Two men you wont meet at Middleberry

Man 1: Trevor had hit the last note of their set and Pastor Keith approached the pulpit.  Middleberry's sanctuary is the crowning jewel of their Church (which will come up again).  Stained glass windows line the back two walls, flooding the sunday morning gathering with beams of gold, amber, and ruby.  It is a breathtaking sight as it bounces off the floor and illuminates the building.  The floor is an old hardwood floor that is resplendent with dark grain and the old boards creak with every step.  The entrance to the sanctuary sets at the top of a flight of stairs.  One enters through an arched set of double doors at the very back of the sanctuary (the furthest distance from the pulpit).  Twenty Pews set the congregation on the slopped floor of the auditorium and a single aisle runs down to the raised stage where Pastor Keith would give his sunday sermons.

That morning was just like any other as Keith rose to speak.  He pulled his notes from his Bible as he stood behind the pulpit and began to give his sermon on the life of Christ.  After he had spoken for 15 minutes or so the previously silent building began to creak.  This movement came not during the altar call but in the middle of one of Keith's points.  With every footstep, the old wooden boards creaked under the pressure of polished combat boots.  Keith knew who was coming foreward.   A man named David was coming forward.  David had come in late to the service and head entered the back of the sanctuary.  He always wore his long black trench coat over his jeans that were tucked tightly into his black combat boots.

David had not been coming long, but was slowly being integrated into the body of Middleberry.  With no prior knowledge of church or the gospel, David was really the first person to come through the doors of Middleberry from the neighborhood.  David had been down front a couple times, but this time was a little different.  This time he was coming down the aisle  sporting a holding a large Bowie knife that shone in the Sunday morning sun that came through the sky light.  Keith directed his sermon away from the sight that was coming down the aisle amidst them.  A couple deacons who were talking outside the doors of the sanctuary had entered as David made his way down front.  They met him at the front pew and persuaded him to follow them downstairs.  David wanted to talk to Pastor Keith.  Keith capped off his sermon and headed downstairs to deal with the issue.  The Pastor entered the kitchen in the midst of the standoff and spoke with David.  David was de-armed and escorted out by the deacons.  David didn't have any issues; just wanted to show off his new knife.  He was a little off...

Man 2: Craig had stumbled upon Middleberry while walking the neighborhood.  He had a checkered past that followed him on his journey to the city.  Middleberry seemed just the place for him to be involved.  The checkers on his past had forced him to register as a child predator, a fact that had forced most churches to turn their backs on him.  Craig was doing well the first couple weeks integrating into this community.  Craig stayed away from the children's areas and sunday school classes.  Though he had never disclosed his crimes to the leadership, he aimed to stay above reproach.

Then a member of the congregation had found a picture of Craig on a website.  The knowledge increased exponentially.  People who had just visited Middleberry once were now hearing about Craig.  Congregants were threatening to leave the church if Craig was not excommunicated.  Significant families complained to Pastor Keith.  Craig was asked to leave.

It was at this moment (after the David and now the Craig incident) that Keith would make the claim that would summarize the rest of his ministry: "I must protect the flock!"  Pastor Keith decided that he would protect the church members of Middleberry with all that he is.  His ministry would be characterized by his unabashed protection of the church body at the risk of never reaching out (because who knows who that might bring in).  The members of Middleberry in a rough part of the city, had now set the precedence that would turn the entire church into  a inward-focused entity, whose biggest aim was to care for and protect one another with ambivalence to all those outside the inner circle.

Im not sure how I would have reacted to David or Craig for that matter.  Knowledge and information are the key to understanding the situation.  Churches can do background checks and observation must be a priority.  The big issue here is the precedent that was set in quick reaction to these two men. The precent that would doom this body was the "vision" (if you could call it that, or more like a attitude): "At all costs protect the flock!"

New Staff at Middleberry

As noted earlier, Middleberry Church (the reincarnation) was going well.  Sunday Mornings were packed (almost too packed as you read earlier), but Monday through Saturday the rooms of Middleberry Church remained silent.  As a fledgling church there were few programs up and running that first year.  There was no children's programs or bible studies, no choir practice or support groups.  There was little going on really.  Pastor Keith sat in his office 5 days a week and worked on sermons.

But Pastor Keith also performed all the counseling, maintenance, and publication tasks.  The books were still done at GracePoint where Pastor Keith also maintained an office (though he was never present there), but for the most part Middleberry was fairly independent and under staffed.  All of these tasks led Keith to realize that he was out maned, especially in a church of 350 people.

Enter in: Patricia.  Patricia had too grown frustrated with the direction of GracePoint towards the end.  The new pastor at GracePoint had rubbed her the wrong way as well.  What was done exactly, one cannot say but suffice to say her anger resounded strongly.  Patricia had recently left her job and needed a replacement.  She had never worked in a church and was relatively new to computers, but her zeal for working at Middleberry surpassed her lack of training and preparation.  Keith had been looking for someone to handle the publications, phone calls, and books at Middleberry.  The "fit" was just too perfect.  Patricia had a reputation for being difficult to work with, but she wanted the job so bad and Keith was so eager to fill the position that he hired her immediately, like he said "the 'fit' was just too perfect."

