For those of you who don't know me or my family, my dad happens to be a softball umpire. He's done this for years. Last week he came home from a tournament and told us a little story - there was a team from Wynne Arkansas at the tournament. He made a comment to a random woman there about the music minister from our church being from Wynne and that he wished they would take him back. He was making a joke. No big deal - just an off-hand joking comment. Well, it turns out that the women he made the comment to was the music minister's sister!!! And she told him that!! oops... oh well - no big deal you'd think, but NO..... it seems it is a HUGE deal.
Today my dad got a call from the pastor of the church!!!! He was told that if he (my dad) has a problem with a member of the staff, that he (my dad) should bring it to the minister.
Can you believe that? An off-hand joke and my dad gets called to the woodshed by the pastor of one of the largest baptist churches in Jonesboro! I never realize that freedom of speech ended where the church began! I want to know how the pastor even got involved in this! Did the sister call the pastor and say "one of your members is talking about my brother - would you please make him stop?" or did the music minister hear it from his sister and turn to the pastor and say ".. he was mean to me - go beat him up for me". GEEZ!!!! My dad is in his late 60s. He's been a member of the church for over 40 years - it's not like he's a deacon or anything - he mainly just goes to Sunday School, yet a casual joking comment warrants a call from the PREACHER himself!
Having told a friend of mine this store out at a restaurant tonight, I'm waiting for the phone to ring so the pastor can chew me out for talking bad about the church - or whatever...
Can you believe this? It's not like it's a small church. It's not like it's that small a town even (100K or so population). GEEZ!!!!
When did it become the church's business to moderate and control what is being said casually by a member? I'm seriously considering moving my membership - even if I haven't been active there in a number of years. I'm shocked and appalled by this behavior. I don't remember grade school being this bad. At least we could have our own opinions and express them. We didn't go tattling to the teacher to have her mediate when she hadn't even directly witness the situation.
What childish behavior. I'm flabbergasted.
3 comments:
yep, flabbergasted is the word...
Church. That's what church is all about. Factions, gossip, backbiting, powerplays and pettiness. I am so glad I escaped Fort God.
I'm glad you escaped too Carla. I'm slowly working on escaping again.
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