Previous church group member out of jail with possible bad intentions...

[Ace_on_the_Turn]

She said he came by at 8 am and demanded to speak to pastor right then. She said he couldn't because pastor was in a staff meeting. He got irate and said pastor better see him now or they would regret it. He finally did leave and never came back.

Your story hit home with me. My brother is bipolar and I've, much too often, had to deal with erratic behavior. What's sad to me, is that a pastor would be too busy with a meeting, a meeting!, to meet with a member in crisis.

WWJD:

"My son, I see you're suffering, let's talk"

"Sorry, you're not on my calendar this morning. Come back at the appointed time"

I know, the pastor most likely never even knew he was there, which really is just as sad.

 

[cooljeff]

Your story hit home with me. My brother is bipolar and I've, much too often, had to deal with erratic behavior. What's sad to me, is that a pastor would be too busy with a meeting, a meeting!, to meet with a member in crisis.

WWJD:

"My son, I see you're suffering, let's talk"

"Sorry, you're not on my calendar this morning. Come back at the appointed time"

I know, the pastor most likely never even knew he was there, which really is just as sad.

Yeah. That scripture and the point you make is a double edged sword though. You are correct Jesus always wants us to help our brothers and sisters in need and in love which is why I let him spend the night, but I never went to sleep so I could keep an eye on him. As far as pastor not knowing he was there, I agree also it's sad. However I can understand why they do this. If pastor always saw every person (church member or not) every time they came the church and said they had to visit with him right then! I imagine he would never get anything done such as meeting with staff, addressing safety concerns, discussing current and new projects, preparing sermons, etc. Like I said, it is a double edged sword.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[tRidiot]

So many places these days treat the church like a corporation. I'm just saying sometimes the people get forgotten... some need more attention than others - but, that being said, some can overuse/overdo the situation, as well.

Sounds to me like this guy could have some latent undiagnosed mental illness and/or new onset of the same. Definitely needs some help, but unfortunately, many in this scenario won't accept help even if it is available (and many times it is not) and end up going down the wrong (criminal) road and eventually incarcerated longterm.

 

[Chuckie]

" . . . my garage door was open. I'm not sure how that happened since we are always very careful to close it when we get in the garage."

If you have an electric garage door opener, another thing you might want to do is to check and see if you can change the programming for the remotes and base unit (door opener) that is typically set to 'factory default'. If it is set to 'factory default' then usually an 'additional' remote can be purchased and used by anyone to open a garage door. Check with the manufacturer to see if alternative programming is available.

 

[rlongnt]

“According to his sister and mother he has never had any mental illness and never took medication for anything related to it.” His words and actions have shown you quite clearly he has some form of mental illness. NEVER make excuses for what may initially appear to only be someone’s situational depression. This goes way further back, it always does this just exposed it. I’ll be the first to admit I have zero tolerance for this kind of thing probably to a fault; as a father I don’t have the right to allow it anywhere near my kiddos. I wish I knew far less about this subject and the damage disordered people can inflict. Praying for you. Go with your gut, it’s always right.

 

[D. Hargrove]

THIS ^^^^^^^^ is spot on IMHO!!

 

[Annie]

I gotta agree completely with @rlongnt ... You do what's necessary to protect you and yours.

 

[mugsy]

Your story hit home with me. My brother is bipolar and I've, much too often, had to deal with erratic behavior. What's sad to me, is that a pastor would be too busy with a meeting, a meeting!, to meet with a member in crisis.

WWJD:

"My son, I see you're suffering, let's talk"

"Sorry, you're not on my calendar this morning. Come back at the appointed time"

I know, the pastor most likely never even knew he was there, which really is just as sad.

One of the first acts (documented in Acts) of the early Church was to create a new office, that of deacon, because the demands of charity toward widows and orphans were growing so great that it was impossible for the Apostles to meet them without neglecting their liturgical and prayer duties - something the Apostles found unacceptable. I sympathize with your feelings, I have a close relative alcoholic who as time went by made increasing demands on friends/family/Church as her behavior become more erratic, but don't be too quick to judge the pastor, as you say he may not even have known until it was all over.