When is it OK to leave a church?

"When is it OK to leave a church? What should I do if I'm thinking about leaving my church?"
Dr. Thomas Schreiner answers in Honest Answers | Episode 1

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[onemorerep]

I was at a mega church for a while and I wasn’t growing spiritual. I wasn’t learning anything, I started going to another church that was smaller and I learned more in a month there than years at the other.

[doright]

When there is obvious control and manipulation, spiritual and/ or emotional abuse, obviously physical abuse, worship and celebration of leaders instead of God, when the leaders beg for money all the time and tell you you're sick/ have cancer/ have financial troubles because God's punishing you for not giving enough money, when the leaders tell people to stop talking to you from the pulpit, when leaders talk trash about former members from the pulpit, when there's a lot of gossip there, when you dread going and you don't know why but God is trying to show you it's time to go.

[catherineleary]

I left the church and I am feeling better.
I read my bible, pray, and worship the Lord at home.
I have started attending a weekday bible study which is really good. But that is all I can handle for now.

[Modeltnick]

I left an SBC church after 25 years because I wasn’t “mature” enough spiritually and was treated like a second class person. I was raised and baptized/confirmed in another faith that apparently wasn’t recognized by the Baptist church. I had intended to get baptized by “dunking” at some point but when they began to subtly shun me, I had no desire. I walked away and am content in the Episcopal Church, very much accepted.

[gereral_jackofalltrades]

I had to leave because doctrines. When pastor believes gold dust on floor it's God's presence that is alert. Same as making a women a pastor because she is daughter of pastor. Then use scripture to justify it but leave out all scripture the holy spirit spoke thru apostle Paul about order of worship and church leadership. I switched from independent assembly of God word of faith to a baptism church. The teaching was Christ centered and was pleasant to my spirit. Word of Faith is me centered and they never teach about living for Jesus. My wife is still attending word of faith. I told her to get out. They teach Hersey and allow blasphemy against holy spirit by claiming gold dust is of God. We are in last days.

[ca]

I'm a Christian and I've NEVER understood what's to problem switching churches, our commitment is to God and not a pastor.
If I move too far to drive why not go to a closer church ??? someone please EXPLAIN it to me, I can't recall seeing anywhere in scripture i need to stay at a certain location, I view it as just a tithing issue and pastors don't want to lose your money.

[ry-studios]

The answer is anytime you need too, you do not need " permission" from anyone else to leave anyone or anything that could be harmful to you or your mental health.

[douglasarnold]

As a preacher and pastor I feel the only time to leave a church is after prayer and fasting we shouldn't stay in the church because it's where we've always been we should staying at church because God has something for us to do their or to glean from when the season is over and God wants us to move we need to be willing to move we are the bride of Christ not the Bride of a specific Church

[reiskywalker]

I was getting feelings for my pastor... It was definitely time to leave... Temptation was getting overwhelming and I was no longer there for God but for him

[bruceg.]

As a divorced, single man, I find myself unwelcome in any church I attend. When I was married and raising a family, I attended the same church for 17 years. It seems that people consider men to be players, looking for a girl or they just don't want any new people. I went to one church where no one spoke to me for the entire month I attended. The coldness in many Christians is hard to believe.

[marylamb]

People are tired of being patronized. They're tired of being treated like children who need to be told what to do 24/7. The Bible says that all members of the body of Christ are given gifts for mutual edification. Where does every other member of the Body exercise those gifts? Certainly not in church. The pastor preaches a sermon and the rest of us do nothing. We don't know and don't care for each other and we all look at the stage for this "anointed sermon" while the rest of us atrophy. This can go on for decades. All we have left is this pile of rules and regulations and Christians that don't grow because they can't use their gifts.

[wizknight]

In my case, my church doesn't really teach anything. Almost never talked about anything doctrinal, preach almost the same thing just different title for weeks, and the congregation, especially the youth, don't really have a good doctrinal knowledge and foundation of faith. I tried to talk about it, I even left the youth group because there's no change, the pastors are just too lazy to do something. I don't feel I can grow. I'm still weighing whether I should move from my local church or not. It pains me to see how my local church is right now.

[debbiehines]

I believed that church membership was like marriage, you stayed unless there was infidelity. I left a church after 40 years because of the way they choose to rid themselves of the pastor of 21 years. Let's say it was not biblical.
I didn't ever believe I would leave but I knew if I stayed I would have caused trouble. I couldn't deal with things. Now I see the Lord used this to move me. I'm in the right place. I hope God is using me where I am.

[ping]

Yes be slow to judge
Be slow to change
Be slow to anger
But very quick to forgive

[goingback]

I am a musician and a part of the multimedia team in our local church and I've been thinking of leaving my church, and today I have decided to do it finally. The reason behind it is that I don't sense belongingness to the people in our church, they barely notice the work I did. One time I saw a picture of my friend and the leaders celebrating my friend's first time preaching and I felt left out. When I first stand in front of the congregation to play guitar for Jesus and to usher them and when I spend 8 hours creating a poster for our church, nobody see that I am tired. One time one of our leaders said, "More of Him, less of us", I felt that and continued to fight my desire to leave but today that desire is gone.

I am 18 yrs old still studying, I sacrificed some of my study hours and family hours to contribute to the church. I prayed a lot and tried to fight my desire to leave the church for months and tomorrow is my last Sunday in the church, Sept 11, 2022, and I will return the guitar I borrowed to them … I will still continue my Christian journey, It' has been a good 3 years to be part of the church.

[jonathang]

Whenever you see fit or when God tells you to. It's your choice, no one else's.

[frankservant]

I had to leave a church because there was a lot of politics in the leadership. Spiritually i had no issues in fact that is where i learnt prayer, fasting and all night vigils but i came to a point where i sensed that the church as a whole was going nowhere. And yes there were some doctrinal errors too. Even at local level we seemed to be doing the same things we were not progressing in terms of teaching and advancing with technology (I'm a huge tech guy). As an individual i felt i could do more to help but i was not getting the opportunity to do so. I felt unappreciated, there was no room for my gifts so i knew it was time up. When i joined the new church i was received as though i had been a son for many years. I immediately made new friends and started serving soon after. I have since moved but everytime i travel to my home church I always feel welcome. A few years after I left that church a huge leadership wrangle broke out and there were divisions in the church. That is a lot to share on a public platform!

[susandumbill]

If your pastor or elder behaves in a sexually inappropriate way towards you or someone else - it's time to go. Protect yourself.

[spiritwalker]

I spent three years asking God about leaving my last church. I finally decided to leave after my wife passed away last January after ten years of being called lazy, deceitful, and learning that the pastor has a network of informants within his church spying on people, especially those of us deemed "unreliable, divisive, or too negative." I left without talking to the leadership because it would be denied anyway and I left without explanation to anyone.

[TheFrigginDevil]

My Baptist church kicked me out cause I wanted to talk about the end times and they didn't want to. They were pre trib and I was post trib pre wrath and I wanted to talk about it, but instead the very first thing they said was I was unteachable. So much for talking about it.