DR. HYMERS' SON ANSWERS THE CRITICS
 

For the record, under the pseudonyms of “Scooge” and “Little Miss Attila” Joy Whittemore McCann has attacked my father repeatedly on the internet, since she became a member of a religious "hate group." Because her attacks are religiously motivated, I consider them to be hate speech. She has used veiled words about “guns” and “Huguenots” (killed by the thousands) to harass and stalk my father. Since this is hate speech, I have filed a report with the FBI.  I demand that she stop stalking my father. I demand that she stop attacking him on the Internet.

False allegations have recently been made against my father by Joy Whittemore McCann on her blog.  She has stated that my father is a liar, threatened people's lives, harmed people, and accused him of leading a "cult."  But Ms. Whittemore McCann only attended my father's church for a few months when she was 14 years old, and has not had any direct contact with my father for about 35 years.  She wouldn't know him if she saw him on the street. 

On the other hand, I have lived with my father for my entire life of nearly 27 years, and have attended the church since I was born.  Therefore, I am more acquainted with my father and his ministry than any other person except the other members of my immediate family.  The reader should judge for himself Ms. Whittemore McCann's credibility by considering some of the statements she has made on her website, such as the following. 

(Please be advised that some of her words are very obscene.  I really hate to put these words here because they are extremely vulgar.  I have only put them here so you may evaluate for yourself what kind of person this is who is attacking my father.  Please do not read the following statements if her obscene language will offend you.  These are the exact words of the woman attacking my father on her blog.)  

"At the age of 20...I joined the Communist Workers Party  (http://littlemissattila.com/?p=15676) ...when I was that age I joined the Communist Workers Party, went to Marxism study groups, and marched in rallies" (http://littlemissattila.com/?p=15313). 
 

"What's the benefit of the Gospel of Mark, other than speed-reading?" (http://littlemissattila.com/?p=15233). 
 

"F*ck Chris Matthews.  Hard, sideways, and without lube.  Fucking asshole.  Oh, and: fuck him some more" (http://littlemissattila.com/?p=13426). [Asterisk in the first word is hers].
 

"...makes me want to slit my fuckin’ wrists. Then I remind myself that homicide, rather than suicide, is the appropriate response" (http://littlemissattila.com/?p=14305).   

"My handgun whispers to me.  It says, 'shoot, shoot, shoot to kill'" (http://littlemissattila.com/?p=13767). 

It is statements like the last two that make me fear that she may hear her handgun "whisper to her" to shoot my father. 

Below are two photographs of her with her handgun, which she calls "Bathsheba," after an Old Testament figure. 

These two pictures of Ms. Whittemore McCann and her pistol "Bathsheba" appeared on her blog site.  

The following article is written in the third person because it is not exclusively the work of Dr. Hymers. It was produced with the guidance of a group of Christian men who worked with Dr. Hymers, helping him to compose and edit it.

Accusations have been leveled against Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. by some former members of his church. These accusations come from people who left his church many years ago in “church splits.” Church splits often occur in Baptist and other evangelical churches, particularly those that practice congregational church government.

The phenomenon is so common among Baptists that Dr. Roy L. Branson wrote a book about it called Church Split (Landmark Publications, 1990). This book was endorsed by such well-known pastors as Dr. Lee Roberson and Dr. W. A. Criswell. Dr. Hymers does not agree with Dr. Branson’s view of divorce, the KJV issue, and some other things, but he does feel that this particular book gives a fair evaluation of “church splits.” Dr. Hymers has never met nor been interviewed by Dr. Branson. The book was written about other church splits and does not mention or refer to the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle or Dr. Hymers. Branson’s book describes Baptist church splits in general and makes no reference whatever to the Baptist Tabernacle. Here are a few quotations from it which help to explain how church splits occur:

1.  Dr. Branson said, “Nearly 90 percent of pastors are fired or leave a church under pressure during [church splits]. Over half suffer one or more church splits. All are faced with severe church conflict many times [during their ministries]. The toll in damage and destroyed ministries, traumatized pastors’ families, and to the overall cause of Christ is enormous” (ibid., p. 15).

