Open Letter to those who knew me at Radiant Church

I imagine that at least a few people are wondering why I am leaving. The decision may seem sudden, and in a way it was. But part of me never wanted to settle at Radiant anyway. We had narrowed our search down to three churches: Covenant Life, Radiant, and Relevant. I liked Covenant Life, but my wife voted for Radiant. I'm not sure that she liked Radiant herself, but she felt our daughters liked it. Our younger two daughters are not saved, and my wife felt that any place they liked would be that much better because there was more of a chance they would be saved through that ministry. I didn't agree. I felt we would play a greater role in their salvation than a church, and so we needed to go where we, the parents, would be growing the most. When I started doing production, the girls stopped coming. But that's not the real reason.

I was looking for fellowship. I was looking to connect. We've been moving around for the past 19 years, and the worst part of moving is having to find a church each time. And we've had the worst time here in Tampa. After being here for 9 months, there is not a single person in Tampa that I would call a friend. I can't blame Radiant for that, but Radiant really didn't help either. I joined the production team because I figured that would help. It did, but not as much as I was hoping.

But there's another reason beyond that. I've been a Christian my whole life. I was raised by strong Christian parents, steeped in the Campus Crusade for Christ movement. I feel like there's never been a time when I didn't know the Four Spiritual Laws. I was baptized when I was 7; I am 45 now. I am more than halfway through a Masters in Biblical Interpretation. But lately I have begun questioning the bible, my faith, and the church in a way that I never have before. And the answers that I'm coming up with aren't in keeping with the way I was raised, which was Baptist, followed by Pentecostalism as an adult. Some of the answers line up more with Progressive Christianity. Some of them don't line up anywhere. But my spiritual journey is leading me off the beaten path, and I'm not sure where I'll end up, but I doubt it will be Radiant Church.