An Interview with a PHC member
INTEVIEWER: Can you share your perspective on the WestGate partnership? Some people called it a hostile takeover.
CHURCH MEMBER: I wouldn’t call it a “takeover.” Maybe more like a “handover.”
INTEVIEWER: Please start from the beginning.
CHURCH MEMBER: I was initially a member of the English congregation. The attendance was anywhere from 7-15 on a given Sunday. We were all excited when news came of WestGate and the English congregation merging. They said that the Nichigo congregation would be left alone and continue their ministry unchanged. They had about 50 attendees on a Sunday.
(note: Nichigo = Japanese speaking)
INTEVIEWER: So it was a positive thing, WestGate.
CHURCH MEMBER: Absolutely! Jay Kim was a good preacher, and WestGate even hired a brand new pastor just to lead the Redwood City campus. We did have to give up our name, Peninsula Hope Church, which was bittersweet. A lot of old memories, but a new exciting future.
INTEVIEWER: Is it true that “something” changed along the way?
CHURCH MEMBER: Yeah, as the official launch date of the new WestGate Redwood City campus was approaching, it was suddenly announced that the Nichigo congregation would have to change their worship service time from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. My first thought was, “I thought the Nichigo weren’t supposed to be affected by this.”
INTEVIEWER: Did it affect the English side?
CHURCH MEMBER: Not really, at least not in a bad way. I mean, our service time was kept the same, and I kind of felt bad for the Nichigo. They actually were crying and really upset. A lot of them are pretty elderly, too. The hardest part, was the suddenness of the news and lack of reasons why. The more questions people asked, the more mention there was of some so-called “agreements” or “contracts.
INTEVIEWER: Tell me about the “agreements.”
CHURCH MEMBER: Well the main thing about these “agreements” is that somehow the Nichigo were made “sub-lessee” to Westgate. Meaning the entire church property was being leased to WestGate, and the Nichigo were sub-leasing from WestGate. That seemed really weird.
INTEVIEWER: And the Nichigo pastor knew about this?
CHURCH MEMBER: That was another weird thing. They kept saying that he knew everything and was “okay” with it. But when we talked to him, he said he didn’t. Clearly, someone was not telling the truth.
INTEVIEWER: So what happened next?
CHURCH MEMBER: At first, no one really saw the “agreements”. There were a few who did, but things seemed kind of hidden. Eventually, a few of us got a hold of them and read them. I was shocked. It was true that the entire church property was leased to WestGate. And it was true that the Nichigo congregation, that owned the property, was being made sub-lessee to WestGate.
INTEVIEWER: How was that unusual or shocking?
CHURCH MEMBER: Well, what property owner would rent out his entire house to a tenant, and then afterwards ask for permission from the tenant, if he the owner, could stay in a small portion of his own house and let the tenant call all the shots? It would make more sense for the owner to rent out whatever part of his house he wanted to rent out to the tenant, and that’s it. If the owner wanted to live in the house still, he would decide what part the tenant gets to live in and the owner would keep the rest of the house for himself. But that’s not how the lease agreement was written. WestGate was more like the landlord over us, the owner.
INTEVIEWER: Was there anything else unusual?
CHURCH MEMBER: Yes, one of the agreements had a page for different people to sign, including a space for the Nichigo pastor, but the conference superintendent signed for everyone, including the Nichigo pastor. It didn’t make any sense. Why didn’t the pastor sign it himself, especially if he supposedly “agreed” to it? The agreements were literally between the superintendent, Mike Perkinson, and the senior pastor, Jay Kim, at WestGate. There was no signature from anyone from our church, and our church is the one that owns the property!
INTEVIEWER: That does sound unusual. Are there legal ramifications?
CHURCH MEMBER: I thought so, but the Nichigo pastor decided to take the “love and forgive” approach. By this time, I had switched my membership from the English congregation to the Nichigo congregation. I was really impressed by the Nichigo members’ humility and desire to coexist. I was also skeptical about the transaction between our superintendent and WestGate church.
INTEVIEWER: But then I heard something else unexpected happened.
CHURCH MEMBER: Yes, our Nichigo pastor still wanted to know from our superintendent why he signed for our church on the agreements. To our shock, the superintendent literally said that he could do whatever he wants with our property with or without our awareness or approval. And then he fired our pastor.
[The interview was shortly concluded after this, and the transcript is truncated for brevity. The identity of the PHC member is intentionally protected.]