“The majority of this, as well as any other congregation, want the minister to be the focal point of ministry, and not by making himself or herself the center of attention either. He is to do it by drawing people’s attention past himself to God. The majority of people of this congregation believed Durwin was doing just that. The belittlers were in rivalry with it. If this church was to be built up, they wanted the credit for doing so.”
“Durwin had a person with a real problem personality there didn’t he?” remarked Owen.
“Yes,” replied Collin, “and with her ignorance, snobbery and belittling, she would later cause him much trouble. And she wasn’t alone. As we discussed earlier in the sessions, birds of a feather flock together. They were in a minority but in this denomination of Terraprima they would get their way. Needless to say, the denomination was in decline in this area, numerically as well as in quality.
“As time went on, the Lawtons made every attempt to socialize with these people in events in and outside of church. But always they were kept on the periphery of this ingrown little society in which most of the church administration had encrusted itself. The Lawtons showed themselves to be quite capable socially in other spheres, as we shall see. But they could make no headway with it in this sick, misdirected church. And it wasn’t the whole congregation that was sick. Neither was it the entire administration. It was those in control of its administration. Power and control was their way of life. It boosted their pride, which in turn was protected by their envious strife and rivalry. When this scenario was, in their minds, interfered with, by good well meaning people like the Lawtons, it turned to rivalry and enmity.
“The Lawtons continued trying to participate in the social activities of the church, but were always involuntarily placed on the periphery of everything by the near social illiteracy and ignorance of these people. At least, that is how the Lawtons saw it then. In time they would learn there was more to it. Meanwhile they decided to make yet another different thrust. They would participate in activities outside the congregation, as much as time would allow, in order to preserve their own sociability and their reputation as sociable people. This could also be good for the church, for the Lawtons would make good friends and acquaintances in the area, which in turn could make friends for the church, giving it a positive image in the community. Such an image had been, from the beginning, a part of Durwin’s planned infra-structure for growth-to make his church a first rate organization in the community, creating the concept of a church on the move.
“The belittlers wouldn’t see it that way. Their mind-set wasn’t capable of such a view. In time it would be evident they would see the minister as wasting his time and their money. They would see it that way because that’s the way they wanted to picture it for themselves and others for their devious purposes of belittling Durwin and also brainwashing him into thinking he was not giving a satisfactory ministry.
“Later in the story, I will concentrate on Canda’s part more fully. For the present, let us look more closely at Durwin’s ministry. It was now obvious that he wasn’t going to have much cooperation from most of the church officers. So, at least for the present, he put aside any hope of that. The congregation at large was unaware of the ill treatment Durwin and Canda were getting from the board members. So his reputation as a good minister was still intact in the public eye. It was from the congregation at large that Durwin was getting the name of an excellent minister, superior in quality. Concerning his personal ministry, Durwin’s two main thrusts had always been, first, meaningful and inspiring worship services, and secondly, expert pastoral care. In his previous pastorates he had established excellent ministries in these fields. Regardless of the lack of cooperation on the part of the church administration he would continue to concentrate on these.
“Durwin’s worship services were already well appreciated by the majority of the congregation. He had already established a satisfactory and well received visitation program to peoples’ homes where needed and wanted, and to hospitals and nursing homes. It was difficult to visit many private homes where both husband and wife were out to work, and where the weekends were busy with family chores and church. As usual, he left these people to visiting when there was an invitation to do so. There were some such invitations, but none from the belittlers. He would only be in their homes when a church gathering of some sort was held there. That seemed to satisfy everyone for the present. Later, when there was a concerted effort to put Durwin down and get rid of him he would be accused by them of never visiting them in their homes, and the proverbial ‘the minister doesn’t do enough visiting.’ The fact is that Durwin, in his ministry of the past and the present, had always done far more visiting than most ministers do.
“Durwin had received considerable high caliber training in pastoral care at seminary some years earlier. He now decided to update by enrolling in a two year part time course in psychology, pastoral care and short term counseling. Included in this course, as a necessity to understanding others, was a course in self awareness and self improvement. Durwin had always been open to things like that. As I said before, he was a moderately self-examining type of person. So each Monday, Durwin was off to the big city for a full day of school. At least for a time, it turned out to be a bright spot in a life that otherwise was becoming gradually more difficult.
“Durwin would now get further expert training for his pastoral duties. This was an area of his personal ministry he would concentrate on. Another church in the area was concentrating on its mission to the poor and underprivileged. It was conveniently located for that. Still another church in the area concentrated on programs for families of middle class people. This church was also conveniently located for its chosen ministry. Durwin had no desire to duplicate these churches per se. They were doing effective work. His own church was doing a little of each; that is, helping the poor, and ministering to the middle class, but these other churches each were specializing in one of these areas.
“Durwin’s idea was to have his area of specialization in the field of pastoral care to people within and without the congregation; a place where people could come for consultation, perhaps short term counseling, and if necessary be referred to expert longer term counseling with a pastoral therapist or secular counselor as requested. He knew he could expect no cooperation from the church administration. But this he could do on his own. He knew he could do it well. Perhaps, he dared to hope, he could save his personal ministry in this church and prosper the congregation as well.”
Collin, changing the emphasis temporarily, continued, “you may have noticed that to date Durwin’s troubles with the belittlers of his congregation’s administration were mainly that the belittlers were for the most part backing away from him with pouting and disgruntlement. There was only a little offensive action here and there on their part. As you listen you may be inclined to think that they were merely afraid of Durwin because of their feelings of inferiority and the uneasiness it brought them. And under that circumstance Durwin would be free to go ahead with his own personal ministry of preaching and pastoral care. Well, I ask you to keep that thought in mind and let’s see what happens when Durwin launches out with his program. We shall see that belittlers in the Terraprima church, when desperate to hold on to their undisciplined pride and the sense of power and control it gives them, will go to deep unchristian depths to preserve it. When the chips look down to them, passivity changes to offensive hostility.
“I would ask you to bring to mind again the person who had directed the re-decoration of the interior of the church sanctuary, and also had obtained the tickets for Durwin and Canda to attend the school event. Now she was showing leadership in church events generally, and making an increased effort to do things more efficiently and on a higher plain. For example, where