Another question from a newbie!

[sandy002]

Hi all,

I have belonged to an apostolic church for a year now..more or less. Our church is very small and only consists of about 15-20 people. We have our pastor and minister, we are closer to our minister. My husband and I are the youngest couple/people in our congregation and recently my husband and I decided to visit other churches to see if we could meet other couples/people our age that we can hang out with and pretty much just make friends. Our pastor originally said that was fine as long as we don't miss morning service (we only have one service). So we went and checked some out and we really like one and they have an evening service. Then yesterday we went to check out another in the morning and we missed our regular church service. Well, our pastor called us and pretty much reprimanded us for missing church and told us he can no longer guarantee our protection if we don't attend his church and they will pray for us and give us his blessing if we want to leave and that we only need Jesus to fill this void of fellowship and that we need to let him know if we will leave so that he may transfer authority over us to the new pastor. My husband and I were shocked at what was being said. So this incident along with another incident where our pastor rented out our church for business (to another denomination church) without consulting the minister or letting the congregation know at all, has made us began to reconsider our church. I feel as if I no longer feel comfortable and after we were done talking with our pastor, I felt scared and worried that we are going to be punished by God for leaving. It all made me question my faith and made me question if I really want to walk with walk with Jesus. More than likely, my husband and I will move on to another church. We are just really hurt and I'm not sure what we did wrong? Could someone tell me please?

Sorry for the long post!

Thank you and God bless!

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by sandy002

Hi all,

I have belonged to an apostolic church for a year now..more or less. Our church is very small and only consists of about 15-20 people. We have our pastor and minister, we are closer to our minister. My husband and I are the youngest couple/people in our congregation and recently my husband and I decided to visit other churches to see if we could meet other couples/people our age that we can hang out with and pretty much just make friends. Our pastor originally said that was fine as long as we don't miss morning service (we only have one service). So we went and checked some out and we really like one and they have an evening service. Then yesterday we went to check out another in the morning and we missed our regular church service. Well, our pastor called us and pretty much reprimanded us for missing church and told us he can no longer guarantee our protection if we don't attend his church and they will pray for us and give us his blessing if we want to leave and that we only need Jesus to fill this void of fellowship and that we need to let him know if we will leave so that he may transfer authority over us to the new pastor. My husband and I were shocked at what was being said. So this incident along with another incident where our pastor rented out our church for business (to another denomination church) without consulting the minister or letting the congregation know at all, has made us began to reconsider our church. I feel as if I no longer feel comfortable and after we were done talking with our pastor, I felt scared and worried that we are going to be punished by God for leaving. It all made me question my faith and made me question if I really want to walk with walk with Jesus. More than likely, my husband and I will move on to another church. We are just really hurt and I'm not sure what we did wrong? Could someone tell me please?

Sorry for the long post!

Thank you and God bless!

You did nothing wrong. Obey the scriptures and you'll be fine. Some pastors try to scare people into staying (which nowadays just runs people off). There is no "transfer of authority" that's denominational nonsense. As a Christian you should be welcome at ANY assembly as long as you aren't bringing in heresy or something.

Pray about it and tell your husband to lead where the Spirit says lead. Don't be bitter or hold any grudges but don't be in bondage to fear of man either.

[good samaritan]

Originally Posted by sandy002

Hi all,

I have belonged to an apostolic church for a year now..more or less. Our church is very small and only consists of about 15-20 people. We have our pastor and minister, we are closer to our minister. My husband and I are the youngest couple/people in our congregation and recently my husband and I decided to visit other churches to see if we could meet other couples/people our age that we can hang out with and pretty much just make friends. Our pastor originally said that was fine as long as we don't miss morning service (we only have one service). So we went and checked some out and we really like one and they have an evening service. Then yesterday we went to check out another in the morning and we missed our regular church service. Well, our pastor called us and pretty much reprimanded us for missing church and told us he can no longer guarantee our protection if we don't attend his church and they will pray for us and give us his blessing if we want to leave and that we only need Jesus to fill this void of fellowship and that we need to let him know if we will leave so that he may transfer authority over us to the new pastor. My husband and I were shocked at what was being said. So this incident along with another incident where our pastor rented out our church for business (to another denomination church) without consulting the minister or letting the congregation know at all, has made us began to reconsider our church. I feel as if I no longer feel comfortable and after we were done talking with our pastor, I felt scared and worried that we are going to be punished by God for leaving. It all made me question my faith and made me question if I really want to walk with walk with Jesus. More than likely, my husband and I will move on to another church. We are just really hurt and I'm not sure what we did wrong? Could someone tell me please?

Sorry for the long post!

Thank you and God bless!

I would like to say I am sorry for your experience and I will try to shine some light on the subject.

First, I would like to say I believe we should be loyal to our home church. I believe that everyone has a call or ministry, so the ministry that every individual possesses is key to the work of every local assembly. I don't think that the reprimand was in order though. We all need to get away sometimes and get a breath of fresh air.

