the more things change...

the more they stay the same.


i was a 20+ year member of a once large church. you know the kind. the one that was the church in town back in the 70's. the one that had the lines around the block of prople signing up for sunday school (now i realize how rediculous a name that was. who would wanna go to school on sunday?) the church that was made up of a bunch of 50-80 year olds...who remember the "good old days". when the church was the 9th largest in the denomination in the country. not bad for a suburban church in a city of 46,000. but i digress.

after 20 years of membership and ministry, i caught the new "pastor" in a lie inadvertently. having done that, i had to go. 20 years of ministry...down the drain. no good by, no 'thank you for 20 years of faithful service'. just 'you need to pray about whether to be involved'. that took alot of prayer. be involved in a church where the new "pastor" (who is worshipped by people remembering the 'good old days') is an arrogant, lying ass? no prayer necessary. no thanks.

more fun! i was notified by someone (after a month's absence from that church) that according to minutes of an upcoming session meeting (governing body of the church) i was being 'put on the inactive roll due to the fact that i was working and attending church in another city'. of course, that was in direct violation of 'the book of order' (the constitution of that denomination.) you have to be gone for a year, and they have to contact you and meet with you before they do that. i guess an arrogant lying ass tries to do that, hoping you never find out. so much for that. i'll bet he was pissed i found out. that order was rescinded, i still am an "active member", although my birthday (which just passed) was strangely absent from the list of birthdays in the bulletin. (kinda obvious the denomination by a few details in the above paragraph)

of course, i got the obligatory fundraising calls...you know, the "free" dinner where they want you to make a "pledge"...or the invitation to an "ice cream social"(with the same goal)....an "ice cream social"...WTF is that? i guess you might know..if you're a few years older than i.

one of the best times was when i got a phone call from someone inviting me to one of those activities. HAHAHA. i let that person have it (OK, not that bad, but you shoulda heard the silence on the other end of the line when i told her i hadnt attended in months. she had no idea.) i stopped by there after lending them some equipment for a childrens daycamp this last week. there were a few familiar faces. people i'd known for 20 years ignored me. i guess the aarogant ass has made sure i have no reputation to speak of any longer. 'don't talk to him, he left'. (can you say booted?) oh well.

i got an email from someone high up in leadership at the church that talked about all the wonderful things that were going on there. how they were "doing what jesus wants" (note the small "J" signifying my question about which Jesus they're talking about) and how the new pastor was doing a wonderful job giving direction and guidance.

strange. the childrens daycamp has gone from 300 kids in attendance to 80 under the direction and guidance of the new "pastor".

the services aren't growing in number under the direction and guidance of the new "pastor".

faithful long term staff are leaving under the direction and guidance of the new "pastor".

the young families that the church claims it wants are nowhere to be seen under the direction and guidance of the new "pastor".

but they're "doing what jesus wants" (note the small "J", once again)

and the new "pastor" is doing a wonderful job giving direction and guidance.

and that church continues to die.





the more things change..............

View From The Driver's Seat

a taco...and some....

it was about 2 years ago. i was still working at the other church.



they had an afterschool program there, run by someone who apparently
(well not apparently, in actuality) had no desire to maintain any sort
of discipline. he had been the fat kid when he was younger and still
weighed 300+ pounds. he was afraid to be the adult—instead chose to
maintain no discipline, so as to not be thought of as "tough", or
"mean" with the kids he wanted to be popular with. he was still the fat
kid no one wanted to hang around with. we (the other leaders) even
overheard some kids saying, "don't worry, he never does what he says"
when he handed out a consequence. the kids knew he was a pushover!
(DUH!) the other volunteers and the oversight committee had to call a
meeting to deal with the lack of follow-through.



this came to head when i went to our pre-meeting one day, and left my keys on a
table prior to the youth group meeting. (this was after the afterschool program has
closed, and YG started)



the LARGE set of keys i carried were stolen off the table. (the kids
had taped a latch to a perimeter door open, so they could return later
and break into the computer center and go online (a regular occurrence).



i discovered the keys missing. about the same time., the "leader" heard
the kids trying the keys on the perimeter doors, trying to find the
master. (actually, a sub-master, i didn't have a grand master) they
found it, we were to discover later. the "leader"went out and
confronted them. they ran, he did nothing.



i called the po-lice. duh. the keys were to the entire church.



they came out, took a report, went to talk to the kids. i happened to
mention the name of the kid whose house they ran toward. one cop looked
at the other, and rattled off the address from memory. heh. surprise!
they were known in the neighborhood.



i mentioned to the cop that we could call it a night if the keys
"somehow" ended up in the mail slot of the church. they did a little
door-knock, and sure enough, within a half hour, they ended up in the
mail slot. cool!



not so fast...



a girl came by needing into the meeting room...i went to let her in,
and, sure enough, all the keys were there, except for one. the sub
master. i called the po-lice again, and asked them to send the same
cop out, which they did. we then told them the story.



they checked the area for the kids to no avail.



i was cleaning up the kitchen and two of them came by looking for a ride.



i gave the cops another call, letting them know that two of the kids had returned.



the same cop showed up, ad read them the riot act—"if anything happens
here, or is stolen from here, you guys will go up for commercial
burglary..that's a felony!" (the cop had an ace up his sleeve—he had
busted one of the kids for drugs..and he was on probation.



long story short, we got the key back. another kid had buried it on the church campus.



one of those kids was the same one the "leader" had butted heads with. he yelled
at the kid—alot. he also kicked him out of the afterschool program
several times.



he had always seemd a little different than the other kids. street
smart, yeah, but without the hardened side to his personality.



i never had any huge problem with him. i had to talk firmly with him a few times, but i didnt yell. there was no need.



he made a bunch of calls and got the key back. he took care of it. i made sure that i told the cops he took care of it.



as you can tell, i had kind of a soft spot for this kid. he had a kinda
tough life (immigrant—legal) very strict parents, and some problems of
his own making..drugs, and some theft stuff.



he got ahold of me online once and told me he was a new man, that God had changed his life! wow, was that great news!



the next thing i heard, he had fallen back into drugs, was kicked out
of his house, and was staying @ friend's houses as long as they would
have him.



made me a bit sad. life of a youth worker, i guess. even when you are
no longer in active ministry. you still are affected a bit by kids who
went astray.



fast-forward to two fridays ago. i'm with a friend from my current
church. we go into the local taco bell. someone calls my name. i look
at this kid behind the counter, he has a name tag on with a name i
don't recognize...but it's....him. (wearing another person's nametag).



turns out he was in placement..for a year or so. (a few
miles from where i work—like within 10 minutes!) wish i would have
known.



apparently another theft thing. alas. but this time he 'got' it. a year in a group home'll do that to ya. make ya wake up.



he's back at home, working at taco bell, up the street from his
house. we talked for a bit. (as much as you can talk to someone
working behind a register) my friend got the nachos bell grande' thing.



i got a taco. i also got a bit more.









a little hope.