by Don Childers
Mabel and Bill talked on for a few moments longer. Mabel explained which key went where, went over their computer passwords, and showed him around the outer office. After a bit, Bill and Jerry went into his office.
Bill’s office was nicely decorated. A large desk and high-backed chair seemed to dominate the room. A small couch and chair were at one end of the rectangular room. Bookcases dominated the other two walls. Stacked in the middle of the room were the boxes of Bill’s books and personal office stuff.
Bill began to unpack the first of his boxes. He opened the one marked, “Open first” and placed his personal mementos on his desk. There were pictures of his family, pictures of his parents, both of whom had died, and pictures of Jerry. Jerry set about exploring the room. He finally decided that the couch was a great place to stretch out and take a nap. Just as Bill was unpacking some of his books and placing them on a shelf, he heard his door open. Mabel poked her head in, apologized, and said someone wanted to see him. She whispered to him that it was Benny Lewis. There was something in the way she said those words that conveyed something more than a mere announcement.
Benny walked into the office right past Mable, extending his hand and telling Mabel that he would like some tea. “Bill,” Benny said, and then paused and added, “I never did ask you if you prefer Bill or Reverend Thompson?”
“Bill is fine,” Bill replied, standing up from his unpacking and gesturing for Benny to have a seat. Benny reached over and patted his dog on the head as Jerry acknowledged Bill’s command to take a seat in the corner, out of the way.
“Your dog is a fine one. Do you bring him to the office often?” Benny said as Bill told Jerry to sit down and not to bother people.
“Sometimes,” Bill said. “Is that a problem?”
“Not at all,” Benny said but it was the tone that said what he really thought. Getting up, Benny continued, “I don’t want to bother you. I just came by to welcome you and to invite you and Sharon to join Rose and me at the Country Club Friday evening, say around seven?”
It seemed to Bill that this was not a question, but he and Sharon had always had a standing rule to consult with each other before making evening commitments. “Let me give Sharon a call and I will get right back with you. I think it would be great and no problem, but let me check first,” Bill said speaking much too fast, he noted to himself. He also noted the slight disapproval on the face of Benny at the suggestion that he had to check with Sharon. Catching himself, Bill quickly changed the subject as Benny nodded and began looking around the room at some of Bill’s books.
“You like this author?” Benny said picking up a book.
Deciding to take a neutral position and not admit that he actually loved that particular controversial religious writer, Bill said that he loved to read all kinds of authors.
“I really don’t think this guy is even a Christian. His views are just too radical for me, but I guess you ministers have to sort of know what the enemy is doing. Keep your enemies close and your friends at arm’s length!” Benny said with a laugh. “Well, I need to be going. If you and Sharon need anything, do not hesitate to call.”
With that he left. Mabel looked in and asked if Bill needed anything. She was going out to take some mail to the post office. Bill detected the slightest hint of a frown on Mabel’s face as Benny was leaving.
“Oh, yes. I made some coffee. Suzanne said she will stop by shortly. Anything you need?”
“No, and thanks for the coffee,” Bill said as once again Jerry and Mabel hit it off.
Suzanne arrived a few moments after Mabel left.
Bill welcomed Suzanne, as did Jerry.
“What a beautiful dog!” Suzanne said, rubbing the lab’s ears. She settled on the couch and Jerry immediately jumped up beside her.
“We named him Jeremiah after the prophet but it just didn’t seem to fit. So, we call him Jerry!” Bill signaled for Jerry to sit down, with no effect.
After a few moments of petting, Suzanne added, “I won’t take up much time; I just wanted to stop by and welcome you. I don’t know if you have been told, but we normally have a staff meeting every Monday. You are free to change that or cancel it, it is your choice.” Suzanne had been instrumental in holding the church together after the sudden firing of Reverend Elliott. She had kept her opinions to herself, but Bill suspected there was more to the story than the official version he had heard from the church.
“No, Monday will be fine. I have heard good things about you and Jimmy. I am looking forward to meeting him again when he gets back.”
Bill looked at the stack of boxes and sighed. He hated this part of moving. Grabbing Jerry, he walked out of the office, told Mabel he was going to the hospital to check if any members were there and then going on home.
Arriving at home, Bill noticed that a strange car was parked in the driveway. Entering the house, Bill saw that two members had dropped by and were seated on the couch in conversation with Sharon.
Sharon stood up as Bill entered. “Honey, this is Sarah and Tom Jenkins. They just stopped by to welcome us and to bring us dinner. Spaghetti and salad,” Sharon added. Tom stood up and offered his hand to Bill. Tom was over six feet tall, balding but in good shape for someone in his early forties. Sarah stood and greeted Bill. She was younger than Tom. They had met at a singles group after their divorces. Tom worked as a consultant and Sarah ran her own travel agency.
“We know that you two are very busy,” Tom said, sitting down and sipping from his coffee mug. “We have moved before and know how stressful it can be. I can’t imagine how it is with all these new people for you to meet.” It was not long before the couple got to the point.
Looking first at each other, Tom was the first to speak. “We don’t want to burden you but we felt we needed to share with you how some of us feel.” Bill shuffled slightly and looked at Sharon with that the-honeymoon-is-already-over look.
