"A godly man suggested we stop going to church," she told me, "He said God isn't there anymore." This young wife and mother of two young daughters must have seen the surprise on my face and took it as encouragement to tell me the rest of the story. It was an interesting story.Their local church had recently split down the middle, but Rona Lessfoot and her husband, Nate (not their real names) were determined to take the high road and not take sides, even though they had dear friends on both sides of the controversy. They continued attending with their friends who were still at the church, but they also were meeting every week in a home group with friends from the other side. Though there was a measure of awkwardness to this, everyone seemed okay with the arrangement for several weeks, until this couple had an arbitrary encounter with a man they hardly knew but who seemed to have an unusual spirit of discernment and wisdom. Perhaps because he was from the outside, they felt they could share their recent experience with the demise of their home church and the estrangement among some of their friends.
After listening intently to their story and asking a few questions, this would-be prophet seemed to have a word from the Lord for them. "I think you should stop attending that church for awhile; God is not there anymore." He suggested they withdraw for one month and then see how they felt about it.
Though they were surprised by the idea, after discussing and praying about it, this young couple decided to try it; they quit attending for a month but continued with the small group in their home.
That was more than two years ago, and they haven't been back to their old church since. Today, the Lessfoots and their daughters are meeting in the home of some friends who also have kids, and there are two other couples who attend-- and that is an interesting sidebar in itself.
It seems that their friends with kids have recently experienced a similar situation about one year ago, having been expelled from a new church plant that went sour after a three-man pastoral team broke up when one of the men became overbearing and abusive in a grab for power.
Not only that, but the two other couples in the group consist of a former church elder and leader, and a former pastor who was ousted by his denomination for obeying clear direction from God that ran contrary to directives from district leadership. Go figure.
It seems there is no shortage of church refugees in this neighborhood, but they maintain that their relationships with God and fellowman have never been better. There seems to be a depth to their discussions and Bible studies that was seldom achieved when they were in the institutional church, and having been through similar tribulations, there is a deep bond that glues them together. It's really more like family than ever before.
Nate and Rona and their family are part of a growing movement in the western church world, a widening exodus that is moving from organized church to organic church. And they say it's a good thing. In fact, none of the good folks in this house church ever mention anything that they miss about their former life in the institutional church.
How about that?
Do you know anyone else who left the church because they felt God told them to?
