Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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I think our priest has a strange approach in his ministry. This belief sets in my heart a lack of desire to go to church. What should I do?

There are two issues here that you need to address.

The first is relating your going to church to a person or a priest in the church. Why do we go to church? We go to church to worship God, to learn His words and to live by them. If I stop going to church because someone there annoys me, this means that I give more value to this person than to God, and that God is not first in my life. Go to church and concentrate on the prayers and on the liturgy instead of criticizing the priest and loosing your peace. Have in mind that Satan will be thrilled if this feeling ends up preventing you from going to church. Do not make him win over you.

The second is your relationship with your priest. You say he is strange. Does he preach wrong teachings in the church? Does he say things you do not like or do not agree with or is it just a personality conflict? Even if you go as far as to say your priest is your enemy and you do not want to see his face; remember that God has commanded us to love our enemies. No one is perfect; do not look at the weaknesses of others but at their good traits.

Have you talked to your priest directly and shared with him the things that annoy you? If yes, what was his answer? And if not, why not? I wish that you would find in your heart love, humbleness, and forgiveness for your priest. Pray to God to change the way you perceive him and to understand him better. Pray for your priest that God may help him so that he would not become a stumbling block to others.
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