The Church?

[txsvicki]

I have the book, Handbook of Denominations. I'm pretty sure this is the church. I didn't think Missionary Baptist joined any associations, but it says:

"Organized at Little Rock, Ark. in 1950 as the North American Baptist Association, this group changed it's name to the Baptist Missionary Association in 1968".

"Churches are completely autonomous in the Baptist tradition and have equal voice in the association, member churches must comform to doctrinal standards of the association".

I don't know who is over the Pastors or if the association could fire him. Surely with the church deacons and with help of the Association something could be done if a pastor were totally out of hand or something.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Was Lane Lawless a SELF appointed pastor? Just wondering............
and churches usually have a board of directors or a superior over the pastor.
Did his churches have this?

PASTOR LAWLESS BIOGRAPHY:
Pastor Lane Lawless was saved in Wenatchee, Washington, In April of 1960. He was baptized July 9, 1960 by the authority of the Eastside Missionary Baptist Church of East Wenatchee. Elder A.A. Harris administered the ordinance. He was called to the ministry on April 6, 1971 and ordained August 20, 1971 by the Winton MBC.

Pastor Lawless received his theological education from the Alisal Baptist Institute of Salinas and the Baptist Theological Seminary of Hayward. He also studied under the tutelage of Eld. A.A. Harris.

The churches Elder Lawless has pastored are Beacon MBC of Redding and Grace MBC of Gardena. In 1975, he was sent out by Salinas MBC to do mission work in Eureka. He then pastured Sovereign Grace MBC of Mountain View, and has been pastor at the Clover Road Baptist Church since 1981.

Pastor Lawless' wife, Connie, is the daughter of A.A. and Irene Harris. They were married by Eld. Harris on July 9, 1960 in Modesto, CA. They have three grown children Brian, Brett, and Joni, who are all involved in God's work, and nine beloved grandchildren.

http://www.clover-road-baptist-church.com/Pastor1.html

 

[daisy.faithfull]

I hope that there is something to them looking at Pastor Lawless now that the press is implying that their "sources" make it sound like LE is doing more than cover their bases. If Lawless is innocent he's been raked over the coals because he is related to MH already.

If there is reason to believe Lawless may have molested children in the past it could explain why he moved to California from Washington.

I wasn't around back then, but I don't think that children molested by religious leader could really tell anyone. I wonder if the children are now adults and seeing him on the news in connection with this horrible crime motivated them to step forward. Is there a Statute of Limitations for molestation? I don't think there should be, its never too late for justice when a child is hurt. Even when the child is now an adult.

 

[simlyme]

I have the book, Handbook of Denominations. I'm pretty sure this is the church. I didn't think Missionary Baptist joined any associations, but it says:

"Organized at Little Rock, Ark. in 1950 as the North American Baptist Association, this group changed it's name to the Baptist Missionary Association in 1968".

"Churches are completely autonomous in the Baptist tradition and have equal voice in the association, member churches must comform to doctrinal standards of the association".

I don't know who is over the Pastors or if the association could fire him. Surely with the church deacons and with help of the Association something could be done if a pastor were totally out of hand or something.

I think with such a small church, what you'll find most of the time is alot of family relations.
If I were to look for a Missionary Baptist church to attend in that area,say as a visitor, the church doesnt make itself too well known or easy to find.
Is it in the yellow pages?
Does it advertise its services in the weekly paper?
Too secretive for my taste.
The two people(men) they interviewed in the bigginig of this case were related to Lane Lawless. Just some points to ponder on.

 

[simlyme]

PASTOR LAWLESS BIOGRAPHY:
Pastor Lane Lawless was saved in Wenatchee, Washington, In April of 1960. He was baptized July 9, 1960 by the authority of the Eastside Missionary Baptist Church of East Wenatchee. Elder A.A. Harris administered the ordinance. He was called to the ministry on April 6, 1971 and ordained August 20, 1971 by the Winton MBC.

Pastor Lawless received his theological education from the Alisal Baptist Institute of Salinas and the Baptist Theological Seminary of Hayward. He also studied under the tutelage of Eld. A.A. Harris.

The churches Elder Lawless has pastored are Beacon MBC of Redding and Grace MBC of Gardena. In 1975, he was sent out by Salinas MBC to do mission work in Eureka. He then pastured Sovereign Grace MBC of Mountain View, and has been pastor at the Clover Road Baptist Church since 1981.

Pastor Lawless' wife, Connie, is the daughter of A.A. and Irene Harris. They were married by Eld. Harris on July 9, 1960 in Modesto, CA. They have three grown children Brian, Brett, and Joni, who are all involved in God's work, and nine beloved grandchildren.

http://www.clover-road-baptist-church.com/Pastor1.html

Looks like he was saved in April--3 months later he was baptized,looks like by his father in law- and married on that same day by his father in law.

 

[JoeFromLB]

More on Pastor Lawless:
According to Lawless, he lived in Salinas in the early 1980s, and now lives in Space 57 at Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park - the same mobile home park where Sandra lived with her mom, grandparents and siblings before her March 27 disappearance.

Lawless said he lived in Salinas for about a year while receiving his theological education from the Alisal Baptist Institute Theological Seminary. Lawless said he also lived in Livermore and made the one-and-a-half hour commute to Salinas when he taught and preached at the institute.

Pastor Arthur Harris of the Alisal Baptist Church said the institute is still around but hasn't had any students or staff for a couple of years.

