(This is most unusual for me. When I visit a church, I come to worship, not to sit in judgement, not to pick the sermon apart, not to criticize. But this experience left me so cold, I came home and wrote the following. Btw, this was not recent, in case I’ve been in your church in recent days. Smiley-face here pls.)
I sat in your church and heard you preach. You did not know I was in the congregation because we never had the opportunity to meet.
Now, I was visiting in your part of the state, and the next day moved on to the next city where I’m ministering. So, had we met you would not have greeted a prospective member and probably would not have remembered it the next day. That’s fine and I understand.
What concerns me is that I was with some friends who have moved to your city and was hoping they would make some kind of connection with your church. That did not happen.
Watching what you did and failed to do concerns me. One reason it has persisted in my thoughts is that I’m certain at various times in my six pastorates, I made the same mistakes as you. I could wish someone had loved me enough to call my hand on it.
Now, since we do not know each other, I’m assuming you will not read this. So this is not for you exactly. Rather, we post it on this website in the hope that other pastors will look at their own Sunday ministries in view of the newcomer sitting in the pews.
Here is what you did.