A former ministerial association official likens the latest development in the long and occasionally acrimonious legal battle to a "truce being declared between the megachurch equivalents of the Monitor and the Merrimac." Indeed, neither of the once warring preachers is claiming victory.
In fact, Ron Carpenter told a crowd of about 2000 people attending a weekend conference at the former TD Convention Center in Greenville that he regrets the whole episode, saying he's "sorry for any suffering or pain" he caused when he relocated his Redemption World Outreach Center to San Jose, California, and adding that despite his legal effort to evict the Relentless Church from his former campus on Haywood Road, he would now "love to work with Pastor John Gray...in the future."
Carpenter spoke at a kickoff event for what he now brands as "Redemption East," which together with his northern California ministry he envisions as the co-anchor of "a new national church." (See "Megachurch pastor Ron Carpenter returning to Greenville", Oct. 10, 2020).
Pastor John Gray, who had recently told supporters he was planning to move his Relentless Church elsewhere in the Greenville area and establish a new church in Atlanta as well, now says his congregation will remain on the Haywood Road campus "permanently." No details of the settlement to end the sometimes bitter eviction fight have been disclosed. Carpenter told the Greenville News "...everything was mutually agreed to. There are no more lawsuits. All legal matters are finished."
The statement issued by a spokesperson for Pastor Gray was less effusive saying "Relentless Church became aware of Redemption’s return to South Carolina at the same time the general public was informed. Athough Relentless is in no way associated with Redemption Church or its return to Greenville, Relentless wishes Redemption nothing but the best."
