My idea of a church home is a place of belonging and working together for the good of God’s kingdom. I admit that I felt a little lost in going into a membership of about 2,000, but I found acceptance and ministry in the choir, and I found close relationship in a small group. I melded into the congregation, feeling a part of a bigger cause. I did my part through the support group ministries and adding to worship through the choir. FCCF was my church home for over ten years. It broke my heart to see the conviction of a former youth pastor; and it almost broke my spirit to see my church leadership file lawsuits against some of the current and previous brothers and sisters. In the power play to silence the whistleblowers, the pastor and the elders emptied almost 90% of us from the pews.
“The pews were filled to capacity for at least three services, precipitating the need for a larger sanctuary. So began the expansion project. I was one of the church members who wrote a favorite Scripture verse on one of the support beams and again on the cement steps, prior to the carpet being laid down in the sanctuary. It was like taking ownership of a little piece of the building. I felt like I was part of the process and a member of the family that had overflowed the smaller sanctuary for multiple Sunday services and was now ready to move into the grand worship center, a project for which the church leadership had taken out a mortgage of $8 million.” (Taylor, Joy S., A View from the Pews — The Inside Story of a Broken Church, 2022, Lily of the Valley Publishing, Santa Claus, IN, p. 22.)
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