The Town of Odyssey

It's all good, Top. If anything, this whole experience has shown me, both through my own discoveries and what others (specifically, two different pastors and my parents) have told me; I overanalyze and tend to spiritualize EVERYTHING. So now it's a matter of prayer, reading the Word and Christian counsel to deal with that, because that's been occurring LONG before this relationship began, and needs to be dealt with because it isn't mentally or spiritually (ironically enough) healthy.

Thank you all for praying for me. No news yet about my church, though I suppose no news is good news at this rate.

Keep us posted. I'm really interested in the conclusion to your church's chaotic sitution. Some stuff like that has happened to churches I've been in.

the_newfie_haystack wrote:Thank you Catspaw (man, it's been a long time! How are you?)

I saw this earlier but for whatever reason didn't reply. It has been a long time. I'm doing well and keeping busy! I hope that things are going better for you. Like AE said, keep us updated. Church stuff can take a long time to work out, but as you pray, you can know that you're doing what you can.

Thank you AE and Catspaw. Right, just a bit of an update: The petition has been sent, and there will be an official investigation as to what's going on within the next month. ALSO, the main man that is behind all of this chaos essentially outed himself in front of a good chunk of the congregation last Sunday night. One of the other pastors (go Pastor K, GO) was preaching a sermon about the Holy Spirit being unable to move in our church (which a lot of people agreed with) and just as he was finishing the sermon, the main man (we'll just call him MM) jumped up on stage (he didn't even use the stairs ), snatched the microphone away from Pastor K, and very quickly tore the sermon apart through a prayer that contradicted everything Pastor K said. OH BOY, the congregation did not like that! They aren't stupid; they know something smells like fish.

The last I heard, MM was trying to use church funds to buy his way out of this situation VIA giving to missions. At this point, unless the investigation ROYALLY botches up, we suspect that MM will be fired or forced to resign by the end of the summer. At this point, I have no sympathy for him, as some of his actions behind the scene have been nothing short of dishonest, disgusting and unprofessional (and in one particular case, dangerously blasphemous ). I just wish my church didn't have to go through this. I wouldn't wish this on anybody.

I just saw this post now--yikes, sounds pretty crazy where you are Will pray for you and your church.

o.O prayers continue!

Thank you soccerLOTR and The King's Daughter. Quick update: Things have gotten so ridiculous at my church, the background drama is now spilling over into the main services (with one guy calling MM out for being a liar in front of the whole church). It is slowly morphing into "Please pass the popcorn" levels. One good thing that is happening is that the official investigation is well underway, and I am sincerely hoping that by the end of summer the investigation is concluded and a vote of confidence is forcibly held (because MM will not DARE call a church membership meeting now, for fear that someone will call for a vote of confidence). Pleasee keep praying, I know I am.

I'm glad to hear that an investigation is happening. Hopefully that will go smoothly and things can turn in a better direction very soon. I'll be praying!

Hey everybody, Haystack here with an update: things aren't getting better, but they aren't getting worse either. The investigation lasted roughly three days, tops. <_< All that resulted from that was that the board was told tht they can't keep secrets from the congregation anymore. Nothing was done about some of the other actions done behind the scenes, including some that have bordered on illegal. *shakes head* What other recourse do we have? If the PAOC will not deal with the situation, are we going to be forced to take this outside the church? I hope not.

I'm not sure what else is going on, since I've been away for the last few weeks on vacation. I'm leaving soon to move to another city, so all I can do is pray. I haven't given up hope, but I've done what I can.

Please keep praying.

Prayer is definitely one of the most powerful ways to fight. Will continue to do so! When are you moving?

My last day in this town is less than a month away. I've lived here all my life, so while school and my boyfriend await in the town I am moving to with my sister, I'm leaving most of my family and friends behind, including my church and my parents. :/ It's bittersweet.

-- 04 Sep 2012 10:55 am --

Hey guys, I just need some prayer really quickly. If you can pray that I stop over analyzing things abs stop relying on my emotions so much? Thanks.

-- 24 Oct 2012 08:50 pm --

OH BOY.

When things go down the toilet, they REALLY go down the toilet. Aye yi yi.

