Quote:
Originally Posted by CC1
I expected you to be more defensive than you were. An obvious expectation since you sided with the pastor.
I know what you mean about seemingly minor changes seeming to freak Pentecostals out. I have quite a few friends and relatives who are pastors with horror stories. Not long after assuming the pastorate of a small church one preacher friend of mine was at the church on Saturday playing with the placement of the sound speakers to try and get rid of feedback that kept happening during service when one of the older ladies in the church came in. With a concerned look on her face she asked the pastor what he was doing she shook her head and with a doubtful tone in her voice said something like "well, I don't know. The last time somebody tried to do something like that it nearly split the church!". I would not believe this kind of C_ _p except I have heard it first hand from preachers I trust implictly. Just recently one told me of the hell they went through to just move the piano and organ around on their platform after it had been one way for 30 years under the previous pastor. Talk about swallowing a gnat......
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I am from DS's church and one of his best friends. I am trying to stay out of this discussion as our decision (very painfully) has been made and I am ready to also move on after leaving my home church of 27 years. My two year old daughter would have been the 5th generation Pentecostal in that church and her great-great grandparents were the pioneers pastors of that church. Her great- grandparents, great uncles and aunts, as well as my former pastor from birth will remain there.
After the "hell" we have been through the last three months there was no way we could stay. It is very possible that our pastor would have won the vote and the possibility of him winning and having to clean up the mess scared us to death. Also the fact that there has been anywhere from 50 -75 people get the Holy Ghost in our church in the last year and 30 new converts since January and these people would have been put through the trauma of being challenged as to their eligibility to vote. They have already been through the trauma of seeing their pastor and anyone who stood with him ripped to shreds. It was not worth people losing their souls to keep a building.
We need healing and there is no way that it can happen in that church. He decided to resign and the peace that has come with that decision is wonderful. With or without him as pastor of our new fellowship all these folks would have left anyway. As much as I love my pastor it was not about following him as much as just getting away from all the mess. I did however support him through all of this and still do.
His vision for reaching the lost and being almost fearless in his passion for reaching them is very scary to some Pentecostals and the changes he made worried the wrong people. They decided to take action and in the end they got what they wanted. I just hope they are happy and will leave us alone in our new church.
It boils down to nothing more than a power struggle and family relations. 
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