An extreme Fundie takeover attempt

[Deb]

I've been attending UCC services for some time but never relinquished membership to my family's church. It's one of those historic, autonomous Congregational churches with Constitution/By-laws that protect the pulpit from monetary temptation and gives each member an equal voice/vote. The small congregation is tolerant of varying beliefs and accepting of individual biblical interpretation. Sadly, the Pastor's failing health has forced his resignation.

Enter the extreme Fundamentalists-

An extreme Fundamentalist couple recently came to save the church from our "sinful" ways (individual interpretation). An invitation to a Fundamentalist Pastor was sent w/o members approval, a glaring miscalculation on their part, as this couple had followed the by-laws up to this point and most members were totally unaware of the couple's real motive.

After the guest Pastor's sermon a Q&A session took place and the congregation learned that their beliefs would no longer be welcomed in the church if he were to take the position. It was obvious he had been coached for ambiguous answers to expected questions and it took many pointed questions, bordering on disrespect, to learn of his true beliefs. To me he resembled a Gonzales/Gingrich morph and "Clear Skies Initiative" political double speak came to mind. Here, on DU, he would have been quickly outed as a troll.

Enter the extreme Fundamentalist's motion to vote for the guest as a permanent pastoral replacement-

For this meeting, members came out of the woodwork and the extreme Fundamentalists brought their very best-est like-minded friends. Falsehoods by the extreme Fundamentalists were exposed to the entire congregation and a heated discussion on welcoming GLBT members ensued. Eventually, the *most* conservative of lifelong members offered a compromise position to the extreme Fundamentalists- "Love the sinner, hate the sin."

Enter an Oz-like meltdown of the extreme Fundamentalist's friend-

To the member offering the compromise position, an extreme Fundamentalist shouted back "Jesussssss! Will you just stop this?"
:wow:
Instantly, the air was collectively sucked from the room. The extreme Fundamentalists quickly left the building and church, screaming "Shut up!!!" to members across the room and down the steps. We could still hear shouting outside after they had vacated the building. The thought of brotherly love had utterly exposed the hypocrites.

Somewhere, God's call to minister this church is being answered, we just have to find him/her. It's been 20 years since I've been on a Pulpit Comm. and we could really use your prayers.

[RevCheesehead]

1. Holy Crap!!

All I can say is that the Holy Spirit was working overtime in your church that day!!

Of course I'll pray for all people involved, especially your new pastor, whomever she or he may be. O8)

[Oddball]

2. Well Done.

I saw this exact thing happen in my little church many years ago. The takeover attempt was thwarted but the effort proved so divisive that the church split a short time after.

It all proved to be most damaging to the work of the church and the lives of all the members. Still, it was a necessary effort to keep the extremists from taking over that church.

Remember that healing and prayer are needed now.

Peace:hug:

[murielm99]

8. That happened in a church I went to years ago, too.

The pastor was not a part of it, but he was more conservative than the last three pastors we had had, over a period of about fourteen years. The members did not mind. They seemed to welcome a variety of pastoral styles.

Maybe the people who wanted to take over sensed his tendency to be a bit conservative. I am not sure.

He had been there for a couple of years before it started. There was a group of about four families, complete with children, who actually moved to the community and started the takeover. I think they were part of an organized, outside effort, because they always seemed to make decisions as a group. I don't know if it made a difference, but one of them knew the community, because his father had been a pastor at the local Foursquare Church. None of these people were affiliated with Foursquare, though.

One of the younger women worked at the local Pizza Hut. Whenever we went there with our kids, she would talk to us about "my church." She would say, "Your family goes to MY church." I would always answer her with "our church."

They tried to take over all aspects of church governance. They maneuvered themselves into many of the Sunday School teaching positions, too.

I think the older people saved the church. They were the first who seemed to realize what was going on. They politely but firmly stood their ground against the takeover. When the takeover failed, the four families moved out of town, again as a group. It was creepy.

We left the church a couple of years later, to attend a church in our own community. We did leave to be closer to home, but the pastor really was too conservative for us as well. He is still there, and has been there for about fifteen years now. My daughter got to know him well through church camp. She said that a few years ago he had a crisis of faith. He began to question everything about his calling and his life. He seems to have come through all right. I have never doubted his fitness as a pastor or his genuineness as a person of faith.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I have heard of fundies starting to infiltrate mainline churches, like they did school boards

In order to stir things up in the mainliners and get local churches to dissociate from the denomination and take a wicked turn toward evil conservatism.

Or I should say, I've heard of them doing this for the last couple years. And it's been successful in churches that haven't been as awake as yours was.

Just like the school board infiltration has been so successful in towns that weren't paying attention.

Yes, indeedy - sowing dissent and discord in the name of Jesus.

:eyes:

[Maat]

5. Yes, Rabrrrrrr ..

I research the Religious Right for one of my Separation of Church and State groups; there indeed IS an effort on their part, allegedly led by the IRD (ironically, this stands for "Institute for Religion and Democracy"). The IRD is a notorious group funded by ultra-right ultra-richies. They frame their effort in terms of getting conservatives to "speak up."

People in churches need to be aware that there is a well-organized effort out there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Oh my! Please keep us posted. I pray that all will turn out well.

[Maat]

6. Deb,

there is indeed a nationwide effort that you should be aware of - see my post above. Beware!

You are in MY prayers (hopefully, that's o.k.; I'm a New Thought believer, non-Christian, and a Unitarian-Universalist). I truly support my progressively-minded Christian friends.

Blessings to you and yours!

:hi:

[Deb]

7. Thanks so much for the prayers and info

Yes, we were blessed with the Holy Spirit that night. Afterward, the fellowship was unlike any we've ever experienced and not one member has since left the church.

For many reasons, we do feel bad for the couple that left. It's possible they were being used too or the tolerance we have for individual interpretation may have lead them to believe this takeover was welcome. Knowing why this happened could help prevent another incident but unfortunately I think it will remain a mystery.

The upside to all this is a better appreciation the newest members have for our democratic governance. The constitution and bylaws were such a "drag" before. :-)

Best news of all.... We *already* have several promising leads for a new Pastor and those guests are being lined up for Sunday services. :woohoo: