Jon Mays could hardly believe his eyes: The pastor of the nation’s largest church was apparently assaulting one of his own employees.
While walking past the glass-walled office of the human resources director at the suburban Oklahoma City Life.Church headquarters, Mays witnessed Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel pinning a male employee to the ground in a chokehold. The employee was barely moving.
“I remember looking at Craig’s face, and there was a smile, but it was also very red-faced and exerting energy and effort, like wrestling,” Mays said. “I was like, this is some fraternity-type behavior. Maybe I’m just seeing a different side of the roughhousing of folks I haven’t noticed before.”
Mays had just finished visiting the third-floor staff kitchen that day in February 2022. Not sure how to process the disturbing scene, Mays, then the Life.Church central ministry lead for local missions, kept walking and went about his day.
But he would later realize the altercation wasn’t quite as innocent as he initially thought. Now, Mays believes he witnessed a criminal assault.
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Today, Mays, who left Life.Church in early 2023, remains troubled by the incident but is far more concerned about the aftermath, or lack thereof. He believes this is evidence of an unhealthy culture that lacks accountability for those at the top, while enforcing far different standards for more than 1,000 employees below them.
The Roys Report (TRR) spoke with more than a dozen former employees who described working at Life.Church as constantly walking on eggshells.
They said minor missteps are harshly criticized and that employees are expected to be vulnerable with their leaders about deep personal issues, whether they want to or not. That sensitive information was frequently used against them, they said.
Some became physically ill managing the stress. Others walked away from the faith.
Approximately 400 former employees have connected through the After.Life private Facebook page, a safe space to share their experiences. Many have found comfort in learning they were not alone.
Mays is disheartened by the number of people deeply wounded by their time at Life.Church. The church prioritizes reputation management over making amends when things go wrong, he said, and as a result, everyone suffers.
“We have to recognize that when we protect the church, a byproduct of that is we actually protect people — generally men in power — from the full repercussions of their actions, which then prevents them from the full restoration of the healing that the gospel has to offer,” Mays said. “So, it further harms the victims, but also it harms those who perpetrate some of these offenses.”
Not leaving well
Since its humble beginnings in 1996 operating out of Craig and Amy Groeschel’s two-car garage, Life.Church has grown to become the largest church in the U.S.
It boasts an average weekly attendance of 85,000 at 46 locations, extending from Oklahoma to Albany, New York, and West Palm Beach, Florida. Its central office is in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Life.Church is part of the Chicago-based Evangelical Covenant Church and a key member of the Association of Related Churches (ARC) network. The ARC, which emphasizes church planting, has been tied to numerous scandals, including coverup of sexual abuse and questionable financial practices.
In addition, Life.Church’s popular YouVersion Bible app, which launched in 2008, celebrated 1 billion downloads in late 2025. YouVersion operates as an independent nonprofit but maintains ties to Life.Church.
Groeschel is also a major voice with the Global Leadership Summit (GLS), a massive leadership conference whose past speakers include Bono, Condoleezza Rice and Bill Clinton. It took a hit in 2018 when its founder and leader, Bill Hybels, who also founded Willow Creek Community Church, was accused of sexual misconduct by several women.
Groeschel, 58, who also has been a repeat speaker at the controversial Life Surge conference, stepped in for Hybels at GLS that year. Groeschel has since become the voice of GLS through its leadership changes and the tumultuous years of COVID-19. He remains a keynote speaker at its annual conferences, including this year’s confab Aug. 6-7 at Willow Creek in South Barrington, Illinois.
Around 2020, Groeschel picked up a new hobby: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a combat martial art that uses submission holds and ground fighting to subdue opponents.
It’s not clear if Groeschel used a jiu-jitsu move in February 2022 in the HR office. But another former staff member, whose identity we confirmed but wished to remain anonymous, told TRR he arrived on the scene shortly after the incident Mays said he witnessed. The former staff member said the man, who had recently resigned, required medical attention and reportedly suffered a bruised esophagus.
TRR reached out multiple times for comment to Groeschel’s alleged victim, whose identity we confirmed but are not publishing to protect his privacy. The man did not respond.
TRR also filed an open records request with the Edmond Police Department for any report mentioning Groeschel, and the reply was that there were none.
