After 15 wonderful years at West Sub, our family is sadly moving to a church that is closer to our new home in West Chicago. We are leaving with a heavy heart for some many wonderful friends and the richness of our time there. West Sub will always be family to us. I had always hoped that someday our kids would marry at the church and that we would never leave. The sad reality is that the commute is simply too taxing for us as a family. When i was coming out to CR on Friday night it was taking me an hour to get there, it was an untenable situation. To consider having the younger kids do activities at the church or have their close friends there also would have been quite challenging and complicating. We honestly thought that our move would not necessitate our leaving West Sub, but we underestimated the logistical challenges. I want all of our friends to know that we have prayed through this matter, talked it through as a family, and sought counsel from godly friends. Our decision to relocate to a church closer to our home as difficult as it is, is the right one for our family and we have a peace about it. I would like to state clearly that our decision to leave is based solely on logistics and no other reason or factor. Although West Sub is not perfect, it is a great church, with rock sold teaching, and godly leadership. If we still lived in Villa Park or anywhere close we would still be at West Sub without a doubt. This Sunday the 24th will be our final day and we wish to say some heartfelt goodbyes. I am sure a few tears will be shed on our end, but knowing our friendships in Christ are eternal fill me with joy. As a former elder and leader at the church i did want to give a challenge on the issue of church hopping, which plagues the church in general these days. It is the phenomenon where people flit from one church to the next whenever they become dissatisfied or disenchanted with their current church. That is a very sad state of affairs and indicates a lack of spiritual maturity. The threshold to leave a church you are a member of is quite high, there needs to be a very compelling reason that is affirmed by other godly members to even consider such a move. To leave unsettled business at one church and start fresh at another is unhealthy and not biblical. I have maintained for a long time that a church who receives a new member in this fashion should be absolutely sure that the incoming member is clean and has no unfinished business at his or her departing church. Otherwise, the spirit of division can enter the next church and so on and so on. Unity of the body is the clarion calling card that we have to a skeptical world, it should temper and guide us in all of our decisions. When we are in a church family our decisions by definition affect all the other family members. I challenge my brothers and sisters in Christ to humbly heed this message. Thanks for understanding our decision and the difficulty we experienced in reaching it, we love West Sub and always will in Christ, The Appletons
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 15:05:21 +0000