Did somebody get the license plate of that bus?

Wow. Backwards. Wow. Anyway you look at it: WOW!
Yesterday was our last service at the church we've called home for more than 15 years.
When we told our Pastor that we were leaving (reasons and all) we left it for him to decide what the best way for us to go would be. Whatever would make it better for the church. Since we have been pretty active members in our church, we weren't sure if we should just leave without saying goodbye or what. It was his choice.
After some deliberation, he mentioned that he and the Asst. Pastor thought it best if we came back for one more service to say goodbye. That service was yesterday.

I'm not sure what I thought would happen. Really didn't have much of a frame of reference. I figured that near the end of the service he would say something or another and we would come up front and have the church pray for us and say our goodbyes. Simple.
One snag, however. The sermon.

The Asst. Pastor preached yesterday. We've known him for the last few years, since he came to our church to help when our Pastor was diagnosed with cancer and would have to go through radiation treatments and all. It was a good thing he and his wife did coming to our church. His wife and I had worked together for the last year or so in the Kid's Church Sunday School program.

I don't recall all the scripture verses that he used in his sermon....they were in the book of Joel. However, to our ears, the sermon sounded something like: Get ready church, it's gonna be a great year because TODAY is the day the God is getting rid of all the troubles and problems that have PLAGUED THE CHURCH FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS!!!
That's it in a nutshell. He spent twenty minutes telling the church that today was the last day of trouble. God was purging, pruning, burning, getting rid of the junk. The Northern Army was defeated and leaving. Yippee!

Then, when he was done, and people prayed for a few moments, the Pastor got up and told the church we were leaving. (Coincidence? I think not.)
Of course by this time, Kim had left, humiliated and upset.
Like I said, I wasn't sure what to expect, but to be asked to come to church on that day to say farewell, and then to have to listen to a sermon like that was not really on the top ten lists of things that I would have expected to happen.

What makes it even harder is that we had planned (are planning?) to go to the Ypsi church starting next week. However, the Pastor of that church is now a board member of the church we've just left. If we are seen as such a problem, will they want us? Will they see us in the same light? Are we a problem? Who knows.
Another problem is that we had planned on still calling that church our home. We've got so many good friends there, so many good memories. Would we be welcome back there? Can that still be home if we have been "pruned"?

When it all comes down to where the rubber meets the road, it feels like we were made an example yesterday, and I kinda guess we thought we didn't deserve that.

Who knows, maybe it's true. Maybe we have been a problem in the church all these years. All I know is, yesterday hurt. It hurt me and it hurt my wife. It hurt a lot and will probably hurt for a while.

Goodbye Westland...goodbye.

Crud.