Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWayne
Oh man, when anyone left OUR church back in the day they were officially shunned. We're talking, time set aside from the sermon to warn the congregation not to "fellowship" with "those people" and then examples were given about those who DID fellowship with those that were warned against it -and had unspeakable things happen to them.
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My ex-wife never recovered. Seriously. We were accused of trying to "split" the church we were attending. The pastor was a well-connected w/HQ guy, that didn't want us there, plain and simple. He was one that said we'd never "go anywhere" and that he "didn't care" where or what I did in ministry. Friends of ours in the church we left told us that over the pulpit we were called "church-splitters", "non-tithers", we didn't believer the "
Acts 2:38 message", etc. This was in the turbulent 80's in the NW when the culture in my state went 3-step or hell.
We left to a nearby town to help the HM pastor there. Months later, we were dragged in to a S.S. room after church and excoriated. As he screamed (no joke) at us, saying he had spoken to previous pastor and "knew" why I was attending his church (I was teaching the adult S.S., was the outreach director, and his right hand man) all I could think was "you have got to be kidding!".
SO, HOW does one leave gracefully under THOSE conditions? That was the last Sunday I attended any church as a minister of the
United Pentecostal Church. .
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