Thoughts on Counseling and Group’s Emergency Response Handbook, Part 6

The final two chapters of Group’s Emergency Response Handbook: For Small Group Leaders dealt with Broken Fellowship and Church Scandal. These are the things that I struggle with the most as a leader, however, I didn’t necessarily agree with everything suggested in these two chapters, especially the chapter on broken fellowship. I found the personal testimony of the woman who suffered from broken fellowship to be ridiculous and a denial of her need to become less sensitive and to learn to fit in with others. One thing I’ve learned, though, is that it is inevitable that some people will leave your church; it simply will not meet everyone’s needs or be to everyone’s liking. So one piece of advice I enjoyed from these last two chapters of this book was to send those who chose to leave the church off with a blessing. The book suggests a formal time of getting together to bless, pray, and celebrate, then continue to keep in contact, encourage them, and even help them find a new church after they leave. This will help people who leave keep their trust in the Church as a whole. I pray that God will embolden me to be able to allow people to leave in grace and with their heads held high in this way.