Not only was there a new person handling the phones, there was a new person manning an office.  Pastor Keith had counseled people for years, but GracePoint's problems were significantly different than the problems that he would face down at Middleberry.  The door at Middleberry was constantly assualted by people needing help with rent, a ride, money for food, and/or clothes.  Paroles and Partiers, teen mothers and teen runaways.  Pastor Keith was soon to understand what a different world that he now worked in.  For years he had been secluded in the suburbia surrounding GracePoint, now he was thrust into the heart of the city surrounding Middleberry.  Pastor Keith needed someone to come and take the burden of these people off of his plate.

Enter in: Steve.  Pastor Steve had grown up out West.  Though he had accepted Christ at an early age, he found difficulty living out his faith.  He had run into law trouble and found himself in prison early on in his life.  When he was released from prison he returned to his boyhood church and began to better understand how his faith was to be lived out.  Steve had always had a passion to do ministry and through some differing circumstances he found himself running into Pastor Keith.  Pastor Steve, though lacking any formal training and by his own admission "biblical knowledge" began to talk to Keith about adding him to the staff at Middleberry.  Keith needed someone to work with the broken people of the Middleberry neighborhood, Steve needed a place to live out his dream.  Steve had a passion for the people around Middleberry, and Keith needed a some assistance.  Though Steve was unable to help preach and had no teaching experience, the "fit" was just too perfect.  Though Steve had absolutely no idea where to start a ministry (and Keith offered no job description), the "fit" was just too perfect.  Keith could return to his sermons, Steve could write his own job description.  Without a direction and without a vision, the two men headed off into the future leading a group of people who were quickly forgetting who they were and the final piece of the puzzle was soon to come.

Leading worship was never Pastor Keith's forte.  He had done it a little bit at GracePoint but wasn't real excited about doing it on a weekly basis.  GracePoint had donated some drums and a piano, but Keith didn't feel up to organizing a praise band on a weekly interval.

Enter in: Trevor.  Trevor had grown up in the church.  He had attended GracePoint for years and had even led some worship there from time to time.  He was a phenomenally gifted musician.  He could not convince GracePoint to bring him on as a worship pastor; but Keith was more than happy to offer him the position.  Keith was given advice by GracePoint's lead pastor to bring in a worship leader of different ethnicity.  As any cross cultural missionary knows, "without diversity in the pulpit, there is no diversity in the pews."  GracePoints Pastor had even offered up the names of some talented worship leaders who were interested.  Pastor Keith was set on Trevor.  The "fit" was just too perfect.  Trevor needed a place to lead, Keith needed a worship pastor.  Trevor needed a chance to progress, Keith needed a break from leading.  Trevor started that month.

The "fit" was just too perfect.  This method of selecting staff would become the standard.  This method would lead to some serious issues later on in the life of Middleberry Church.  Without a direction for the church..."fit" dictates future.  Without a vision..."fit" leads us down roads that are difficult to traverse.  "Fit" became a synonym for easy and simple.  "Fit" became an excuse to make no effort.  Sadly enough "fit" would become the MO of Middleberry.

Pastor Keith alongside Pastor Steve, Worship Pastor Trevor and Assistant Patricia set off to lead Middleberry Church into the next stages of their development...but still the "fit" with the neighborhood still wasn't perfect!

The Tale Begins...

The First Church of Jerusalem arrived by a supreme act of God.  The Middleberry Church had a much more tumultuous birth, or should I say rebirth.  Seems that long ago the church grew to great numbers in a nice part of town.  A split over doctrine and a natural disaster had the attendance nearing zero many years later.  Through the good graces of some other bodies of believers; Middleberry Church was reborn.  The graces was not money so much as people.  The gift of congregants from GracePoint Church revitalized the sleepy little church that was now in the hub of the town.


Just a word about these congregants should suffice.  Middleberry is significantly different from the rest of the town; especially the upper-middle class GracePoint area.  Middleberry is a transient lower class neighborhood miles away from the GracePoint attender's doorsteps.  


GracePoint people try to avoid the Middleberry neighborhood six days of the week but relish the fact that they are helping them by making the 20 minute commute in for 3 hours on Sunday morning (convincing themselves that they will raise the standard of living and the spirituality of the community, simply by proximity).  Cultural differences and standard of living was overcame by the church in the book of Acts; but it was only done by dropping the cultural bias and speaking to people on their terms (Acts 17 style).  Sadly enough GracePoint congregants brought their style; their money; their time frames; and their expectations and traditions to Middleberry; establishing what many on the outside would call "GracePoint North."


So this immigration from GracePoint provided the congregants for Middleberry's revival.  The last question became who would lead them?  GracePoint provided the answer.
Pastor Keith had been on staff for years.  The people loved him (and it didn't hurt that the new lead pastor at GracePoint had fallen out of favor with many of the older congregants).  Pastor Keith needed some new digs and he relished the idea that he would get to finally lead a Church.   He took the job, his talents, his desire for preaching and his 200 congregants to Middleberry to lead.


The parishoners of Middleberry (formerly GracePoint) placed their trust (and continue to place their trust) in Pastor Keith and have set out to change a culture radically different from theirs, with the knowledge they think they already posses; the traditions they wish to keep intact; and a chip on their shoulder towards GracePoint and their new lead pastor...just like the First Church of Jerusalem!


Okay so maybe the First Church of Jerusalem wasn't at all like that.  You can't fault Middleberry for wanting to help.  The benefit of the doubt is given that the Middleberry congregation felt like they were ready for this challenge and with God all things are possible.  Hindsight would hopefully help the church realize its oversimplification of this process and its lack of vision in this enterprise.  Middleberry felt like they knew what is best for that community...they would soon find out they were mistaken.