A Bloke’s Blog

Have just came across “Reforming Baptist”. One article in particular provides sound counsel and warnings for those (like I and my wife) who have “exited” the IFB movement (or at least changed in attitude and philosophy significantly - like William D we still serve with an independent church, however the ministry model is vastly different to the typical IFB both here in Australia and North America). When we made our first move away from this stifling IFB environment, our new pastor said he was treating us the same as someone recovering from a cult. We had been burnt out, lied to, abused and left for dead and were in every aspect exhausted. It has taken the better part of 10 years to reach a point where we would be willing to re-engage in ministry in any significant capacity and even now we are still weary.

His list is obviously not exhaustive - however we were particularly prone to points 3 & 4. William also has another article that expands further on point 8 - regarding why, sometimes, people who leave IFB’s tend to abandon their faith altogether.