The Dropouts!
Hello. I came across this clip on Youtube today and thought you might be interested to see what it is all about. It is really just a taster of the views of people in the USA who have left the structured church. Apparently, the figure reaches to about 13 million.
This clip is an advert for a series of videos already released. We met David Fredrickson [Family Room Media] in Ireland last year and he has a real heart to communicate with the wider Church. You might want to visit their website which I have now added to our links. Have a look at these videos for yourself. The Dropouts!
There is much conversation about living ‘out of the box’ or outside of organized church. Many have come out after being hurt and frustrated. Others have felt the Lord’s call to come out. But let us PLEASE remember that there are precious brothers and sisters within that system. It is not ‘them’ and ‘us’ That is not Father’s intention. We may differ in our understanding of Church life but it should not be a reason to separate us. We will share more on this another time.
We would really appreciate hearing from you about your own journey and your views on this clip. Here is the clip… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTcG3lH7VX8]
I remember when I left South Africa 12 years ago with my family, saying goodbye to a sick mother, very close friends and my only brother and loosening nearly 35 years of ties, deep ties. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done but I knew that I had to do it. It wasn’t that where I was, was bad,it was just not the best place for me to stay. Our future as a family was going to be restricted and thefore the future prospects of a growing family would also be restricted. People reacted in different ways, some hurt to say goodbye,some were perplexed as to why we were leaving and others were angry and even abusive in their comments. With the exception of a few, no one could see our reasons or even believed they were valid but we knew in our hearts that it was time to seek a new life in a new place. A close friend said this, “its (the country) not perfect but its all we have”. I on the other hand didn’t believe that South Africa was all there was and that there was another life worth pursuing outside the boundrie of my motherland. Deciding to leave the confines of organised denominational practice has stimulated a similar reaction from our family,friends, Bible College tutors alike. Somehow, because we do not attend regular meetings or bible studies, it is assumed that we have “dropped out”and on the road to a formal apostacy. Its as thought our critics think that meeting all the obligations of formal organised religious paradigms and ticking the denominational boxes is what is required in order to validate our faith in Jesus. Now, twelve years after leaving our home in SA, I am still convinced that it was the best move. After a number of years walking free of organised church boundries my Christian experience is not changed nor has the unshakable faith we have in Jesus faded. I am happy to be called a “drop-out” if it means that I am living and experiencing my daily walk with God with a greater sence of freedom, joy and presence.
Hi There
My husband and I came out of church about 3 years ago, then through pressure went back only to come out again.
We moved house some 30 miles away from where we were, but although we found and got in touch with some ‘out of the box’ believers on the internet, we never really found any or even knew where to look for other believers that thought like us.
After we moved, we had a death in the family at Christmas, and my husband became ill, we were now even more isolated. The contact we actually had was an out of the box believer and his wife, however his views were far too strong for us, often pulling down Christian ministries and calling them Anti Christ. Although we liked them, we could not stand this sort of stuff.
So we started going to a healing Centre, and then a house church, but the house church in many ways the same as the church we had come out of, 5 leaders to 14 people, and 5 of those were children.
Recently we have started going to another place, it looks upon itself as more of a community. Its too early to tell what where we really think they are at.
We thought of starting up on our own but my husband being ill prevented this.
We only ended up feeling, very isolated, and alone, desperate for company of Christians, but found none.
I do and we do still feel like many of those who have come out though