When I first started attending/working at Life.Church years ago, the mission and the momentum was tangible. The church was reaching people, loving the lost and cared deeply for their staff team. When I look at the state of affairs now, it is not the same church. A few things to be aware of: - In my opinion, there seems to be a culture of spiritual harshness and I would even dare say spiritual and emotional neglect. Certain leaders who created a culture of fear, intimidation and bullying were not only tolerated, but promoted within the organization. If leaders get the results leadership wants to see, they got promoted, regardless of their competency to care for people. I have many, many friends who had to go to therapy and/or leave the organization to find healing. - Results are everything. Results are defined by church attendance. It is all about the numbers. The pace can be crushing, it can cost you spiritual health and marital wellness, but if the numbers are growing then God must be in it! - There seems to be a culture of retaliation at the highest levels. Unwanted feedback will be dealt with harshly. - In my opinion, there is a deep rooted fear of cultural backlash. Rather than stand for biblical truth, controversial topics are often avoided at all costs. - I believe that there are many pastors at locations who have little to no biblical competence, but as long as they have potential to be leaders (influencers) they are seen as more than equipped as Pastors. Biblical literacy was never measured during interviews and was rarely developed while on the team.
