Church Leaders Quotes

• The church has been preoccupied with the question, 'What happens to your soul after you die?' AS IF THE REASON FOR JESUS COMING CAN BE SUMMED UP IN, 'JESUS IS TRYING TO HELP GET MORE SOULS INTO HEAVEN, AS OPPOSED TO HELL, AFTER THEY DIE.' I JUST THINK A FAIR READING OF THE GOSPELS BLOWS THAT OUT OF THE WATER. I don't think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line

  Brian D. McLaren

  Jesus, Reading, Blow

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• I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security... Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not.

  Brigham Young

  Men, Self, Lds

  Brigham Young's remarks in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City (January 12, 1862), as quoted in "Journal of Discourses" by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Volume 9, p. 150), 1862.

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• Meditative prayer like that we experienced in the labyrinth resonates with hearts of emerging generations.

  Dan Kimball

  Prayer, Heart, Labyrinth

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• My goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ ... Some people are upset with me because it sounds like I'm anti-Christian. I think they might be right.

  Erwin McManus

  Christian, Jesus, Thinking

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• I really feel that the Church leaders have blood on their hands. I feel that there are gay Mormons who have committed suicide or whose lives have been destroyed because of the attitude of the Church.

  Andrew Solomon

  Suicide, Attitude, Gay

  Source: andrewsolomon.com

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• As Elder George F. Richards, President of the Council of the Twelve, said in a conference address in April 1947, 'when we say anything bad about the leaders of the Church, whether true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and his cause.' ... The Holy Ghost will not guide or confirm criticism of the Lord's anointed, or of Church leaders, local or general. This reality should be part of the spiritual evaluation that LDS readers and viewers apply to those things written about our history and those who made it.

  Dallin H. Oaks

  Spiritual, Reality, Lds

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• In one sense what may pass between the pope and myself may be trivialities. In another sense the fact of talking trivialities is itself a portent of great significance. But the pleasantries which we exchange may, as one church leader said, be pleasantries about profundities.

  Geoffrey Fisher

  Talking, Leader, Church

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• We should be patient in developing and strengthening our testimonies. Rather than expecting immediate or spectacular manifestations, though they will come when needed, we should pray for a testimony, study the scriptures, follow the counsel of our prophet and other Church leaders, and live the principles of the gospel. Our testimonies then will grow and mature naturally, perhaps imperceptibly at times, until they become driving forces in our lives.

  Joseph B. Wirthlin

  Leader, Church, Scripture

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• Father Jude Nnorom also criticized his church leaders, saying the simple lifestyle followed by Pope Francis should challenge African bishops to ask themselves.

  Sylvia Poggioli

  Father, Simple, Leader

  "Pope Francis To Focus On Social Justice Issues During Trip To Africa". "Morning Edition", www.npr.org. November 24, 2015.

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• I'm not an expert in the sociological realities of all the pastors in the world, but I would say that there are some very, very positive things about the state of integrity in church leaders.

  Henry Cloud

  Integrity, Reality, Past

  "The Composition of Integrity - Henry Cloud Interview". Interview with Paul Braoudakis, willowcreek.org.uk. November 10, 2010.

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• Emerging church leaders are not impressed by those who defend the Christian faith by promoting definitive answers to convince those who doubt the faith.

  Eddie Gibbs

  Christian, Leader, Doubt

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• Weak leaders of churches blame people and circumstances. Breakout church leaders accept responsibility and see God's possibilities in even difficult situations.

  Thom S. Rainer

  Responsibility, Difficult Situations, People

  Thom S. Rainer (2010). “Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap”, p.62, Harper Collins

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• It helps certain church leaders identify the fact that they have the spiritual gift of leadership that the Bible talks about in Romans 12:8. Once you understand that God has given a gift, then training becomes more seriously. When you receive better training, you become more effective in the leadership position that God has assigned to you.

  Bill Hybels

  Bible, Spiritual, Leader

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• Try to do for the next generation of church leaders what the previous generation of church leaders has not done for you.

  Andy Stanley

  Leader, Church, Trying

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• Why don't church leaders forbid Catholics from joining the military with the same fervor they tell Catholics to stay away from abortion clinics?

  William Blum

  Military, War, Abortion

  William Blum (2014). “America's Deadliest Export: Democracy – The Truth about US Foreign Policy and Everything Else”, p.170, Zed Books Ltd.

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• I want a church I can stay in for years. I don't want surprises, scandals, or secrets from my church leaders.

  Ted Haggard

  Years, Leader, Secret

  Ted Haggard (2008). “Dog Training, Fly Fishing, and Sharing Christ in the 21st Century: Empowering Your Church to Build Community Through Shared Interests”, p.15, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• I look at tens of thousands of church leaders who still do need a bit of an awakening.

  Bill Hybels

  Leader, Church, Needs

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• The tragic reality is that there have been occasions when [Mormon] Church leaders, teachers, and writers have not told the truth they knew about difficulties of the Mormon past, but have offered to the Saints instead a mixture of platitudes, half-truths, omissions, and plausible denials.

  D. Michael Quinn

  Teacher, Reality, Past

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• Classically, there are three ways in which humans try to find transcendence--religious meaning--apart from God as revealed through the cross of Jesus: through the ecstasy of alcohol and drugs, through the ecstasy of recreational sex, through the ecstasy of crowds. Church leaders frequently warn against the drugs and the sex, but at least, in America, almost never against the crowds.

  Eugene H. Peterson

  Religious, Jesus, Sex

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• Some have immersed themselves in internet materials that magnify, exaggerate, and in some cases invent shortcomings of early Church leaders. Then they draw incorrect conclusions that can affect testimony. Any who have made these choices can repent and be spiritually renewed.

  Quentin L. Cook

  Leader, Choices, Church

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• It was a real surprise to me to come across the evidence that Christianity might once have been a danced religion. Certainly, some of the early church leaders thought this was great and spoke of what seems to have been circle dancing, perhaps around an altar.

  Barbara Ehrenreich

  Real, Circles, Dancing

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