ESCAPE - Chapter 5

   Wednesday evening I went to the Church for the called Session meeting. After I had opened the meeting with prayer, I asked Mr. Fike what the purpose was for which the meeting was called.

   “Pastor, we are here to ask you to resign immediately. If you don’t, we are going to take a vote to fire you.”

   Before I could speak, Mrs. Alfritz, who was also an elder said, “The talk around town has made our church the object of scorn throughout the whole community. We all loved Laura. The thought that our pastor could be callous and unfeeling and let her die without making any effort to help her, without even getting out of bed, is just too horrible for words.”

   Mr. Bigelow, the treasurer, said, “Our offerings have gone down steadily these last couple years while you have had to spend so much time taking care of your ailing wife. Of course that was your chief responsibility. Our responsibility is to keep this church alive. The longer we keep you here as pastor, the worse the shape we are in.”

   Mrs. Carrington, a wealthy widow, said, “I understand that you will come into a sizeable sum of money now that Laura is gone. You really don’t need what we can pay you as pastor.”

   When everyone had spoken, I said, “In the Presbyterian Church, the pastor’s call is a three-way contract between pastor, congregation, and Presbytery. The call can be terminated in only two ways. The pastor can request that it be terminated, the congregation votes on whether they are agreeable to that or not. Or the congregation can vote to request that the pastor’s call be terminated, and the pastor says whether he agrees or not. In either case, if both the congregation and the pastor are in agreement, the Presbytery will agree. If either the congregation or the pastor do not agree, there has to be a Presbytery meeting. The pastor and the congregation’s elder representative each present their reasons. Then the Presbytery votes whether to dissolve the pastoral call or not.

   “In short, this meeting needs to call a congregational meeting for the purpose of deciding whether to request that the pastor’s call be dissolved. The meeting could be announced next Sunday and the congregational meeting could be held after service the following Sunday.”

   The Session voted to call a congregational meeting. I asked for a motion to adjourn. Then I closed the meeting in prayer.

   Thursday morning the church secretary called to say that one of the members, Mr. Wainwright had a heart attack and was in the hospital. I went to the hospital. Mr. Wainwright was still in the Emergency Room. Mrs. Wainwright was in the examining room with him.

   “Reverend Sterner, thank you so much for coming. Ralph is pretty woozy now. They gave him some shots. The doctor is consulting with a doctor in Little Rock to decide whether to transport him to the Heart Hospital or leave him here. I guess it will depend on what is wrong with his heart and how serious the attack was.”

   “Since they may come back in and get him ready to go, let’s have prayer now. Then after you know what is decided, call the church secretary and let her know. She can pass the message to me. I have to go to the Presbytery office in Ruston, Louisiana today or tomorrow.”

   I had prayer with the Wainwrights and concluded with the Lord’s Prayer. I heard Mr. Wainwright murmuring sounds in sync with the words of the Lord’s Prayer. He was trying to say it.

   Next I visited Mrs. Wrangle. She was sitting up in bed chatting cheerily with a nurse.

   “Oh, Reverend Sterner, I’m so glad to see you. The nurse was just telling me that I will probably go home tomorrow.  Isn’t that wonderful news? It was your prayer, you know? You really got through to God for me. I told my husband that we are going to start going to your church just as soon as I am able.”

   I had a prayer of thanksgiving with her ending with the Lord’s Prayer. Both she and the nurse joined in. From there I went to the church office. I called the Presbytery office and asked to speak to the Executive Presbyter, Rev. Joe Sheetz.

   “Joe, this is Joshua Sterner. I need to talk to you and I would prefer a face to face meeting. Could you spare an hour’s time this afternoon?”

   “Would two o’clock be all right?”

   “Yes, I can be there by then. Thank you.” 

   I spoke to the secretary,

   “Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Wainwright is still in the Emergency Room. They are deciding whether to transport him to the Heart Hospital or to keep him here. Mrs. Wainwright is supposed to call you here at the Church Office and leave a message about what they decide. If she does not call before you are ready to go home, please call the hospital and find out if he is there or has been transferred. Whatever you find out, leave a note on my desk. Any other messages or calls, leave a note on my desk. I have a meeting at the Presbytery office at 2 p.m. I don’t expect to return to here until 6 p.m. or later. Thank you.”

   “Reverend Sterner, I heard about the Session meeting last night. These people don’t realize what a hard working and godly man that they are tossing aside because of wicked, gossiping people. The Devil must be laughing.”

   The drive to Ruston was relaxing. I listened to classical music on the XM radio. The fall colors of the leaves was at its height. The sun was shining brightly. A smile crept onto my face. I thought that I heard Laura saying,

   “That’s right, Joshua, smile. Let the sunshine come back into your heart.”

   I arrived at the Presbytery office about five minutes early. There was a half pot of coffee on the stand beside the secretary.

   “Is it fresh?”

   “No, it’s nasty.

   “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll go get a Coke.”

   I knew they kept soft drinks in the refrigerator in the kitchen. I found a Lime Diet Coke and walked back to the front. Joe Sheetz was waiting.

   “Joshua, come on into my office.”

   After I was seated across from him, he asked,

   “What is on your mind; what can I do for you?”