We also reached out to Life.Church for comment. Life.Church Senior Director of Public Relations Rachel Feuerborn replied that the incident “was intended as a brief, lighthearted interaction that didn’t land the way (Groeschel) meant it to, and the impact was accidental. There was no conflict or anger, and no serious or lasting injury.”
However, Courtney Donald, who worked at Life.Church from 2019 to 2023, part of the time as Groeschel’s assistant, said the alleged victim talked about the chokehold incident with “alarm” and “great concern.”
She added that when the man discovered she was going to work for Groeschel, he told her, “I really hope that you can influence that office in a positive way.”
Donald said Groeschel briefly addressed the matter after she became his assistant.
“(Groeschel) and I did not have a direct conversation about the event other than he exhibited words that downplayed the incident, implying it was a misunderstanding between two guys playing around,” Donald said. “At the time, I took what empathy I was presented with at face value.”
But after a hellish year working as Groeschel’s assistant, discussions with others directly involved in the matter and time to reflect on the full scope of the situation, Donald has a new perspective regarding what occurred.
“When I reflect on behaviors and characteristics I have personally witnessed from Craig related to loyalty, anger and control, it is not difficult to understand how this assault could have accompanied intentions other than ‘male bonding,’” Donald said.
According to Feuerborn, Groeschel took full responsibility for what transpired and apologized to the Life.Church senior leadership team, insisting the matter be reviewed, formally documented and escalated to church governance.
“This occurred several years ago, and there has been no pattern of this before or since,” Feuerborn added. “Given the full context, our leaders went beyond what would normally be expected and handled this with a level of thoroughness that reflects the importance of genuine accountability.”
However, Mays said he believes Groeschel’s actions would have led to termination for other Life.Church employees.
The former staffer who arrived on scene shortly after the attack agreed. “People were terminated for a lot less than that,” he said.
Forced vulnerability?
Groeschel’s celebrity status and the church’s outward success had been a draw for many of the former staff who spoke to TRR.
“People get wrapped up in the celebrity of Craig, and I don’t think that Life.Church does anything to dissuade it,” said Sarah Boller, who worked at the Moore campus from 2015 to 2017. “When Craig goes to visit a campus, they literally roll out a red carpet and (designate) a place for him to stand and take the photos with people.”
Many Life.Church employees said there were red flags in the application process. Several former staff members told TRR they endured a grueling, multi-day interview process that required them to divulge extremely personal information.
Before joining staff as a worship pastor in 2017, Ben Freeman said three pastors told him they needed to know “every little detail” about his divorce.
“They grilled me, and one of the guys in that room leaned forward after I had told this story, and I was literally in tears, and he said, ‘I don’t believe you,’” Freeman said. “The purpose of that was just to get my reaction. I didn’t know at the time, but I learned later that was an intentional thing … to see how they would respond, so they could get a temperature on what this person is really like.”
Christa Keiser, who worked as a host team intern at the Northwest Oklahoma City campus, went through the process in 2019.
“I’m sitting there with two men. And while I still have my husband with me, I have to share some really graphic information that I really did not want to share,” Keiser said.
Keiser said the details she shared about childhood abuse — an experience that led to her generally not wanting to be touched — was later used against her.
A campus pastor, who had access to her interview file, would constantly touch her, Keiser said. When she attempted to confront him and set boundaries, another pastor said she was being “disrespectful.”
“They will purposely do the uncomfortable thing to grow (you),” Keiser said. “They’re like, ‘This will help you grow as a leader.’ But in my opinion, it’s inappropriate, because everybody — regardless of whether or not they could grow — they have the right to have bodily autonomy.”
Feuerborn expressed surprise at such concerns.
“For years, our church has been known for having a great workplace culture,” Feuerborn said in an email to TRR.
Feuerborn repeatedly encouraged TRR to consider a “full scope of voices” for this story. She did not make any current employees available to interview but pointed to anonymous Glassdoor posts.
On the online job-hunting platform that promises to increase transparency through anonymous reviews, 91% of commenters say they would recommend working at Life.Church to a friend and 95% approve of Groeschel as CEO.
Life.Church has also been a five-time winner of the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award for employee engagement, mostly recently this past March 4. It is the only church among the 78 workplaces on the 2026 list.
“While we’re not perfect and know that not every person’s experience aligns with what we strive for, we are committed to creating a healthy culture,” Feuerborn said. “That said, if even one person has had an experience that doesn’t reflect our heart as a church, that matters to us. We take feedback seriously because we know growth is essential to any healthy culture.”
