It has been twelve years since I left Christianity and declared myself to be an atheist – twelve years of email from primarily Evangelical Christians asking me to explain WHY I am no longer a follower of Jesus. It has been a long time since someone has asked me a question that hasn’t already been asked by someone else. This is to be expected. There are only so many ways I can explain my reasons and motivations for becoming an atheist after spending 25 years in the ministry.
To help me better manage my time, I have decided to create a WHY page where I can point people when they have questions about my deconversion. After the questioner has read the following posts, I will then be quite happy to answer whatever questions they might have. I think these posts will likely answer 99% of the questions people ask me about my journey from Evangelicalism to Atheism.
Thank you for taking the time to read these posts. If you have any questions, please use the contact form to email me. If you are an Evangelical, I ask that you read one more post, Dear Evangelical, before sending me your question, sermon, prayer, rebuke, or denunciation. Thanks!
Ohio has some strange laws when it comes to fireworks and medical marijuana. Ohio’s neighbor to the north, Michigan, is much more friendly towards fireworks and marijuana than the Buckeye state. Can’t beat Ohio State in football to save their lives, but Michiganders love smoking dope and shooting off fireworks.
Ohioans are not permitted to use fireworks, even though this law is routinely ignored or rarely enforced. We can buy fireworks in Ohio, we just can’t use them. The Ohio border with Michigan is littered with fireworks stores. Ohioans frequent these stores, buying large quantities of fireworks for their Fourth of July celebrations. Purchasers have to state that they will transport the fireworks out of state within forty-eight hours (Ohio Revised Code 3743.65). Wink, wink, sure. 🙂
Ohioans would be allowed to discharge consumer grade fireworks — firecrackers, Roman candles, bottle rockets and more — anytime, any day on their own property, according to legislation approved Thursday by the Ohio House.
The House voted 77-17 in favor of the measure, which now moves to the Senate for consideration. A similar bill is also pending in the Senate.
Lawmakers have long sought to clean up Ohio’s convoluted consumer fireworks law. Currently, Ohioans may purchase consumer grade fireworks but they aren’t allowed to possess or use them in Ohio. There is a long-standing moratorium on the number of fireworks licensed manufacturers and dealers.
The bill would eliminate the prohibition on possession and ignition of consumer grade fireworks and earmark a portion of taxes collected on sales for firefighter training programs.
Despite illogical existing law, safety advocates say lifting restrictions is the wrong way to go. The Ohio Fireworks Safety Coalition says there is no safe way to use fireworks and often it’s innocent bystanders, including children, who suffer injuries from amateur pyrotechnics.
….
House Bill 253 and Senate Bill 72, both pending in the Ohio Legislature, would lift the ban on consumers discharging such consumer fireworks. The bills would legalize “backyard” fireworks on private property year-round unless local governments pass restrictions.
Based on what Ohioans hear in their neighborhoods during the 4th of July, plenty of people are violating the current law. That could be a first degree misdemeanor with a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, but it rarely is enforced.
In 2016, medical marijuana was legalized in Ohio, albeit with numerous onerous, costly restrictions. (Please see Is Medical Marijuana Legal in Ohio?) Four years later, the program is largely seen as a failure, primarily due to the exorbitant prices charged for marijuana. Here in rural northwest Ohio, there are no medical marijuana dispensaries. Many local communities have enacted laws prohibiting dispensaries, and I don’t know of one local doctor who is willing to prescribe the drug. I had ONE conversation with my primary care doctor about the matter, and I learned quickly not to broach the subject again. I could get a doctor outside of this area to prescribe me medical marijuana, but I fear a random drug test by my primary care doctor — mandated by his practice — would throw my pain management into disarray. As it stands now, I have to jump through hoops just to get the Schedule Two drugs I am currently taking. I dare not risk having those drugs stopped, all because a drug test found marijuana in my system. Yes, this sucks. Welcome to the land of God, Guns, and Republicans. (Yes, religion, not science drives the anti-marijuana sentiments of many local physicians.)
I recently read a news story that reported that Ohio medical marijuana users were driving to Michigan to fill their prescriptions. Michigan marijuana is 50-90 percent cheaper than that which is sold at Ohio dispensaries. Even if I could get a medical marijuana prescription, I couldn’t afford it, and my health insurance does not cover marijuana.