Secondly, the fact that this is very small church the number sometimes becomes and issue. It hurts the morale when people notice someone isn't there. People talk: are they backsliding, are they upset about something, was there an emergency, etc.

I know you may be wondering aren't they supposed to be Christians? Christians are human too, and unfortunately too many settle for less in their walk with God. Don't be disappointed in God nor man because of this, but learn from it. If you have quit going you need to seek God and find a church that preaches the truth and that your ministry can flourish in.

Every individual church has a unique personality that reflects the majority of its people especially the leadership. The key is the more people try to be like Jesus the better that church is going to be.

[commonsense]

[amh]

Originally Posted by sandy002

Hi all,

I have belonged to an apostolic church for a year now..more or less. Our church is very small and only consists of about 15-20 people. We have our pastor and minister, we are closer to our minister. My husband and I are the youngest couple/people in our congregation and recently my husband and I decided to visit other churches to see if we could meet other couples/people our age that we can hang out with and pretty much just make friends. Our pastor originally said that was fine as long as we don't miss morning service (we only have one service). So we went and checked some out and we really like one and they have an evening service. Then yesterday we went to check out another in the morning and we missed our regular church service. Well, our pastor called us and pretty much reprimanded us for missing church and told us he can no longer guarantee our protection if we don't attend his church and they will pray for us and give us his blessing if we want to leave and that we only need Jesus to fill this void of fellowship and that we need to let him know if we will leave so that he may transfer authority over us to the new pastor. My husband and I were shocked at what was being said. So this incident along with another incident where our pastor rented out our church for business (to another denomination church) without consulting the minister or letting the congregation know at all, has made us began to reconsider our church. I feel as if I no longer feel comfortable and after we were done talking with our pastor, I felt scared and worried that we are going to be punished by God for leaving. It all made me question my faith and made me question if I really want to walk with walk with Jesus. More than likely, my husband and I will move on to another church. We are just really hurt and I'm not sure what we did wrong? Could someone tell me please?

Sorry for the long post!

Thank you and God bless!

That doesn't sound like a church to me. That sounds like a cult.

You must realize that you have done NOTHING wrong. You will not be punished by God for leaving a church with people in leadership who like to abuse their authority.

You are not called to be allegiant to man or to a church but to God and the Church.

[Esaias]

Also, keep in mind preachers are people... like you. Have you ever reacted inappropriately to something? Did you want people to be merciful and not hold it against you?

Well... do unto others etc. Some people do silly things. We all do sooner or later. Be gracious and all will be fine.

[amh]

I would like to add that while our loyalty to others IS important to God, if we are uncomfortable around people because of things they have said or done, we are not obligated to continue fellowshipping with them. Forgive them, yes, be bitter, certainly not, but God doesn't want us to get so focused on making sure that our leaders approve of us that we forget that, above all else, we must be saved. And in an environment like that, you will be focused on the wrong thing.

Hopefully, if you do leave and go to a church that teaches the same Apostolic message, your pastor will realize what he has done wrong and might not ever do it again.

[good samaritan]

Amen

[n david]

Originally Posted by sandy002

Hi all,

I have belonged to an apostolic church for a year now..more or less. Our church is very small and only consists of about 15-20 people. We have our pastor and minister, we are closer to our minister. My husband and I are the youngest couple/people in our congregation and recently my husband and I decided to visit other churches to see if we could meet other couples/people our age that we can hang out with and pretty much just make friends. Our pastor originally said that was fine as long as we don't miss morning service (we only have one service). So we went and checked some out and we really like one and they have an evening service. Then yesterday we went to check out another in the morning and we missed our regular church service. Well, our pastor called us and pretty much reprimanded us for missing church and told us he can no longer guarantee our protection if we don't attend his church and they will pray for us and give us his blessing if we want to leave and that we only need Jesus to fill this void of fellowship and that we need to let him know if we will leave so that he may transfer authority over us to the new pastor. My husband and I were shocked at what was being said. So this incident along with another incident where our pastor rented out our church for business (to another denomination church) without consulting the minister or letting the congregation know at all, has made us began to reconsider our church. I feel as if I no longer feel comfortable and after we were done talking with our pastor, I felt scared and worried that we are going to be punished by God for leaving. It all made me question my faith and made me question if I really want to walk with walk with Jesus. More than likely, my husband and I will move on to another church. We are just really hurt and I'm not sure what we did wrong? Could someone tell me please?

Sorry for the long post!

Thank you and God bless!

1) God protects His people, not a Pastor, Priest, Bishop nor the Pope
2) As was posted previously, this is denominal terminology. There is no "transfer of authority" in the Bible. We are not the property of a Pastor.
3) No one will be punished by God for leaving a church. The only punishment God gives is for turning our back on Him.

There's a reason this church has only 15-20 people.

[Rudy]

I'm surprised that stuff still goes on.

Good grief.