Falsely accused - need prayer and advice!

I think this was the implication though it doesn't say the Pastor directly. I'm guessing this is from the impression they got from the legal advice they received but we would have to speak with the "leader" to know for sure.

Unfortunately, a human Pastors every Church I know of and none of us are perfect. We just give our best whether it's appreciated or not.

 

Since your keys have been "seized," and you're not allowed to serve, and you have to be escorted everywhere you go, I am certain the ears of the congregation have turned up, and they know something has happened. The rumor mill will soon have some tasty tidbits churned out.

Don't be deceived. There will be no keeping this a secret.

 

If you continue to submit to the wise counsel of the pastor, you are placing yourself under the umbrella of protection that God gives to the local church. I agree with Larry, this matter need not be made public. The fewer people who know the better. The accusations are apparently unfounded; the accuser has moved; give the pastor time to work through it in his mind.

If it were made public, human nature would dictate that some would assume your guilt regardless of the evidence to the contrary. Then, you would never be able to serve there again.

 

I sent you a PM, Sportster. :type:

 

While I do not agree with hopping from church to church as a hobby (my present one has lasted 30 years), where does the Bible say that transfering from church to church is not an option in the course of daily life? Where is that Scripture?

Also, while the point of taking blantant sin from church is obviously wrong and should be examined, unless your church is way different from other Baptist churches, the decision to accept a member rests with a vote of the local congregation, not the decision of the pastor.

 

Where is it in Scripture? The pattern of Scripture is a commitment to a local body. I think church transfers are appropriate when 1) doctrine is corrupted and the church body will not respond, 2) philosophical differences make continuing there a violation of conscience, 3) moving from the area to another area (though I am radical enough to think that job moves ought to be planned around church ... see note below), or 4) opportunity for ministry exists in the church to which one is moving.

In any case, all "old matters" should be cleared up as much as possible before leaving. I would not submit to the congregation for membership anyone who had unresolved problems from another church.

Of course, but depending on the local church constitution, the recommendation to the congregation is made generally by pastors and deacons. At our church, to join you must go through the membership class (four classes), interview with the pastor, interview with the deacons (these may be done together), agree to the church covenant and constitution, and be voted in by the membership.

Note below: Can you imagine a world in which church was such a priority that someone would turn down a job transfer because their commitment to their local church was more important? This was recently brought up on Mark Dever's blog (I think) and I am in total agreement with it. People ought to give strong consideration to making a lifelong commitment to a local church, and arranging jobs, schools, moves, etc around that commitment to the church.

There are a great number of people today who will take a job transfer without ever considering their old church, or whether or not there is a biblical church in the area that they are moving to. I think that shows a problemmatic view of church.

I do believe that God sometimes moves people on to another location and another church, but I would challenge the thought process that so many seem to have today.

 

Lots of good points to ponder, Pastor Larry.
But lots of people in the pews have been there for many years. I have been a member of my present church for over 20. Not planning on leaving.

But in that period of time, I have had four senior pastors. The previous three do not share your viewpoint, having left voluntarily (and on great terms) with the congregation, to go elsewhere. They each are effective still in their ministries.
If what you say is true, pastors need to model it for their congregations, then. If pastors can leave, members are not more bound to stay, I would think.

 

==I agree with that, but I would caution against extremism. The Bible does not lay down any hard and fast rules on church membership transfers (etc). I recently changed churches but not for any of those reasons. My old church was great but it was over 50 miles away from my home. Because of the distance from my involvment was becoming more and more limited. I also developed some health problems last spring that made all that travel more difficult. Therefore I moved to a church which is much closer to my home (15 minutes). I made this move carefully and prayerfully and I believe God has blessed the move. It is a great church and even, to my surprise, has connections to my old church. Better yet, I can attend each service weekly and I can be more involved in other activities in the church. So people change churches for a variety of reasons. I think each transfer needs to be "judged" on a case-by-case basis. I know of a church, in my area, that is losing members fast. The deacons ran off their last pastor and many members. My church has recieved a large number of those people, as have other Bible teaching churches in the area. So it is best to look at each transfer on a case by case basis.

Btw, when I transfered the two churches did exchange some form of communication. I don't know if it was by phone, fax, email, or snail mail. What I do know is that one week after joining the new church, I recieved my final statement from my old church (the goodbye packet I guess).

