When to leave a group:

There sometimes comes the time... alright, there frequently comes the time when you are ready to pack it in and leave a youth group or church.  A few basic principles about when:

• Never leave mad. We all get mad at a church or youth group from time to time, then things get better. Make it a policy that you will never choose to leave when you are upset with a group or a church. (Fantasize about it, of course, just don't act on it.)
• When a situation is untenable, make sure it is the situation and the institution that forces it, not your current emotional state.
• Even if it is someone's “fault” that you are leaving – you feel like you are being driven out – blaming is of no value. Just because you are hurt and upset is no reason to sour your youth on the church. This can have long lasting negative repercussions on their faith and you don't want that. You may not be stuck there but they are. Do not bias them against the church or involve them in church politics.