This church is not advisable unless you are okay with public humiliation. At no time is it ever okay to force a member of the congregation to write a letter to be addressed to the entire congregation and hold an entire service discussing a private matter. This is unacceptable and a violation. What happens behind closed doors between people should be kept between themselves, their families, and whoever is helping them through spiritual counseling. I am upset that I now know this private information from a public shaming. I should only know because one of either people came to me and told me themselves. This action is ridiculous. I cannot support a church who has a modern take on the Scarlett Letter. This is unacceptable. What's worse is that I did not personally attend this service, but I found out through a third party because the church is full of gossips.
The Pastor himself is not awesome. I have attended for years and have not learned much through his sermons. He's a man who likes to hear himself talk, often going on tangents that are completely irrelevant and sometimes distasteful and inappropriate. We almost never get out on time because he continues to talk, mostly about things that should be discussed at one of our Bible Studies that we have.
The church prides itself on its motto: Faith, Family, & Fun. This is not a church suitable for single parents. If you are not a traditional family (married), it is incredibly hard to be involved. They have no support system in place for its single parents. If you come from a broken family, you aren't going to be able to have fun like families who are together, which makes it hard to have faith in the bigger picture. It is not easy to attend events where children are not allowed, which is quite often, if you are a single parent with no child care or family in the area. Child care is not always provided. Child care is not provided for almost all Bible Studies as well.
The courting process is insane. It is so strict that most people rush through the process and get married as quickly as possible without even knowing each other, mostly just so they can have sex. Dating, and avoiding the courting process is highly frowned upon. Forgive me if I want to get to know the person I want to spend the rest of my life with for more than 3-6 months before I marry them.
I will say that the Pastor's wife is amazing and if she was running the church, it would be so much better. Classes are offered regarding parenting, couples love and respect, and general "Grow" classes as well as more. These are amazing and have been more helpful than any sermon I have attended. The children's program is also quite good. Bible study is great as well, unless you are a single parent and don't have child care, as noted above.
I would not recommend this church to anyone. read more
