Sunday, August 30, marked the official 7-year anniversary of my being the pastor at Community Church of the Hills. When I first started, we had 81 people. Out of that original congregation, 12 still attend.
The first year was my honeymoon. It seemed everyone loved me. The second and third year, not so much. I learned that in a small church, in a small town, if you offend one person, the whole family and all their friends leave.I offended many during my first years’ learning curve.
Coming directly from a 1,500-member church in the beach cities of L.A. to a small country church in the middle of rural Texas didn’t translate well. I was not very gracious and was way too demanding. I over-emphasized evangelism and talked about Hell ad nauseum.
The first person to leave said it was because I didn’t teach out of the King James Bible. She had gone there 17 years. In that entire time, no one ever taught out of the King James Bible.
Another said that he wasn’t being fed. (Pastors, ever hear that one before?)
Still another complained that she “just wasn’t feeling it.”
Yet another left because someone put a hat on his wife’s chair.
One guy split because he didn’t like being told what to do and another bailed because I shook his hand the wrong way.
Oh! Did I mention that God prevented a church split in 2018? Or that a guy wrote a 4 page letter to the Elders trying to get me fired?
The bottom line? They didn’t love me as much as I thought.
The Agony & the Ecstasy: 7 Years as Pastor of Community Church of the Hills
Sunday, August 30, marked the official 7-year anniversary of my being the pastor at Community Church of the Hills. When I first started, we had 81 people. Out of that original congregation, 12 still attend.
The first year was my honeymoon. It seemed everyone loved me. The second and third year, not so much. I learned that in a small church, in a small town, if you offend one person, the whole family and all their friends leave.I offended many during my first years’ learning curve.
Coming directly from a 1,500-member church in the beach cities of L.A. to a small country church in the middle of rural Texas didn’t translate well. I was not very gracious and was way too demanding. I over-emphasized evangelism and talked about Hell ad nauseum.
The first person to leave said it was because I didn’t teach out of the King James Bible. She had gone there 17 years. In that entire time, no one ever taught out of the King James Bible.
Another said that he wasn’t being fed. (Pastors, ever hear that one before?)
Still another complained that she “just wasn’t feeling it.”
Yet another left because someone put a hat on his wife’s chair.
One guy split because he didn’t like being told what to do and another bailed because I shook his hand the wrong way.
Oh! Did I mention that God prevented a church split in 2018? Or that a guy wrote a 4 page letter to the Elders trying to get me fired?
The bottom line? They didn’t love me as much as I thought.
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