Welcome to New to the Pew!

Welcome to the pew! Why don't you have a seat and stay a while!

This always-anonymous blog is for those of us who, for whatever reason, either cannot become or can no longer be ministers of the Word of God.

Have you been chased out of the ministry? Do you know about the wolves among the sheep? Did you have a bad internship? Did you go deep into debt to go to seminary, only to find that there are no empty pulpits out there waiting for you? Are you discouraged (or worse) because a career that you had prepared almost a decade for has become unreachable? This blog is for you.

Or maybe it wasn't quite so black and white. Maybe you weren't a victim or weren't only a victim. It's ok. You'll find no judgment here.

We are building this blog because we want you to know that you are not alone. We know that, just as the disciples abandoned Jesus, so too in your hour of greatest need, most likely just about everyone abandoned you. You are not crazy. Your experiences are not unique. There are more of us than you think.

What you will find on this blog is perhaps another soul or two to commiserate with. You may also get some sound career advice or even help finding a job. You'll certainly get a chance to vent and get feedback from people who actually get it.

Perhaps you know a minister, licentiate or whatever who has had to abandon the pulpit. We hope that some of the things we say may convince you of his need for your kindness and understanding.

We have decided that we are not going to sugar coat our experiences, and we would encourage you not to either.

Not only are we withholding the sugar, we are also withholding names. The authors will remain anonymous. Permanently. Please don't take it personally. Please don't attempt to figure out who we are.

We do not wish to destroy reputations on this blog. We wish to protect them. Comments that name names will be deleted as soon as they are discovered. No exceptions will be made.

Please do not use your own name while posting comments. After all, as soon as you mention the church where you ministered for 2 years, that church's ability to minister to someone is put at risk. We love the church - even if it is a bunch of miserable sinners.

Please do not name any specific church, denomination or other organization in anything like a negative way. Feel free to vent about your experiences, but keep it anonymous.

But aren't you protecting the wolves? No, we're protecting the sheep, the bride of Christ for whom Christ died. It is not for us to say who is in Christ and who is not. Go after the wolves by name in a blog and the only casualties will be sheep who get caught in the crossfire. We don't get to say, "Vengeance is mine."

In the interest of openness and honesty, the authors are reformed/presbyterian in their theology, and will always speak from that perspective. At the same time, we are no one's judge. That belongs to Christ alone. Besides, we've seen more than our fair share of the self righteous judgment of man.