has there been an apology?

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I am curious, has anyone recieved an apology for the way they were treated while at a GCM church?

[Ames '73]

No but I have received many promises from GEICO that they can lower my car insurance.

[unsubscribed]

:lol: So easy even a caveman can do it!

[puff of purple smoke]

I've heard near-apologies that don't really mean anything. "I'm sorry if you were offended" sorts of things. But no, it was like banging my head against a wall to get people to admit they'd done anything wrong. If I pressed anyone hard enough I'd eventually get the response, "Well, why don't you talk to Pastor X and he'll explain why he counseled me to do that." So every mistake someone made was excusable because they did it on counsel from a leader, therefore in God's eyes they were in the right, no matter how wrong they were.

[exshep]

I am curious, has anyone recieved an apology for the way they were treated while at a GCM church?

Actually I did from the pastor at the church I was a member in Texas.  He really appreciated my courage to join after the loss of a member and give the church a second chance.  The church was nominally involved with GCM and stay away from the historic shepherding milieu.  It is definitely an exception.

[sistanchrist]

One of the pastors who knew why I had left made an attempt at apologizing only so as to try to get me to come back.  His attempt fell along the lines of this idea that we didn't support you perusing has turned out really great, would you come back and will support you in other projects.  There was no recognition of why I had left, or that there was any hurt, or wrong doing.  I know that this pastor knew the details of why I left as I had meet with him before I left and he was the direct coach of my small group leaders.  For my old church, they are able to find any number of ways to make me the offending party as I was in conflict with my small group leader who took my leaving as a personal insult instead of the simplicity of my disagreement with the church.  As she is hurt, I am cast as the offending party to the whole church.

 I wonder if this is not a symptom of the bigger problem, the "convictions"/doctrine that is taught is accepted at such a personal level by the members that an insult or question to this teaching is seen as an insult to the person. It scares me to look back at how much I did that when I was in the church.  I am the first to admit that I readily internalized the ideas and values that were taught by GC and made them "attributes" of me.  Maybe this should be another thread, but has anyone else seen this pattern of the ideas of GC becoming the person or rather well guarded attributes of the person?

[namaste]

My husband and I never received an apology, but we *did* receive a phone call recently from the wife of the pastor of the church we were at.

drumroll....

She wanted us to buy life insurance.

No.  I'm really not kidding.  Even a few years later, they still only call when they need us to do something for them.  :roll:

[The Clone]

no never an apology from GC.

You'll get flying monkeys first