Review of Stolen Grace
Posted: 11 Jun 2023, 19:48
[Following is a volunteer review of "Stolen Grace" by Rev Errol E Leslie.]
The Bible teaches that mercy triumphs over judgement ( James 2:13) but this can be, and sometimes is countered with the argument “can one play with fire in his bosom and not get burnt?” This is what runs through this captivating memoir as you read through its content. Rev. Errol E. Leslie is a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ who was born and raised in a small village in Haddo, Westmoreland in the Jamaican island. He began ministry at age thirteen as a Sunday School teacher and at age sixteen he was a youth leader in the church he attended. As a young man he had a great zeal for church, attending a total of five services on a Sunday in both the Methodist and Salvation Army churches. He joined Seminary in 1974 and graduated in 1978, and after some years of ministry he immigrated to the United States of America where he continued with pastoral ministry.
In his memoir, [ i ]STOLEN GRACE. A Memoir. How God Rescued Me from the Jaws and Claws of the United Methodist Church [ / i ] Rev. Errol E. Leslie takes us through a very unpleasant ordeal he experienced in the United Methodist Church after making a mistake during his tenure as a Pastor. He begins by stating that he was led by the Lord to share his story. This motivates the reader to follow through the story and find out the outcome.
Pushed away into a dark corner of loneliness by unresolved family issues the author found himself trapped in a snare from which it was difficult to untangle himself and this changed his life and ministry drastically. Would this be the end of his ministry? Would his marriage recover from this? Could this situation have been avoided in the first place? Was he not mature enough after so many years of service in the church to discern the ways of the tempter and flee the temptation? Or had he no morals and standards as a Christian? These and many other questions ran through my mind as I read the book. From this narrative we realize that no one is exempted from temptation. Rev. Errol found himself in a situation he hadn’t prepared himself for, probably because he never expected to be in it. He compares himself to Joseph in the Bible who when faced with the same temptation, he overcame because he had prepared himself mentally and spirituality not to give in, but unlike Joseph, Rev. Errol failed the test.
Although he was very successful and effective in ministry, at home the situation was the opposite. The church loved him and appreciated his service and care for the congregation, but inside he was hurting and had a totally dysfunctional home. Consequently, he got involved in an extra marital affair with his former school mate with whom he got in touch many years after their school days and started communication via phone calls and other means and subsequent meetings which sealed their relationship. The said school mate also had gone through some unfortunate experiences in her marriage which left her divorced from her husband who was also a pastor. A few months into the affair she wanted the author to marry her and pushed him hard divorce his wife. When her efforts proved futile she decided to inform Rev. Errol’s wife, and the church leadership where Rev. Errol was serving, of their affair.
The church leaders took to investigate the matter and according to the author they were not kind to him at all and denied him the opportunity to defend himself. They failed to demonstrate the nature and love of Jesus Christ whom they claimed to represent. Convinced that he was guilty even before going through the court process, the church leaders offered him a sum of $25,000 to resign and denounce his ministerial credentials but he declined the offer because he believed that having repented God had forgiven him and would give him another chance for ministry. As Rev. Errol walks you through his testimony you can’t help but wonder if he was under some kind of evil spell that made the system that tried him so biased against him to the point of breaking the laws that provide for proper procedure to grant fair hearing and just decision on his case while they took advantage of his ignorance of the content of the church Book of Discipline.
I like the way the author went at length to give the details of how the church leaders whom he thought were going to show him mercy and extend grace to him mishandled him instead and treated him like scum. He also presented his evidence to support his views and try to prove to the public that he deserved a fairer and lenient verdict, and in the process exposed the hypocrisy and double standards practiced in the United Methodist Church. I also like how the story ends with him not quitting ministry and holding on to the call of God in his life despite being stripped of his ministry credentials and kicked out of pastoral ministry by the United Methodist Church. Indeed all's well that ends well!
What I didn’t like about this memoir however, is that it is too lengthy and a bit repetitive, therefore tedious to read through. As I read this story I felt like it was one sided with the author only telling how he was victimized, but he withheld other details about himself in his involvement in the adulterous affair. Was the church leadership so bad or was there something about him that warranted such hostility from them? Since he decided to tell his story I think he should have been more open and honest. Also the author used some legal terms that are difficult to understand to those not acquainted with legal language. There are numerous mistakes indicating that the book was not properly edited. I therefore give this book a rating of [ b ] 4 out of 5 stars [ /b ]. Despite this I still enjoyed reading the book.
I would recommend this book to all people especially Christians for it is an eye opener to help them realize that their pastors are human too and prone to falling into temptation, and that they should always pray for them and their families. To those interested in law this would also be a good read as it engages your legal mind as you go through the trial sessions and analyze the ruling and verdict of the court.
