Truthseeker
05-17-2005, 10:46 PM
Okay, I'm probably going to make everyone sick with this one... but last Sunday while I was at my NEW church, an unbelievable series of events was announced at the one I just fled two weeks ago.
My pastor is stepping down. I was feeling guilty about the role I played because I was terrified that he was abusing his family and was afraid for them if they got out from the "mitigating" effect of living public lives. That didn't happen.
The whole family is going to be part of a "prototype" pastoral mentoring program -- they'll be given housing and a salary, but not a church. They'll be mentored by a mature pastor. He should be able to see what is going on with them, so they will neither disappear nor will they be in charge of anyone's life.
Meantime, in my church, a whole new church is moving in!!! This is quite amazing to me, as it is a church I have always wondered about attending. (I was part of their "community" choir and fell in love with the people and the leadership. Only problem is, I'm very Charismatic and while their church was Charismatic, it was part of a very traditional denomination; since I want to do missions work, I could not see myself in a denomination that had different values than I did.)
Well, apparently this church, which had a vital ministry in our city, did not picture itself part of that denomination anymore -- so guess what they did? They quit and joined ours !!! They subsequently got kicked out of their building (reasonable since their denomination owned it) and are now a "homeless" congregation.
That pastor and at least half the congregation is coming to my old church. The "takeover" process should be completed by August.
Some people in my church are very confused and defensive of my pastor (of course, the way he put it was that he had heard of this pastor looking for a church and selflessly offered ours...) but other people are starting to say, "whew, I didn't think I could be here much longer," and some who have left are even planning to come back!
As for me, I don't know if I'll be back, at least any time soon. The pastor did manage to confuse and poison quite a few people before "resigning" (I have it on authority he was removed)... I left more because of that than because of the pastor.
A friend of mine explained it like this -- you can't be an abuser without enablers in your system. The majority of the people who stayed were on his "enabler" list. I do believe that someday, however, this will be a healthy, thriving church again and I may come back just because I've always wanted to be part of that body.
Isn't that strange? Seems like a God thing to me.
My pastor is stepping down. I was feeling guilty about the role I played because I was terrified that he was abusing his family and was afraid for them if they got out from the "mitigating" effect of living public lives. That didn't happen.
The whole family is going to be part of a "prototype" pastoral mentoring program -- they'll be given housing and a salary, but not a church. They'll be mentored by a mature pastor. He should be able to see what is going on with them, so they will neither disappear nor will they be in charge of anyone's life.
Meantime, in my church, a whole new church is moving in!!! This is quite amazing to me, as it is a church I have always wondered about attending. (I was part of their "community" choir and fell in love with the people and the leadership. Only problem is, I'm very Charismatic and while their church was Charismatic, it was part of a very traditional denomination; since I want to do missions work, I could not see myself in a denomination that had different values than I did.)
Well, apparently this church, which had a vital ministry in our city, did not picture itself part of that denomination anymore -- so guess what they did? They quit and joined ours !!! They subsequently got kicked out of their building (reasonable since their denomination owned it) and are now a "homeless" congregation.
That pastor and at least half the congregation is coming to my old church. The "takeover" process should be completed by August.
Some people in my church are very confused and defensive of my pastor (of course, the way he put it was that he had heard of this pastor looking for a church and selflessly offered ours...) but other people are starting to say, "whew, I didn't think I could be here much longer," and some who have left are even planning to come back!
As for me, I don't know if I'll be back, at least any time soon. The pastor did manage to confuse and poison quite a few people before "resigning" (I have it on authority he was removed)... I left more because of that than because of the pastor.
A friend of mine explained it like this -- you can't be an abuser without enablers in your system. The majority of the people who stayed were on his "enabler" list. I do believe that someday, however, this will be a healthy, thriving church again and I may come back just because I've always wanted to be part of that body.
Isn't that strange? Seems like a God thing to me.