I have thought about driving to Michigan to buy marijuana, but it remains a federal and state crime to transport it from Michigan back to Ohio. Some Ohioans have learned this the hard way. Nearby Fulton County sits on the border of Michigan and Ohio. The sheriff in Fulton County has been arresting people who bring marijuana across the state line, charging them with possession. That’s right. People with chronic illnesses and chronic pain are being arrested for trying to affordably alleviate their suffering.
Officials in Ohio’s medical marijuana industry have repeatedly said prices will fall once the state’s industry matures, and state figures tracking consumer costs support that notion.
But that state up north has a big jump on Ohio, having legalized medical marijuana more than a decade ago. In 2018, Michigan legalized recreational pot for residents over 21. (Sales began in December 2019.)
“Lots of people are crossing the border because Michigan is a mature market of 10 years,” said Jim Rice, a cardholder who lives near Cleveland and owns KAYA.IO, a cannabis transport company.
Bringing marijuana, even legal marijuana, across state lines is illegal. Ohioans can purchase the drug at a Michigan dispensary but are required to consume it before crossing back into their home state.
The two states are working on an agreement to let Ohio marijuana cardholders buy medicinal cannabis in Michigan and bring it back to their home state, but nothing is final.
Ohio provided a letter to medical marijuana cardholders that let them bring products from Michigan for 60 days after Ohio established a patient registry in December 2018 (the first dispensary opened a month later).
However, there was confusion among patients as to how long those letters lasted, said Tim Johnson, co-founder of the Ohio Cannabis Chamber of Commerce advocacy group.
It’s unclear how many Ohioans actually go to Michigan to buy marijuana, but in the spring a Michigan State University research group estimated that roughly 9% of the state’s legal cannabis is sold to out-of-state buyers, particularly those from Indiana and Ohio.
Ohio medical pot users risk arrest by shopping across the state line, and some card holders have said police in Fulton County, on the state line, were targeting them after they shopped in Michigan dispensaries and brought marijuana back into Ohio.
When questioned about high prices, Ohio’s medical marijuana industry officials point to a litany of regulations they must follow to comply with state law, and note that costs have fallen.
One unit of a marijuana product in Ohio was roughly $131 in the second week of July, down from nearly $800 per unit in June of 2019. The costs of specific products were not available.
A direct comparison between Ohio and Michigan prices is difficult because Michigan doesn’t track sales in the same way and prices for individual products vary, but patients say it’s clear.
“Things that cost $20 dollars here cost $5 there,” Rice said.
I love living in Ohio, but I wish Republican legislators — Republicans control virtually every major state political office — would put the interests of suffering Ohioans first. But, the overwhelming majority of these legislators worship Jesus, and if Jesus can suffer on the cross, what’s a little suffering for people with cancer, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and other illnesses? Just pray your pain away, right?
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Spaniard VIII, a proud Fundamentalist Christian, runs a boutique blog titled, Spiritual Minefield: Exposing the spiritual landmines of the devil through the Word of God. Spaniard VIII attracts a small band of like-minded apologists, people who are unwilling or unable to see anything other than their peculiar brand of Evangelical Christianity — which they arrogantly and self-righteously call “True Christianity®.”
Spaniard VIII has written about me, long-time commenter John Arthur, and the readers of this blog now and again. He routinely lies about people and refuses to understand why people leave Christianity. In Spaniard VIII’s mind, everything is reduced to Satan and spiritual weakness. Atheists such as I were never True Christians®, and when life got hard, we left Christianity so we could “sin.”
This John Arthur is full of hatred, bitterness, and rage against a righteous God, Jesus Christ because John Arthur is in darkness and serves his father the devil. If you notice that all these godless people hate the Word of God, proving its power and truth in it. Satan hates God’s Word because it saves those who believe in what it says about Jesus Christ. No wonder Satan’s followers also detest the Scriptures.
People who are godless, like atheists, have a pure hatred towards the Living God, Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of the world because Satan is their god. You see this with their vile and filthy mouth against Jesus Christ and His saints. If you are a Christian and have dealt with one, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There are even atheists who have committed their blogs to attack the person of Jesus Christ and even try to persuade believers, if they can, to abandon their Lord and Savior as they have done. They never had a spiritual backbone, the Holy Spirit, from keeping their faith from collapsing
….
Anyone who curses God by blaspheming and attacking God’s Word, calling the truth, a lie, and the lie [the theory of evolution] the truth, comes from demonic spirits who live in their hearts.
If you notice, when a fake Christian apostatizes, they become full of rage against Jesus Christ. Why does this happen? Well, what happens when the light is turned off? Darkness appears, resetting them to default, sin. The absence of light is darkness, not the other way around. So, when a person abandons God, darkness fills their heart, and you will see them get from somewhat good, to bad, then worse, and finally unapproachable with the gospel.
