After six months of attending a church here, we decided it was not a good fit for us and decided to leave. It was very hard…I struggled a LOT with the decision, my husband and I prayed and talked at length for many hours. I cried a lot. I felt sadness, disappointment, and a sense of failure – that I wanted so badly to stick it out and be a part of this church and make it better. But the leadership that was in place was not right. I knew in my heart that the pastor was not the person I wanted to lead our family in our Christian walk.
We did not speak ill of the pastor. We did not discuss our decision to leave with anyone at the church because we didn’t want to create any discord. We were so mindful of that, we didn’t want to upset the balance that was there. It was a personal choice. We felt we owed it to the pastor to let him know that we would be attending another church and he was … less than happy. He wanted an explanation. We agreed to meet and talk. We knew it would not be received well. In the end I left it up to my husband to have that hard discussion with the Pastor. My husband shared his thoughts honestly and without putting a happy face on it. The Pastor had said things during his Christian Ed class that were offensive. We felt he did not have a heart for the lost. He became very political and pushed a political agenda during a time when we wanted to learn about the bible and the love of Jesus.
Later we learned that he went back to church and talked about our decision with other members of our group. He said we had taken his words out of context and just walked away. Later on I saw him at the store and he rolled his eyes at me and my little daughter asked me why he looked so mad. I smiled and said hello – he was not so cordial. And it just solidified the fact that he was NOT who we wanted to lead our Christian walk. He was a grown man that was pouting because someone was brave enough to say “I don’t agree with you.”
Since we have left the church we’ve had some other interactions with the pastor and he continues to show his lack of compassion. We are not perfect, but I have a heart for the lost. They are the ones who need to be loved the most.
Our new church is amazing. Our new pastor has the love of Jesus all over him! I would trust him implicitly, he adores and honors his wife and children, he has a heart for the lost, he speaks kindly of everyone and his closest friends have amazing ministries that help immigrants, addicts…you name it. We are sooooo blessed to have this new church. We are so glad we are being filled and being lead by someone that we can respect and trust.
God is on the throne – and He is good all the time.
