Imagine a church where they invite you to an event, and after you arrive they go upstairs, call the police, and have you arrested for trespassing. This very closely approximates the behavior of the leaders of the Christian Fellowship of Toledo, although they do not actually call the police and have you arrested. Still, you’ll feel as if they had, from their bizarre, incredibly hostile, and totally irrational behavior. The Christian Fellowship of Toledo announced on its website, “You are all invited to an Open House for ... and their family at the home of ... on Friday, July 14 from 7:00pm—9:00pm.” I called the church and asked if I could attend the Open House. I explained that I had previously attended several events at the church and I told the secretary exactly which events they were. She told me it was fine for me to come to the Open House. When I arrived, an elder of the church, who I’ll call Elder X (and who ran a Sunday School group that I had previously attended on a Sunday morning), told me I should not have come to the Open House. Yet I had been invited! This did not matter to Elder X. His view was that people invited to a party should not attend it even though they have been invited unless they personally know the people in whose honor the party is being held. I find this view extremely bizarre and completely contrary to American social and cultural norms.

I also attended an event the church advertised on its website: “Potluck: PIZZA Wed, July 12, 6:00pm – 6:45pm.” After the event, I went home. On July 14, Elder X told me he thought that what I had done was extremely improper. What was improper about it? It turns out there was another event that night, “Prayer & Praise Wed, July 12, 6:45pm – 7:30pm,” which I had not attended. Elder X believed that it was “just common sense” that anyone who attended the first of these events had a strong duty to attend the second, and that if you did not do so, then you must have attended the first event solely to get “free food.” All this is, of course, sheer nonsense. The first event was listed on the website completely separately from the second. No reference on the announcement for the first event was made to the second event. No reference on the announcement for the second event was made to the first event. Most churches have absolutely no objection whatsoever to people attending a potluck without attending some other event that happens to occur at the church on the same evening. How were we supposed to know that the first event was only open to people attending the second event? The church had announced nothing of the sort. Furthermore, potlucks are not solely about food. There is also fellowship, an important church activity. You’d think that an elder in a church that has the word “fellowship” in its name would know that. I found this behavior extremely obnoxious and I decided to post this webpage because I am genuinely concerned that other, unsuspecting people will be subjected to the same obnoxious behavior that I was subjected to if they read the Christian Fellowship’s website and actually believe what it says.

The church could easily change its website to add a note saying that those who attend the potluck are required to attend the prayer and praise meeting. But they haven’t done so, even though I explained the situation to Elder X two weeks ago. He has done nothing to prevent future misunderstandings–hence, this review, as a warning to future possible victims of the church’s deceitfulness.

Consulting church staff members and believing what they say would be a serious mistake, with a person like Elder X running around. I would not want anyone to go to the Christian Fellowship without knowing in advance that you cannot trust the people who run the place.