By Jim Hannah and Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLD SPRING - When Carol and Stuart Oehrle's daughter died of cancer, First Baptist Church was there in the family's darkest hour.

"That church was like a rock in our life," Carol Oehrle said.

But little more than two years later, Oehrle found herself fired as director of the church preschool. She said she was dismissed because she attended another church that didn't support the Rev. Larry Davis, the First Baptist's pastor.

Divisions first appeared in the once-thriving church in mid-January, when state police began investigating more than $500,000 of questionable transactions in church accounts, including ATM withdrawals at horseracing tracks and checks made out to Davis. No one has been charged with any crime.

Oehrle said she was on a cruise with her husband to Cozumel, Mexico, when the congregation voted March 17 - by a vote of 334 to 202 - to remove her.

Deacons, trustees, ushers, secretaries and dozens of others who held positions at the church - including Oehrle - were accused of being un-Christian for disrupting church unity by attending an alternate service. Ousted members have said they believe First Baptist Church members videotaped them going to church services elsewhere.

"My family has been through a lot since our daughter died," Oehrle said. "My removal pales in comparison, but it doesn't stop the hurt. Larry Davis and the church is what got me through my daughter's death. This just really hurts. I feel like 300 of my friends have put a dagger in my back."

The Oehrles' daughter, Julia, was diagnosed with cancer in February 1997 - four months after the family joined First Baptist. She died in December 2001.

"The church brought us meals every day Julia was in the hospital," Oehrle said. "They had a golf outing that raised thousands of dollars. Julia's funeral was at the church. Over 1,400 people came to her layout."

Church member Ted Wallace, whose father is the former chairman of the deacons, said the congregation treated Julia as if she were their own daughter during her battle with cancer.

"That's the way a church family works," Wallace said." Everybody sticks together ... and does what needs to be done."

The Oehrles also have a daughter, 12, and a son, 3.

When asked why Oehrle was fired as preschool director, Davis referred to the congregation's vote.

Davis said Oehrle and others in leadership positions at First Baptist Church of Cold Spring were removed "through a blanket motion" by church members, not because of anything orchestrated by him.

"There are plenty of people left in this church who are not blind supporters of Larry Davis but who felt the leadership of this church needed to stay with this church and not another at this time," Davis said. "People were tired of being represented by folks who were not faithful and loyal to us."

Since March 14 about 200 church members have attended an alternate service at another church.

"It was really an issue about leadership," Davis said. "It was not about where you go to church or anything like that. (Oehrle) can go to church anywhere she likes, but positions of leadership are restricted to people whose loyalty is with this church. You can't go to an alternative worship service that's in competition with (First Baptist Church) and still be a leader here."

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com and cschroeder@enquirer.com