So basically, things at my church have almost hit rock bottom. Throughout the last few months MM's workplace abuse of Pastor K and his wife (who is also the church secretary) has just gotten worse and worse. It finally got to the point where Pastor's wife tried to apply for her PAOC pension, and he attempted to block her, AND THEN he got the church to cut off their housing allowance (a MUST if you live in my hometown, as housing is super expensive) and tried to cut their salaries in half.

Well, that was the straw that broke the camel's back for pastor K, who filed a complaint himself with head office. Pastor K's wife had recorded EVERYTHING on paper, so they're ready to bring this to court if they have to. Head office had a mediator come in and both parties (with MM in one party and pastor K, wife and a witness in the other), but it basically came to nothing. Do you know why?

Because Pastor K and his wife were fired today.

It was sooooo sneaky how it happened too. Pastor K and his wife were about to leave for a short week-long vacation in Ontario. The day before they were to leave, MM kept asking them what time they had to leave for their flight, and they told him. Before they left to go home for the night he said he'd like to meet with them the day of their departure, to discuss something with them before they left to grab their plane. They agreed to it, but called my folks and let them know what was happening. The next day (the day of their departure), they had the meeting with MM and that's when he let them know that they were fired, and gave them the letter stating their reasons (unable to come to an agreement on conflict, meaning that Pastor K and wife didn't back down from disagreeing with the way they were being treated). It was timed perfectly too; MM is leaving next week for three weeks to the States to finish his degree, which means he won't be there when Pastor K and wife get back. I'm not sure if it was sanctified by Head Office or not.

However, one of the things that Pastor K and wife did before they left was call a few people, my Mom included (I found out all this from her), and now the news is spreading like wildfire. I know that there's been at least one irate conversation between my Dad and someone else in my church (who is just as steamed by this change of events), and basically, since MM is still staying to preach this Sunday, that means people have a small window of opportunity to air their complaints...publically.

Guys, I really, really need you to pray for what's going to go down this Sunday. This might turn very ugly, very quickly if things start to go wrong. Please pray for the people at my church, for Pastor K and wife to stay strong, for God to convict MM (and knock some sense back into him), and that this doesn't wind up in court (which it might, yet). PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!!!

Why would this go to court? >_>

Because a lot of what he's doing is against workplace harassment laws up here, and the PAOC won't do squat, and since this has happened to one other person under MM's employment (and potentially three others), he has to face with the consequences, or this cycle is going to continue and my old church risks becoming a cult. Is it terrible morally to go to court over this? YES. Is this rapidly becoming inevitable? Unfortunately, if this continues, it might be.

-- 11 Nov 2012 09:36 pm --

EDIT: For those of you who want clarification of what MM is like, please look at this article:

http://dannimoss.wordpress.com/clergy-a ... ial-bully/

Just ignore the ones dealing with sexuality, because at least MM doesn't have THAT problem. Other than that, most of the items on this list fit to a T.

Please keep praying, the news broke out and most of the people (especially the International community in our church) have left. My parents are about to leave to, and that's pretty sad considering that my Dad has been there since he was 19 (and he's 51 now).

-- 29 Dec 2012 06:38 pm --

EDIT: I just went to visit my old church for the first time since the end of August, and I am sick to my stomache. I've been hearing that MM has lately been preaching some heresies from the pulpit, but I could hardly believe what he was saying in his facade of a Christmas message. Half of it was about Herod, and the other half about Mary, hardly really mentioning Jesus at all, and near the end of the service he asked "Who are you going to follow? Herod or Mary?" and I turned to my mother and said, "I don't know about him, but I'm following JESUS." And that's barely scratching the surface of it.

My Dad said that if MM is not gone by the Annual General Membership meeting he's stating his case that MM is trying to slip in certain Catholic doctrines (which are strictly anti-Biblical) into a Pentecostal church (which he has been subtly attempting to do since he first came here three years ago). We have most of the information needed to do so, we just need to organize it and present it. If the Board refuses to listen even then, my Dad is turning in his membership and leaving.

I'm so sorry:( Not much is harder than watching division in the body of Christ. I'll continue to pray, please update, if you feel comfortable doing so!