Are you disillusioned with church?

If you have ever been hurt or “turned off” to church by…

• Hypocrisy
• Double standards
• Meticulous rules
• Majoring on spiritual trivia
• Judgmentalism & pride
• Irrelevance
• Superficiality
• Pat answers
• Gossip and other “acceptable sins” in the church
• Lots of spiritual busyness but little substance
• Focus on foreign missions but not helping needy people in their own community.

…then share your story here! This is a forum where it is safe to share your experiences and concerns, and find understanding and support. Here we can affirm you, as well as learn from your experiences. This also helps me to demonstrate (for those who care) some of the things people actually experience at the hands of churches and church leaders.

But let’s leave the people and churches unnamed (or use fictitious names if necessary, and no denominational names), and let’s leave our most colorful language at home, if you get my drift. Thanks for your help in this project!

To prime the pump, I’ll share a few stories that others have shared with me (all true, names changed of course):

“There’s so much pressure in our church to keep up the life they expect. It’s like a treadmill, and I’m getting tired of it… I feel like giving up.” — Shelly R.

“I went to that church until I was out of high school. I finally left because I was tired of all the gossip and backstabbing I saw there. Those people didn’t act like they cared about me—or like they cared about each other, for that matter.” —Tom D.

“I had some serious questions, and my church wasn’t able to give me intelligent answers. I don’t think they really took me seriously… I was disillusioned. I left and I’m never going back.” — Amy B.

“I can get along with God just fine. It’s all his little fan clubs I can’t stand.” — Anonymous

Share your comments here! (Just leave your name anonymous, or use a fictitious name here).