Issue 8, May 2008
When Pastor Henry Gray accepted the call, he saw it as a call to serve a church where he could do some very effective work. He saw before him a field where his special talents and personal growth in ministry would be most useful for the kingdom. So, after much prayer and thought, he accepted the call.
An interesting sidelight was that the District President, a son of this congregation, had urged Pastor Gray to accept. He installed Gray as pastor in a June evening service. The service was well attended and, at the reception after, the members showed their excitement about having a new pastor after nearly a year.
Of course there were problems. The circuit counselor and the congregation’s leadership were forthright in laying out the work the new pastor faced. The congregation's chairman and the chairman of the Board of Elders told Pastor Gray a horror story the morning after his installation.
What Pastor was not aware of was the table, Grandma Schmidt’s table. Grandma Schmidt, a long time and well respected member of the church, had died in the past month. She was mourned by all. BUT two of her daughters laid claim to a rickety table about which they each said, “Mom told me I was to have it." As it happens now and then, neither was giving in, and the result was two camps. The Ladies Aid was divided, the voters' meeting was divided and the children fought. The congregation was in real turmoil over Grandma's table.
What to do?
Pastor called the daughters and their husbands to a meeting at the church that week Wednesday. They came, reluctantly, and sat down with him. He thanked them for coming and, after a prayer, told them the story of Jonah. They listened, wondering what this was, for they all knew that story. But they really did not, because Pastor Gray opened the Bible to the last chapter of the book of Jonah and asked them to read it again while he stepped out for fifteen minutes or so.
When Pastor came back he asked them about what they had read. They recited the details with blank looks. Then, Bible in hand, he pointed out that Jonah was angry about a vine, while God was concerned about the 12,000 souls in the city of Nineveh.
Looking grave, he continued, "You are tearing this church apart because of a rickety table, while I, the shepherd, am concerned for the 800 souls here. Last week what happened here didn’t bother me, because I did not know of it. Today it does, because I made a solemn promise to serve as God’s shepherd, feeding 'the flock of God which He purchased with His own blood.' Please, for your sake, for the sake of many souls and for the sake of unity, settle this matter today, one way or another, but settle it."
They did. They used the rickety table to make a fire to prepare a peace meal for the entire congregation to celebrate the event. The Schmidt family lived and worked in that congregation for many years. And Pastor Gray served them all with rich blessings and glory to God.
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