2.  Dr. Branson gave the answer to “How? and Why?” these church splits occur: “One pastor who went through a church split said, ‘My enemies called me a dictator. They said I was too evangelistic and preached too hard on certain standards. Also, they accused me of pushing them too hard in certain areas [such as soul winning]. Some said I…had become too arrogant’” (ibid., p. 5).

3.  Dr. Branson was asked if the split could have been avoided. He answered, “Oh, no! ‘There were some folks who would never be happy until they had everything their way. Nobody could please them… There was one man…in particular who [was] the ringleader and [orchestrator] of the [split]…He was very open to anyone who complained about the preacher. When the split came he was their spokesman’” (ibid., pp. 6, 7).

4.  Dr. Branson said, “The pastor is accused of being shallow and not ‘feeding the sheep.’ One of the greatest [errors] promoted [by those who cause church splits] is that evangelistic preaching means neglect of sound teaching. A greater untruth could not be imagined if eternity were spent trying to invent one. It is contradictory to the admonition to all preachers, II Timothy 4:5, ‘Do the work of an evangelist’” (ibid., p. 171).

Dr. Hymers has remained the pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle throughout these splits, and the church has recovered, in spite of many attacks against him by the critics who split the church. Dr. Hymers feels that the above points gleaned from Church Split shed light on many of the difficulties facing pastors today.

Dr. Hymers preaches the Gospel, as the sermons on his website clearly show. His sermons are given word for word on the website each week in twelve languages, and are read by thousands throughout the world.

Some of the critics from the church splits have published slanderous and malicious charges against Dr. Hymers, but none of these accusations have been documented from the sermons on his website at www.realconversion.com. For instance, they have accused Dr. Hymers of anti-Semitism. They call him the “Fuehrer” and compare him to Hitler. These defamatory accusations are blatant falsehoods. Again and again, across the years Dr. Hymers has showed good will toward the Jewish people in general and the State of Israel in particular. His support of the Jews is the same as that of thousands of Bible-believing Baptist preachers in America and around the world.

Dr. Robert L. Sumner has been in the ministry for over 65 years. He worked with Dr. John R. Rice for many years at The Sword of the Lord. He has been the editor of The Biblical Evangelist for more than 40 years. Dr. Sumner is a highly respected Baptist minister, known by conservative Baptist pastors nationwide. He lives with his wife in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is also the author of several books on the cults. Many consider him to be an “expert” on this subject, though he doesn’t like using the term. Dr. Sumner knows the Baptist Tabernacle well. We end this article with a statement by Dr. Sumner made in the November/December 2008 issue of his widely read magazine, The Biblical Evangelist. In an article titled “False Charges,” Dr. Sumner said,

      Since I have written books and/or articles about many of the major cults of our day (Worldwide Church of God, Mormonism, The Way International, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.), some would call me a cult expert. While I don’t claim that, I do very definitely know my way around the cults.
      God allowed me to be present – in the process of spending four days evaluating the ministry of Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr., and the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle – at the very time the Los Angeles Times article was printed with its attack…on them. I returned later that year and interviewed several of the former members and heard their allegations, with only one member of the church present (as a witness to later affirm or deny my accuracy in quoting them). I also interviewed at random many current members – anyone who wanted to talk to me. I concluded at that time that all the charges, including abuse and anti-Semitism, were untrue.
      Because of the nature of humans, divisions in churches often happen that end in split-offs from the body and it appeared to me that all the allegations being made in this case were of that nature.
      I have been available for many years on the Board of Reference of the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle and willing to respond to charges of cultic behavior on the part of Dr. Hymers or leaders at the Tabernacle. While my name and phone number has been accessible for all these years, the critics have never contacted me. Certainly none has ever offered me any proof of their charges.
      (Dr. Robert L. Sumner, “False Charges,” The Biblical Evangelist, November/December 2008, p. 15).