Church Responds To Couple’s Claims They Were Kicked Out
Fellowship of the Rockies has responded to an elderly couple’s claim they were kicked out of church.
Elmer and Irene Grosz say they were told they were no longer welcome to services because of their hearing aids. Members for ten years, the couple says their hearing aids made a loud buzzing noise and they were told they could not come to church as long as they wore them.
However, Fellowship of the Rockies says this is not the case.
They say they did not ask the couple to leave the church, they simply asked them to sit in the overflow section to minimize the distraction.
They say the couple’s hearing aids were ringing at a high volume and a pastor offered to help them resolve the issue. The pastor offered to drive them to the doctor and said the church would pay to repair or replace the hearing aid if need be. The church says the pastor also followed up with the couple a few days later.
The Fellowship of the Rockies says the church “has acted in a godly and understanding way through the midst of some sensitive and difficult circumstances.” They say they did not return KRDO Newschannel 13’s call to their emergency line on Friday because they did not feel it was an emergency and it could be handled on Monday.
A phone call to the couple about the church’s statement has not been returned yet.
The couple initially said they joined another church and will not be returning to Fellowship of the Rockies anytime soon.
—————- FULL STATEMENT FROM FELLOWSHIP OF THE ROCKIES —————- On Friday, November the 11th and Saturday, November 12th KRDO Channel 13 ran a story titled, “Kicked Out of Church” concerning an allegation against our church made by an elderly couple. I just want to give you the facts in response to the news story. 1. We did not ask this couple to leave our church. 2. The hearing aid did have some problems and the ringing was at an unbelievable volume that honestly was a distraction to our worship service. 3. What was not reported is that one of our pastors discussed this with them on October 24th and offered to help them resolve the issue. He offered to drive them to the doctor and if necessary Fellowship of the Rockies would pay to repair or replace the hearing aid. He also followed up on the morning of October the 29th. 4. On October the 29th at our worship service, when the hearing aid was ringing at a high volume the couple was asked to sit in overflow to minimize the distraction. They were not asked to leave the church. 5. We were contacted by KRDO on our emergency pastor-on-call line after hours on Friday. We did not return their call since this was not an emergency and felt it could be handled on Monday. 6. If KRDO would have taken the time to gather all the facts, this situation could have been avoided.
You need to know that the staff of this church has acted in a godly and understanding way through the midst of some sensitive and difficult circumstances.