Atheists speak vile, filthy things against True Christians®
Atheists have demonic spirits living inside of them
Atheists rage against the Evangelical God
Atheists are filled with darkness
Atheists are unapproachable with the Evangelical gospel
Calling me a “fake Christian” — meaning I never was a True Christian®, I never was a follower of Jesus — Spaniard VII says “I committed my blog to attack the person of Jesus Christ and even try to persuade believers, if they can, to abandon their Lord and Savior as I have done.” This, of course, is a lie, but Spaniard VIII is convinced that my goal as a writer to attack the dead Jesus and persuade his followers to become atheists. Evidently, telling my story and critiquing Evangelical Christianity are attacks on Jesus and attempts to lead people away from the one true faith. Amazing the “power” I have over Jesus’ followers.
Spaniard VIII refuses to give the readers of this blog credit for thinking for themselves. I write, people read, and it is up to them to weigh the merits of what I’ve said. Have people deconverted after reading my writing? Sure. But I am not an atheist evangelist. As I have stated countless times before, my objective as a writer is to help those who have questions and doubts about Christianity and to help and encourage those who have left Christianity. I make no effort to evangelize, nor do I take my show on the road, commenting on Christian blogs or engaging believers on social media. I am never the initiator of contact. Having bullied and abused unbelievers during my preaching days, I am sensitive to the harm caused by such tactics.
Spaniard VIII also refuses to let atheists comment on his blog. He’s known for deleting the comments of anyone who disagrees with him. I suspect, deep down, he fears what “truth” other than his might do. So, he makes sure that the only “truth” his readers hear is his — or what he perceives is God’s. Granted, blog owners are free to make their own rules of engagement. I do so on this blog. However, Spaniard VIII walls off his blog from outside intrusion, not even allowing those he preaches against to comment.
Let me conclude this post with three comments lifted from Spaniard VIII’s latest blog post. I think readers will find them enlightening:
Caeli:
Only the Holy Spirit can reach the most calloused soul. There comes a time when being miserable becomes so miserable and for some, this becomes the pivotal point to salvation and to the believers, growth.
I can understand the temptation to abandon God when things blow up. As believers, we expect God to step in and when He allows us to go through the most trying times, it’s hard to see past the pain. But without the pain, we will never have an experiential grasp on the nature of choice, faithfulness, and above all, love. Jesus says, “Follow me” and to follow leads to no other road but one.
Londoninvestigates:
It’s best not to engage with these demonoids who hate. The same people who wanted Christ crucified.
Be true to yourself and Christ.
Spaniard VIII:
These series are for exposure, to show people what is in the heart of atheists.
Spaniard VIII says that he KNOWS what’s in the “heart” of atheists. First, what evidence does he have for his claim that atheists have “hearts?” Second, how does he KNOW what’s in the hearts of unbelievers? Third, why does he make no attempt to see atheists as they are, and not as the caricature he has built up in his mind? Fourth, does he really believe that atheists are vile, evil people, filled with Satan; that we are empty of love, kindness, and decency?
While I pointedly address Spaniard VIII’s errant beliefs, I have no doubt that he is a good husband and father. I know numerous Christians who are decent people, despite holding beliefs I consider irrational. Can he not see that I am more than an atheist; that I am a loving and kind husband (of 42 years), father, and grandfather; that I love my neighbors as myself and go out of my way to not cause harm to anyone — mosquitoes and flies excepted? Spiders, for example, co-inhabit with the Gerencsers. It is not uncommon for us to be watching TV and see a spider rappelling down from the ceiling. And then there was the mouse who entertained us a few years ago. We’d be watching TV and out he would pop, running across the top of the entertainment center, sometimes stopping to say, “how ya doing, folks?” My grandchildren have heard Grandpa’s lecture numerous times about not stepping on ants, pulling the wings off of insects, etc. I have a deep love and admiration for all living things. This is the kind of man I am, but unfortunately, all Spaniard VIII sees is a man he thinks is vile and wicked; a man condemned by his God and his peculiar interpretation of the Bible. Not to toot my own horn — oh, hell I am going to do it — Spaniard VIII is missing out on knowing (and understanding) a good man; he’s missing out on knowing people who may be unbelievers, but are some of those most loving, humane, and sympathetic people I know.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
According to the CHARISMA website, Jeremiah Johnson is a prophetic minister. In other words, God talks directly to Johnson. Johnson is an elder at Heart of the Father Ministry in Lakeland, Florida.