But Donald said employees were encouraged to leave positive reviews on Glassdoor so Life.Church could “achieve a top status accolade.” John Hunt, who worked as a Life.Church senior infrastructure engineer from 2021 to 2025, said supervisors coach employees on how to respond on such surveys.
Rachel Hall, a licensed mental health therapist in Indiana who has counseled victims of spiritual abuse, said a toxic workplace in a church setting is often more damaging than a secular one.
“(An employee may think), ‘I’m in an environment which is led by supposed Christ followers,’” she said. “‘What did I miss?’ I begin to doubt myself. I begin to doubt the Lord and what I thought I heard him say. I doubt my biblical community, or other Christians in general. It’s like the deepest layer of our being gets damaged when you have that spiritual component on top of everything.”
‘That’s not the whole truth’
Once hired, former employees said the push to share deeply personal information with those in authority continued.
Alesha Hunt, who worked in the StaffKids program at the Life.Church Edmond campus from 2021 to 2024, found this out the hard way. She said employees are expected to maintain a certain demeanor at work, and when she arrived looking downcast, her leader asked why.
Hunt reluctantly revealed that she had been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. Hunt later learned the diagnosis was incorrect, but at the time, it devastated her because her husband, John Hunt, quoted above, was her only sexual partner.
Alesha Hunt’s leader encouraged the couple to inform her husband’s leader of the diagnosis, and the couple felt they had no choice but to comply. After telling the second leader about the diagnosis, they were called into a meeting with additional leaders for a discussion.
During that meeting, a representative from human resources accused Alesha Hunt of lying during her job interview because she hadn’t mentioned the STD. The Americans with Disabilities Act generally restricts employer inquiries into medical history and does not obligate applicants to report it.
Hunt said she insisted she had told the truth, but the HR representative replied that it wasn’t the “whole truth.” Hunt, who at that time thought her husband had cheated, was traumatized by the conversation.
“Obviously, (my husband) had to have done something, and I’m paying the price for something he did,” she said. “To have somebody look at me and try to make me feel shame was — I don’t even know how to describe it.”
The Hunts were soon relieved to learn that the first STD test had been a false positive. But Alesha Hunt says the confrontation was just the beginning of confusion, anxiety and gaslighting she experienced at the church.
When asked for comment, Feuerborn told TRR that “no one should ever feel required to share personal information.”
“Vulnerability should always be willing, never forced,” she said. “If anyone has felt pressured to share personal information or that it was used against them in any way, we want to be clear: that would be a serious violation of the trust we ask people to place in their leaders, and it has no place in how we lead or care for our team.”
Boz Tchividjian, a Florida attorney who specializes in cases involving institutional abuse, said churches are sometimes able to get away with treating employees in a way that would not be acceptable in a secular workplace. In a church, the power differential between an employee and employer may be amplified because it occurs in a spiritual setting.
“Because you blur those lines, sometimes (the workplace culture) is not seen as crazy as it really is,” Tchividjian said. “It opens the door for the church to continue to gain more and more control. The way you gain control is to get as much knowledge as you can about somebody.”
By the time Alesha Hunt quit, she was experiencing severe abdominal pains.
“(Doctors) were trying to figure out what was wrong with me,” Hunt said. “They couldn’t find anything. I can tell you now that it was everything that was going on at work. I was literally making myself sick because of how upset I was.”
After her last day on staff, her symptoms quickly disappeared.
‘It was so demoralizing’
Donald, Groeschel’s former personal assistant, was able to avoid the standard grueling interview, as she was recruited by another employee who felt she’d be a good fit. She was a longtime attender and had served in various volunteer leadership roles over the years.
For her first three years on staff, Donald, a former real estate agent, enjoyed working in the central office under John Davis, whom she described as a caring and “healthy leader.”
“You’re basically overworked and underpaid, but ‘You get to do this’ is the catchphrase, like it is a privilege and an honor to be a part of it,” Donald told TRR. “And a lot of that is true. But on the other side of it now, it’s like: Oh wait, a lot of people were being taken advantage of — not for the mission of God but for metrics, profit and power.”