“No,” Tom said. “You both need to hear this.” Looking at Sarah, he continued slowly and quietly as though someone might hear. “We were very disappointed in how Reverend Elliott was dealt with. I don’t know if you know him, but Edward Elliott was our last pastor. We were very upset when the powers that be in this church fired him. He was trying to make some changes to attract younger people.”
“Like what?” Bill said. Sharon politely excused herself, sensing that the couple wanted to talk frankly with Bill. “If you don’t mind, I have to heat up dinner. Do you two want to join us?”
“Oh no,” Sarah said with Tom agreeing. “We won’t be long.”
Tom continued, “Now, we don’t want to come across as complainers. We are very happy that you and your wife are here. But some of us are not very pleased with how things are going at the church and you need to know that. We are hoping that you can help move some things forward.”
Remembering Bill’s question, Sarah added, “What Rev. Elliott tried to do was introduce some Praise music into worship and some multimedia. We even formed a committee to look at doing some remodeling in our sanctuary so we could do PowerPoint presentations and such. Ed introduced a lot of new ideas. He also got a lot of us involved in helping people in the community. He used to take groups to help out at the Second Street mission. But Benny and his group did not approve.”
“Of the worship changes or the social action,” Bill said, remembering Benny’s criticism of one of his favorite authors who advocated strongly that churches should be involved in justice issues.
“All of it. Benny would say that having a screen in the sanctuary disturbed the sacredness of worship. We never understood why he got so angry about going to the mission,” Sarah said with some rising emotion.
Tom continued where Sarah left off. “That’s right. Benny is known for his support of the mission and his help with the poor so the only thing we could figure is that he just had it in for Rev. Elliott.” Pausing for a moment, Tom continued, “Ed was a real friend and was there when we needed him. We just thought his sudden firing was
unfair.”
The words just seemed to hang in the air. All Bill could think to say was, “Thank you for sharing with me. I know that it was a painful time. The search committee hinted at that but never gave many details. I want you to know that I support helping people and I am open to all kinds of worship. I appreciate your support and ask for your prayers.” Even as Bill said this he felt it sounded too patronizing. He had sensed that there had been trouble but his district minister, Dr. Pearl, had just said that Rev. Elliott had simply resigned for a better position. Bill had let it go at that, thankful for the opportunity to even be considered at a larger church.
Tom looked at his wife who had given him a look. “I am really sorry for how that sounded. But we just wanted to meet you and fill you in. We know you are the right person for our church...” An almost invisible signal went between the two and they both rose to leave. Tom extended his hand and said, “Heh! How about some time you and your wife and the two of us go out for a bite to eat?”
“That would be fine,” Bill replied, and with that the couple left. Sharon came out of the kitchen to bid them farewell. After they left, Bill sat down and stared at the wall for a few moments.
“Hard day?” Sharon said, sitting down beside him and placing her arm around him.
“A little,” Bill said. Then he added, “I think there are some skeletons in the closet here!”
“What was all that about the last minister? I thought we were told he resigned to get a better position?”
“That is what I was told. It is strange that Dr. Pearl didn’t mention anything about it. I was under the impression that he just went on to bigger and better things.”
“Do you know him?” Sharon asked. “Maybe you could call him and find out what went on.”
“I think I might do that.” Bill sighed and looked around the room still cluttered with boxes. “Well, I am hungry. I don’t know about you but I could eat a bite. This will all still be here tomorrow.” With that, the day ended. Bill would discover that there were a great many skeletons in the closets of Central Avenue. Most of them would trace back to Benny and his friends.
-3-
The first months were a blur of meetings, visitations, conferences, and getting to know the community and congregation. Bill’s sermons received positive comments. Christmas was especially memorable with the beautiful decorations. The centerpiece was a huge wreath provided by Benny’s family that hung over the cross. It dominated the sanctuary, which had been richly decorated in greens and lights. The choirs were beautiful and the special events of the season made the season one of the most memorable for Bill and Sharon. Their children had joined them for the holidays in their new home. In fact, as the New Year started Bill forgot about the red flags that he had noticed weeks before.
Early in the year Bill was invited to lunch by Benny Lewis and Gerald Shoemaker. Gerald was the moderator of the church. The invitation from Benny’s secretary came as a matter-of-fact call inviting Bill to join Benny for lunch at the Benson Country Club restaurant. No mention as to what the purpose of the meeting was. Bill assumed it was a friendly invitation.
The club restaurant was a stately place, done in a Greek motif, and conveyed the message of wealth and exclusiveness. It was one of two country clubs in the city but had the reputation of being the “real” one as the other one seemed to let anyone in.
Bill drove up in his new Honda Accord, another perk for being at Central. He was met by a young man dressed smartly in grey pants and a blue blazer who opened his door and told Bill he would park his car. For Bill this was like stepping into a world he had only seen on television.
