Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #25
June 19, 2023
A Concert at the Parkside Community Church in Westwood, NJ
For those of you who are reading this from out of state, Westwood is a few towns north of us here in Bergenfield. Friends of ours from the Reformed Church there invited us to a concert that the church was holding it was a fund raiser for a local anti-bullying program. We knew some church members there as well as one of the singers who regularly sings at worship in that congregation. It was a thrill to hear him and the others sing.
It is a pleasure to see this gentleman in church and to hear that he is singing in church. For a while he had little to do with church. He was hurt by a particular congregation but ultimately landed in My Sanctuary Healing, a program of Hudson River Care and Counseling Center. This program, which I help with, aims to be a catalyst to heal people who have been wounded by all types of abuse from religious congregations.
This gentleman was raised as a Roman Catholic but ultimately became part of a large Pentecostal Church. All his life he wrestled with himself as he was always felt attracted to men instead of women. He always wished that he would be attracted to women. His life would have been easier if that was the case, but it was not within him to have such attractions.
His congregation tolerated all types of “sin” but not this particular “sin.” Affairs and abused were regularly tolerated and in some cases, seemingly, encouraged. Homosexuality, however, was not tolerated. Somehow it was separated and seen as being an especially heinous sin. This one almost seemed to be unforgiveable.
Ultimately he was forced out of the church and shunned. Those who claimed to be his friends distanced themselves from him. These friends feared being shunned by others in the church. This sudden loss of community drove him into depression and self-destructive behaviors. After hitting bottom he began to get healthy once more and started rising from the ashes of his past life.
For the past year, as part of My Sanctuary Healing, it has been a pleasure to watch him heal and I hope that my presence in the group has played a small part of his healing. Now, instead of being church avoidant, he is an active participant and is a great asset to the music program of the congregation. I’m jealous of this congregation. I would love to have this man as part of the choir of the congregation that I serve. He not only serves that congregation but also has a strong social conscience and enthusiastically sang at this concert to benefit the local community.
He loves Jesus, lives a life that is obedient to what Jesus commanded of his disciples, and clearly is full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that congregations need to look at who is full of that fruit and who is obeying Jesus and not be worried about what a person’s orientation is. We hurt ourselves when we act like this toward those who are sprit-filled.
I hope and pray that all Christian congregations will examen themselves. What do we really hold as important, an orientation, or obedience to Jesus and the presence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#HudsonRiverCareandCounselingCenter #MySanctuaryHealing
#ChurchAbuse #ParksideCommunityChurch
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please look at his website:
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