Loving and Leaving a Church: A Pastor's JourneyBarbara Melosh's story was a common one. A second career seminarian, she arrived at her first pastorate brimming with enthusiasm and high hopes. The blue collar congregation to which she'd been called had a glorious past but an uncertain future. Certain that she could turn around its slow yet undeniable slide into decline, Melosh inaugurated a number of church growth and outreach programs. Most of these efforts had little effect, and the ones that did