#4 of 54. Major players in this sad saga

“[The ninth commandment] forbids every effort to injure our neighbor's reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing. Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others, is a violation of the ninth commandment." —Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets.

The major players in this sad saga are:

James (Jim) Coffin, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor with more than 32 years of denominational employment as a youth pastor, an editor and a senior pastor

Leonie Coffin, Jim’s wife

Leonie and Jim’s three sons, currently aged 20, 26 and 30

Lincoln Steed, editor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Liberty magazine

Jan Paulsen, president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church and a consulting editor* for Liberty magazine

Don Schneider, president of the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and a consulting editor for Liberty magazine

John Graz, director of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department and a consulting editor for Liberty magazine

Halvard Thomsen, assistant to Don Schneider and chair of the Liberty magazine board

Eugene Hsu, a general vice-president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church and a consulting editor for Liberty magazine

Robert Kyte, chief legal counsel in the Office of General Counsel at the headquarters of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church

* At the time this sad saga began, the term used on the masthead of Liberty magazine was “consulting editor.” It has subsequently changed to “contributing editor.” Whether the change was in any way related to the story you’re about to read, I don’t know. For the sake of consistency, the term “consulting editor” will be used throughout this presentation.

Copyright © 2008 James Coffin