What is Morning Mercy?
Morning Mercy is a resource specifically for people who are experiencing the pain of leaving the Message of William Branham.
This website will not attempt to answer questions of theology, doctrine and falsehoods relating to The Message. As the years pass since leaving the Message, I’ve realized that the things I am most passionate about have little relevance or offer no understanding to someone committed to William Branham. The issues of the Message itself are a different conversation. But if you have made a clear decision to leave, then what I am presenting on Morning Mercy will suddenly become very real and very true.
My hope is that this website will provide understanding for the consequential emotional trauma one experiences while leaving.
The purpose of Morning Mercy is not to speak to people who are committed to the Message of William Branham. This is for people who are truly on the journey away, and struggling to understand the heavy emotional weight consuming them.
This will also be very beneficial for people who may have been away the Message for many years. Unanswered questions and unresolved confusion/pain can affect a person significantly. My hope is that this website will provide healing for those people also.
For those who are still in the Message, we hope there will be information here that would help you in your journey as well. You are not our enemies – we simply and strongly disagree with the claims of William Branham, and the ministry who continue the teaching.
I hope to share some information that transcends labels and doctrines. While I was in the Message and supporting it passionately, I grew increasingly aware of the confusion and suffering that many people had experienced due to extreme teaching and leaderships (including parents and pastors). I found it extraordinarily bothersome that there wasn’t more outrage against people who were clearly abusive.
There is a massive paranoia in the Message community against issues of mental health that require professional help. The fear of “psychology” has prevented people from accepting good and caring counsel, deferring their needs to ill-equipped pastors and “Church Order & Questions and Answers”. Consequently, many marriages, families, churches and individuals have been badly damaged.
I hope some of the information will encourage Message Believers (even if you disagree with my position) to seek help. If the provided information encourages thought and investigation into the claims of William Branham’s ministry, I would be thrilled.
My name is James Rozak, and I served as an Associate Pastor for 10 years in Edmonton. My pastor was Brother Eugene Braun, who I still feel is a man who concerned himself beyond the boundaries of common/acceptable “Message church” practices. I considered it a joy to serve and give myself to the people who I called brothers and sisters in the Message faith.
I was influenced by the Message from my birth, having parents and extended family devoted to the Message. Although my parents left the Message while I was still young, the impact it left on me weighed heavily throughout my young life. I made a decision as a young adult to find my way back into the Message, and I did so trusting that all that was claimed by William Branham was proven and true.
I hope to publish my full story on this website for the benefit of interested readers.
No. I believe that disclosure is important – as to some, my opinion will become less valid knowing I no longer am a Christian believer. For 3 years following our leaving the message, my wife and I regularly attended church. We were never disgruntled or disappointed with the church community we joined. In fact, if given an opportunity to speak supportively of their community-minded church, I would. I continue to recommend their assembly wholeheartedly as a faith community that, as per the gospel mission, fulfills that calling admirably.
Our decision to part ways with the Christian faith was based on our opinion that we no longer could identify with biblical history, it’s tenents, and claims as being authoritative and true. Our decision was not arrived at lightly – it was no less challenging than our decision to leave the message.
Still, I am not an atheist. I would refer to myself as being agnostic – having no faith that humanity can justifiably know, define or prescribe the nature of a god.
A Message from the Founder
My name is James Rozak, and I was the Associate Pastor of Edmonton Word Assembly for 10 years, serving alongside Brother Eugene Braun. I believed and preached the message as best I knew; it was genuine truth to me.
In February of 2013, the unthinkable happened. I made a decision with my wife to leave the Message of William Branham. Never had I ever dreamed I would reject the message that I had lived and loved.
I loved the Message, and lived it with a passion. We did not leave because we didn’t want to ‘live the life’. Instead, from our sincere viewpoint, something was clearly very wrong. My early feeling was that the message was being mishandled by men; I felt that I could help be a voice that captured the truth and essence of what the message really was. But when the realization came that the problems were much more foundational, and the teaching itself was questionable – it became too much to ignore.
As a minister, I personally felt a responsibility to try to understand and resolve the questions. The problem was, there were no answers that adequately stood without turning a blind eye or performing mental gymnastics to excuse them. Consequently, when I felt I could no longer preach in good faith, I resolved to step down from my ministry. It quickly became clear we could no longer continue attending the church, and with heavy hearts, we walked away.
As expected, I was extremely hurt when I left. One decision to leave the Message resulted in a complete annihilation of my reputation, a loss of everything familar – and left myself, my wife and my children without friendships that were expected to be lifelong. My desire to heal and help was expressed through this website, Morning Mercy; but it fell short. I could only extend as much strength as I had within me – and it wasn’t very much. My first articles were full of brokenness, and it was hard to clearly articulate the things I wanted to share in regards to “why”.
It’s a new day.
I still have many questions, but one thing I do not doubt is that we made the right decision. Thankfulness is theme of every day. It has nothing to do with things forgotten. I remember the people, the places and the experiences of those “Message years”. I can think about the good things, the funny things, the quality of friendships and people. But with a deeper understanding of what The Message was, and what it did – there’s freedom.
This website is not an attempt to destroy. I personally believe that the Message of William Branham will continue for generations that exceed my lifetime. It will morph and change to adapt to the passing of time. Men will desire to lead, and people will be willing to follow. I will not take a sledge hammer to things that people cherish and hold dear. I will respect their right and freedom to worship – and I will even defend that right. But I do want to help people to THINK. If I can do anything to help someone who is seeking to understand what the Message does to people, how it impairs their ability to think, then those are the people I hope to help.
Thank you for visiting Morning Mercy, and I hope this website is a blessing and encouragement to those who are reaching out for help.
James Rozak
Morning Mercy