"I left the church for multiple reasons. I was dating Terri Wolven at the time. She was an awesome lady who had been blinded due to a combination of multiple sclerosis and diabetes. She was a single mother of two and heard a noise at night. She got up and fell – breaking her left arm and her back. She was able to get to the phone and dial 911. The x-rays led to the fact that she also had cancer.
"That woman
maintained the best attitude through those horrible circumstances. What
made it intolerable was how Grace handled her. She kept calling out
for help and got NOTHING! A few ladies stepped up to the plate and
would bring her food. That was Cheryl Guacci, Cindy Judd and Charlotte
Klein (who really came to the rescue. I’ll explain that later). It was
when she received a letter from [Jesus Eyes] (don’t get me started on
him). He sent Terri a letter bluntly telling her to stop harassing
them. If I hadn’t seen the letter myself, I would not have believed
it. It was shocking. I went to [JE] and asked him, 'Where is the love
and the care and concern in this church?' I remember saying
something like, 'This church has been here since 1913, and you would
think reaching out to our own in need would be a well-oiled machine by
now.' Maybe I blocked the memory from my brain but I honestly don’t
remember what [JE] said in reply. It was shocking!
"I
had to be at work most of the time so Charlotte stopped by every day to
help her! Wow! She would do grocery shopping, help her cook and clean
and read her mail for her. Her and Mark were amazing. Terri’s cancer
got the better of her. Get this, Mark and Charlotte had moved to
Montana and they took Terri back to Montana to live with them. It’s in
Montana she died. Not one staff member was at her memorial service.
There were only about 8 of us there. I think about her all the time.
"Why
did Grace treat her with such disdain? I think it’s because she
confronted the staff about the lack of Spiritual teaching in the youth
department. Both her kids were in junior high and the church was having
a community outreach to all the kids in the neighborhood. Terri asked
why there was no Bible lesson or talk and why they didn’t even pray
before a meal. Their response was, 'We don’t want to offend them before
they get in the door.' Uh, doesn’t the Bible teach us the cross is
offensive?
"The
final straw for me was when I attended a Sunday School class Lou was
heading up. I wanted to see where he was taking it. It was a mixed
aged group and people were going around giving their 'testimonies' – if
that’s what you could call them. I remember one lady said something
like this, 'I’m Catholic and I love coming here because I feel so
welcomed. Grace accepts people regardless of what they believe and that
I am still accepted by God, even if I pray to Mary and the Saints.' It
was something like that. I looked to Lou waiting for him to say
something. He said, 'That’s great.' That’s great???? Are you kidding
me?? I went to Lou afterwards and asked him why he didn’t tell her in
grace and love that Jesus is the only way and his reply was, 'We don’t
want to offend them. We can’t help them if they’re not coming here.'
It was something like that. I responded by saying, 'But we also are
obligated to tell them the truth. Mary doesn’t hear her prayers any
more than the Saints.' He shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
"I
could go on and on – I won’t mention the unfriendly, unapproachable
staff he gathered around him. I would try and talk with them. One time
[one of the pastors] literally said to
me, 'I have some people over there I would rather talk to right now.' I
looked at him and said, 'Are you serious?' I couldn’t believe it.
"I
realized, I don’t belong here anymore. My family had attended Grace Brethren Church (then First Brethren Church) at Fifth
and Cherry since 1913. I was born into this church as was my dad. My
great-grandmother attended Fifth and Cherry. What a sad day.
"That’s it in a nutshell and I mean a nutshell. I haven’t been back since 2006."
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