Harris, now the dean of the institute, described the institute as more of a Bible school as opposed to a liberal arts department. Harris confirmed Lawless received a bachelor's degree in religious studies at the institute.

Harris, who said he is Lawless' brother-in-law, has known Lawless since the 1950s. He described Lawless as "one of the most kind and gentle persons" he knows but understands the reason why police questioned him.

"The police have to do what they have to do," Harris, 66, said adding that with Lawless' ailing health, "He saves all his energy for Sunday mornings."

Lawless' wife, Connie, said they had been interviewed by police because Sandra was a regular playmate of their great-granddaughter's.

"[Sandra] was last seen heading toward the direction where our house is, but she never went here," Connie said.

"[The police] are just trying to get to the truth of the matter," she said. "It's only reasonable that they would go through everything."


http://m.thecalifornian.com/apps/pb...90408/NEWS01/904080301/-1/WAP&template=wapart

 

[Winnow]

So..... I know there has been a lot of speculation and questions regarding where Melissa's daughter and where Connie Lawless were when Sandra was abducted...

Now, I'm wondering WHERE was Lane Lawless ? ? ? Or was this already established in far earlier postings on other threads?

 

[daisy.faithfull]

So..... I know there has been a lot of speculation and questions regarding where Melissa's daughter and where Connie Lawless were when Sandra was abducted...

Now, I'm wondering WHERE was Lane Lawless ? ? ? Or was this already established in far earlier postings on other threads?

:rocker: You rock Winnow! I haven't seen anything in the press mentioning that or any discussions here about Pastor Grandpa's whereabouts when Sandra was abducted.

 

[daisy.faithfull]

Pastor Arthur Harris of the Alisal Baptist Church said the institute is still around but hasn't had any students or staff for a couple of years...

Harris, who said he is Lawless' brother-in-law, has known Lawless since the 1950s. He described Lawless as "one of the most kind and gentle persons" he knows but understands the reason why police questioned him.

Connie's brother's name is Arther Harris? Sure got some nuts in that family!:rolling: Did you bold that because of his name? Just to be clear, I know he isn't the bald guy... I just thought it was funny!

Anyway, Pastor Harris mentioned that Pastor Lawless' having health problems, this situation certainly can't be helping that. When the family had their press conference Pastor Lawless wasn't there, although Connie was. I looked at that rather suspiciously, but it could me because of his health.

Poor health could also explain why he hasn't been to see MH and why Connie was the one who sat down with the media to answer questions.

And I just have to say, we don't know for sure that LE is only looking into Pastor Lawless' history, they could be checking Connie's as well... never would I have ever suspected MH could be responsible for Sandra's death, Connie is the last person in that family I would expect to be a pedo-slimeball so she is the first one I'm expecting to be implicated in a way... :shakehead:

 

[Kat]

This is an interesting development to say the least. Hmmmm is all I have to say at this time.

 

[ohiogirl]

Wow, can't think of anything else to say.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Well well well.....

It sounds like at first they were honing in on the Pastor as a possible suspect.

I think they thought the connection was the church. They must have been floored when they found out it was the female Sunday school teacher.

imo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Huh. Well. Why am I not surprised? I haven't had much time to check these forums but try to check in to get updates. I've been waiting to read something like this actually. I've wondered about this all along.

Not because I think this woman isn't capable of this crime by herself either. I think she's perfectly capable. And quite possibly did. She's obviously one sick woman and quite frankly, she scares me to death

But I've felt all along that something isn't right here. I feel that there is/was something else going on here. Maybe not to this specific crime, but related. Does that make sense?

I have to go with the wonderful Astro's on this one. They have stated other's may be involved and I agree. I just don't know what that involvement is or how it relates to this case.

To me, it's more than odd that Pastor Lawless was questioned in the past about possible child abuse in a church....Why? Was Melissa also involved in that church they recently searched? hhhmmm...

Just MHO.

Didnt the police in that town say they have no record of any abuse allegation against Pastor Lawless?

imo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

*SPECULATION ONLY* if they are saying he was investigated years ago, maybe he was questioned about abusing MH?

I wouldnt think so. He has been the Pastor there in Tracy since 1981.

imo

 

[Salem]

I agree OBE - I'm thinking these searches resulted from when the pastor was first brought to light, before MH was arrested. I wonder if they found anything? Or if LE was able to substantiate the original abuse charges against the pastor?

Salem

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I believe that the FBI and LE would have been remiss if they had not checked out every possibility in this case. Early on, they would have concentrated on both the Pastor and Melissa. The FBI's stats show a female is not a normal perp in this type of crime. We have been hearing this since they arrested MH.

They would have been looking for a male to be involved and Pastor Lawless fit the bill to be a possible suspect with his access to the church, Melissa, etc. It doesn't mean they found anything or anyone to point the finger at the Pastor. Since he wasn't arrested with his granddaughter and LE maintains she acted alone, I would say there was no evidence found to include him.

 

[Amster]

What connection does Lane Lawless have with the church in Wa.??

 

[Amster]

Looks like rolled up projector screens or window shades.....

 

[gibby207]

What connection does Lane Lawless have with the church in Wa.??

A few... He's from WA, in fact.

Maybe I'll come out of lurking mode now!

 

[Winnow]

Looks like rolled up projector screens or window shades.....

Bottom video on the left -- sure looks like the infamous window blinds mentioned before as taken from MH's mobile home....