Let’s be plain. It’s the shunning. 

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Yes—the history of ANTM is redolent with all kinds of behavior from the leadership and parishioners, indeed some of it quite objectionable, even “leave”-worthy.

 

Black Sunday (1997) of course, is the most well-known example, a collective determination by 100 members, that certain behaviors were unacceptable and incompatible with continuing community and worship.

There were others.

 

It was right and correct that people, when treated poorly, or confronted with the poor treatment of others, should take steps to move on. The behaviors that led to Black Sunday as well as other more recent examples originated of course, with the now deposed Apostle and his family.

 

So—if he’s gone, and they’re gone, we are good, right? The cabal of former members who “haven’t been able to move on” — well now they can, right? Ding dong, and all that. 

 

It is categorically true that a church freed from the rule of the Jameses has a tremendous chance to move forward and even onto better things. The original excitement and energy brought by the Apostle has long waned. The home church’s membership, much less the satellite churches, has been in a decades-long slump. Clearly a change has been indicated. 

 

So we’re good right? 

We are not good. There are countless churches in varying degrees of health and growth and even treatment of the parishioners by the leadership. It is incumbent on us to review our attendance of these kinds of churches, weigh our concerns, and move on as necessary. What is in the fringe minority, are churches like ANTM where shunning is encouraged and even stipulated. 

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There are dozens upon dozens of broken families in ANTM. These are families where parents do not contact children and children do not fellowship children, all for the sin of leaving the church. This is wrong. This is a bad practice. We will not say it is unscriptural as, clearly, there are as many potential interpretations of scripture as there are readers. It is however directly opposed to the spirit of Jesus as we know and understand him. It is, incidentally, also societally unacceptable, as evidenced by the attention given by secular news sources. 

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It is wrong and it must stop. Only then, with families on the road to healing and finding their collective way—that is, behaving like normal families—can the passion that Former Members have for their own broken families and friendships be truly put to rest.

 

No Jameses? It’s a start. No shunning? On that day, we at ANTM Questions are done. We can be at peace. We can, and will, delete our website and move on. 

 

To be clear, this isn’t a quid pro quo or some kind of offer. Many if not most of us would embrace the opportunity to move on. Without Lakeview and its shunning, to use journalistic terms, there’s no story.

 

The ability to change this is in the hands of the new leadership. They showed initiative and strength by getting the church this far, through the unthinkable. Healing the wounds of shunning is the logical next step, the truest and best way to embrace this new dawn.