I made a trip out to Apologia Church this last weekend, excited to see the format, and inspired by these videos. What I found however disappointed me. Jeff maintained strict control over the microphon... Read More
I made a trip out to Apologia Church this last weekend, excited to see the format, and inspired by these videos. What I found however disappointed me. Jeff maintained strict control over the microphone and there was no opportunity for questioning or dialogue. From the Bible, we can clearly see that when Jesus entered a synagogue, even though the religious leaders disagreed with him, they allowed him opportunity to speak, and there was room for apologetics (i.e. defense of rel...igious doctrines in the face of objections). However Jeff has unfortunately designed the Apologia Church to be as free from apologetics as possible. Jeff states in church that they should follow the Bible, but the unstated premise is that they are to follow the Bible exactly as Jeff understands it. Jeff's knowledge of the Bible is encyclopedic to be sure, but without any room for dialogue or questioning (like that in this video), any falsehood Jeff has, goes unchecked and absorbed into the ears of his flock - creating a follower congregation culture that has no resemblance to the critical thinking capacities portrayed by its leader in these YouTube videos. This past Sunday, Jeff spoke in his sermon about the falseness of the prophecies made by Joseph Smith, but one thing the Sunday Mormon church format does allow for, is for people to talk about, question, and even disagree with what's said. Jeff's church takes 2 hours, yet makes no time for any of this (unless you want to wait in the line of people that forms around Jeff after the sermon). Why name your church Apologia Church if you're not going to allow people to object, question, or dialogue (i.e. practice apologetics) regarding the truth? If Jesus were to enter Apolgogia Church, he wouldn't be given a chance to speak (as he did in instances where he entered synagogues and questioned priest leaders in Bible), because Jeff is either speaking into the loud microphone the whole time, or the band is playing music. I wanted to write a suggestion e-mail or phone call, but the church doesn't have an e-mail or phone number on its website so I'm writing my thoughts here. A few positive notes to balance my criticism out: I was greeted by several people, I got and liked your "fiat" joke Jeff, the off-the-cuff memorized Biblical and other knowledge that Jeff has is incredible to witness. See More Read Less