I love God. I have dedicated my life to serving Him.
So you would think there would be no place where I would feel more at home than church, right?
Well… that hasn’t always been the case.
I was kicked out of one church, stripped of membership in a second, threatened with excommunication in a third, told to sit down and shut up in a fourth, and made to feel like the enemy in a fifth.
Why? Did I do something terrible? No, I was just being me.
I share this for a couple reasons.
(1) If you have ever felt unwelcome, been rejected, experienced abuse, or been kicked out of a church, you’re not alone. And it doesn’t make you a bad person.
(2) If you have experienced any of these things, I would like hear your story if you’re willing to share it with me. You can reply, or you can respond to a short survey here.
If you’ve had a bad experience in church, my heart goes out to you. So many good people have. Maybe we can help each other.
Dwight
PS. Please don’t think I’m anti-church. I’m not. There are many good churches, many good pastors. I’m still active in the church, and happy with the church I attend.
