A pastor for decades, he stood before a few dozen congregants. He knew them all, their histories, struggles and joys. But he couldn't go on as before.
He could no longer hide his repulsion for the man he considered incompatible with Christianity. He quit
msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
He could no longer hide his repulsion for the man he considered incompatible with Christianity. He quit
msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
“I am to follow the call of my heart to speak into the world as small as my voice may be,” said the lifelong Republican. It was a voice, he said, that was too controversial, too divisive, for this small house of God. He gave his two weeks' notice & quit East Saugatuck Church.
He became front-page news in the 10,000-circulation local paper. His FSB page, long inactive, flooded with comments from strangers labeling him a “baby killer,” “heretic,” and a man who was “more worried about the social gospel than the real gospel.
” Websites covering his denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, suddenly were plastered with the name of a rural pastor who until then was little known outside of his flock.
He received emails of support from some seminarians and ministers calling him “courageous” for speaking the words they couldn’t.
The pastor, long filled by his faith yet fearful of sharing his beliefs as the nation was at a crossroads, felt a freedom like never before, the nervous excitement of a new path taken, and the doubt of man who wondered if he could make any difference.
But unburdening oneself comes at a cost. After he left church that Sunday a month ago, he stuck a blue "Biden-Harris" sign in his yard. It was a small act of defiance, but it was who he was.
He went inside, slumped on the couch, and held back tears.
He went inside, slumped on the couch, and held back tears.
In a sermon on "Christian unity," he told the church he knew most were Republicans who supported the president.
Democrats, Mannes said, were "brothers and sisters in Christ, too, as Christ is bigger than us, and bigger than party."
Democrats, Mannes said, were "brothers and sisters in Christ, too, as Christ is bigger than us, and bigger than party."
A couple quit church via text message, upset that a pastor believed a Christian could be a Democrat.
Mannes thinks of the church in America that has aligned itself with the president.
"I pray that it will separate itself from Donald Trump," he said. "I pray that the scales will fall from its eyes."
"I pray that it will separate itself from Donald Trump," he said. "I pray that the scales will fall from its eyes."
Full Article: The pastor thought Trump was 'evil.'
So he quit his conservative church
msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
So he quit his conservative church
msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
Trump is launching rockets every day. Meanwhile, one of his main bases of support comes from Christians. Why do the 81% so easily dismiss, minimize, and side-step the many evils of this man?
Why do they attend Trump’s bombastic rallies? How did the Rambo-Trump flag-flyer, and the church with him, get so mean?
I ask too...
I ask too...
“There’s a quote from Martin Luther King,
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state,’” Mannes said.
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state,’” Mannes said.
‘“That just hit me hard because I think, broadly, the white evangelical community in our country has abandoned that role.
“I would just implore anybody who claims Christ to just look very seriously at the core things Jesus called us to do and be,” he said.
“Do some serious soul searching about who you’re serving and how you’re trying to accomplish that purpose in the world.”
“Do some serious soul searching about who you’re serving and how you’re trying to accomplish that purpose in the world.”
He calls on his fellow Christians to be the conscience of the president, whoever it is, and force them to be better than the division that has become common.
“We’re supposed to be the conscience of the president and we have refused to do that,” Mannes said.
He called Trump’s photo holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Church in Washington in June, following the use of tear gas and riot control to clear protesters from the area, a “tremendous violation of something deep and holy,” and said it was a key moment in his views.
“It just floors me how church-going people who read the Bible & sing the hymns can show up at a (Trump) rally and just do that deep bellow like an angry mob supporting these horrible things that come out of his heart and his mind.
It just began to trouble me so much that I am a pastor in this big enterprise.”
As the tension in his heart and the world around him continued to grow, Mannes said his feelings began to show in his sermons, causing discomfort for some parishioners.
Trying to keep his thoughts internalized became more and more difficult as time went on.
Trying to keep his thoughts internalized became more and more difficult as time went on.
“What it was really doing was tearing me up,” he said. “I’ve had to be very careful to not speak about these things directly with members of the church.
Unburdening oneself comes with a cost:
There goes early retirement. My pension. My friends," said Mannes, who had spent nearly 30 years pastoring churches across Michigan and Florida.
msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
There goes early retirement. My pension. My friends," said Mannes, who had spent nearly 30 years pastoring churches across Michigan and Florida.
msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
“I don’t know that a church who believes in Jesus as we do, can abandon its conscience and not say, ‘Mr. President we’re calling you to better than that and you need to call our nation to better than that.’”
A few weeks prior to his last sermon, Mannes spoke with a member of the church, who asked him to reconsider his decision. The person asked him about his plans once he walked away, with no guarantee that the issue will even persist after Election Day.
hollandsentinel.com/news/20201018/…
hollandsentinel.com/news/20201018/…
“He said, ‘What are you going to do? What are you going to have?’” Mannes recalled. “Well, at least my conscience.”
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