Rev. Eric Redmond has resigned from Hillcrest Baptist Church, effective January 14, 2009. Here is his press release:
In a Business Meeting on October 23, 2008, Hillcrest Baptist Church voted, by simple majority, to accept my resignation, ending my tenure at seven years as their pastor, with a final date of service on January 14, 2009. I part from Hillcrest lovingly, without any animosity, acrimony, or accusation toward the members.
I wish to expresses my sincere gratitude to the Lord, and to the leadership and the membership of Hillcrest, for my time of service at Hillcrest Baptist Church. I will be leaving a people I love greatly-a people who have helped me grow in the Lord and kindly given me opportunities to serve in grace.
Please pray for him, his wife, Pam, and their five children (“the five C’s”). Yet another man is dismissed for seeking to follow the Word of God. Melvin Jones has his take on the ordeal in a post here.
[Update: here is some commentary from Jonathan Edwards (aka, Q) and from Thabiti]
magnifyGOD 
Man,
I don’t really do the traditional thing but there is huge opportunity for him here in the DFW area. He has roots and a bunch of us praying for him. What do you think?
My wife and I would be committed bro!
Actually, “resigned” is something of a misnomer. A couple of the deacons ran a coup and made it clear that until he left, there would be a big division in the local body.
Out of a gracious consideration for the well being of the Body he tendered his resignation effective January 14th, 2008. The two deacons are now treating the resignation as a firing and trying to dump him no later than 24 November.
Pray for the saints at Hillcrest, that we would strike the right balance of discipline and forgiveness. The deacons are clearly showing they are more interested in having their way that even trying to conform to the Bible. They need to be disciplined. But if they repent of this really poor behavior, they must also be forgiven. It’s figuring out what that forgiveness should entail that will be really difficult.
Sometimes I think Christian robots with no ability to exercise their sinful nature would be so much easier to work with.