I spent a little over a year as an intern here, and trust me, a YEAR at a church can turn ugly quick. As you can read in the reviews, they are not very accommodating towards their LGBT community, specifically staff members that have served nearly full time for years BEFORE coming out, only to have their leadership position revoked over their sexuality and openness. The scrutiny under which they obsess over the very personal details of someone's love life is problematic and invasive. I have theories about why they've adopted this behavior, and if I were to take a wild guess, its because they're learning how bad they are at picking, and keeping staff.
If you're like I was, and a little "letter of the law" ish, or you just straight up agree with the sentiments of this church's theology, then lets move on to the leadership they have had pass through that was less than Christ like. In fact, I was called a "b****" to my face over questioning some of the inconsistent policies I observed.
The first six months of my time with this church involved working with college students, including a young women who had been witness to the affair that ended the previous pastor's term at the church. When she told me that she had been not only dismissed, but also nearly blackmailed into being quiet about the situation, I knew that it needed to be addressed by the current staff. I brought it up to leadership and they had her speak with a spiritual counselor, and let's just say the results were inconclusive and she decided to go to a different church. Read between the lines.
But friends, that's not all. We could deep dive into the shady behavior of staff members and this could turn into a novel, however, you don't have all day. In short, as long as you kept your sin a secret and you weren't gay, you were free to serve in any capacity, even if those leaders drove people from the church entirely. Many of those individuals remained blameless and the show went on.
The problem with a "progressive church" that wants to be traditional and contemporary all at once is that eventually you have to make choices about what you allow and what you think will damage your reputation. They chose wrong.
This wasn't about the word of God, this was about power and pride. They have high staff turnover because if you really follow Jesus, you naturally are inclined to be raw and repentant, as necessary. Instead, the staff is inclined to be holier than thou and so high on their horse, that they are above the word of God. Ironic.
Good luck, UCC. You're right, I am a b****. People only stay quiet for so long. Cheers. read more
