Church Member Comments
Scores of church members have expressed serious concerns about the actions of Pastor Ben Stuart and the leadership of Passion City Church DC. This is just a sample:
“The public message is that of a healthy church with a strong congregation and lovely community. However, this is not the case. There is a dark side to the church that shrouds itself in confusion and fear of retribution.”
“His account of his meeting with Pastor Ben made me deeply uncomfortable in the privacy and safety of my own home.”
“[I feel] turned off from Passion” because of the “cliquey-ness of groups on staff / the staff being unwelcoming / seeming like they think they are on a pedestal and aren’t welcoming to new comers or people outside of their ‘circle.’”
“Everything that I read he just sounds like a toxic leader in simple terms and sounds like someone who’s defensive at being called out.”
Passion staff has an “apparent air of superiority.”
Passion DC leaders “do not see the church as a group of individuals with unique hopes, dreams, and issues, but rather as an organization with an image to propagate and a fan base to cultivate.”
“I was quite disheartened by Passion after [my own] conversation [with staff in March].”
“The response from the leadership team, all the way up to Pastor Ben, was staggering. It betrayed a level of insecurity the church is clearly struggling under that I couldn’t believe.”
“I feel like I can’t trust Pastor Ben anymore.”
“[An author] calls it narcissistic system and I really think Passion has like all the flags.”
“When I said many people are considering leaving or have left already, they didn’t seem to care.”
“If you are visiting Passion, you would have no idea the things happening behind the scenes. You would enjoy it as a packed service with great-sounding worship, passionate Christians, a charismatic message, and beautiful women everywhere. … For those new to the faith who are in desperate need of spiritual guidance, they are too often left alone. And to those that don’t believe in Jesus but return out of curiosity, they would quickly find that these Christians don’t do what they say.”
“He pulled back the curtain on a man everyone else only knows standing up on stage.”
“It’s really a lot to try to integrate the guy preaching the sermons with the guy in that meeting.”
“The spiritual manipulation part is so real.”
“I am so appalled and horrified by the way Passion as a whole, and Pastor Ben directly, have treated [the concerned member] through this.”
“[Passion DC seems to seek] Caesar Augustus’s brand of ‘peace,’ the Pax Romana: crushing dissent into submission until silence is mistaken for unity.”
“I’m severely disappointed with their response.”
“It honestly breaks my heart because [the concerned member was] just doing the right thing. I never in my wildest expectations thought something like this would happen—especially not at church.”
“I’ve seen all the efforts [the concerned member] makes to organically build community in [Passion], and any church would kill for someone like that! They should be taking his concerns extremely seriously.”
“Telling [the concerned member] to leave the church was something that really blew me away. Never thought someone from the church would say that.”
“The most unsettling part for me was the suggestion that [the concerned member] find another church. … That is completely unacceptable.”
“I need some time to process. It’s so weird. [The concerned member is] a Passion ambassador. It’s like if they kicked out Landon Lacy.”
“At the Welcome To Church table, we hear so many stories of people that contacted staff and never heard back.”
“The problem is rampant.”
“I … personally had plans to hang out with one staff member and she confirmed the day before and then never showed up with no text or apology.”
“I went to welcome to church in June or July. I signed up to be [on a doorholder team] and didn’t hear back until months later. [The staff member] scheduled an interview in October [2024] and didn’t show up to the zoom meeting or say anything. Then in November/December, she sent me an onboarding course to complete, which I didn’t proceed with.”
“I know of people who were stood up for coffee.”
“Oh wow I just read both letters, this is crazy... I no longer go to Passion for other reasons but was definitely ghosted a bunch of times.”
“I personally know a few people who left Passion because of bad communication.”
“I know of individuals who … sent 4x emails.”
“Months went by and multiple emails, texts, and calls ignored.”
“I know of individuals who have experienced ghosting.”
“I’ve experienced this too … . I think I tried 5-6x before giving up.”
“I’ve definitely experienced my fair share of ghostings.”
“I had a horrible experience [contacting staff]. … They didn’t seem to care.”
“I also was ghosted after I signed up for family groups. … To this day I was never placed in a family group. … At that time a year ago I would’ve greatly appreciated it!”
“I actually stopped going to Passion for similar reasons (no follow ups aka ghosting … ).”
“I’ve witnessed it with some people too.”
“I’m actually talking to someone else, right now, who also attends Passion City Church, and who is detailing their own experience of a lack of communication.”
“He unfortunately hasn’t heard back and it’s been well over a month. I believe there are other instances this has occurred for him.”
“They are terrible texters and never responded to me.”
“It does happen often sadly. It’s happened to me and friends of mine.”
“I myself had to make the decision to leave Passion for similar experiences.”
“I’ve … had multiple friends … waiting for over a month and had to message staff repeatedly to get put on a team. I am glad they stuck with it, but both friends were considering dropping out of being a door holder due to the lack of communication.”
“I saw something similar recently.”
“I’ve heard of this stuff happening multiple times. I can think of a few examples right away.”
“Although I respect the staff and their efforts to build community among a predominantly young church, I have been concerned about the difficulty of making contact with anyone working there.”
“[I emailed about joining a family group.] He didn’t reply to it. … He didn’t follow up on the assignment.”
“It comes across as them being more concerned about making money and the social media accounts popping.”
“I also was ghosted by Passion for literal months. … If it wasn’t for meeting some friends through community groups I would have left Passion.”
“She stopped going to Passion because [a staff member] didn’t respond for 3 months and then didn’t show up to her interview and didn’t say anything.”
“She never responded and then texted like 2 weeks later about serving and never said anything about the text.”
“[I was] completely ghosted.”
“I think we all have a [Passion staff] ghosting story.”
“I feel rejected.”