RE: Reflecting on the Modern Church (or maybe just some rambling thoughts from a Christian cyclist)
We have felt this with past churches many times. Our kids have been bullied by none other than the Pastor's kids. No joke. We left the church nearly 3 years ago and haven't looked back. We meet with several families weekly in a home church setting. We rotate homes each week. We meet and do praise and worship, prayer requests, Bible study (this lasts 2-3 hours and is DEEP and amazing), and then we share a meal together while we fellowship. We usually spend 5-6 hours together. These people are like family to us. We help each other when there is a need. One family butchered a cow and shared some of the meat amongst the family. We share tools, homesteading equipment, labor, etc. I believe this is how the church was meant to be. We have 5 regular families and then 3 families who live a little further away who meet with us once or twice a month (they have other groups they meet with more regularly). It has been life changing for us. :)
It is ironic, it seems like it is always the pastors kids that behave most poorly. I have also noticed that. Your groups sounds very similar to what we have going on! About 2-3 years ago we started a similar group. The funny thing is that a few years earlier, someone approached us with the idea of us starting a group like that and we thought they were crazy. Never! There was no way we were called to be a part of something like that! Then, God had his way with us. We used to call it a "life group" or "small group", but it is really more like a home Church. We rotate houses every week and take turns leading the conversation and discussion. We spend time together outside of group, like last week, a few of us picked up my first tractor and earlier in the week, we tapped maple trees. It truly feels more like how the Church, described in Acts, is supposed to look like. True community, not just a Sunday morning facade.