When the personal assistant to the senior pastor role opened in 2022, Donald applied after much thought, prayer and encouragement from church leaders. She knew that Groeschel, now 58, worked at a breakneck speed, but she felt confident she could keep up.
What she didn’t expect was to be in the “most codependent, dysfunctional, gossipy” place she’d ever worked.
“I entered my new role thinking this Directional Leadership Team (DLT) office would be the standard for the organization, like this is going to be the healthiest part of this organization at the top,” Donald said. “Within my first week, I looked around and thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’”
Donald found herself at odds with other employees in the office who made it clear they didn’t want her there. She said she was micromanaged and constantly criticized.
“It was a million different subtleties that built up to an overall existence of torture; emotional, mental, psychological, spiritual torture,” Donald said. “I never knew what was up from what was down.”
While Groeschel continued to sing Donald’s praises, she said he refused to address the toxic environment in the DLT office on his team.
“These people who were causing me harm are (also) his yes men,” she said “It would cost him something to hold them accountable. I knew then that I was expendable.”
What she experienced was an unduly toxic environment that took a toll on her mental and physical health. After a year, she took a paid sabbatical and chose to resign.
When she left Life.Church in May 2023, Donald refused to sign a severance agreement that prohibited her from making statements that criticize, disparage or reflect adversely on the church.
As a result, she forfeited a severance package that included nearly $8,000 and other benefits. She’s aware of many other former Life.Church employees who signed similar documents and feel they are unable to speak honestly about their staff experience.
She describes the document as a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Feuerborn told TRR that Life.Church does not use NDAs and that “former team members are free to truthfully discuss their employment experience.”
However, she said Life.Church uses separation agreements when employees receive benefits beyond what’s legally required, such as severance pay.
“As a part of this, we only ask that they not knowingly make false statements, and that they not disclose the specific terms of their severance package or any confidential or proprietary information,” Feuerborn said.
Departing employees also complete exit surveys of which the “vast majority,” Feuerborn said, reported a positive work experience.
“Any time someone walks away hurt, that grieves us,” she said. “Leading people toward Christ is the entire reason we exist, and we never want to stand in the way of that for anyone.”
Speaking out
Donald decided to publicly share her story after witnessing a friend, Cindy Clemishire, speak out about years of sexual abuse she suffered as a minor in the 1980s by then-Pastor Robert Morris.
Donald attended Morris’ Dallas-area Gateway Church for a couple of years in the early 2000s. He resigned in June 2024 and just completed a six-month jail sentence for assaulting Clemishire.
“It felt like all of these layers, this full-circle moment, brought more meaning to my time with (Groeschel) and my pain,” Donald said. “It is very much David and Goliath, but I’m willing to share my experience if it helps someone else, or, God willing, helps improve the standards we accept in western evangelical church culture.”
John Hunt loved his work at Life.Church, but as he neared the end of his tenure, he questioned what it enabled.
“What am I a part of here?” he asked himself. “Am I helping to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ or am I just enabling the machine that is Life.Church to continue to go about its business? I feel more and more that it’s more of a business than it is a church.”
The Hunts no longer attend any church. Alesha Hunt said she doesn’t want to risk putting their family through that pain again.
“I know what’s going on at Life Church, it’s not God’s fault,” she said. “But it makes it hard to be around his people.”
Mays said being a part of Life.Church changed his life in many positive ways. But without accountability at the top, he is concerned its culture will continue to cause harm.
“I want healing for those who’ve been hurt, and I also want healing for those who have perpetuated some of these harms,” he said. “None of that can happen without truth-telling.”
Ann Marie Shambaugh has reported as a print journalist in multiple states, including currently in Carmel, Indiana.
32 Responses
This is horrible. I have been part of a Life.Church and worked in the youth group. It is a good church. The Christian church as a whole needs to develop a consensus that it is wrong to silence people with NDAs. Every major denomination, Christian organization, ECFA, NAE, Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and others need to make it clear that silencing people with NDAs, so they cannot share their lived experience, is contrary to the cause of Jesus Christ and unacceptable misconduct.
I highly recommend Craig Groeschel’s just published book, Heal Your Hurting Mind. a transparent account of his personal experience of feeling overwhelmed by all the work he had to do, with a feeling of running further and further behind, and his accompanying mental distress. He freely shares the professional therapy he has received, and his process of healing, with the purpose of helping the reader benefit
So what? That gives him a pass? No accountability for the chosen?
