.<\/span><\/p>\nTrue fiction for church leaders<\/span>
Part 2:<\/span><\/p>\nThe board put the PR machine in high gear \u2013 the machine Jeff had painstakingly assembled in the name of Excellent Communication \u2013 to massage the message they\u2019d be giving the congregation about Jeff\u2019s impending departure. Frank made sure Jeff understood that his generous severance package was tied to Jeff\u2019s flawless performance of the leaving rituals they\u2019d choreographed for him to execute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d prefer to tell the congregation that you and Joanna believe God is calling you both at this time in your lives to step out in faith and explore some new ministry opportunities,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n
Instead of what, Jeff wondered. The truth? That he\u2019d been forced out?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve gone a lot recently, traveling and speaking at other churches, anyway,\u201d Frank continued. \u201cWe want to minimize any disruption to the church life here. If you think you can handle it, we\u2019ll call you up front so you can make a brief announcement at the end of each service this weekend. We\u2019ll want to see the text of what you\u2019re going to say before then. You understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff already knew the answer, but had to hear Frank say it. \u201cWho\u2019s going to preach this Sunday?\u201d<\/p>\n
He saw a muscle twitch in Frank\u2019s jaw. \u201cChris, of course. The board is praying he\u2019ll accept the call to become our next senior pastor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, he\u2019ll accept it, Jeff thought. It\u2019s what that Judas has been working toward since I brought him here as my associate 4 years ago.<\/p>\n
* * * * * * *<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could they do this to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Joanna was standing at the doorway of the kitchen. He hadn\u2019t heard her come in, but she\u2019d obviously heard his voice. \u201cJeff?\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned to face her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve felt the same way for a long time,\u201d she said slowly, taking a couple of steps into the room. \u201cYears, maybe. I hated the way things were the last few years when it seemed like everyone was turning against you. Against us. I am glad our kids are gone, living on their own out of this town. Going through this would have been unbearable for them.\u201d
He nodded. He\u2019d had the same thought hundreds of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow was your morning?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
She shrugged off her coat, tossing it over the back of a kitchen chair. Joanna had been attending a church in a town about 45 minutes from their home the last couple of months, hoping the ritual would help her heal in relative anonymity. He\u2019d tried visiting with her, but after their second visit, he told her it was excruciating for him to sit like an uncooked pot roast in the pew, watching the show.<\/p>\n
All he could think about were the endless meetings he and his staffers had to \u201cproduce a quality Sunday morning experience\u201d for the people filling the padded chairs in his own\u2026former\u2026church each weekend. He, of course, was the main course, tasked with crafting a clever and relevant message the people would talk about with their co-workers on Monday mornings \u2013 evangelizing them with the gospel of \u201ccome to our church\u201d. Jeff now wondered if maybe all he and the staff had been doing was repackaging little bits of the Bible into 100-calorie snack packets. \u201cYou can go if you want,\u201d he\u2019d told Joanna. \u201cI need some time. Can\u2019t handle it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t noticed until she sat down heavily at the kitchen table that Joanna\u2019s face was blotched and swollen and her eyes were red. \u201cFine. Not fine,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know what, Jeff? You ask how they could do this to you? These last few months, I\u2019d been asking God why he let them get away with it. I wondered why they seemed to thrive after they betrayed us the way they did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used the past tense, JoJo. \u2018Been asking.\u2019 Like it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of bad stuff has happened to us, Jeff. But I\u2019m beginning to think we\u2019re not just victims in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He straddled the chair across the table from her. \u201cHow can you say that? After the way they screwed us\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been listening to people interact before and after the church service these last few weeks. No one really knows me, and it\u2019s a great big church. I just listen\u2026\u201d She swallowed hard. \u201cI hear too many of their conversations focused on the same things we\u2019ve been consumed with the last few years. The building, the staff, the programs. I hear constant striving for position, and endless silly politics. Such a waste\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Hackles raised, Jeff leaned across the table. \u201cWhat are you saying? That none of anything we\u2019ve done had any value? That we\u2019ve wasted our time in ministry?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice broke. \u201cI wanted to yell at them: All of you people want the same things we wanted at\u2026at\u2026\u201d She paused, reaching for the right word. \u201cFrom\u2026our old church. They all want the same things we wanted. Frank, Chris, the rest of them\u2026 I think we\u2019ve wasted a lot of energy trying to get something from other people that didn\u2019t belong to any of us in the first place.\u201d She nestled her face into her folded arms on the table and wept quietly.<\/p>\n
The truth in her words flicked lightly across his pain like a whip, goading him\u2026where? Jeff wanted to scream \u201cYou\u2019re wrong! They did this to us!\u201d but tried\u2026and failed\u2026to form a less-visceral response. The protest inside of him slowly dissipated until finally, his soul fell silent as he sat at the kitchen table with her, the only sound, the steady ticking of the kitchen clock.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read part one here. True fiction for church leadersPart 2: The board put the PR machine in high gear \u2013 the machine Jeff had painstakingly assembled in the name of Excellent Communication \u2013 to massage the message they\u2019d be giving the congregation about Jeff\u2019s impending departure. Frank made sure Jeff understood that his generous severance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1449,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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