1 /5 Anna Jean Konlande: Trying not to cause offense, but said with care and toward caution: it is my experience that the church, with a strong AWANA program and similar values, exists in reality like a conservative Baptist Church.
It is my experience to have witnessed bad financial decisions based on greed ie, acquiring the property belonging to a single woman and children, the property having been in her family for years.
I have seen a pattern of single women with children - at least a half dozen besides myself - harmed upon a divorce, or in one case when the woman was in the wrong and causing harm to her family, the man and their daughters rejected.
Over two decades I witnessed many basics of Scriptures (the sheep and the goats, etc; core principles of love, compassion, etc) flipped toward capitalism and American individualism, as opposed to caring for the needy.
It is my understanding that things have not recovered since the time of employing 3 pastors full-time, with the youngest falling into an affair with another staffs spouse, due to the difficulties of the leadership system and without healthy support
It is my experience that white men of privilege can be and feel very comfortable here, as well as women who connect with this paradigm. Its my experience that If you fit, youll be very welcome, and If you fit someones idea of who should be saved (while not a white male), youll be helped significantly.
While at this church, I experienced some incredible, amazing grace - until I didnt, and it belonged solely to my ex, and not my children.
That all said, I note these important positives:
The church-sponsored daycare, TLC. Its affordable, its compassionate, and its an excellent service to local families
If you experience awe and wonder, and your spiritual life is enhanced through the arts, there is a strong thread of various arts to honor God and share artistic gifts that happens here, especially for those in the white middle and upper class. But its my experience that these good gifts are shared well, by kind, good hearted, talented people. Ive seen the group value photography (albeit while stealing online images not marked stock photography, for use in worship - yet Im not sure Ive ever seen a church not do this). Ive witnessed a value of arts in painting and other visual arts,