It Is Written Oceania Dismisses Speaker/Director
May 16, 2017: It is Written Oceania’s speaker/director, Gary Kent has been dismissed from his position.
In an email to supporters of the ministry, Kalvin Dever, the CEO of Wahroonga, Australia-based Adventist Media Network announced the decision.
The May 15 email said that Dever had met with Kent that day to formalize his dismissal.
Although a specific reason for the dismissal was not named in the email, Kent’s conduct was described as “less than appropriate for a person in his position.”
Dever calls Kent’s actions “misleading and a breach of his fiduciary duties; to the IIWO management team and as an employee of Adventist Media.”
In his email to supporters Dever provides as context the move of IIWO’s offices from the Adventist Media offices in Wahroonga, to a new location in Dora Creek.
The move involved a structural change which meant that IIWO would remain part of Adventist Media but would no longer be managed by it.
According to the email, it was after the move when a new video editor was hired from oversees that Kent’s alleged inappropriate conduct was detected.
Dever said in the email that despite “opportunities for Gary to transparently communicate with the IIWO management team, he continued to act in an inappropriate manner.”
Kent’s actions were discussed at the most recent Adventist Media Committee meeting in which the Chair of the IIWO Management Committee outlined the facts.
Dever said that after “very lengthy discussions and prayer, the Committee decided that the appropriate course of action was to summarily dismiss Gary as the IIWO Speaker/Director.”
In an attempt to answer potential questions arising from the dismissal, Dever said that IIWO would continue broadcasting at the usual time “even if these are simply replays of old programs until a decision and plans are made for the future.”
Dever stressed that Kent was no longer employed by the church and his “full lawful entitlements will be paid to him.”
He did not speculate on what would happen to Kent’s status as an ordained pastor, saying that the Australian Union Conference made decisions about the status of a minister’s ordination in such situations.
As this Adventist Today report was being written, Kent’s bio was still on the IIWO website. He was described as the Speaker/Director of IIWO as well as a qualified archaeologist. The information now appears to have been removed from the site.
Image: Screenshot of Gary Kent’s bio on the IIWO website.
