Actscelerate.com

Pastors...your stories of how you knew it was time to move on from a church....

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **11/13/17 7:35 pm**

There is a bit of a discussion of such on the Church of God FB page, but I wanted to make it more personal and ask in what way did you realize it was time to move on?

I know we'd all like to say that God specifically told us to move on, but I find that most of the time when God "tells" someone something...the circumstances have been telling them the same thing for a good while. It's kind of like saying "We hated it there, the people didn't like us, nothing was happening...and then God told us to move!" (SMILE).

I'd like to hear your stories....

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1865 **11/13/17 9:43 pm**

I think you summed it up well. Very seldom do we feel the Spirit leading us to leave when all is well. I tend to think God, in His sovereignty, sometimes allows circumstances to move us along. I can honestly say there are times when I felt I left too soon, and times I felt I stayed too long. Ultimately God is in control.

Having said that, I do have a few principles I adhere to. Number one, I never give in to a militant minority. If I feel like Iâ€™m leading the majority of the congregation, I will not allow a few disgruntled rebels to make me leave my post. As a pastor, you should have a finger on the pulse of the congregation. Consequently, if I feel the majority of the congregation has an opposing focus or vision, it may be time to go.

The pastoral placement / selection process is partly to blame. Often a congregation only hears a few sermons before making their selection. During that time, both the eager pastor and the hungry congregation have their best feet forward and donâ€™t convey honest expectations.

Friendly Face Posts: 387 **11/13/17 11:13 pm**

We pastored 4 COG's and I will have to say that God released us and we know it was Him. At our last pastorate, I was sitting at work on a Sunday and while I was talking to my friend (co- worker), the Lord dropped it in my spirit that we would be leaving and going to this certain state. I made up my mind that I would not tell my husband (pastor) and that if He didn't tell him, I wouldn't say anything. I got home from work at 3:30 or 4 and walked in. He was sitting in the living room and said, come over here and let me tell you what God spoke to me today. I knew then what had transpired. I said, let me tell you first what God spoke to me at work. I proceeded and told him and he said, while I was preaching, God said you are finished here. We didn't tell anyone as this was in Dec and it is not easy to move during the holidays. The church was doing fine - just purchased a fellowship hall across the side street - church paid for and didn't seem to have any problems. After Christmas he contacted overseer and within a matter of a few hours - all was settled. We had scheduled revival. It rained. sleeted and snowed the whole week and we were trying to pack and I still had to work out my notice. I had a good paying job and was a supervisor. Things looked good. God spoke to him and told him that everything was not as he had been told but to believe Him. The Evangelist even gave about the same word from God. We had been there 7 or 8 yrs and loved the community. We left and went to the state that God had told me and sure enough, it was a MESS. Bills were so far behind, water was going to be cut off and electric. My husband talked to the electric company and ask if we could pay a little at a time. She said no sir, the church has a record of not paying. You have to pay the $400 bill + I think at $400 deposit by Friday or you will be cut off. We began to pray and I don't know how but God came through. There was 3 loans plus EVERYTHING was behind except the percentages. God came through somehow. We stayed there not quite 20 years. Easy - no - but we knew God had sent us. When we left, state overseer, sent his "friend" to pastor it and he stayed about a year and then someone else came along and the overseer end up combining 2 churches and sold the church for almost nothing compared to its worth on a main busy 6 lane highway. We retired and felt it was God's timing. Still working for God just in a different capacity.

A Friend of Mine

Acts-celerater Posts: 875 **11/15/17 7:32 am**

A friend of mine said he knew it was time to leave and went to the overseer requesting a change. The overseer said "why do you want to move - you haven't been there very long." The pastor said "I have a throat condition ----- they are going to cut mine if I stay."

I knew 2 years prior to doing so

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1138 **11/15/17 3:38 pm**

I hesitated even posting this because it seems gold ole OTCP always has something to say which usually shows his true colors.....

Anyway, we knew it was coming when we concluded our merger with Tim Oldfield and the Potters House. Once it was all complete, I looked at my wife and said, "this was not for us, it was for the church. This merger was to protect the church as God moves us out." Four years later, we were released.

We knew it was coming. We started to see that happening. This was a placed we called home since we were kids. Some of the folk knew us as children and never saw us any different as adults. So, it became harder each passing year to lead. I knew that if the church was going to survive, we needed to leave and new leadership arrive.

So, I was able to take a 6 week transitional period and pass the church on to my best friend, Bob Wilson. I have to say, it was the most peaceful and kind transition I have ever witnessed. By the time the 6 weeks rolled to an end, the church was more than ready to make the switch. We celebrated the new pastor together and was able to hand over the keys to the building in our last service. As he spoke to the crowd as the new pastor, we quietly left the building.
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[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **11/15/17 6:57 pm**

God spoke to us. Cool

We didnâ€™t hate where we were at my previous pastorate, and nobody hated us, so far as we know. We just knew it was time for us to move on. Within a few months of prayerfully seeking the Lord for specific direction, God opened the door, confirming His direction supernaturally, undeniably.

At my first pastorate in the 1990s, I sensed a definite release from the Lord when it was time for me to go. It actually would have been MUCH easier in that situation to have quit very soon after I took the position. But I stuck it out, and it was definitely not as if anybody in the congregation was giving me trouble or wanted me to leave.

Well it's like this

Acts Mod Posts: 3346 **11/16/17 12:50 am**

When the men of the church says pastor we would like to meet with you then tells you they think you need to leave and no one disagrees you pray while the wife packs.
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No one who died without Christ is happy about their decision.