Church Splits and Such.

Wilchbla · September 11, 2011

Anyone in here ever attended a church that ended up splitting? Did you see it coming? How did it effect your walk with God? I attended a church that split over the KJV issue although this happened just after I departed the church. Weird thing about this was that everyone pretty much held the same position, i.e. that the KJV was the inerrant word of God. It seems every church that I've ever attended or even visited had a split just prior to me going there or just after I left. Church splits sometimes are necessary, but, boy are they hurtful. I've been to a church that split over dropping the baptist label, one that split over a Christmas tree in the lobby (no making that one up either), one that split over Calvinism, one that split over a new steeple, one by a deacon who thought he could control the pastor because he had money, one that was split when one of the members teen daughters got pregnant. This one was really sad because she got impregnated by her brother. I know of churches that have had their pastor just up and leave because supposedly God told them to and they left the church pastorless for months and months. One because the congregation wouldn't pay him 60 grand a year to pastor the church. The church had about 35 members that attended the service every Sunday and which located in a economically depressed area. Another one the pastor ran away with one of the members daughters. She was 15 at the time. In fact, it seems that almost every IFB church (as well as Regular Baptist) that I've attended or visited has crumbled to dust at one time or another. A Christian camp for troubled teens (sort of like Lester Roloff's camp) that I worked at for six years crumbled because the pastor who headed of the camp decided that God told him to leave his faithful wife and fornicate with one of the 17 year old girls at the camp. I think all this stuff is one reason won't commit to any church. It has had a negative effect on me. I really don't have too many pleasent experiences with churches. Thought I would just get this off my back.

Edited September 11, 2011 by Wilchbla

John81 · September 11, 2011

One of the things I like about our church is it's congregationalist style. It can take longer to accomplish something but typically because of this little things don't cause major problems or splits.

The church I attended as a child, which is on the same block as the church I now attend, has split many times. It's a terrible thing to see. Several other churches have been formed over the years because of those splits but only one, a small one, is still active.

Thanks be to God, our church has had the same pastor nearly 30 years and has been pretty stable.

The devil will bring about disruption and splits any time he is given a foothold. Those pastors, deacons and members who are found to be in major sin have been involved in smaller compromises with sin before they gave into the big sin that finally came forth. The same for those who will engage in a major battle which can lead to a split over such minor topics as the color of the carpet in the nursery (there was a church split in the area over this).

When our pastor's new office was built he specifically requested that a window be placed in his office that faced into the lobby. He has blinds on it he can draw when he's alone working, but when he is meeting with a woman he keeps the blinds open, and often the door too. As he says, he doesn't think he would ever sin in the area of adultery but he doesn't want to even risk the temptation coming up because he's in a private room with a woman. With the window being in the room, uncovered, anyone who walks by knows who is in the room, there is no privacy from eyes, so there is protection from temptation and protection from anyone making wild assumptions.

We all must guard our hearts, even in areas we think it's not necessary, probably especially in those areas because we are most likely to drop our guard in those areas and potentially suffer an attack.

Seth Doty · September 11, 2011

I think all this stuff is one reason won't commit to any church. It has had a negative effect on me. I really don't have too many pleasent experiences with churches. Thought I would just get this off my back.

I am sure many can sympathize with those feelings, there are times when it would be a whole lot easier just to say to yourself that the vast majority of even those that call themselves IFB's are nothing but a bunch of carnal powerless fakers that you neither need nor desire to have any sort of contact with. If someone feels that way(been there) I guess whether you throw up your hands at the whole mess or grit your teeth and stay faithful in spite of your disgust/disappointment all depends on your reasons for being part of a church in the first place.

If it is for fellowship you may one day find most fellowship is very shallow and you don't really have many(if any) genuine and like minded friends...
If it is to learn the bible you may one day get to the point where you already know almost everything you hear taught, possibly better than the teachers do...
If it is for encouragement you will probably have times where overall you are more discouraged by the church than encouraged...

On the other hand if your part of a church because God has directed believers to do so that will always be true.

If your part of a church to warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be an encouragement to others, and as much as lieth within you set a Christlike example then you will always have ample opportunity for that as well.

If you go for yourself sooner or later you will get to the point where that is not a very compelling reason, if you go for the glory of God and to help his people then you will always have a good reason no matter what you have to deal with over the passage of time.

Sort of like Moses and the children of Israel. Did Moses ever benefit from his association with them or did they help him at all? No, they gave him nothing but trouble, headaches and heartache. They were always living in unbelief, wanting to return to egypt, threatening to stone him, constantly complaining about one thing or another, worshiping idols and on and on... Moses would have had a much easier time of it if he had left them in egypt. Why didn't he just leave them since they were no help to him? Because he loved God and they were Gods people and his people. God was his help/encouragement not the children of Israel. He was there for Gods glory and for them not they for him.

Hopefully things aren't always that bad in a NT bible based church, but they can be and sometimes are.

JerryNumbers · September 11, 2011

Back in the 60's & my teen year years ours split over building a new church building. Here it is 2011 & the same building is still standing & looking good. Yet, just last year it split once again. The majority were wanting the pastor to leave, yet he hung on, them about 2 weeks ago he finally left with the church only having about 6 to 10 cars in the parking lot for morning services.

