I just recently learned of the passing of Pastor Ken Silva. The following was posted by our friends at Stand Up For The Truth website:
One of our dear comrades, Pastor Ken Silva, has passed away after a long illness.
Ken died last night in his New Hampshire home. A veteran researcher and reporter, Ken founded Apprising Ministries as well as Christian Research Network, two foundational apologetics sites where he wrote about trends in the church. Ken loved the Lord and loved sharing his faith. In recent years his degenerative illness worsened, and it became more difficult for Ken to write.
Ken has also been a pastor at Connecticut River Baptist Church in Claremont, New Hampshire, since 2003.
This past July, Ken reached out to many of us in “discernment ministries,” with word on what he was going through physically, financially and spiritually:
“…Our plan is for me to still try and battle through all of this because it truly does seem like, at its root, it’s a spiritual thing. Unfortunately though, I’m certainly not Job. We really need much prayer support to weather this.
As always we are very grateful for those of you who have been praying for, and financially supporting, AM these past nine years. That said, I must tell you that we are currently in the worst financial slump we’ve yet faced.”
Please pray for his many friends and family members, especially his wife Donna.
(read the rest here)
I got to know Pastor Ken about five years ago, first via emails, and then by phone contact. During the 2009 General Assembly, when Concerned Nazarenes worked hard to warn Nazarenes of the false teachings in the church, Pastor Ken took the time to call me and give me some advice and personal encouragement. Last year was the last time I spoke with him, as he asked for prayers for him, as his work was getting more difficult because of his condition.
As a friend said yesterday on his Facebook page, “Bro. Ken Silva was a definite stand up for the truth Christian!” Yes he was. My friend Dave Mosher, who has a discernment ministry website dedicated to warning Christians in his denomination and others as well, said this:
“And I pray there is someone to carry on the ministry at Apprising.org. With several Christians in ministry that I know of passing away recently, I’ve been thinking about our “legacy” and pondering how to train others to carry on our discernment ministries.”
And my friend Tim Wirth, who also has his own discernment website, said: “Ken wrote the forward to my book Pa$$ the Plate and Let us Prey. Ken was a good friend and brother in the Lord. He will be missed but we know where he is.”
Ken was not very well liked by those who he exposed for their falsehoods and phoney gospels, but then that is not unusual. Anyone who goes into a ministry dedicated to uncovering the lies of the most popular “Christian” leaders in the church is to expect nothing but hatred and vilification from them. Character assassination goes part and parcel when venturing into these waters.
And so we have lost one of those Christians willing to take on the lies of the prosperity gospel, or the lies of the social gospel, or of the signs and wonders crowd. We have lost someone who was willing to expose the compromise from Christian leaders who for years were uncompromising, but who have succumbed for whatever reason to popular culture. You see, it’s not easy when you see someone you have respected for years, all of a sudden start rubbing shoulders with false teachers, and to then call them out as well. It is very hard to remain disciplined and not let our personal like of someone get in the way of truth.
We need more Ken Silvas. We need men and women of courage who, if called for this kind of ministry, will do so without fear, and knowing that they have the responsibility to expose corruption, false teaching and compromise, no matter where and who the source is from.
May the Lord be with his family especially at this time.
Former Nazarene 