I do not believe in moving from church to church. Christians should find themselves a good, Bible teaching, friendly, church, and join asap.

Personally, I pray that the Lord will allow me to remain in this church (and in this area) for the rest of my life.


As for the situation in the OP...

The poster should submit to the authority of his pastor. The pastor is trying to protect the church and make sure the situation is cleared up, and that is exactly what he should do.

 

I completely agree. One of the great problems with pastors is that they don't stay long enough to actually start pastoring the church. I wouldn't say God never moves anyone, but I have suspicions about Him moving a pastor every three to five years ... (the average)

That was reason #3 ... moving from one area to another. I think the "local" part of "local church" is important. If you were in my church, traveling 50 miles, you and I would have been talking about that situation a long time ago. I think it is very hard to minister in a church that is in a community that you don't live in, or that is not like the one you live in.

Of course, this is a discussion about metro churches (where people might drive 25-30 minutes to a church) and community churches (which are largely made up from the immediate community). The previous type tend to be suburban churches, in my experience, and the later type are more urban oriented.

 

The biblical basis is his status and charge as watching over the flock. While you say there is no basis, you have to remember that he does not know that for sure. He has received two conflicting storiees. I am thinking today of a man who was heavily involved in the ministry at a church, in both music and teaching, who was charged by someone who was not a member of the church. At first, he totally denied the charges and the pastor and those who knew him stood by him. A few years later similar charges were made, and he finally admitted it. Today he is serving 15 years without possibility of parole having already served four years after pleading guilty and asking for help. He exposed the church to a lawsuit for allowing someone like him to continue in a position where he had power and control over children. A pastor, in a situation like this, has no real choice but to do what he did.

If the pastor has called you and come to see you, then you have not "been all but abandoned." In this day and age, there are very legitimate concerns about lawsuits, and there is a biblical concern to protect the flock.

So it is both spiritual, biblical, and legal. The Lord protects his church through a variety of means, including "unknown attorneys" who are not really unknown. If you asked the pastor, he would probably give you the contact info and you could call them yourself. You could probably get the contact info on your own.

As a pastor, I would counsel you to not get bitter, but to rest in the sovereign grace of God. He knew about this in eternity past, and if he wanted it to be different, it would have been. He could have stopped it, but didn't. If you get bitter and upset, you will through away a chance to experience God's grace to sustain you.

There will come a time when you will be able again to minister. Resigning your membership is not a biblical option since 1) there is no such thing as resigning your membership, and 2) you would be outside the biblical command to be a member of the church and 3) you would be outside the fellowship and discipline of the local church. Membership means something. Don't give up.

In the NT, there are two kinds of people: Church members and unbelievers. Make sure you are in the first.

 

==Through hard experience, I must agree with that 100%. How I ended up at that church is a long story.

 

Sportster, I'm reminded of the story of another man who was falsely accused, but he wound up spending significant time in jail. He stayed faithful to God, and earned the warden's trust, becoming the warden's right-hand man in prison. After 2 full years of being in prison, Joseph was set free.

Guard against becoming bitter, keep serving God and being faithful, and He will lift you up again.

 

Speaking from Experience

This is a very foolish statement!

Though I am beginning to read the posted advice and being one that has been accused of a form of child abuse and invited to be a guest of the state for 7 - 12 years, I have to chim in here. Do NOT, do NOT, do NOT, do NOT take this advice. It is not the business of anyone other than the pastor, discipline committee, and your family. In fact, if it did not happen on church property, during church services, or in relation to a church function, it is not even their business. No other person needs to know what is going on. The problem is, is that it isolates you and turns you into an island.

Most Christ-Followers are only Christians and are not smart enough to handle something like this. Your obligation is to prove yourself worthy of trust and account for the timeline in question to the one's incharge of the church. NEVER speak of the situation without the counseltation of an attorney either, it only brings trouble. If the leaders of your church are not wise enough to understand the protection of your rights, then that is a church that you need to part ways with. They are sinning.

Please feel free to PM or email me and I will share with you my experiences. You need to hire or be ready to hire the biggest Maggilla Gorrilla lawyer you can find. You have a right to be defended, do not allow anyone to tell you different.