If You’re Thinking About Leaving a Church

Before You Decide to Leave

1. Pray.
2. Let your current pastor know about your thinking before you move to
another church or make your decision to relocate to another city. Ask
for his counsel.
3. Weigh your motives. Is your desire to leave because of sinful, personal
conflict or disappointment? If it’s because of doctrinal reasons, are
these doctrinal issues significant?
4. Do everything within your power to reconcile any broken relationships.
5. Be sure to consider all the “evidences of grace” you’ve seen in the
church’s life—places where God’s work is evident. If you cannot see any
evidences of God’s grace, you might want to examine your own heart
once more (Matt. 7:3–5).
6. Be humble. Recognize you don’t have all the facts and assess people and
circumstances charitably (give them the benefit of the doubt).

If You Go

1. Don’t divide the body.
2. Take the utmost care not to sow discontent even among your closest
friends. Remember, you don’t want anything to hinder their growth in
grace in this church. Deny any desire to gossip (sometimes referred to
as “venting” or “saying how you feel”).
3. Pray for and bless the congregation and its leadership. Look for ways
of doing this practically.
4. If there has been hurt, then forgive—even as you have been forgiven.

From Mark Dever, What Is a Healthy Church? Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007. page 57.
(HT: New Attitude)