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Married Santa Maria pastors step down after ‘revelations’

June 15, 2016
Pastors Rob and Cindy Litzinger

Pastors Rob and Cindy Litzinger

A pair of husband and wife pastors have stepped down indefinitely from their leadership positions at a Santa Maria church. The church has not explained their departures, but it released a statement saying some revelations have created a “storm.” [KCOY]

Rob and Cindy Litzinger are the lead pastors at the nondenominational Church For Life, according to the church website. Interim pastor Jeff Hoyos said actions taken by the Litzingers were cause enough for them to step down.

“We’ve come into some revelations this week that have really led our church into a storm concerning pastors Rob and Cindy,” Hoyos said in a statement. “As a result, Rob and Cindy have agreed to enter into a restoration process and indefinitely step down from church leadership. We are still in the process of looking into the full weight of this matter.”

Hoyos also said the Litzingers will take an indefinite amount of time to receive counseling as a married couple. The Litzingers have a mix of adopted, foster and natural children — five girls and one boy — according to the church website.

Video on the website shows Rob Litzinger saying, “marriage is awesome,” while delivering a sermon on June 5. The sermon was part of a series on actions points for a great marriage.

Santa Maria police said no one has approached them about them with information about the Church For Life issue, and there is currently no criminal investigation into the matter.


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Normally, people who go into this line of work are not looking for the “big bucks” just like teachers and social workers. However, they receive more than their share of criticism and people delight with any misstep, no matter how small. Pastors do not hold themselves out as infallible despite widely held beliefs to the contrary, just forgiven by God for being fallible, as you often see on the bumper stickers.


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I really need Ted Slanders biblical take right about now.


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And in other news that no one cares about, it has been revealed on Facebook that little Johnny who lives down the street failed his math class. His parents released a statement saying that Johnny’s grades have created a storm in the family, so they will be requiring him to step down from video games. He’ll also be entering summer school to make restoration.


Maybe there’s more to this church story, but in CCN’s effort to try to be the first to report something, they have only succeeded in being the first to report on nothing.


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Looks like KCOY was first…


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Yes panflash, I missed the auto correct. Thank you so much for your observation and supreme intellect.


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Swingers….


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That’s the first thing I thought too.


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Ditto on that thought. You beat me to it.


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Love thy neighbor.


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I’m quite curious as to how or why this made the news? Obviously whatever they did upset or hurt some people, and said people decided to make the matter “public”. Churches don’t usually issue PR statements for internal matters (unless it is indeed criminal).


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Never forget Jim Jones. A lesson in blind faith ~


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People need to use their instincts. It is one of, if not our greatest gift to navigate this tricky life. When I see “people of God” that personify used car commercials, it makes me ill. I’m old enough to to have learned that many people use God like a Halloween mask. It’s sad that people desperate to find meaning and acceptance, end up following Hippocrates. I’m sure this guy will try and use this as a teaching lesson in forgiveness and many of his flock will forgive. God Greed is big money, clearly seen in mega churches where church leaders live in 10 + million dollar homes exempt from taxes, just like God did.


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Just to set the record straight here, diamond- Hippocrates was not a hypocrite.


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You probably don’t know these guys personally, I’m guessing. They’re not hypocrites. They’ve worked hard for years, have done a ton of good for their church and for the community, given a lot of care and helped people very sacrificially. I’m not part of their church, but I know people who know them well. It may be a case of cool people getting off track. But from my limited exposure, they are not using God as a mask, they are not greedy, they don’t live in a mansion, and do not seek to deceive desperate people.


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Why is this considered newsworthy?


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Making “restoration” sounds to me like they were stealing money.


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Money is not necessarily the issue. In church parlance, “restoration” refers to the process undergone by someone who has failed in some way (morally, financially, ethically, etc.) as they are counseled over time regarding their failure. Whether or not such a one resumes church ministry is up to the individual church and/or denomination, and may be based upon the nature of the offense and evidence that true repentance has taken place. And the length of time taken for restoration is unspecified.


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Thank you.


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My car needs restoration but it’s not newsworthy.


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Because readers like dirt, lots of it, or so that’s what the site thinks


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