Tell me you don’t care about the contents of the article without telling me you don’t care about the contents of the article.
You’re literally telling everyone to go read a book written by the guy that assaulted somebody.
Did you even take the time to read this piece about him before commenting?
Why would I want to read a book written by a man who assaults people at his own church and had close connections to the former leader of the church oranization who was a sexual abuser? There is a reason that Groeschel and other leaders of the church basically force employees to divulge personal matters in their lives that they are not comfortable with. It gives Groeschel and other leaders a point of control. It enables them to shame and threaten their employess to keep them under their control and force them to do what they want them to do through intimidation. That is the kind of rational only bullies use. So you are telling me I should read a book I know was written by a bully. That is a hard pass. And it should have been a hard pass for you as well.
A fool writes another Christian autobiographical self-help rag every minute. There is no possible chance this fool’s book has anything but more magical thinking based psychobabble. I don’t accept testimony from Christians because they wouldn’t accept mine if I was a magical thinker. If one religion’s testimony can be wholesale chunked in the trash then so can all the others. Have a great day. You know I will.
Bro really pitched a book by CG. That is wild. Think something more along the lines of “The Godly Narcissist: Unmasking Toxic Church Leaders Healing Church Hurt” would fit.
These type of reports are not the same as accounts of pastors sexually abusing others. Contacting anyone who will tell a negative story about a church or leader is terrible. It’s like lighting a fire and then throwing gas on it. You had all you needed with the choking incident…that is not gossip. The guy admitted to it and did not receive the appropriate consequence (according to the former employee). The rest of this story is merely gossip; people making broad allegations and recounting stories that can not at all be verified. It is impossible for a church or leader to respond to such accusations, as they range from “my feelings were hurt,” to some things that appear very serious. Sending an email, asking someone to respond to such things is not really looking for the other side of the story.
Tip of the Iceberg, stop defending ungodly behavior
“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future” – Craig Groeschel
A guy so close to a whose who coalition of sexual abusers should probably be looked at more closely
The bottom line is, this is what happens when people seek to belong to a Jesus club instead of learning to know Jesus Himself and evaluating each person as being worthy of contributing to that relationship or not.
No matter what situation whether it be education, medical tyranny, counseling, or churches, the same tendencies seem to surface- while seeking a group to belong to, people are convinced they are inferior to the “professional “. They become subjects to the “professional” and do not think for themselves, take responsibility for their own lives, and end up being used as subjects to their tyranny.
If people would stop subjecting themselves to this cycle out of fear of not being capable enough and learn that they ARE smart enough to seek Jesus and hear from Him, they could eventually learn to place input from others in the proper perspective. Tyrants would not have people to dominate, and true pastors would not be overworked by lazy congregations.
Very well stated and very clearly straight from your heart. I have to agree with you and the soundness of your post. Jesus first, foremost, and always: Mic drop. It’s the easiest equation. Yet here we are once again, at a juncture in which we’re faced with sex abuse, greed, and exploiting His children employed and/or volunteering at His House. It must be my aging coupled with the fact that my own church has morphed into something wholly unfamiliar; the tears coming too easily, the prayers sent up. My heart is sad. (As an aside: We truly need to be praying protection and strength over Julie, Ann Marie, and the entire staff at Roys Report because I cannot imagine how these findings weigh heavy upon their spirits. They’re young and gifted people, and I’m sure they’d be EXCELLENT at writing edifying articles of encouragement. Instead, they’re caught in this vicious cycle of reporting this muck and mire on those we looked up to, believed, and respected. These fine young journalists don’t deserve it and, heck, they don’t even have to ‘dig’ to uncover these stories any longer – the reports are presenting themselves on an almost weekly basis. (Kindly pardon my blathering on.)
Why am I hearing, “show me tha moooooooooonnnnnnneeeeeeyyyyy?” Yeah, I thought so
No church should have employed staff .this is nut a job. it should be brothers and sisters in christ.. who love and support each other,this is not a job. it should be a ministry. I wonder what these people think.. will be…their fate,when they stand before the lord in judgement,one of the most important commands given to us by Jesus..is to love one and other as I have loved you.and that is without.favor to any one individual especialy..some mega popular pastor..we are to follow God not men
Craig Groeschel is not the man he portrays on stage. More will come to light in the days ahead. I encourage more former staff people to speak out in order to prevent further abuse.