   “I’ll give you the short version first, then fill in the details. Laura died last Thursday; her funeral and burial were on Sunday. On Wednesday night the Session had a called meeting and asked me to leave. There will be a congregational meeting Sunday after next to request that the pastoral call be dissolved by Presbytery.

   “Here are some of the details. Seven years ago Laura received an inheritance from her uncle of $250,000. Several months later she discovered that she had cancer. Over the years most of that inheritance has been spent on medical expenses and hiring aides to help her. There were a couple years when the cancer was in remission, in fact she was told that she was cancer free. Then it came back with a vengeance. All this year she has been getting weaker, then she became bedridden. 

   At first I hired aides for a couple hours three days a week. That increased to aides seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Three and a half months ago, Laura’s doctor told me that her condition was terminal, that her pain required morphine, and that he was recommending hospice care. I signed up for hospice care and a nurse has come to the home at least twice a day to check on Laura and to administer the morphine.

   “Laura had a schoolmarm’s bell which she rang whenever she wanted something or needed help. At night, in bed, I would hear the bell and go to her room to see what she needed. I always had to get up one time a night and sometimes more. The night she died I slept all through the night. When I awoke I ran down the hall to her room. She was dead. Her body was cold and her limbs were rigid. Her mouth was wide open and her hand was clutching the schoolmarm’s bell.

   “Her aide came at 9 a.m. When I told her that Laura was dead, she shoved past me and went into Laura’s room. When she saw the body, she screamed. She left, but she went around town saying that Laura had called for help and rang the bell, but I didn’t go to help her and that is why she died. 

   When Laura’s doctor heard from his nurses that this gossip was going around town like wildfire, he left his office and came to me. He told me that Laura had lived longer than he expected, that I had taken excellent care of her, that she was too weak to call for help her diaphragm and lungs had probably quit and she was trying to get air. Moreover, he said that even if I had found her not being able to breathe, there was a Do Not Resuscitate order as part of her Living Will. Hospice would not have sent an ambulance.

   “Later the gossip was expanded to say that I let her die so I could get her inheritance.

   “I think the Church’s action is partly compassion fatigue. Laura was sick with cancer and then apparently recovered. A couple years later she came down with cancer again, this time much more severe, and she didn’t recover. The church is reacting to the gossip going around town. Also, the church has diminished in members and income. There might be other reasons for this, but the easiest explanation is to say that the pastor has been too occupied with his sick wife.”

   “What do you want to do? You have been in that town for ten years. This flap of vicious gossip is momentary. When the excitement dies down, what remains is that you are a man of integrity, a hardworking and caring pastor, an outstanding preacher. Those qualities would help you build up that church again. Do you want to stay? Can you forgive the church and the town? Do you need to escape from a place that daily reminds you of Laura’s last painful years? I’m going to be at that congregational meeting. You may have more support than you realize.”

   “That congregational meeting is the main reason that I have come to you for advice. My pride moves me to make someone from the congregation make a motion to ask me to leave. Then if I have supporters they might speak up. In the vote I would find out how many want me to stay. My desire for peace in the church says that I should ask for my pastoral call to be dissolved and ask the congregation to concur with my request. I could give them as a reason that my grief is so great that I don’t think I can do an adequate job as pastor. That way even my supporters would support the motion out of sympathy for me. If I make the congregation ask me to leave, even if the motion is defeated, those who want me to leave will then leave themselves.”

   “You are a wise and humble man, Joshua.”

   I drove back with Joe’s words going through my mind. As I drove into town it was going on six o’clock. I stopped at the Subway shop and bought a twelve inch sub sandwich. I went into the church office long enough to pick up my messages.

   When I reached home, I unwrapped the sub sandwich and got a glass of cranberry juice from the refrigerator. There were messages to call Mr. Fike and Mrs. Alfritz. Mr. Wainwright had been moved to the Arkansas Heart Hospital. After I ate, I lay on the sofa and watched a couple episodes of “Doc Martin” that had been recorded by the DVR.

   The congregational meeting would be on Hallowe’en – how ironic. That was also Reformation Sunday. I decided to start this Sunday a series of sermons on the five solas of the Reformation, sola Scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, and soli Deo Gloria. I did a search on the internet and found a half dozen articles that I could use as background material for the sermons. I printed them out. I noticed that I didn’t have any more ink cartridges. I ordered three.

   The next day I went into the office. I returned the calls from Mr. Fike and Mrs. Alfritz but neither one answered the phone. I began working on the sermon for Sunday, “Sola Scriptura”.

   Mrs. Wainwright called and said that her husband wasn’t doing too well. She asked me to please come to see him. I told her that I would. I saved my work to a memory stick so that I could continue my sermon at home.

   The drive to Little Rock was as far but not as pleasant as the drive to Ruston. I arrived at the Heart Hospital at about 2:30 p.m. That was a blessing from God because the visiting times are noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Mrs. Wainwright met me.

   “They are going to operate tomorrow morning. The surgeon said that he did not want to wait until Monday.”

   “Will you please call me as soon as you know something. Here is my home phone number, and here is my cell phine number.”

    Mr. Wainwright was sedated. I prayed for him and for the surgeon and for the nurses who would be helping. I concluded with the Lord’s Prayer.

    I returned home about 6 o’clock. After a supper of soup, left over piece of the sub sandwich, and hot tea, I went back to work on the sermon.