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Why did these churches fail?Where did the members move to?What happened to the money?What happened to the property?Was anyone held accountable ?

I attended Celebration a couple times when RV'ing near by. It is sad to see the city offices in the nice edifice now.I drove by the Big Blue building that the Wildwood church moved into and out of many times in our travels. It is finally sold and of some use for something, but not a church. That piece of property stayed on the market for many years before it was moved.But the Wildwood COG is sitll active and in it's original facility. I understand Bro Carl pastored there a good while with little or no salary.My opinion is that both churches at their hey day were sorta built around a personality. I am not sure of that, but in my years of observing many churches thrive because the pastor is himself well liked and wise. Some would say some of our best churches were founded on personalities, but still survived because of loving dedicated men that followed.We, the people, cannot help but like/love an energetic dedicated loving pastor. Especially one who realizes you cannot live or spend above your means......... DREAMS should have SOLID foundations. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

i don’t think Celebration ever really recovered from Rod Trusty leaving. If I recall correctly, it had already been going downhill before he left. Not blaming anybody. Pastors have to move on when they sense the leading of the Lord. Churches often don’t thrive after an especially popular, numerically and financially successful pastor moves on, especially if the growth had been significant enough to encourage the church to build a bigger facility and foolishly take on a big mortgage. I think all churches that take on big mortgages are foolish, by the way, so I’m definitely not picking on Celebration. I’ve seen the same thing happen time and again. In my view, churches should never go into major debt at all. I know of one church that got into debt when they had good growth. That pastor moved on, and the church has never recovered. Now a congregation of 25 adults has to raise $4000 per month just to keep up with its mortgage and utilities.

Yes sir, I think you are spot on! Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/