It's comments like these that make this blog worthwhile. Here's one from a Churchgoer in Boise:

My good friend and co-ex-toxic church refuge turned me on to your blog and we feel like we’ve discovered a goldmine. There are actually people like us in other cities! We knew there was a continual stream of the disillusioned who leave the dysfunctional world we were a part of, but to think it’s happening in your city too. wow.

We are over here in Boise Idaho where another MFI church exists called Capital Christian Center, run and controlled by the uncle (or should I suggest really by the Aunt) of Judah Smith. so good to see this blog to find out there are others out there who have disembarked from what is considered the maiden city ship. It’s a hard ship to get off, let me tell you. but you all seem to already know that. But once you do disentangle yourself, freedom comes in waves and in layers. We’ve been out a year and a half now and are still dealing with residual issues but making progress toward realness and getting back to original roots of Jesus. He is very patiently mending and reconstructing the incorrect teachings and attitudes I had accumulated over 20 years (it’s ambarrasing that it took my husband and I so long to figure out what was really going on), and 12 odd years of my above-mentioned friend.

It’s amazing how many similarities there are in the 3 churches, City Bible, City Church and Capital Christian Center, in attitude, in elitism, in celebrity-driven name-dropping motivations, in entitlement mentality so obvious as they audaciously fleece the flock weekly of money that in turn is used more to support the lifestyle of the senior pastor and his family (who are all over 25 now) than to further the work of the gospel in helping the poor or even helping those within the 4 oppressive walls of their domain. Prada purses and huge homes for newlyweds, countless trips to Washington DC (cancelled and rescheduled at whim on a continual basis) . . .

We go to the largest church in Boise now which is Calvary Chapel. It’s no wonder that it is attracting regular people because the pastor has an authentic history of living life before he met Jesus so can relate to most people and has slowly built a church that supports mission work all over the world. All we can do is show up on Saturday night or Sunday and listen to him expound on the Bible, verse by verse, and watch how it’s supposed to be done and let it heal us. Absolutely devoid of all hype– he refuses to press people for money but somehow the mission stuff actually gets done, both in this city and abroad. Instead of a propped up facade with no layers, their website has deep drop downs on every ministry that actually helps people where they need it.

We are still unable to read the Bible much–maybe in small doses; trying to shed the authoritarian voice of God that overtook his once authentic love and grace voice. Still gun–shy of getting involved at the new church, can’t even go every week, but go when we are up for it; at least it’s helping unravel the mess we allowed ourselves to become by seeing a new way of doing things: A church that pays their bills on time, accepting people as they are, not trying to hard-sell the latest vision/scheme and especially treating people with dignity and respect instead of making them all feel like they are worth less than and have an unimportant role in the big plan of God(which is reserved for the senior pastor and family: God-forbid you too can have a destiny and a reason to live other than to perpetuate the vision of the ‘First Family’–an expression coined by Wendell Smith himself); so much different than the sham of Christianity the former church has disintegrated into over the years.

I guess that was a really long way of saying that we get what you’ve all gone through because the same attitude and m.o. is at work here and we are so glad to be free of it altho it still haunts us daily. Your blog indeed so telling. Maybe we should start a Boise one. For that matter, why isn’t there one in Seattle?

You are known by your fruit, MFI. You are known by your fruit.

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