It is heartbreaking to receive countless texts, private messages, and calls from creatives forced to resign from Evangelical churches worldwide, particularly in America. It has become an epidemic.

I have been out of the cultic fray for almost seventeen years, yet I still have a public and vocal presence on social networks. And because I had a decades-long platform speaking at worship and art conferences, founding and leading a significant arts conference called re:Create (1999-2015), and writing candid books and posts, many wounded religious creatives view me as a “safe” and approachable person.

This past week I received yet another gut-wrenching text on Signal from a fellow creative who was ruthlessly fired from his southern mega-church after almost twenty years of faithful service. His crime: Taking a side job to help pay for family medical expenses because his church pays him a shitty salary yet demands him to be available 24/7. His supervisor had told him it was acceptable to take the job, but the authoritarian senior pastor disagreed.

This conflicting communication and lack of a clear leadership hierarchy are too common among evangelical churches. The senior pastor is usually absent from the office and only appears when upset about something. Like a bull in a china shop, without remorse or empathy, he destroys a sensitive creative who has sacrificed decades of their life.

The type-A pastors (always men) at these dysfunctional churches have absolute power. They often possess a large-group charisma yet cannot empathize or relate with their staff. They only appear when something is not to their liking, and they ruthlessly deal with it as quickly as possible so they will no longer be bothered by it.

The timeworn modus operandi is to buffalo the staff member into accepting a several-month severance that is only paid if they remain “loyal” to the church and do not disclose any details of the parting. They are almost always required to slink up to the pulpit the following Sunday, read a “resignation” letter, and say how grateful they are to have been able to serve this wonderful church for so long.

They then walk out the door in shock. As the pastor arrogantly proclaims during the emotional firing, church life will continue as if the creative never existed. He says, “We will cut you and never miss a beat.”

And the tragic thing is—the asshole pastor is right. That is the way of the evangelical church. The senior pastor’s word is the law. He speaks for god, and no one dares touch or question “god’s anointed one.” And just to be sure, he keeps an attorney on retainer to make sure the non-disclosure is iron-clad and that the church gets out with as little money expended as possible.

The creative has usually been so buffaloed and yet somehow still believes in the cult’s teaching and, therefore, immediately upon realizing he is being fired, instead of stopping the conversation and saying we will continue only when I have my attorney, they try to deal with it on their own and get abused and cheated. I have seen this countless times. It is a heartbreaking and shame-filled process that breaks and traumatizes the creative—many times for life.

A few church people will bitch for a few days, and then it is back to life as usual. This process is why innumerable acts of sexual abuse go on inside the church without the congregation ever knowing a thing. Honesty is for other people—not the senior pastor. The primary importance is that the church flourishes; if lying or deceit is the means to that end, so be it.

And indeed, there are times when a termination is justified. However, I am addressing the myriad occasions when it is not.

I can write this without fear of being accused of sour grapes. I was one of the rare creatives who resigned to escape the church cult—not because I was dismissed.

Watching as the church exorcises the priceless commodity of creativity is ironic—as it has done throughout history. The ones who dare to think differently are the sacrificial lambs. The rigid dogma and medieval controls of the church cannot co-exist with original thought, creativity, freedom, and true artistry.

Confused? Try tuning in to your local Christian radio station and comparing the quality, originality, and talent to that of secular stations. There is no comparison. None. It is flat, ten years behind times, and lacks originality. The creative artists have fled or been shamed away. The list is endless: Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Jay DeMarcus, Amy Grant, Joy Williams, Aretha Franklin, Jessica Simpson, Jack White, John Legend, Whitney Houston, and so on.

And tragically, the names you don’t know or have forgotten are the true heroes. Somehow they manage to pick up the pieces of their lives and go on. And most eventually flourish. Once they experience life without cultish dogma, rigid controls, and harsh authoritarianism, they begin to blossom. Again, the final words of the novel “Middlemarch” come to mind. They have been of great comfort and encouragement to me.

“May the effect of our being on those around us be incalculably diffusive. For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; for then things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been. In large part owing to the number of people who lived faithfully a hidden life, yet now rest in unvisited graves.”