Exercised Stock Option
July 1, 1994
When the car rolled to a stop, Phil Davis nervously glanced over at his wife. He knew what Cynthia was thinking--Phil, what have you gotten us into this time? He wondered the same thing. They were parked in front of a low-income housing project. Why did I agree to this? he thought. Oh well, I'll just preach and leave. He had been asked to speak at Galilean Baptist Church, a church plant in a rundown neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina. The pastor, who was white, was attempting to start an African-American church. That's about all Phil knew. As soon as he shut the motor off, however, Phil also knew he was overdressed. He had on a blue, pin-striped suit and a crisply starched button-down shirt with a red tie. He normally dressed that way: he was a corporate manager for a finance company. But in his heart of hearts, he was a preacher. Several years earlier, he had sensed God's call to ministry. The Davises got out of the car and climbed the rickety steps to a first-floor flat. There the members of Galilean Baptist -all seven of them--welcomed them: its pastor, his wife, their three kids, a blind elderly woman, and a shell-shocked war veteran with an uncontrollable twitch. The pastor pointed Phil to the living room, which doubled as the church sanctuary, and the service began. "Whew!" Cynthia said on the drive home after the service. "I'm glad that's over." "So am I," Phil replied. The next week, however, Phil got another phone call from the same pastor. "Our church voted," the pastor said, "and we'd like for you to pastor Galilean Baptist." "What?" Phil replied. "Who voted?" "I've decided to resign," the pastor continued. "Can you be here next week?" This church just can't close, Phil thought. The neighborhood had no other gospel ...
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