reputation of being connected to the communities we serve.
It appears from your communication that you take issue with and attempt to distort what Triumph and Evangel Church were attempting to accomplish by coming together. Our initial conversation with the leadership of Evangel Church, and other ministries not relevant here, involved bringing churches together to serve a broader purpose and mission—how do we better tend to the spiritual needs of our churches and membership. It is never inappropriate for churches to discuss how to better deliver the word, organize themselves in a manner which maximizes the utilization of scarce resources, and broadens the impact of what we do. If you understood the many needs in our community, you surely wouldn’t object to what we were attempting to accomplish.
Turning our attention to our request for “Cease and Desist” you assert that the bank accounts of Evangel Church have been transferred to Triumph.
This is false.
You have also suggested that other assets of Evangel have been transferred to Triumph.
This is false.
You further suggest that Triumph is involved in continuing discussions with Evangel Church about coming together.
This is false.
We renew our request for a full retraction of your false and misleading claims.
We continue to find your falsehoods troubling in many ways. In summary, please “Cease and Desist” immediately these falsehoods and outright lies. Also, please stop inserting our church, Triumph Church and Pastor Kinloch in your communications, especially in your social media posts.
Sincerely,
MARINE ADAMS LAW PC
Anthony Adams
Tim Bogle’s Response
T I M B O G L E
A T T O R N E Y A N D C O U N S E L O R
Anthony Adams February 6, 2020
MARINE ADAMS LAW PC
400 Renaissance Center, Suite 2600
Detroit, Michigan 48243
Re: Triumph Church and Senior Pastor Solomon Kinloch, Jr.
Dear Mr. Adams,
Thank you for your response. It is correct that I take issue with what Evangel’s leadership and Triumph were trying to accomplish. It is incorrect that I am attempting to distort what Evangel’s leadership and Triumph were attempting to accomplish.
Being raised in ministry, in particular a Detroit inner-city ministry, I and our group understand well the needs of the community. We support any good work that Triumph is doing to further God’s Kingdom and minister to hurting people. That being said, and to address the issue directly, the true congregation of Evangel does not want to be one of Triumph’s churches. It is clear to all involved that this has been a stated goal of both Lorenzo Sewell and Solomon Kinloch in the past. I do not know how we could be accused of any distortion when we have stated what Sewell and Pastor Kinloch have said about the relationship. I have documents that were confirmed by Pastor Kinloch himself as being the initial operating agreement draft for a merger of Evangel into Triumph Churches. Many have stated on an open forum what they believe the impact of such a merger would be, but that is stated as an opinion or belief and not a fact or a distortion of any facts. I am sure that you are not advocating for any suppression of free speech to express opinions on an open forum.
Your letter makes 3 claims that “what we have stated is false”, yet each of them are not claims that we in fact make.
We do not assert that Evangel Bank accounts have been transferred to Triumph. The closest statement we find in the Education #1 document that you may be referring to is the following: “It’s worth noting that Sewell has already ordered most of Evangel’s records on membership, tithes, offerings and finances transferred to Triumph”. We have statements made by former Evangel staff who were employed at the time that; 1) a request for document preparation was made 2) the purpose was to deliver those records to Triumph’s team 3) those records were prepared and delivered to Mr. Sewell. This statement clearly asserts that records were ordered to be transferred not actual accounts. This statement does not assert that for a fact Sewell did deliver the records to Triumph Church but rather that he did order the preparation for that stated purpose. If you would be so kind as to prepare a statement that clearly avers that “No Evangel records of any kind have ever been delivered to Pastor Kinloch or Triumph Church” we would be willing to publish your statement.
This document does not assert that other “assets” have been transferred to Triumph. Please give a page and paragraph identification which makes such an assertion.
This document does not assert that Triumph Church is in continuing discussions with Evangel. Please give a page and paragraph identification which makes such an assertion.
It is impossible for me to recommend that someone should issue a retraction when I can find no assertions were published with unconfirmed facts. I do understand that Triumph Church finds it distasteful to be paired with such an unscrupulous leadership but I’m afraid that this connection is established by their own actions. Please provide the requested information and I will continue to work with you to provide a clear and accurate accounting to Evangel’s membership.
Respectfully,