Hello, cellular sister!
I agree the members will be better off...but it breaks my heart for them. They've invested themselves emotionally and likely, financially in the church only to be told they're not important and to leave if they don't like how things are.
My heart breaks because it's happened to me twice in the past two years. Once with my homeschool organization and once with my own church of ten years. In both situations, they changed and pushed me aside like so much rubbish.
It's working out ok, I'm better off I know. But it was a hard journey there for a while and I just feel bad for these members.
As does mine. I'm saddened to see what the church has become. It's almost unrecognizable these days. I'm troubled to see so many following men rather than Jesus. It should not be the pastor's way but Christ's. We have so many pastors who are "stars" now I guess it was inevitable.