Saturday, September 26, 1998

Pulpit problems at the FUCB

By Michael O'Connor / Abilene Reporter-News

The good folks over at First United Christian Baptist Church hadn't quit fussing with each other over the details of their planned gymnasium when Pastor Isaac Matthew Wright II -- also known to members as Junior and I'm Wright too, both names he thoroughly loathes -- introduced a new controversy.

The church has being growing by the proverbial leaps, etc., and the youthful pastor has drawn many younger members to the church. Added to the evangelistic efforts of patriarchal member Joshua Caleb Martin and his protege Timothy Christian, who came into the church through an AA group the church sponsors, the membership has changed drastically. Whereas the dominant membership had once been older congregants with lifetime ties to the denomination, now the majority on any given Sunday morning was likely to be composed of people who had grown up in another denomination or who had no previous ties to the institutional church.

In recognition of this change, the main Sunday morning service had transformed -- under the direction of Wright's father, the church's founding pastor -- from very formal to quite informal. Junior believed that the sanctuary setting should reflect that change, so one Saturday he called the janitor and together they removed the pulpit, which had occupied center position in the chancel, and replaced it with a metal music stand.

The pulpit required a step up of several inches for the pastor, and Wright had joked during a few services after his arrival that he was afraid he would get nosebleed from the height. On a theological level, he believed the days were long gone when pastors handed down God's word from on high, and the new arrangement would send a message to the congregation that he was a fellow traveler on the road of faith who was sharing the insights he had gained while studying the Bible.

Although most of the new members seemed to like the new arrangement, as judged by comments they made to Wright after services, the pastor was summoned to appear before the trustees a couple of weeks after the change.

There he was informed in no uncertain terms that he had angered "the church" with his change. "Most of the members," he was told did not like the change because it made him harder to see.

Wright countered by asking who specifically was complaining, and after naming several members who had told him they liked the change, eventually got the trustees to admit that "everyone" really amounted to about a half-dozen of the older, more well-to-do members.

"Surely," he said, "you don't expect me to cave in just because someone with money is upset. Wouldn't that violate Scripture?"

When a couple of board members questioned Wright's reference, he told them to read through the book of James. Then he suggested a compromise. Why not let the changes stand for six months, he said, and at the end of that time the trustees could take the issue up again if members were still upset.

The appropriate motion was made, seconded and approved. Wright went home with a smile on his face because every other time he'd suggested a six-month waiting period, the issue failed to resurface.

First United Christian Baptist Church is a fictional church in a fictional denomination. Any resemblance to actual events and people is purely intentional.