If it had in fact been true....

So, now I'll tell you that I spent the 2nd through 4th weeks of July at Camp Gitchigomee. A few pictures can be viewed at http://thunderbaycamp.mindsay.com.

The first two weeks of Aug. I was at Manitoba Pioneer Camp (http://my.tbaytel.net/rpepper/aug05.html) as Senior Section Director.

Then I helped with St. George's Anglican Narnia Day Camp. This past weekend I was at our church Family Camp at Camp Duncan (Loon Lake). One advantage Duncan has (besides being economical) is that we could use their canoes, PFDs etc. as part of the deal.

There I had an interesting conversation with a DBC parent re. her anger over what she described to me as disorganization (specifically re. staffing, on the subject of returning phone calls). Perhaps I will blog some thoughts about that subject some other time.

At both Camp G & MPC I felt very accepted & valued for who I am. As much as I still sting with pain from my being voted off the Dorion Bible Camp island (not-for-cause), I do appreciate the Dorion volunteer who emailed me to say she is glad that I am still able to carry on with camp work and other related ministries. In no way do I want to be at all ungrateful to those who have made a place for me (or to God for this).

But a thought did hit me powerfully this Spring:

During my Health Leave from Dorion (03-04) someone who ought to have known better told me (confidently) a distorted version of my story, i.e. that the E.D. had imposed only a *6 month* leave, but it was the Board (then CSSM) who made it a year. I immediately showed him a doc he'd not seen before that proved that the opposite was true (the E.D. insisted on a whole year from the start; the Board/CSSM allowed for return afer 6 months if I met certain conditions [which I did]).

The E.D.'s initial preference was that my leave start AFTER Summer '03 in the Fall. It was the Board/CSSM who made it effective immediately.

Now I don't know whether this person was confused or misled. It was entirely possible for him to get the story right, unless it was kept from him. At the very least, it disturbed me that he was so indignant that people "out there" didn't have the story right, when neither did he. If (and I say "if") he was misled, I hope that has troubled his sleep.

But what hit me powerfully was the thought that, IF in fact that version HAD BEEN TRUE, likely I would not be where I am, that is, I probably would have simply taken that short leave in the Fall and returned to work the next Spring.

But what caused me to be so unhappy with the Leave as it truly existed (which "unhappiness" may have been misperceived as "insubordination" -- consulting a lawyer is not insubordination) was my having to miss a summer of Camp (either '03 or '04). I had shed the Registrar duties and was really looking forward to refocussing on my PD role.

As well, there were times when I was already feeling kept out of the loop and had a fear that this might be a way of phasing me out. The end result suggests to me that this was not merely paranoia.

The reaction (a year-long exile) to my time of distress struck me as disproportionate. An immediate short period of time-off in which to unstress and discuss face-to-face the issues that led to the stress appears to me reasonable & the most helpful response.

And/or what the person believed (mistakenly) was the case: i.e. a short restorative leave, following what would have been a relatively stress-free summer (due to the agreed removal of the Registrar duties).

I hope now that *preventitive* measures re. stress are now in place. Sudden-unwanted-imposed "sabbaticals" are more likely to be counter-productive. I hope that now they are insisting on predictable sabbaticals on a regular cycle (possibly of c. 7 years). This communicates a concern for the well-being of the workers, rather than simply a desire for their labour in accomplishing the goals.

As for my situation, as long as they didn't insist that I go away to school (which would have been hard to plan at that point and financially problematic), I don't think such a plan would have been objectionable. But that is NOT what happened.

(I suggest a "however" in the comments section.)

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reppepper on

Re: If it had in fact been true....

But on second thought I do have to consider this:

Even if they had put me on a 6 month leave (starting in the Fall as initially preferred by the E.D.), I hope I would have still been alert enough to have sought legal help in writing up clear terms. As it was, I did so because the terms were point form and ambiguous. I think they misperceived this as a threat to sue them and added it to their resentment of me. (The false rumour "Richard is suing DBC" reached me.)

I was even told that I had acted unscripturally by "daring" to bring it before the Law. But it was an employment issue and therefore "before the law" from the start or certainly as soon as they consulted the Branch Director
and an appeal made to authority re. the imposition of the Health Leave. Apart from that we could have approached it Mt. 18 style as a dispute between brothers, but that's not how it was presented to me. I imagine that they'd say that in business they had every right to consult the boss; I also had every right to gain professional help & not remain ignorant. (My lawyer also advised me that in the end I had the right to go after more money, but I chose to waive that right.)

So, I guess I can't be sure:

If I had hired a lawyer re. a 6 month leave, it's possible that they might have also objected to that and booted me out after the 6 months. I'd be where I am now except we'd probably not have had the mtg (Mar. 31/04) where the Board urged me strongly to accept their latest reintegration plan (I'd accepted the 1st 2 which never came to pass)
and their aim to review & revamp everything about DBC (Amen!). I did accept this and so was completely devastated when it was never implemented and 2 weeks later they chose to let me go instead. In this hypothetical other scenario of a shorter leave, perhaps the process of getting rid of me would have been shorter and less confusing, more like ripping off a bandaid than trying to dig out a bullet with a knife.