These two posts have been read thousands and thousands of times. While I think it is hysterical that Johnson is thought of as a “prophet,” it is evident, based on the traffic numbers for these two posts, that Evangelicals are paying attention to Johnson’s verbal flatulence.
Last Saturday, Johnson weighed in on the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Here’s the text of “Prophet” Johnson’s “official response to the death of R.B.G.
“Parts of the American Church have become so lukewarm that they would have tried to comfort Jezebel on a sickbed that GOD himself threw her on! (Rev 2:22) They would have highlighted her accomplishments over the years and found the good in her. They would have found ways to celebrate Hitler and King Herod- all in the name of false justice and an unbiblical definition of love.
Folks, I’m going to keep sounding the alarm as long as I have breathe in my lungs… Too many American Christians have created a god made in their own image and not the God of the Bible. And for all those living under delusional “New Covenant” false grace that prevents God’s justice and wrath from being active, please look over these Scriptures.
John 3:36 The wrath of God is currently and continually abiding upon all those who reject Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Acts 5:1-16 Ananias and Sapphira (believers) are struck down dead for lying to the Holy Spirit.
Acts 12:20-24 King Herod is struck dead by an angel of the Lord for not giving God glory.
Acts 13:8-11 Elymas the magician is struck blind “by the hand of the Lord” for being a fraud and son of the devil.
Romans 1:18-24 The wrath of God is revealed toward humanity by allowing them to reap what they sow. “Therefore God gave them over”.
1 Cor 5:1-13 The immoral brother is judged and handed over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh.
1 Cor 11:27-34 Believers are judged and become sick, some even die, for not judging themselves before partaking of the Lord’s supper.
Hymenaeus and Alexander were delivered to Satan for Blasphemy 1 Timothy 1:20
Jezebel is thrown on a bed or violent sickness and those who commit adultery with her into terrible suffering, unless they repent of her deeds. Furthermore, I [Jesus] will strike her followers with a deadly disease, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will repay each one of you what your deeds deserve.” (Rev 2:22 NET)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg ruled repeatedly on the side of infanticide, partial-birth infanticide, homosexual ‘marriage’ (and officiated homosexual ‘weddings’), against religious liberties, and saw to it that the Supreme Court stopped dating their documents ‘In the Year of our Lord.’
Ginsburg has now discovered that there is a court higher than the one called ‘Supreme’ and she does not sit in the seat of the judge, but as the defendant.
She will answer to a holy God who remembers every ounce of bloodshed she is responsible for and every act of abomination she approved of. The justice of God knows no delay, and the law of God knows no limits.”
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).”
“…when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy” (Proverbs 11:10)
God will repay her according to the deeds she has done!
— Jeremiah Johnson
I have seen similar sentiments on social media in recent days. Evangelicals love it when well-known unbelievers/atheists die. This gives them an opportunity to pass judgment on their lives and consign them to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. While Johnson lets his mythical God and errant, fallible Bible do the talking, make no mistake about it, he thinks Justice Ginsburg is presently being tormented by God in Hell. According to Johnson — err, I mean God — Ginsburg was a vile, evil person who was an enemy of True Christianity®. Instead of seeing her as a defender of the First Amendment, Johnson sees Justice Ginsburg as a threat to attempts to promote Christian nationalism (and she was).
As is always the case with Evangelical zealots, the important issues of our day are banning abortion and make it illegal, and turning back attempts to give LGBTQ people equal rights and protections under the law. I have no doubt that Johnson, a resolute Bible thumper, believes abortion and homosexual are capital crimes worthy of death.
Johnson’s latest screed is yet another example of why Evangelical Christianity is the most hated religion in America, right up there with Islamic suicide bombers.
There are days when I don’t want to publicize stories such as this one, but we must not let zealots such as Johnson hide behind the safety of their church and social media. Vile words such as Johnson’s must be dragged into the light for all to see. By exposing them, we are helping to push back attempts to turn the United States into an Evangelical Christian theocracy.
On a side note, Fundamentalist pastor J.D. Hall claims that Johnson stole his “prophecy” from an imprecatory message posted by him 12 hours earlier. Let the preacher war begin.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
What follows is a poem by Brian. Raised in a Fundamentalist Christian home, Brian attended countless church services, heard countless sermons, and saw and participated in countless altar calls. My experiences are similar, except I was the one giving the altar calls. (Please see Walking the Aisle — A Few Thoughts on Altar Calls.)