At the door a hostess seemed to perk up when Bill said he was a guest of Benny’s. She led him to a table that sat before sparkling windows overlooking the golf course. Benny rose to greet and welcome Bill, as did Gerald. Gerald was retired from teaching at the Community College. He was tall, grey haired, a little overweight and had a habit of blowing air between his lips at the most odd moments. He liked things to be peaceful. His wife had died before Bill arrived at the church. Gerald seemed to have adjusted well. He spent a lot of his time traveling to visit friends and family, which meant that he was sometimes not on top of things. More than anything, Gerald just wanted to keep the peace and for things to run smoothly at the church.
“Order anything you want from the menu,” Benny said as he sat down at the beautifully decorated table. “The Reuben sandwich is great! This is, of course, my treat.”
“Thanks, that is generous of you,” both Bill and Gerald said almost in unison. The three settled into small talk about family, sports, weather and instinctively avoided politics and the church. Their lunches arrived. Benny had a salad, as did Gerald. Bill had gone ahead and ordered the Reuben and added fries. He felt a like he should have ordered soup or a salad since he was the one who had the most food in front of him. Next time, he thought to himself. Just as Bill was raising his Reuben sandwich to his mouth, Benny interrupted.
“Well, I guess we had better get to the point of this meeting. I know we all have a lot of things to do. At least I sure do,” Benny blurted out.
From that point and for the next thirty minutes Benny unloaded a litany of complaints. Benny always couched his words with “several members have shared with me” and then proceeded to relate what Bill suspected was Benny’s own litany. The “concerns” ranged from the somewhat fair to the very unfair. Benny was upset that Bill had allowed a “rock” band play in worship. Benny also felt that Bill was not exerting enough leadership with certain members. He also felt that Bill was not working enough hours and related that he had driven by their home often and found Bill’s car in the driveway. He was happy, however, that Bill was no longer bringing his dog to the church, as several members had complained about that.
“A church is no place for a dog,” Benny said in between bites.
Bill sat stunned. He had really thought everything was going very well. He had thought the meeting was to discuss some new idea or just to get acquainted. Benny continued in a matter-of-fact tone.
“You know that leading a church is a 24/7 job. You know soul-saving is not an eight to five job,” Benny said as he pushed another piece of bread into his mouth. Then he added between bites of his salad, “That is one reason I did not go into ministry. It is such a responsibility.” Pausing, Benny said, “You know we are only telling you this to help you.” Gerald in the meantime just kept playing with his food, smiling and at various times agreeing with Benny.
Benny’s diatribe was interrupted by the server. After refills of coffee, Benny continued. “Now, please take this all as loving criticism,” Benny said, putting down his fork and looking straight at Bill. “You know I am a businessman and like all things, it takes a lot of work to be successful.”
Bill, who had lost his appetite by now, shared that he thought things had been going quite well.
“Now please don’t take this the wrong way,” Benny said with a smile. “We love you and are excited that you are here. But I’ve found that when there is something wrong, it is best to get at it early. Don’t you agree?”
“Well yes, I actually do,” Bill said.
Finally speaking, Gerald added, “I think your sermons have been great and have heard nothing but compliments about your calling. But Benny and I just thought that you should know there are some complaints out there.” Gerald looked at Benny.
The three settled back into eating their food. Bill poked at his fries and left most of his sandwich on the plate. The subject turned to how Kansas City was doing and the colder weather developing. Benny asked if Bill played golf and when he said he did not, seemed disappointed. “Well maybe we can teach you. It’s a great game!” Gerald, who was an avid golfer, agreed and spent the rest of the time talking about some of the courses he had played on, seemingly relieved that the subject was about something other than the criticisms.
When Bill returned to the office, Mabel sensed that all had not gone well at lunch.
>
“Enjoy your lunch with Benny?” she asked as Bill entered and headed straight to his office.
“Oh, it was great!” Bill said with obvious sarcasm.
“Well, I am surprised he waited this long before unloading.”
“Have you heard anything?” Bill asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer.
Mabel turned from her computer to face Bill. “You know churches, everyone has an opinion. I make it a point not to listen to gossip. That’s an advantage of not being a member here. I can lock my door and go home.” Mabel paused and leaned forward on her desk, looking at Bill. “Actually, I have heard wonderful things about you. Your sermons are great and a lot of members like that you are talking about some of the current stuff. I sat here and watched Benny and some others destroy Rev. Elliott, the last minister. I have not said much, but it was really unfair. Benny believes he knows everything and frankly, as you have figured out, he has a lot of pull in this church. You need to know that the staff and I think you are doing a great job.”
“Thanks,” Bill said. Then he added, “I really enjoy all of you. I am glad to be here.” Yet there was a nagging doubt brewing deep down within Bill. Had he made a mistake? On the other hand, Sharon was so happy at the college. Did he have the right to disturb her happiness? Where was God in all this? Why was there always a Benny in every church? Bill decided to stop by the Crispy Cream donut shop for some consolation.
-4-
Bill was always energized when he connected with people in their time of need. He made frequent visits to the nursing homes and hospital. He was at his best in times of grief. It was such times that reminded Bill of why he was in ministry: to help connect people to something greater than themselves, to connect those with God and in that connection bring a measure of peace into their lives.
