I attend a church that is very large and well known in my area. Looking from the outside in, it seems as though we have everything together. For us who have been here and remember the glory it once held, it is another story in its entirety.
Pastor has made it a habit to put anybody who is connected to his family into positions of the church. Now I know that they are his children but it would not have been an issue if his children were qualified for their positions. His son is now the Minister of Worship but he does not know how to lead others in or invite them into the presence of God with him as he worships. It just sounds good but there is not spirit moving. Our former praise and worship leader became the minister or prayer and whenever she leads P&W the atmosphere is completely different and prepared for worship. His daughter fresh out of college was given an entire branch of the church as the Children's Minister. This was her first job and there were others in line waiting for the position who had qualifications and experience working within the ministry and other endeavours.
Then, her husband, who married into the family, was put over the Youth Ministry over other applicants who actually applied and wanted the position. The man said he did not want the position but would do it if Pastor needed him to.
I know that all church's have political issues and this is nothing new. I am very aware of the fact that I will not like everything that the Pastor does and there have been some things that I have not liked before but this takes it to a whole new level. My past grievances were because of personal preference and were not large enough to worry about and in time I accepted them and moved because those things were not hurting the ministry. These grievances are regarding the ministry, leadership, unity, and overall Kingdom of God now breeding confusion.
March 4th of this year my mom passed away and the church stepped in and has taken on the financial responsibility of my schooling. I am only 19 years old and I depended on my mother for everything because I was away at school with no job, not time for a job, and I was just now in the middle of the Spring term of my freshmen year and my mom was all I had to really looking forward to when I came home.
Thankfully most of my schooling is paid for because of scholarships that I have obtained. They send care packages of whatever I need once a month including the summer months for the next 3 years until I graduate college. My mom was a big part of the church and the youth department and she one of the leaders who helped bring our youth department to the extremely large membership that it once held up until Pastor's children got put into power and everything fell apart. We had over 20 minstries available for the youth to participate in and now most of them are almost non-existent.
Pastor still preaches the word and holds true to his principles but I am not sure what to do.
I am EXTREMELY tempted to leave my church but something keeps wholding me back from changing my church home (besides their financial support for my schooling).
Any Advice?
