Life is hard, sometimes...

We have been in a stew. On Tuesday morning, I received an email from someone I trust. It was a forward of a thread, in which there were several letters indicating that the senior pastor at our church is being forced to step down within the next three weeks. I have been aware for some time that certain members of the elder board and the pastoral staff have had some differences of opinion with the senior pastor about his tendency to speak openly about the political climate in our state and nation. The email thread indicated that this was the reason behind the change.

I sent some inquiries to a couple of people I know in the church, and as the day went on, I received assurance from a couple of sources that the whole thing was a hoax. Late in the afternoon, an email came from the church indicating that, whereas talks had been going on for a couple of years regarding the eventual transfer of leadership, when the pastor retires, this whole situation came as a surprise to the elder board and that the pastor had suddenly decided to pursue other ministry opportunities. The letter was signed by the elder board and by the pastor, but was obviously not written by him.

The suddenness of this change, coupled with the disquieting news in the email threads I received, make the circumstances seem suspicious and have left us with doubts as to what actually happened. What we know is that the pastor will be gone by the end of May. We also know that this all happened so suddenly that the congregation was completely unaware that anything was in the works.

On Wednesday, an elder called me to explain the whole situation. This seemed peculiar, because, although I am personally acquainted with this elder, I had the impression that this was more than a routine call made to all church members. It seemed to me he was too concerned about how much I had heard or understood about the situation. I trust this man, but I was further disquieted by his call.

On Wednesday morning, I received another email forward from the original source. The author was known to my source but not to me personally. It indicated that the author and another person had spoken with the pastor between services on Easter and were told by him that he did not want to step down, but that he had no choice.

I shared all of the information I have received with a pastor friend who is not a member of our church. He confirmed that it was at least very disturbing. Today, Jill received a letter from a friend who is a church member. She said that she has friends who have spoken with the pastor and who have assured her that he is not being forced out.

Our current state of mind is one of confusion. At this moment, we are not sure whom we can trust in the church. We are praying for God's guidance and for clarity as to what all of this means. This is very hard for us. We are very involved in ministry at this church, and this episode has been very painful for us.