Just As I Am
Ten-year-olds a dozen of us lined up at the front of the church because the world might just end today and we have all sinned Romans 3, verse 23 our fisted, hounded hearts and the preacher offering one last chance. Streets paved with gold stream liquid through amber stained-glass windows. Some of us softly weep awful doubt in ourselves our Baptist Jesus and the preacher walking our line and shaking hands as if we were grownup and big enough to deal with being caught between heaven and hell on a Sunday morning and our walking right into the arms of it idiot-faced crying along with the music.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The Sounds of Fundamentalism is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section. Let’s have some fun!
Today’s Sound of Fundamentalism is a video clip of Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Texas, explaining how it is impossible to be an atheist. This video contains a rebuttal of Morris’ ignorant claims by Hement Mehta, the Friendly Atheist.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.
Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is Inside the Fire by Disturbed.
Hahahaha Ohh Devin, won’t go to heaven She’s just another lost soul about to be mine again Leave her, we will receive her
It is beyond your control, will you ever meet again? Devin, no longer living Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child She was taken and then forsaken
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again Devin lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal Give your soul to me for eternity Release your life to begin another time with her End your grief with me, there’s another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her Sever, now and forever You’re just another lost soul about to be mine again See her? you’ll never free her
You must surrender it all if you’d like to meet again Fire, all you desire As she begins to turn cold and run out of time You will shiver, ’til you deliver
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again Devin lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal Give your soul to me for eternity Release your life to begin another time with her End your grief with me, there’s another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her Give your soul to me for eternity Release your life to begin another time with her End your grief with me, there’s another way Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her Ooh Devin, no longer living Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child She was taken and then forsaken You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
This is the latest installment in The Voices of Atheism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. Know of a good video that espouses atheism/agnosticism or challenges the claims of the Abrahamic religions? Please email me the name of the video or a link to it. I believe this series will be an excellent addition to The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser.
Thank you in advance for your help.
What follows is a video excerpt from a debate between Sam Harris and Evangelical apologist William Lane Craig.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I got to thinking about being slaves of Christ. A believer’s true position in Christ has been diluted by the Bible translators’ choice of the word servant and bond-servant for the Greek word doulos. That word has consistently been translated as servant, when it really means slave. Doesn’t that change the flavor of service to the Lord? Being a servant indicates that we can and do serve Him at our own will and pleasure, and slave means we submit our will to an alien will and then the matter is out of our hands.
The Bible is clear in its description that believers are slaves, not servants. In every case where the word doulos is used it means slave, and the New Testament uses it 130 times. We are not servants of Christ, we’re his slaves.
….
I am reading the Bible through and I notice that a well-known phenomenon that will happen at the end of days also happened from the beginning. In the end, Revelation tells us the antichrist will place a mark on the hand or forehead of all who worship him. (Revelation 13:15-17). The mark allows people to buy and sell, but its reason for being is not the economy, it is a mark of allegiance and worship of the beast. That the mark allows a person to also participate in the economy is a by-product of its placement on the person.
Jesus also sends an angel to place a mark on the forehead of His 144,000 who evangelize the world. (Revelation 7:3-4).
Who brands his slaves? The master. Who puts a mark of ownership on his slaves? The master. Jesus is the ultimate Master and we are His ultimate slaves. That He puts a mark on us should not be surprising.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Polly and Bruce Gerencser, Our Father’s House, West Unity, Ohio Circa 2000
Years ago, I wrote the following post for the Ex-Pastors website. I thought readers of this blog might find it interesting, so I am re-posting it here. Recently, I noticed that an Evangelical writer quoted this article several times in his book. I wonder if he knew I was now an atheist? Regardless of my “relationship” with God, what follows is still good advice for men and women who desire to serve God and man in the ministry.
Young preachers begin the ministry with a lot of fervor and idealism. They go to their first church believing they are going to make a difference, that they are going to be able to do what others before them have not done.
For a time it may seem that they are succeeding in changing the church, but then the honeymoon period ends and the preacher realizes that being a pastor is not what they thought it would be. Sometimes this is so devastating to the young preacher that they leave the ministry. The number of one-and-done pastors is quite high. Being a pastor over a long period of time requires a preacher to lose their idealism and forces them to temper their fervor.
Why?
There are several things that every young preacher must understand about every church:
People are people.
There is a power base in every church.
Problems in the church are rarely exposed to prospective pastors.
