Wow. Imagine being the church that has to put up that sign. Yeah for them, having a place for the lost. But it gave me the heebie jeebies, just a bit. I wanted to look and see if any of them were hanging out at VBS.
My Own Thoughts
One woman's written responses to the world around her.
We had one at our church — the last church he attended had basically disfellowshipped his family without a word to any of the other CoC congregations in the area. When they came to our church, the elders got with him for an accountability type group, set down some ground rules (he was never to help with any kids’ groups, never to be alone with a woman in the bldg, some stuff like that), and set up prayer time and counselling time. I think at that time they sent a letter to the congregation explaining what they had decided to do. We came after that, and it was a couple of months before we were told (Dh was the new worship minister — ON STAFF). He was furious! But eventually, his sinful nature won out and he ended up falling off the wagon and being arrested again. Not with anyone at church and I don’t know any details. His wife had stuck with him for years, but this last time was the last straw — possibly b/c his daughter were becoming teens? I don’t know for sure. But I had a lot of respect for the elders that they treated him like any other sinner saved by grace — with some additional accountability.
We have one too. A letter was sent to all of the parents to let them know. We lost a family or two over this, but Eddie is still with us. We also have a few ex-convicts and current convicts. We are all sinners in one way or another. Isn’t God good to forgive us our past?