the church is beautiful
I understand very well that the church has absolutely destroyed some people out there. (Well people acting in the name of “the church” but let’s not get hung up on details...)
I get it. I’m floored by some of the stories of people who still go to church after what the church has done to them. I tell them frequently: I can’t believe you’re here. I honestly can’t.
But here’s the thing. Many of us have also been absolutely destroyed by a boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, wife, husband, boss, co-worker, stranger, cashier, friend... you get the idea. By a human being.
And we still believe there are some good humans and we seek them. (If we’re in a good place, we still believe the person that hurt us is a good person and there are reasons they hurt us that we hope we can better understand, they can better understand, and we can all heal.)
I encourage you to keep looking. There are some beautiful, astounding, majestic, generous, inspiring, creative, thoughtful, human beings who make the churches they attend much the same.