Elizabeth Niederer wrote:
Yay you!

I would have no trouble being around many people from my former church, but there are some that would set me off a lot.

What continues to bother me a lot, though, is what you said in your title. It is indeed as if we never existed. All those people who "loved" us so much, who were our "family," and I have never heard a word from any of them. I've run into a few in various stores and places and it was pleasant/cordial, but NOBODY reached out to me.

Oh wait, I take that back. There were two older ladies from my home group who left me voice mails when we first left. One each. That's it. 19 years there and that's it.
What is it, that makes those people so shallow and uncaring?? 

When my ex-girlfriend and I, and her family used to all go to church together if we didn't show up and hadn't let them know we were not going to be there ahead of time...several people would usually call to make sure we were Okay, starting with the Pastor. If the after-church breakfast happened to be in town here...which it often was...they liked Shoneys when we had one...people might stop by and whoever was able to go would certainly get an invite to breakfast. The Church was 45 minutes away, Shoneys was about a quarter of a mile. When we didn't make it like that it was often because my girlfriend's dad or mom was not feeling well, and sometimes when that happened we'd go to the evening service instead if they were up to it.

When the transmission blew on the car on the way home from Church, literally on the US-10 overpass and we were stranded half an hour from home...the Pastor was driving by a few minutes later in his old truck and offered to give me a ride home so I could go get our other vehicle and come back to pick everyone up.

That group of Pentes...something seems to be missing there.

What is the average Pente church? Is it a community or just a "Crack house for Jesus" where a bunch of people all go to get high on God every Sunday?? This lack of caring for others...it seems pretty common based on what I've experienced and heard concerning Pentes.

Integrity above all
Service before self
Excellence in all we do


~United States Air Force core values.


Blackdog, Administrative Schnauzer