A new church starts in your city. It seems to be everything a church should be. The lead pastor is full of 'can do'. He has an uncanny ability to relate to young people, with humour, energy and a feel for contemporary trends.
Soon, his alternative-style services are drawing young people from a wide radius. He launches one innovative initiative after another, each one more audacious than the last and each one more spectacularly successful. The feel is that his church is really the only one to be at; and he is the only one who can run it. 'This is where God is at work', people say.
After quite a long time, worrying reports begin to emerge. Out of the scores of young people devoted to this church, there are favourites. Young women, in particular, are given key roles in the life of the church, roles which somehow require intense and lengthy one-to-one meetings with the pastor. 'But that’s just his way,' people say. 'And it must be ok – look how God is blessing the work.' When, inevitably, the whole sordid story comes out, it is devastating. To those who love to be cynical about Christian things, it provides the perfect excuse. But to those who trusted and followed this pastor as a man of God and the shepherd of their souls, it is deeply damaging. People are left questioning everything they learnt about God, doubting the truth of the Bible, missing their once all-consuming church life and sometimes too scarred to commit to any other Christian community ever again.