When this pastor started in the late 80's they had about 6 members. They made it up to better than 100 attending Sunday morning, them back to about what it was when he came on the scene.

He lives in a trailer house on church land behind the church. We drove by there a few days ago, his yard is littered with trash & junk.

Wilchbla · September 12, 2011

I tell you, I attended for a short time a very small IFB church in downtown Syracuse, NY that only had about 10-15 members attend on Sunday. And all of them were men aroung the ages of 20 to 30 with one gentleman who was maybe in his early 40's. I don't believe any of them were married. I stopped going there because it was really too far for me to travel at the time and for another reason which I won't mention here but which I regret doing now. Looking back on it I think that that was probably the church I should have stayed with. Every man in that church had a zeal for souls and loved the book. I actually called the church around a year ago and they finally got some female members. :clapping:

By the way, don't think of me as a "church hopper". It just so happened that while I was a staff member on that camp for teens (kind of like Freedom Village in Upstate New York) we would often visit many churches since the camp was supported by mostly local IFB churches. So I've gotten to attend services in many different churches since I was saved. Add to that that I have a very close evangelist friend whom I would go hear preach often at the various churches that he would preach at.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Wilchbla

HappyChristian · September 12, 2011

One of the churches where I was in college split while I was there. It wasn't IFB, rather it was a Bible church. Similar in many ways, but also different in many ways.

The pastor had been caught in an affair (she wanted to end it, and so turned letters in to her father, who was a deacon at the church). He claimed that the stuff he wrote was spiritual speak...I read some of it, and there was nothing spiritual about it! Anyway, long, sad story short - the pastor resigned and went elsewhere. Unfortunately, he still pulled strings at the church. The church had actually split while I was gone for the summer. But things had started during the previous year. People who had been touted as being spiritual (and they were) and people to whom we could go for counsel were gone to the other church, and were now verboten. I was told lies (and I knew for a fact they were lies) by remaining staff to try and cause a break in friendships.

The old pastor came back and summarily dismissed his "replacement" (who actually would have been good for the church), who then went to the other church and became its pastor. One of my fellow students came to me and told me he had heard the pastor yelling in his office...mentioning my name. The student was afraid for me. There were other things, too, that aren't necessary to go into. Suffice it to say that I believe those who left in the split were right (and because I left the college and they knew my friendships with them were intact, staff at the church began ugly rumors about me).

It hurt me greatly. But God is good and He brought me out of it, helped me finish college and go into teaching.

At the church where my hubby and I met, there wasn't a split per se - the church basically closed down. The pastor had some real problems. Real problems. And it seemed that my coming there and getting engaged to my hubby was a catalyst to cause things to blow up. The day before we were to be married, the pastor attacked my hubby (right in front of day care kids and my hubby's youngest brother - who won't have anything to do with the Lord now...wonder why?). It took 4 people to pull him off. Needless to say we left. His uncle married us the next day in his parents' front yard. It was a good wedding. Anywhooo - the "church" didn't last much longer, and people scattered to other churches. That pastor had prophesied that my hubby would be dead in 2 weeks. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary, and that former church building is a school now (has been for about 24 years), and the pastor is the one who is dead. A lot of people were hurt spiritually, some never going to church again. We wandered for a few weeks, going to churches we knew we weren't going to join. My hubby was leery...but we found a good church and were happy to join and get involved for the two 1/2 years we had left in OH.

Unfortunately, man is a creature who likes to look to man for happiness. Many churches are built on the pastor's personality, strengths, etc. Even if the pastor is a godly man, a number of congregants will pin their spirituality on him (please - I'm not saying anyone here does that...just generally speaking) and when his feet are shown to be of clay, their spiritual lives suffer or end.

I think that's normal to a point, but Paul did say, "be ye followers of me, even as I am also of Christ." We follow men who follow Christ and when they diverge, so should we - away from them and toward Christ. We are exhorted to know our spiritual leaders - I believe that is telling us to be sure they are who they purport to be. That way when they are shown to be human it doesn't shock our system.

Salyan · September 12, 2011

I tell you, I attended for a short time a very small IFB church in downtown Syracuse, NY that only had about 10-15 members attend on Sunday. And all of them were men aroung the ages of 20 to 30 with one gentleman who was maybe in his early 40's. I don't believe any of them were married. I stopped going there because it was really too far for me to travel at the time and for another reason which I won't mention here but which I regret doing now. Looking back on it I think that that was probably the church I should have stayed with. Every man in that church had a zeal for souls and loved the book. I actually called the church around a year ago and they finally got some female members.

Where is this church? Maybe I should take a visit down there... :wink

... :coverlaugh:

swathdiver · September 13, 2011

I thank the Lord every day for my church! After all, He led me to this church after fervent prayer! :amen: It was started 35 years ago next month and has had the same pastor ever since. I have not experienced a split but advise you to pray in earnest for the Lord to lead the way and bring you to the right church where you'll be a blessing to the body of believers and they to you. That may require packing up and moving as we did.