Blue Sky Church

Attending Blue Sky small groups was an incredibly traumatic and unwelcoming experience. I was invited to a Blue Sky small group the summer of 2019 by an ex-friend. I explicitly told her that I went to a different church than hers, and double checked with her if me coming was ok. She assured me it was. The first time I went, these were completely fine. We had dinner. We talked about service and covered portions of the book of Acts. It was the second time I went, that things went awry. We had dinner, and then continued fellowship reading through acts. After the fellowship was done, the small group leader pulls me aside and starts to interrogate me about where I was from, what my testimony was, whether or not I was interested in joining this specific church. I answered honestly -- sharing that my ex-friend had invited me over, shared about about my background in faith, that I was part of a different church. I didn't understand why this was happening because I was literally invited by my ex-friend to come and she should have let the small group leader know. Immediately after hearing that I went to a different church. He told me that I was not welcome to come back to this small group or any small group associated with this specific group. He then had the audacity to ask if I had any prayer requests. I told him some, and he got really close to me, put his hands firmly on my shoulders and started praying. I could feel his breathe all over me. It was incredibly, incredibly uncomfortable. I didn't want to cause a scene, so I went home -- quite disturbed. I had messaged both the small group leader and the pastor of the church. I received incredibly unkind words from the small group leader. And from the pastor: "I do want to confirm your understanding that all small groups are only open to those wishing to be part of this specific church." This belief was not just a matter of the small group leader not liking me, but a systematic doctrine held and preached by the lead pastors. This was not just a one time occurrence with me, but a continued pattern of behavior which excludes and mistreats other believers. I encourage you all to look at a website which details the abusive practices at Blue Sky and its network of churches - searching up leaving the network by Steve Morgan I hope people would take heed before attending Blue Sky and looking into their actual beliefs. I will leave references to 3 John on the story of Diotrephes and 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 about the body of Christ.