Have you ever left a church before? In your experience, what was your reasoning for wanting to find a new one?
I read this article and was remembering times growing up when my parents decided to leave a church.
10 Important Things to Consider Before Switching Churches
My husband & I belonged to a church. When we lost our house due to a real estate scam, we were making calls right & left to try to find a place to live, but kept getting answering machines. At one point we just needed to hear a human voice & maybe have some prayer so I called our pastor & told him what had happened. His response: “There’s nothing I can do; I suggest you call [city] housing.” CLICK
He hung up on me.
No offer of prayer.
No consoling words.
No sympathy whatsoever.
We never went to that church again.
I did. After 38 years I the church. So it wasn’t something I did lightly.
a very young pastor shut down all outreach ministries to support his plan to build a gymnasium. He convinced the church nomination committee to not renominate anyone other than his “yes, pastor!” Crowd , who backed him up. He refused to haves called church meeting or allow a vote, all against denomination procedures.
Then he took money from various church accounts and moved it into the building fund without board or treasurer approval. The bank messed up since his signature was not on record. He should have been legally charged but wasn’t.
The church began to collapse. Denominational officials didn’t pull his credentials. They didn’t make him apologize or admit wrong doing. They assigned him to another church. We left the denomination I spent the majority of my life in.
It wasn’t about being hurt. It was about integrity. The hardest decision of our lives.
He screwed up at the other church and now is a funeral home chaplain- and still has his pastoral credentials.