COMPLAINT

Stephen L. Isitt, plaintiff
Vs.
Defendants

I. PARTIES

• Steve Isitt, plaintiff, a former Local Church (LC) member of 30 years. Resides in King County, Washington, 822 100th Ave NE #205, Bellevue, WA, 98004
• Ron Kangas is regarded as, perhaps, the top Local Church leader and speaker and is listened to in several countries by video tape or in person. He is the chief editor for Living Stream Ministry (LSM). Business address is Living Stream Ministry, P. O. Box 2121, Anaheim, California 92814-0121. LC church member 40+ years.
• Sherman Robertson is a Local Church leader and is also active in speaking engagements in other countries. He is a co-worker with Ron Kangas and others for the churches. He lives in King County, Washington. Business address is 1835 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, Washington 98004. 40-year LC member.
• John or Jane Does 1-25 to be determined during discovery.

II. JURISDICTION

I have chosen a United States District Court for the Western District of Washington since a number of claims will have arisen outside King County, Washington.

III. OPERATIVE FACTS

• I have been misrepresented by LSM and Local Church leaders for nearly ten years in my writings on Local Church history, resulting in severe damage to my reputation and loss of vital relationships with church members and friends.
• Leaders have told others either in groups or in one on one contact that I have “slanderous” websites and forum posts that speak against several leaders in our association of churches. Yet, no examples of “slander” have been given.
• Further, LSM and the Local Churches have a litigious reputation, yet will not bring my case to a law court as they have done with others who they feel have defamed them. This is because they know my writings are verifiable, as former leaders and members attest, as do many current Local Church members.
• Living Stream Ministry (LSM), Orange County, CA, is the publisher and distributor of books and tapes for the Local Churches. LSM holds several conferences and trainings yearly in and for the Local Churches, featuring seven annual international conferences. Local Church members esteem highly the co-workers at LSM and their work in publication production and distribution, as well as their personal ministry to the churches. I was a member for 30 years, appreciating similarly LSM’s publication work and ministry to the churches, and still do.
• It was out of my three decades of appreciation that I began to address a tumultuous period that occurred among us, having approached LSM by letter and with my initial writing, urging mutual and meaningful dialog between current and former leaders unto reconciliation between them and among many members.
• Dan Towle of LSM, Anaheim, reacted to my writing by advising Sherman
Robertson to place me in a discipline mode in the Local Church in Bellevue, WA. And, he did so. I was expected to recant from what I placed on the internet regarding Local Church history. I have put much more on since. I have not recanted in ten years and see no need to do so since what I have reported is true, as well as beneficial to many. Leaders are closed to my appeals for mutual dialog.
• Being “banned” from the meetings, I continued my research and writing regarding our church history and accumulated valuable material from authoritative sources that now fill five websites. My engagement in writing is basically commentaries on the materials collected. Many do appreciate my findings and work; leaders do not because it exposes crucial facts of our history unfavorable to our leadership.
• The exposed hidden history in the Local Churches reveals causes of the tumult and also of division that occurred which led to the loss of hundreds and hundreds of members from Local Churches around the world. My findings, however, were in sharp contrast with LSM’s “official” version, wherein the image of the leadership is kept fully intact and untarnished while the reputations of several condemned former leaders are utterly ruined and relationships with them severed.
• Leaders not only showed no interest or willingness to examine my work, they just spread to others that I am an opposer, a divisive person, and the like. Concerning the truth of our history, one Orange County leader, Francis Ball, declared during the tumult that he just wanted to be like an “ostrich with his head in the sand”, manifesting the attitude of several other leaders also.
• My endeavor has been from the outset to build a bridge of communication to those who were lost among us, but first I needed to obtain the cooperation of the leaders, which did not happen. Instead, I now too am a non-member, with false word going out daily that I oppose the church and slander leaders.

IV. CAUSES OF ACTION

• In January 2008, Ron Kangas of Anaheim made bold yet false and defamatory statements against me at a leaders’ conference in Ecuador with leaders assembled there from various parts of South America. Of note, he did not say my writings were false. An audio tape was made available and is also now on the internet where it gets exposure in countries around the world.
• In trips here to Bellevue, Washington, Ron Kangas has spoken against me in private sessions with the local and regional leaders, speaking of my “slanderous” websites and negative online activity. I actually do not oppose, I rather propose that we examine ourselves and our past history. They need to understand this.
• On July 8, 2010 Sherman Robertson announced to long-time church member Jerry Mueckl that I have “slandered” several Local Church leaders on my websites. This was done with the intention to effect the loss of trust and relationship between me and this long-time church member. It worked. Mr. Mueckl then announced to me that he was cutting off any relationship with me until I could get rid of my “slanderous websites”, but added that he has not even read my writings. I understand from him he has now read something, but added, along with yet another longtime member, Tony Chee, that I am bitter, when they would have no way of knowing so since they hadn’t talked to me in ten years. By the end of our time together they realized I was certainly not bitter, but that I am very positive toward the church, the people, and also toward the leaders, except for the “bonds” I have been placed in by them, and also their false witness concerning men and events of our church history, and of me as well.
• Such talk by Sherman Robertson has been carelessly going on for ten years causing severe damage to my name and loss of vital relationships with church members and friends. He has done this in the United States and also outside of the United States in his travels for the churches.
• Of significant note, the defendants and many other leaders will not answer my periodic requests, and those of others, for mutual and meaningful dialog that leaders might offer a dutiful response, either to the veracity found in the my writings or to what they specifically consider to be “slanderous”.
• This has been for ten years a church matter only, but now the defamation is at a stage where I seek relief as a U. S. citizen, not directly as a church member, that justice might be established and defaming and debilitating word stopped.

IV. REQUEST FOR RELIEF

• I ask the court to have these leaders stop their false and defamatory speaking against me and admit publicly, both orally and in writing, that their condemnation of me has been wrong, that the writings of Steve Isitt express legitimate concern for the church based on well-documented evidences from authoritative sources regarding our church history.
• I ask that these admissions reach the churches of our association everywhere and be placed in key newspapers in California, Washington, Texas, Ohio, and Illinois to be specified at time of trial; and in Christian publications to be specified at time of trial.
• I ask the court to recognize the tort of defamation against the defendants for their false and defamatory speaking against me and to grant compensatory damages in an amount to be proven at trial. I ask for an award of costs and my attorney’s fees.

Dated this_______________, at Seattle Washington ____________, plaintiff

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Stephen L. Isitt's writings may be found here:

www.truewordsfortruthseekers.com