Open Letter To This List

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Bro. Avery wrote:
| Greetings in Jesus Name,
| 
| I tried very hard not to write this. Even though my early dream in
| life was to be a writer, I have very little talent for expressing my
| thoughts on paper. 

<snip>
 
| Some time back, I wrote a post to this list entitled "Hurting".  There
| was a reason I picked this title, but then that would be a long story.
| I was not prepared for what happened. I got some kind post, but most
| were really hard. Several people call me a hypocrite and told me that
| I should get off this list. I didn't really understand. A hypocrite is
| somebody who pretends to be something that they are not. I said that I
| was hurting, confused and that I was thinking about going back to the
| Assemblies Of God. 
|
|
<snip>
 I guess the bottom line is DON'T TRY TO TELL ME YOUR TRUTH IF YOU
| CAN'T LOVE ME. I don't say to love any sin I do, but you have to love
| me. 
| 
| One last thing. Some of the people who wrote me kind post were people
| who have been hurt by people "In the Church". Have you hurt someone?
| It is not too late to say I am sorry.  
| 
| Christian Love,
| Floyd E. Avery

Dear Bro. Avery,

I understand exactly what you mean.  My mother was deeply hurt by a church
she went to.  It seems that things she told the pastor in private
counseling (re: marital problems, etc.) managed to get out into the
congregation via the pastor's wife.

Now I'm not saying pastors and their wives shouldn't discuss things (after
all, they are a team), all I'm saying is that the pastor's wife had no
business sharing any details of anyone's life with her circle of friends at
the church--names omitted or not--sometimes it is easy to tell who is
meant.

The rumors and gossip got so bad that my mom left that church for another
one over 20 miles away.  She was never able to feel like she could
completely trust ministry after that, (the one *human* source she should
have been able to depend on the most), and from then on, her relationship
with the church has spiralled down.  She still believes in the doctrine,
but she no longer defends or practices it.


It is sad what can happen when such a beast as gossip enters a
congregation.
(This church was not UPCI, they were independent.)
Anneliese