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Why we had to stop going to church
Posted by Derrick
on
12:51
I realise that it has been a long time since I wrote anything on here and I would like to apologise for that. It has been an incredibly busy few months and, sadly, it has not been an altogether good few months.
I was ill in December and my father in law was also very ill. Lots of prayer and some miracles from a gracious God have meant that he is now, thankfully, safely back home. Work has also been hectic with some really difficult things to do and get done.
The biggest problem has been church. As you know, I was a leader at church along with my wife. I am no longer a church leader and am, in fact, without a church at the moment. What happened was simple, some of the other leaders bullied out pastor and his wife into quitting the church and my wife and I decided we could no longer be in fellowship with them.
We used to meet monthly to discuss the church and pray about what was going on but for the last year, our meetings have been dominated by money. We were a small fellowship and our pastor was unpaid. We, the other 4 leaders that is, decided that it was biblical, moral and ethical to pay the pastor. We got the agreement of the congregation (or at least there was no disagreement) to go ahead and then the problems started.
We tried, again and again, to sort out a payment process and a salary. Unfortunately, several in the leadership and amongst the trustees (the church is, of course, a charity) were shocked by the amount that pastors are paid. It was a fair salary that they were asking for but unfortunately, some thought it was too much.
This was the start of the problem. We kept coming up against the same blockage and eventually things came to a head in early November. We were at a meeting of the leaders and trustees and it was an awful meeting, I was taking minutes and was as silent as possible during it but I was witness to some horrendous bullying. Much of the questioning was directed at the wife of the pastor and was downright rude and some was inappropriate. I have never (even in my job where I work with kids) seen such vicious bullying.
To my shame, I did not say anything there and then. I have prayed to God about it and he has forgiven me. My pastor and his wife have also forgiven me but I do still regret my inaction. What I witnessed was selfish, jealous and mean-spirited. It was clearly not of God.
It led, to us leaving the church which was tough for us. As it was swiftly followed by the bouts of illness, we have hardly been to church since. We have, however, found a new church that we have been to a couple of times and we hope that this is where God wants us to be.
Long story short, please pray for us that we do get settled in a new church as soon as possible. I will keep you posted
I was ill in December and my father in law was also very ill. Lots of prayer and some miracles from a gracious God have meant that he is now, thankfully, safely back home. Work has also been hectic with some really difficult things to do and get done.
The biggest problem has been church. As you know, I was a leader at church along with my wife. I am no longer a church leader and am, in fact, without a church at the moment. What happened was simple, some of the other leaders bullied out pastor and his wife into quitting the church and my wife and I decided we could no longer be in fellowship with them.
We used to meet monthly to discuss the church and pray about what was going on but for the last year, our meetings have been dominated by money. We were a small fellowship and our pastor was unpaid. We, the other 4 leaders that is, decided that it was biblical, moral and ethical to pay the pastor. We got the agreement of the congregation (or at least there was no disagreement) to go ahead and then the problems started.
We tried, again and again, to sort out a payment process and a salary. Unfortunately, several in the leadership and amongst the trustees (the church is, of course, a charity) were shocked by the amount that pastors are paid. It was a fair salary that they were asking for but unfortunately, some thought it was too much.
This was the start of the problem. We kept coming up against the same blockage and eventually things came to a head in early November. We were at a meeting of the leaders and trustees and it was an awful meeting, I was taking minutes and was as silent as possible during it but I was witness to some horrendous bullying. Much of the questioning was directed at the wife of the pastor and was downright rude and some was inappropriate. I have never (even in my job where I work with kids) seen such vicious bullying.
To my shame, I did not say anything there and then. I have prayed to God about it and he has forgiven me. My pastor and his wife have also forgiven me but I do still regret my inaction. What I witnessed was selfish, jealous and mean-spirited. It was clearly not of God.
It led, to us leaving the church which was tough for us. As it was swiftly followed by the bouts of illness, we have hardly been to church since. We have, however, found a new church that we have been to a couple of times and we hope that this is where God wants us to be.
Long story short, please pray for us that we do get settled in a new church as soon as possible. I will keep you posted
