In reply to Tony Spencer.

Hi Tony. This kind of question is loaded. Many people refer to the bible when Jesus heard from the Pharisees that "God alone forgives sins" and who is this man" ? Referring to Jesus. The great commission in 1 Timothy gives authority for pastors to forgive or retain sins "of the church". Some people have trouble with pastors forgiving sins by Christ's command and by His authority. The pastor is an agent representing Christ in the flesh. According to this belief, you or I or any other congregational attendee can forgive the sins "of the church". That is a pastors job. You and I can and should forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us, but our authority does not extend to forgiving the sins of the church. I am not a pastor, but merely reflecting the training and education I have. That being said, you definitely need to go to your pastor and find out why he allowed this one side forgiving another thing in the first place. This is problematic.