Life happens.
Sometimes, it becomes necessary to find a new church home. For most, this is a painful and difficult process. Leaving a people and place you’ve called home is both painful and hard. Most only leave their church home because they feel they have no other choice.
Should you ever find yourself in such a situation, here are two things to avoid at all cost:
- Avoid speaking badly of your former church
- Avoid speaking badly of your former pastor.
As a pastor, when I meet people who are visiting the Little Church on the Prairie from other churches, and they begin telling me about their terrible experiences with their former pastor and congregation, I want to run for the hills. It literally makes my skin crawl.
Talking badly about your former congregation and your former pastor physically and emotionally hurts pastors.
You see, most pastors love the congregation they serve. They have a great concern and a great love for their people. And pastors serve congregations because they are called and they love their calling. So when you start bad-mouthing your former congregation, pastors who love their people, cannot help but take that personally.
And when you start bad-mouthing your former pastor, I can’t help but think – “That’s going to me. This is what they will be saying about me when they get upset with me.”
Both of these are cringeworthy.
I get it. Life happens and sometimes you have to find a new church home. And should that ever happen, do yourself and your new place a favor: please don’t bad mouth your former church or pastor.
Praxis: Faith in Action 