Confuzzelpation

Anyone reading this is well appraised of my whining about, er, issues going on at church. After the ad council meeting I wrote about last week, the DS got a couple calls saying that there would be nine people leaving the church if he didn’t move me immediately. In prayer and discussion with me, he decided it would be best to give in on the big issue. He agreed with me that it would make future change harder because it would reinforce the negative behaviors we are facing, but it would make the rest of my time here more bearable. I swallowed my pride and did it.

I have about a five to ten minute drive between my two churches, and It seemed a lot longer this morning. I was actually getting sick to my stomach the closer I got to the church. I’ve been in situations like this before, and I’m not eager to go through one again. I didn’t know if those who had sworn not to come back would be there or not, since they eventually got their way.

And they weren’t there.

They weren’t there.

And the people who were there were nice. I think I got an apology from two of the people. One of the people who wasn’t there is one of those people who always talks about how much he does for the church, and one of those things is that he empties the trash in my office because the janitor won’t and no one will stand up to him about it. So I figure he must have made a scene or something while I wasn’t around, because one of the women came into my office to make sure that my trash had been emptied, which it hadn’t. She offered to do it, but I didn’t think it needed to be done. Another of the women who had been so angry at the meeting told me that this was one of the best sermons she had ever heard me preach, but “maybe that’s just because I’m listening better now.” I’m really not sure what’s going on, but those might have been peace offerings. Or maybe they’re setting me up for something.

Only time will tell if these folks actually stay away. If they do, it might be good for the church. Either way, I still need to get out of here. I don’t think I can ever trust most of these people again, even if something has revealed to some of them the evil and hatred behind the actions of some of their friends. The thing that really bothers me is that I will be leaving this church in worse shape than I found it. I hate that. I suppose they rejected me, and I should just shake the dust of the town off my sandals, but I do care for them, even the ones that have behaved the most abominably. I want better for them than they have claimed for themselves. All I can do from this point is try to keep myself healthy and pray. I ask anyone reading this to continue to pray for me and the church. Thanks.