I appreciate Rev. Errol’s courage to share his story with the world. There are great lessons to glean from it.
******
Stolen Grace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Bible teaches that mercy triumphs over judgement ( James 2:13) but this can be, and sometimes is countered with the argument “can one play with fire in his bosom and not get burnt?” This is what runs through this captivating memoir as you read through its content. Rev. Errol E. Leslie is a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ who was born and raised in a small village in Haddo, Westmoreland in the Jamaican island. He began ministry at age thirteen as a Sunday School teacher and at age sixteen he was a youth leader in the church he attended. As a young man he had a great zeal for church, attending a total of five services on a Sunday in both the Methodist and Salvation Army churches. He joined Seminary in 1974 and graduated in 1978, and after some years of ministry he immigrated to the United States of America where he continued with pastoral ministry.
In his memoir, [ i ]STOLEN GRACE. A Memoir. How God Rescued Me from the Jaws and Claws of the United Methodist Church [ / i ] Rev. Errol E. Leslie takes us through a very unpleasant ordeal he experienced in the United Methodist Church after making a mistake during his tenure as a Pastor. He begins by stating that he was led by the Lord to share his story. This motivates the reader to follow through the story and find out the outcome.
Pushed away into a dark corner of loneliness by unresolved family issues the author found himself trapped in a snare from which it was difficult to untangle himself and this changed his life and ministry drastically. Would this be the end of his ministry? Would his marriage recover from this? Could this situation have been avoided in the first place? Was he not mature enough after so many years of service in the church to discern the ways of the tempter and flee the temptation? Or had he no morals and standards as a Christian? These and many other questions ran through my mind as I read the book. From this narrative we realize that no one is exempted from temptation. Rev. Errol found himself in a situation he hadn’t prepared himself for, probably because he never expected to be in it. He compares himself to Joseph in the Bible who when faced with the same temptation, he overcame because he had prepared himself mentally and spirituality not to give in, but unlike Joseph, Rev. Errol failed the test.
Although he was very successful and effective in ministry, at home the situation was the opposite. The church loved him and appreciated his service and care for the congregation, but inside he was hurting and had a totally dysfunctional home. Consequently, he got involved in an extra marital affair with his former school mate with whom he got in touch many years after their school days and started communication via phone calls and other means and subsequent meetings which sealed their relationship. The said school mate also had gone through some unfortunate experiences in her marriage which left her divorced from her husband who was also a pastor. A few months into the affair she wanted the author to marry her and pushed him hard divorce his wife. When her efforts proved futile she decided to inform Rev. Errol’s wife, and the church leadership where Rev. Errol was serving, of their affair.
The church leaders took to investigate the matter and according to the author they were not kind to him at all and denied him the opportunity to defend himself. They failed to demonstrate the nature and love of Jesus Christ whom they claimed to represent. Convinced that he was guilty even before going through the court process, the church leaders offered him a sum of $25,000 to resign and denounce his ministerial credentials but he declined the offer because he believed that having repented God had forgiven him and would give him another chance for ministry. As Rev. Errol walks you through his testimony you can’t help but wonder if he was under some kind of evil spell that made the system that tried him so biased against him to the point of breaking the laws that provide for proper procedure to grant fair hearing and just decision on his case while they took advantage of his ignorance of the content of the church Book of Discipline.
I like the way the author went at length to give the details of how the church leaders whom he thought were going to show him mercy and extend grace to him mishandled him instead and treated him like scum. He also presented his evidence to support his views and try to prove to the public that he deserved a fairer and lenient verdict, and in the process exposed the hypocrisy and double standards practiced in the United Methodist Church. I also like how the story ends with him not quitting ministry and holding on to the call of God in his life despite being stripped of his ministry credentials and kicked out of pastoral ministry by the United Methodist Church. Indeed all's well that ends well!
What I didn’t like about this memoir however, is that it is too lengthy and a bit repetitive, therefore tedious to read through. As I read this story I felt like it was one sided with the author only telling how he was victimized, but he withheld other details about himself in his involvement in the adulterous affair. Was the church leadership so bad or was there something about him that warranted such hostility from them? Since he decided to tell his story I think he should have been more open and honest. Also the author used some legal terms that are difficult to understand to those not acquainted with legal language. There are numerous mistakes indicating that the book was not properly edited. I therefore give this book a rating of [ b ] 4 out of 5 stars [ /b ]. Despite this I still enjoyed reading the book.
I would recommend this book to all people especially Christians for it is an eye opener to help them realize that their pastors are human too and prone to falling into temptation, and that they should always pray for them and their families. To those interested in law this would also be a good read as it engages your legal mind as you go through the trial sessions and analyze the ruling and verdict of the court.
I appreciate Rev. Errol’s courage to share his story with the world. There are great lessons to glean from it.
******
Stolen Grace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon