Deacon blues: Letter tells church member to worship elsewhere

HOLDERNESS — Church attendance by a personal and political rival “has caused great distress” to one of the deacons of the Holderness Community Church, according to a certified letter from the Board of Deacons, which asked the woman to “find another church that we believe will be a more comfortable fit for you.”

Jeanette Stewart, a former member of the Ashland Board of Selectmen, said she had attended the Holderness church a few times, but Deacon Leigh Sharps, who also is an Ashland selectman, was there only one of those times, and she was quite friendly at the time, despite past differences between them.

“So I was shocked when I received the certified letter,” Stewart said.

“The Board met and discussed this, and have decided, after a unanimous vote, in compliance with our by-laws revised in 2018, that it would be best for you to please find another church,” the letter stated.

“Our church is a very tight-knit close community, without controversy at this point, and we feel, out of respect for our community and Deacon Sharps, that it is in everyone’s interest that you find another church,” the letter continued, concluding by wishing Stewart “best of luck with your new church.”

“I was so upset when I got the letter, I cried,” Stewart said in a telephone interview.

Her daughter, Patricia Stewart, met with Pastor Jeff Dietrich and other church officials on Wednesday to convey how upset her mother had been by the letter.

Emerging from the meeting, Deacon Cynthia Thompson – who signed the letter – said neither the pastor nor the deacons had anything to say publicly at the present time. Asked whether a statement would be forthcoming, Thompson repeated, “We have nothing to say at this time.”

She then added, “You can see that we’re all leaving the church together, and there’s no animosity here. It was an amicable meeting.”

According to Jeanette Stewart in a follow-up conversation, her daughter told her that Thompson was the only deacon who attended the meeting with the pastor, and that Sharps had resigned her position as a church deacon.

Sharps did not return a call seeking her comments on the situation.

Stewart and Sharps have had an open rivalry since the two women served together on the Ashland Board of Selectmen. Stewart said she did not know how it all began, although the two disagreed on several matters that came before the board. “I don’t remember what the disagreements were,” she said.

Both women also have shared newspaper connections over the years. Stewart recently retired from a full-time position as a member of The Laconia Daily Sun advertising staff, but continues to work there part-time, and she previously worked for The Concord Monitor, among other jobs. Sharps is a former reporter and newspaper editor, including jobs at the weekly Franklin-Tilton Telegram and the Record-Enterprise of Plymouth.

Stewart said she had recently started attending the Holderness Community Church after her own church, the Ashland Community Church, decided to discontinue its traditional 9 a.m. worship service. It holds a later service with “modern styles” which Stewart said includes loud music “that’s not my style.”

Stewart commented, “It’s just sad. It’s not right. Leigh’s just a mean person, and it doesn’t make sense.”

To contact Tom Caldwell, email tom@laconiadailysun.com.