Why I left the church I loved; SPOILER: my faith is stronger than ever
This shall serve as a bookend to my previous piece Open Letter to My Church: Grace Chapel & Pastor Steve
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Period. I hope to write a book about my journey soon. My working title… “I thought I was a Christian, until I became a Christian.”
For months— I tried with love and respect to ask serious questions of my church pastors at Grace Chapel — but I was dismissed. With minimal effort at any explanation – I was finally told via email “we have to agree to disagree.”
I did not agree to this—nor did I EVER claim to be right. This is not a debate. I was sincerely asking serious questions based on my understanding.
But this follows a period wherein I watched as my spiritual hero, Pastor Steve Berger became less of a Beacon of Fiery Godly passion— and more of a figurehead. Pastor Steve rarely preaches the Sunday Sermon anymore…
After weeks of writing and re-writing to choose my words carefully…6 weeks ago I published a heartfelt open-letter to my church and Pastor Steve. Again I was ignored.
My respectful attempts to discuss these issues with my Grace Chapel Online Family via Facebook— were censored by unnamed Grace Chapel Reps. What the heck?
“We didn’t want to not approve the post without some explanation regarding why we chose to not post it…. we feel that it could cause some discouragement or uneasiness…” unnamed Grace Chapel rep.
Back in 2014 when I first arrived— Grace Chapel was known for sermons so intense and so inspirational— Pastor Steve HAD to have a portal straight to ‘the Big Guy”— I watched people openly weep. Some of these sermons have been shared here on my website [i.e. “It’s Evening in Sodom” Pastor Steve Berger, Grace Chapel]
Now Grace Chapel is better known for celebrities, politicians, New York Times Best Selling Authors peddling books and an ultra-affluent congregation.
My point is this:
There is little as spiritually invigorating as an awesome church—BUT today I am here to tell you unequivocally— you can have an awesome relationship with Jesus Christ—without a church.
God found me in a Kansas City basement without a church— and I reckon I’ll go to Heaven without a church.
I will leave you with this: