~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~February 28, 2002Dear Bob:In your February 13, 2002, letter, you charge me with taking an exorbitant wage, but when we were paying you $25 an hour to do work at the parsonage, I was making $33 an hour, and I've had no raise since except the usual cost-of-living raises that everyone gets. I now make $43.70 per hour. This is an exorbitant wage? I don't think my congregation is going to worry about paying me approximately 2½ times as much as we do our part-time janitor! I do not think that this is unreasonable for the experience that I have in the Word of God and in pastoring, for being on call and having to deal with all kinds of problems with all kinds of people when they are very angry and very hurt and in being on call to pray for people every hour of the day. Several church members told me, "Whatever you are paid, it's not enough!"

[This is Sandi Baxter (Don's bookkeeper) speaking now: "I KNOW what Don makes and I believe he is worth much more!]

The Pastor is the one who has to defend himself and his church in court and to become the brunt of attacks from dissidents and those put out of the church and from every other source, which are many…I have never written a church check for anything for myself. Only in the past few years have I finally decided to take overtime wages, as everyone else gets...You are accusing a man of fleecing the flock and stealing from the Lord because he finally began to get paid for overtime after about 31 years of working 12 to 16 hours a day and getting paid for 8. This is a man who has given about $1.7 million of wages (an equivalent in 2002 A.D. dollars) that were earned by him, to the church (when he didn't have to) and who has given a minimum of $70,000 to $80,000 of his own money to different members of the church (when he didn't have to) to help them out, because he loves them.Actually, the Elders at Community Chapel as well as the Elders at the Church of Agapé have established all of the benefits that I have received. I have not added any benefits on my own! In fact, I pay all the wages of my housekeeper, even though a good deal of the cleaning she does is because of the use that the parsonage gets because of church business being conducted here. As to free rent at the parsonage, I have done more than my normal share, for I sold my last house and gave all the money for the building of the parsonage. Thus, I have paid for a large portion of the parsonage, but parsonages are always paid for by the church, not the parson! Ninety percent of my time in the parsonage is in relationship to church business. I work every night generally until almost 11:00 p.m. and then fall into bed. Occasionally, I have a fellowship with members of my church. I work in my office almost all the time, and I pay the amount of utilities that Margaret has agreed to. In fact, I think she is the one who has set the amount that I should pay. We have several employees working here. Certainly the church has the right to use the parsonage (that the Pastor has paid a large part of) for a church office, which includes using my living room for counseling sessions, fellowships, and prayer meetings, and using my bathroom and kitchen for employees and fellowships, without the Pastor being accused of "skimming money off of the church"! Actually, the church has come out much better by this agreement, for otherwise they would have had to furnish a parsonage for me and church offices, as well.As to a "free car," many pastors, CEOs, and executives not only get a free automobile, but also an enormous amount more. I had my car taken away from me from the actions of my Elders that the Supreme Court said were illegal. The Supreme Court ruled in my favor saying that the Superior Court judge "twisted the meaning of plain English" and that my "bylaws were legal" and so the Elders had no right to force me out of my church, nor did the lower court have any right in giving away my church to them, and yet the lower court would not give the church back to me! I have paid for about half a dozen cars for people in the church whose cars had broken down, were not worth fixing and too costly to fix, plus they didn't have the money to fix them. So, if I can pay out of my own money (when I could have used the church's money) to buy needy people in our congregation used cars to help them continue to make a living, why can't the Trust buy the Pastor a Honda (not a Cadillac), which has fold-down seats so that the storage area functions in an emergency as a bed (as we then expected when we were going to buy a church farm), without it being some horrible gross sin as you are portraying it? Furthermore, since when are you the judge of what is unreasonable and outrageous?If I had to pay for my automobile, I could say, "OK, I'll reimburse the church for my automobile, and I'll let the church reimburse me for the cars that I bought the people,"…Besides, I've paid for rent, medical expenses, special schooling, etc., etc., etc. (which were things that were not my responsibility), especially for those closest to me so that no one could say that I was being preferential with the church's money. Your figures are exorbitantly and wildly exaggerated! I have a right to get paid a decent salary, and Many concerned members of the church have come to me concerned about your undermining of the church government, your bad attitudes, your pride, your false accusations, and your being a troublemaker in the church. I asked you to state your position on this, and to tell me how you feel about your Pastor and church government and whether or not you will continue to undermine us in the future, whether or not you will apologize to me and repent to God. You have refused to answer my letter and have continued putting out libelous, slanderous, and false information out on the Internet!You are attacking a church that God loves and is working through, and if you convince a lot of people on the Internet that Don Barnett is no good, and then God raises me up and causes my ministry to spread and these people will not open up to the ministry and the Feast of Tabernacles, because you have poisoned them, then their blood is on your head! You think that you can do all of these things without God caring, but I think that you should point the finger at yourself and say, "God is not mocked, for whatever you sow you shall also reap!"Once, all of our books were carefully audited by a judge-appointed auditor, because of a mistake that Margaret made! The auditor (after several days) reported to the judge: "All the money is accounted for, and Pastor Barnett didn't even take what he was allowed to. He paid out of his own pocket (and declined benefits) he was entitled to," and the judge was satisfied. The auditor didn't see my salary as a problem!Paying the top man my salary, plus benefits, is not against the law! I never touch the money or the books of the church, and we have several checks and balances, as my bookkeeper's letter of defense for me explains. All church records go through my bookkeeper, Sandi Baxter, and the treasurer, Doug Pierce. I am paid wages like anyone else. I have no access to church monies.When pinned down in court and asked for proof for all of the libelous and slanderous accusations that you've made against me and for what you've posted on the Internet, you would have none—only feelings, opinions, and assumptions! You will not be able to show proof for many of your accusations.If you thought your Pastor was doing something illegal, you should have asked Margaret why she went along with it, contrary to instructions by the Pastor, saying nothing to him about it. Furthermore, you should have immediately informed me of the exact act that you thought was illegal, rather than letting it continue for years while you smear your Pastor, dividing the flock, aiding the devil, and disobeying God! You have already broken the law over and over again by libel and slander, as many in the church could testify (including Internet postings)!~~~~~~~~~~~~~