An Apology To the Community
We recognize the fact that during different times our church has been one that has caused harm to many in our community. We have excluded people for various reasons demographic, identity, sexual reasons, relationship reasons, status, and more. We have done things in the past that are considered to be religious abuse (scaring people into submitting to God, punishing, and marginalizing various people groups). If you have ever experienced harm/trauma from our church, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies and the pastor would love to meet with you to see if there is anything we can do to make amends.
It is one thing to acknowledge harm, it is another thing entirely to change in a way that stops harm from being caused again and transforms a church into what God intends it to be: Something like God's hospital. It would make no sense for a surgeon to worsen the injuries of their patients. It also makes no sense to traumatize those whom are already full of trauma and pain seeking help and healing from God. It is our job to welcome you into God's loving and healing hands no matter who you are and what you have done!
With love it is our wish that this apology is received well, and that it is helpful to those who have been hurt by who we used to be. We also hope that you are willing to attend a service to see how much we have changed for the better.