I attended Calvary Bible in 2013-2014, and found it to have many good programs and classes, and appreciated pastor Tom Shirk's sermons also, however something disturbing happened concerning Tom, which was not resolved, although I did what Jesus commands us to do in Mt. 18:15 if someone offends us, to go to HIM and tell him.
Because of my serious concerns about a pastor who would not only BEHAVE this way, but then turn around and lie about it, I decided to write this review.
I attended Calvary's 2013 6:30 P.M. Christmas Eve worship service on Access a Ride (I'm in a powerchair), but after the service, the driver got lost in a snowstorm, and was unable to find the church for a couple hours.
Tom sat with me near the door as I called Access a Ride repeatedly. Each time I called them, I had to spell my name and give my home address in Longmont (Calvary Bible's in Boulder). I was very apologetic to Tom, as I knew he wanted to get home to his family, but an hour had already passed with no sign of the driver, when suddenly Tom said to me (with irritation in his voice), "What churches have you tried in Longmont?"
I don't remember now what I told him; I could see he was angry. The driver finally got there and I apologized again to Tom as I left. I went back the next Sunday, and was having a nice conversation with an elderly man in the back of the church, when Tom approached us with an angry look on his face.
He came up to us and bizarrely raised his arms to the ceiling (so that everyone in the church would notice what he was doing), took the man I was talking to by the shoulders--and led him away from me, leaving me to suffer the dropped jaws of everyone around me!
By this point, I was quite frankly so used to abusive treatment by churches (please read my yelp reviews of Calvary Church "near" Longmont, Grace church "near" Greeley, and Golden Prairie Baptist "near" Burns WY), that I actually went BACK the next Sunday.
Incredibly, I was in a conversation AGAIN with another man in the back of the church, when Tom AGAIN came up to us, raised his arms to the ceiling, took the man by the shoulders, and led him away from me, as I once AGAIN suffered the dropped jaws of not only the man but everyone around me. I wish now I had confronted Tom right then and there, but I went home and called him.
His secretary put me through to him, and he said, "I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me?" I told him, "I forgive you," but I also asked "What did you HEAR that would make you behave like this?"--and he refused to answer.
I realize now that I said "I forgive you" much too quickly, and was not following the biblical pattern of forgiveness. The issue was not resolved, as certainly the men whom Tom led away from me must have asked him why he treated me so contemptuously (and others in the congregation who saw him raise his hands to the ceiling as well), and Tom MUST have repeated the derogatory things he must have heard!
The fact is concerning repentance, that the arena of confession needs to be as wide as the sin itself. Public transgressions such as the sin that Tom committed against me before his entire church, call for public CONFESSIONS.
When I quickly told Tom "I forgive you," I swept his sin against me under the carpet which was a convenience for Tom, leaving me holding the bag. He'd besmirched MY reputation, and since he chose to sin against me before the church, he needed to repent before the church as well.
So I emailed these thoughts to Tom, and was appalled by his response. He said, "I already apologized for interrupting your conversation with Rick."
Whoa...I was blown away.
You see, there had been ANOTHER time when I'd been speaking to an elder named Rick, and Tom had come up and said, "Excuse me, I need Rick for a moment."
I certainly didn't need an apology for THAT, and Tom KNEW that! NOW he is playing the "Karen imagined this" card, and is adding LYING about it to his sin against me before the congregation.
However, it says in Col. 8:9-10, "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."
And Proverbs 28:13 also says, "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them finds mercy."
At any rate, this unresolved conflict made me realize I needed to go elsewhere to worship. read more