Broadly speaking “on stage” might be the best way to describe many religious entrepreneur type characters. In character & on stage with little, if nothing, to do with pastoring a church that honours Christ and Kingdom manifests Kingdom citizenship.
How odd this network of churches are called Life.Church when in fact people are being worked to the bone and undergoing all sorts of abuse.
Brother, how well you stated the facts. As though a type of staff enslavement has eclipsed our faithful brothers and sisters who gladly and humbly seek to serve their church families. How we grieve the Heart of The Lord in the doing. What must He be thinking of all of this?
So did you ask Jon Mays about the $300,000 he received from Lifechurch to start his non-profit after leaving his Position at the church. If Jon was so conflicted and bothered by this situation he experienced before he left the church, why would he take money (tithes and offering) from the church to benefit himself and start his own ministry? That’s seems a bit opportunistic to me don’t you think?
Julie, if there are 1000 employees at Life.Church and you’ve featured two unhappy ones, why isn’t the solution – as it should have been at Willow Creek – for those who are unhappy to just find another job? That’s normal life.
As it stands now, anyone at any time – including years later who has a different “take” on something that happened – is subjected to your gaze and continual negative press with the clear intent to “win” as defined by destroying so many institutions and lives in the process. In short: if Julie doesn’t approve, you’re in trouble.
And:
There are so many laws available to protect employees. Why isn’t that the course of action at the time of the infraction – not (as it was in Willow) – decades later or now (as you would maintain with Life.Church, years later.
PS: Congrats on getting your “every-three-month” slam in on Willow Creek. You’re consistent!
I haven’t worked at LC but knowing 2 of these people, and their families, personally from outside of the church. These reports lose validity for me based on my many negative experiences with them. I will say, I read this and believe many parts of it, but 2 of these people making the report are not people I’d consider reliable or trustworthy sources based on my personal experiences with them. That makes it harder for me to fully accept everything in the report at face value, even though some parts do seem credible.
Not surprised. From ages 20-30, I went to different campuses over those years. As a life kids volunteer for over 4 years (2016-2020), not only did I get “fired” twice because of my alcoholism (I had a breathalyzer so never would I have been able to show up intoxicated), not once was I checked on by ANY staff member. I went to NW Expressway campus once for suicide intentions. After I left, never checked on AGAIN. These people KNEW me and saw me every weekend. I was consistently being forced into a box a person with bi-polar, ocd, and addiction doesn’t fit into. And honestly I’m glad that I didn’t fit into their box. I’m now sober over 4 years and they all got cheated on and divorced. Don’t even get me started on the “you can’t be gay, live with the opposite sex before marriage” bs they make you sign as a volunteer. Edmond kicked a couple out of serving because they weren’t married but pregnant, while letting an openly LGBTQ+ individual serve whenever they wanted because he was more well-known. Wildest 10 years of my life. Mad respect for Jesus, though, because while leaders, life groups, and pastors were so concerned with me in the strangest capacities, He was busy strengthening our relationship because my whole focus was Him. So I guess thanks for being a disaster, life.church.
When I saw the headlines, I confess I couldn’t believe my eyes. Again? From a renowned author who professed to be a Christian? I reviewed my home library, and sadly the author’s name matches this offender’s. As Christ Jesus our Savior had said: It would have been better had he tied a millstone around his neck. The bad news emanating from these former “chosen men of God” just keeps coming. In lengthy studies in Eschatology, did I somehow miss, or misread, amoral sexual attacks on The Shepherd’s flocks being foretold? Righteous anger gives way to profound sorrow at the suffering of these innocent souls, who will be left scarred and questioning their faith for years to come. This is profoundly distressing news, as the enemy prowls and the wolves in sheep’s clothing are ravenous.
Make no mistake. Life.Church is a big business. Net assets at the end of 2022 were $468, 916, 395. https://info.life.church/hubfs/2023/Life.Church%20Audited%20Financials%202023.pdf
I remember years ago watching a video from the Global Leadership Summit. A pastor I like gave me a free ticket.
In the clip, Groeschel visits one of his satellite campuses. (Cue bright lights, bright smiles, and inspirational music.) People ran up to him to take selfies… because they never saw their “pastor” in-person before. I thought it was so weird, because the people I pastored then would never take a selfie with me… because they knew me and saw me all the time. Worse than that, many of the Christians in the room seemed to think the message of this video was great.
