Stories about Church Splitting

Perhaps it happens in other faiths, but does it seem like Baptist churches, in general, "split" more than any other denomination out there? Reading one of the other threads about participating with other churches made me think about this.

Before attending the Primitive Baptist Church, I went semi-regularly to an Independent Baptist Church. The church was not big to begin with (which was a draw for me) but they had TWO ministers. One was the full-time minister, and the other guy was a full-time psychiatrist and the part-time minister. When I started attending there, they traded off on Sundays and sometimes one would teach sunday school. I thought that it might be more interesting with having trade-offs with the sermons. Anyway, the psych guy's whole family had attended this church for many years and they were all quite active members. I immediately liked the psych guy and his family and loved his sermons (often provided outlines for us). I also immediately didn't much care for the full-time minister who seemed very stiff and not very warm as far as what you'd expect a minister to be. He wound up sitting across from me at a fellowship dinner one time, and I casually asked him if he ever attended the ministers' prayer breakfasts that our town has once a month for any minister who wants to attend. He said "no, I find it hard to fellowship with other ministers who believe baptism is what saves a person"...he was talking about the local Church of Christ and some of the Disciples of Christ-Christian Churches in our area. The breakfasts were for fellowship only and were not to be a means to "convert" one another. I thought that his statement said a lot about him and never tried to converse with him after that.

Not long after that conversation, the psych guy started preaching less and less and the full-time guy was nearly always at the pulpit. I finally gave up on trying to be there on a Sunday when the guy I liked would preach. I quit going in mid-December. Then in February, I got a call from another member who said that our psych/part-time minister guy had left the church due to differences with the full-time minister. I actually sensed some rifts long before this happened though. Latest news on this group is that almost ALL the congregation has left with several going to the church that the psych guy and his family now attend. I thought it was very sad that the full-time minister didn't realize that it was time for HIM to move on. What few people are left surely cannot support him and his wife (I did like the guy's wife though). Anyway, I was sad for the way that things ended up. That's basically why I now attend the Primitive church now. I have to drive about 12 miles to get to it since it's out in the country and this other Independent Baptist church was right here in town. Was interested in any other stories you might have.

 

I've enjoyed the posts everyone has written. Got a chuckle out of the "fried chicken" post.

Before I started at the Primitive Baptist and before my brief stint at the Independent Baptist, I attended a United Pentecostal Church. I left that church because of doctrinal differences alone. I attended the UPC for about a year. Before that, I was a member of the Evangelical-Free Church for about 16 years. I left that church for several reasons. And to be honest, it wasn't so much "doctrinal" issues as it was other issues. I disagree that people should leave a church only on doctrinal issues. While that is important, we have to realize that in a "perfect world", no one would perhaps leave a church--everyone would get along fine and everyone would be happy. Just isn't so in our society today.

I think a pastor and even other church members (because they can't keep their mouths shut or they have a holier than thou attitude) contribute to anyone deciding to leave a church. True, while some people leave over doctrinal differences (and that was my ONLY reason for leaving the United Pentecostal Church), most people leave for other reasons.

I'm sure I have posted about this elsewhere, but I also believe that SOME pastors stay TOO LONG in a particular church. I think THEY become stagnate themselves. They become complacent and start giving little time or attention to the long-time attenders. At the E-Free Church, most of us long-time members were largely ignored (unless you were a deacon or deaconess) in order to have time for "new" people. That was all fine and good until you realized that that pattern was not going to change. Quite frankly, the pastor at the E-Free church had little time to talk to me. Took him over a year (after I had left) to seek me out and ask why I had left. Of course, I left out the part about his sermons doing absolutely NOTHING for me. They were nothing but history lessons each week and he did not apply them at all to our lives today.

I used to think the United Methodist group was horrible for making their pastors move every so often. I have since changed my stance on that. I believe that a new pastor can oftentimes energize the congregation and help them to restore their faith (if it has slipped a bit) and also help in them wanting to go to church. I think when church becomes a "chore", we sometimes need to ask ourselves WHY? I also had a couple "friends" who drug me down badly at church. They were both spiritually immature and just "immature" overall for lack of a better word. I knew that they would not quit attending, so I knew that I had to make a break from them. That also contributed to my decision to leave.

I think it takes quite a lot of courage to leave a church. Perhaps sometimes the reasons are not what we'd call "valid", but I've seen lots of people stay at a particular church when THEY also needed to find somewhere else to worship. If you are stagnate, then chances are good, that nothing is going to change with that UNLESS there is a change in the church or pastorship or you decide to go somewhere else. While I don't advocate "church-hopping" or "stealing members" from other churchs, I do think people need to recognize that voice inside that says it is time to do something different. I needed to leave the E-Free church long before I did, but some life circumstances gave me the courage to walk away. I've never regretted it.

[ April 13, 2003, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: Mitsy ]