I attended the school run by this church, Lakeview Christian Academy. I was there from K through 12. The senior pastor’s wife was the principal at the time. She was once so upset by pre-teens talking in her class that she lined up the students facing the concrete block walls of the school. After she finished giving us a stern talking to, she called her husband, the senior pastor, on the cafeteria phone. He came down from his office and proceeded to preach to us in the same stern manner. He was walking behind all of us while talking. When he passed me, he placed his hand on the back of my head hard enough that my forehead hit the wall. The senior pastor wrapped up his talk quickly and left the room. After we were dismissed from the line up, I went to the bathroom to get a look in the mirror. I had an imprint on my forehead from the concrete block. I didn't report this incident to my teacher or parents and frankly they may not have responded well at the time. Why? From an early age, the idea that the senior pastor was an authority greater than my own father and mother had been firmly implanted. I am no longer a member of this church for this and other reasons. Now I understand that the senior pastor and his wife have retired, so things may have improved in that regard. I realize that this happened long ago and that severe behavior of that kind may have been more in fashion then. What concerns me is the dynamics of leadership that made me afraid to tell and the heavy application of anger as a disciplinary technique. If those things remain, the danger that I was in remains. If you raise children in this church and school, I think you can be confident they aren’t telling you everything.
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