Trying the High Road
January 1, 2003
After the split, the rumors flew. It was amazing how much people knew that was true. It was more amazing how much people knew that wasn't true. Gerald, the associate pastor, knew more of the story than most church members did. Gerald was present when the board chair confronted the senior pastor with his indiscretions. The pastor had mismanaged church money, and some personal items had been charged against church accounts. "Let's let him pay the money back," Gerald had pleaded, citing the family's financial straits after one child's long illness. And Gerald was present when the pastor, refusing to repent and repay the money, took a third of the congregation with him and started another church. Gerald pastored those who remained. Later Gerald was accused of many things, some in absentia, some to his face: Gerald was unsympathetic, he betrayed the pastor, he should have intervened sooner, he failed to confront the troublemakers on the board, he instigated the split, he was unqualified to lead. A few of the charges came from people who remained with the congregation, but much of the rumor mongering was on the street and in the community. Everybody was getting sullied. Gerald discussed the situation with a few key leaders. They were learning still more than had been shared publicly: The money juggling preceded the child's illness. Some who left the church knew about the finagling, but had turned a blind eye. None of it was illegal, exactly, but a report of unsound business practices might put the church's standing with the bank in jeopardy. Would telling the whole story stop the hurtful gossip? After some debate, Gerald and the leaders agreed to keep it to themselves. They didn't want to implicate others who had left the church. Or those ...
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