A social club not trying to reach out to the community. I live one mile from the church and asked if anyone could give my son a ride to church so that he could be involved with other ""Christian"" youth. I first called the youth pastor and didn't receive a call back for 2 weeks. He informed me that they don't do anything like that. I then called the main pastor, Chip Heim and explained my situation. I told him that I am a single mom that wanted my 13 year old son to be able to attend church on Wednesday night. I don't have a way to get him there because of work and wondered if anyone could pick him up on their way to church. Pastor Heim then informed me that they didn't want to do anything like that because of liability. I offered to sign a waiver releasing them from any damages or harm my son may encounter during the 1 mile ride to church. He told me to find a friend or some other way, insisting on the liability issue the church would have to deal with. I know for a fact that the youth at that church do many things that would be much more dangerous than driving to church. Last summer the kids where going up and down our busy street on a scavenger hunt. They went to the doors of many strangers asking for things and posing for pictures with them. There wasn't a single adult supervisor in the area. The youth group does many things that require waivers to be signed, but my son can't get a ride to church because of liability??? Pastor Heim would prefer that my son walks on a busy street at night. . . alone, or just not go to church at all. Church is not supposed to be a social club attended only by those who can find a way to get there. There are many people who do not have the ideal 2 family home or have transportation. Maybe they just don't want to infiltrate their church with people like us. If they truly believed that GOD would take care of all their needs, they wouldn't worry about the liability of picking up a child and giving him a ride to church. Isn't there something in the Bible about ""suffer the children to come unto me?"" At Eastside Grace Brethren, that's only if the child can find a way to get there. Jesus encountered so many people that wished to cause Him harm for almost everything He did. If Jesus worried about ""liability,"" He would have done nothing. Instead, Jesus risked and gave His life for all.
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