Destiny not so daft

Once again the amazing power of Destiny Church to grab NZ headlines was demonstrated yesterday.  While I understand the pastor and his congregation for walking out on the money grubbing, one wonders if he mightn't have been better to stay and protest from the inside.  Now another voice for reason has been lost to Destiny.  Notwithstanding, the detail in his Destiny contract as revealed in the article is pretty interesting.

In that contract, it said if they were to withdraw as a pastor they were forbidden to pastor at any other church for two years and their new church could not be less than 50km from a Destiny Church.

The phenomena of big personality pastors ripping churches asunder and then setting up shop 50 metres down the road is sadly not a rare one.  I think all churches should have a contract like this, although the two year clause seems overly punitive.  However the idea of stopping schismatic pastors from setting up a new church in the same town is simply good common sense.  If such a clause was in every ministerial contract the incidence of church splits would drop massively.

Of course in this situation it will be interesting to see if that contract will hold water.  I don't know anything about Andrew Stock but I expect a new church with him as pastor and within 50km of the old one to spring up in the not to distant future. "Bishop" Brian may have to demonstrate the Christian virtue of forgiveness if he does. As Kiwiblogger points out, "Never heard of God having restraint of trade clauses for his servants before."   I think the secular courts might be similarly perplexed if it goes that way.