***
I get that Christians want to influence culture, but I don’t get the approach of things like the Global Leadership Summit where it’s pitched as a secular business conference, features Christian speakers, but Christ is left out entirely. The message of grace probably won’t help some CEO’s quarterly bottom line… at least not in the direct sense.
I’m of the belief that you simply can’t be that large of an entity and not have problems. When you are dealing with that many paid staff, you have to run it like a business. But it’s not a business, it’s a ministry. Unfortunately I don’t have a solution. The pleasant nod to YouVersion was nice, but the reality is that Bobby Gruenewald birthed an idea that made the Bible more freely accessible than any other effort in history. The YouVersion Bible app has been downloaded for free on over a BILLION devices. My kids use it. Their friends use it. My friends and I use it all the time. And while Willow Creek and others like it were selling drama scripts, sermon materials, and sheet music for ridiculous fees, Life.Church (through open.church) provides free platforms for web streaming, tons of free resources for churches including graphics, music, sermon ideas, etc.
Sure, sometimes leaders do dumb things. I’ve done plenty. But there are way too many unknowns here for me to cast a big fat dark light over a ministry that’s done so much good for the Kingdom as a whole. I swear some of us a like piranha waiting for the unsuspecting toe in the water…
Amen, I agree brother keep the opinions up
Life.church is just another “christianity is a business” monstrosity. You can’t pastor a church from a screen.
I used to serve at Life.Church in Moore, Oklahoma from 2018 to 2022. One thing I’m not fond of is how much Craig preaches the hurtful message known as the Prosperity Gospel. Also, my kindness was taken advantage of there, and not only was I given bad advice on personal struggles, but I was mislead by a church member into believing I would find a significant other if I served at one of the women’s events they were hosting in fall of 2021. It left me feeling so hurt, betrayed and broken when I realized it wasn’t going to happen. The worst part of it all was that once I had to leave the church after I took on a night shift job, it was like everybody forgot about me. Nobody was reaching out to me to tell me they thought of me or they missed me after all the time and energy I sacrificed for them. I’m now an agnostic atheist because of this experience.
Brother, I am truly sorry and empathetic for what you have gone through. It is deeply damaging/traumatizing indeed, and you did absolutely nothing to deserve that. I hope you will give Christ a true/or another chance, as you’re not too far gone. You’re still alive right? I hope. There’s still time to turn back, wounded as you are, and lay it all down bare before Him and just be real and raw about it all. Give all your hurts and pains to Him, fully.
I can assure you that if you’re sincere in doing that and humbly admit to God your brokenness and need for Him, that you cannot do this life on your own, and you cannot produce your own Eternal security, He will heal you and set you free.
I’m not going to guarantee that things will instantly become unicorns and rainbows, as sometimes its a legit process that He is going to bring you through, but I also won’t dismiss that He could easily instantly heal you, taking those heavy burdens and pains and releasing you from it. He said His yoke is easy and His burden, is light, so let Him come alongside you and help you.
Truly, if you’re looking to other Christians (humans) for any type of fulfillment, you’re going to be sorely disappointed, every single time. Don’t put your faith nor trust in man, at all.
The American Church is all but dead, on life support in my honest opinion. People are generally so shallow and fake these days, that’s just where our culture is at now, unfortunately (yes, painting with a broad brush, but we both know it’s largely true). But that doesn’t make Christ any less real, nor powerful.
I have went through something similar to what you’re described, many times over many years now as well, and it has truly taught me that only Jesus can meet our truest, deepest needs. I do believe we are in the end times, and that the great falling away is already happening (my personal opinion).
Many will say to God on that day (paraphrasing here, forgive me): “Lord, Lord… didn’t we do such and such in your name?” And He will say: “depart from me, I never knew you.” Then there are the verses about knowing them by their fruit, and that if we’re true followers of Christ, we will have Love for one another.
All this to say, Christ wants you back. Read about the prodigal son parable, and know that it’s true and that it applies directly to you right now. And don’t think you’ve committed an/the unpardonable sin, as remember Peter when he denied Christ 3x. He is ready and willing to forgive you, and loves you more than you or I could ever even possibly fathom.
Love you brother, I’ll be specifically be praying for you, I truly will.