Moderate, incremental change is difficult. Dramatic, instant change is almost always impossible (because people are people and the power base will resist any change that robs them of their power).
Here are a few suggestions that I hope will be a help to every young preacher that reads this post:
1. Don’t confuse your self-identity with the church. Far too many pastors allow themselves to be swallowed up by the church, losing their self-identity in the process.
2. Don’t sacrifice your children or spouse for the sake of the church. Trust me, twenty-five years later, the church will have long since forgotten you and your sacrifice will mean little.
3. Choose which battles are worth fighting. Not every hill is worth dying on, and not every challenge to your authority or leadership is worthy of a fight. Remember, the church is not your church. You, along with people who likely have been there for many years, are simply caretakers of the church.
4. Be willing to say, I don’t know. I realize this puts you at great risk of being unemployed (since church members crave certainty) but speaking with certainty when you know there is none is lying and dishonest.
5. Be aware of the traps that can destroy your ministry, especially the big two – money and women (and men). Never touch the money and never allow yourself to be put in a position where moral compromise is possible.
6. Insist that the church pays you well. Don’t be a full-time worker for part-time pay. It is okay to pastor churches that cannot pay you a living wage, but the church must understand that you have an obligation to your family and you must work a job outside the church to properly provide for them.
7. Make sure there is an annual pay review procedure in place. You should not have to beg for a raise. Make sure you have an employment contract where the job requirements, pay level, benefits, pay review period, and termination procedure is clearly laid out. If a church is unwilling to put all of this in writing, what does that tell you?
8. If at all possible, own your own home. Someday you will not be a pastor. Someday you will be old and retired. Then what? Where will you live? Churches can rent out the parsonage and provide you with a housing allowance. Remember, most of the church members are building equity in their homes and you should be able to do the same.
9. Insist that the church pays into a 401K that you own. Do not let anyone convince you to opt out of Social Security. It may “sound” okay now, but when you are old you will regret it. What happens if you are disabled and have not paid into Social Security? You are out of luck, and God isn’t going to pay your mortgage.
10. Make sure that all sacrifice is shared. Remember it is not your church and it is not you alone who is responsible for “saving” the church from whatever crisis it faces.
11. Don’t use your wife and children as gophers and fill-ins every time something needs to be done at the church. Insist that church members take ownership of the church and do the work necessary to maintain the church and do what is required to keep the church functioning.
12. Don’t be in a hurry to find a church to pastor. A lot of churches that are looking for pastors don’t deserve one. They have chewed up and spit out the last five preachers before you and, trust me, they will do the same to you. Let them die.
13. If a community already has X number of churches, don’t delude yourself with thinking that if you started a new, exciting church it would be different than all the rest. It won’t. People are people and churches are pretty much all the same. Don’t flatter yourself.
14. Focus on people that need help. Focus on the least of these. By all means, offer them Jesus, but do not neglect their physical needs. The greatest difference you can make in a person’s life is to help them when they are suffering. Above all, be their friend.
15. Visit regularly the homes of the people you pastor. Get to know them. Allow them to be honest with you and ask you whatever questions they want. Eat their food, take them out to eat, and pay the bill. Don’t smother them, but don’t neglect them either.
16. Don’t get sucked into buildings and programs that the church does not need. Rather than building a fancy new building, complete with a gymnasium, think about maximizing what you have so more money can be given to the poor. If church members want to play basketball or do Pilates, they can go to the Y.
17. Do everything you can to integrate the youth into the church. They should be stakeholders. After all, they are the future of the church. This does not mean that you must become one of them. There is nothing more embarrassing than a pastor who tries to act like a teenager. Grow up and be a good example.
18. Work hard and be honest. Don’t be the kind of preacher that gives all preachers a bad name. Just because you are the pastor of a church doesn’t mean you are entitled to special treatment. Don’t ask for discounts and don’t expect people to favor you just because you pastor X church on Main St.
19. Don’t tell anyone you are a preacher. Don’t self-promote. Don’t insist people call you Reverend or pastor. Be an authentic human being, complete with faults and frailties. Don’t be afraid to admit to the church that you are a failure, that you are no better than anyone else.
20. Don’t let people put you on a pedestal. Trust me, falls off the pedestal are nasty.
21. Above all, understand that life is more, far more than the ministry. Stop and take time to enjoy life, to enjoy the world you say your God created.
The advice I give here flows out of a lifetime in the Christian church and 25 years in the pastorate. I hope some young preacher might find what I have written above helpful.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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