Pastor Omits Blessing in E-Mail, Stuns Congregation

Redeemer’s Grace, a non-denominational church in the small town of Falls Glenn, Idaho, has encountered a crisis involving their pastor of six months, Marcus White, involving his choices of salutations and closing statements in church communication. While some may not feel that this is a matter of great importance, several of the members of the church are visibly distressed by the content, or rather the lack of content, in these sensitive points of letters and other written communication. We contacted one of the more outspoken church members for clarification of this matter. The man did request to remain anonymous:

Well, I’ve been a member of this church for more than 15 years, and every pastor has signed off with something like ‘Grace to You’, ‘Blessings and Peace’, ‘Grace and Peace’, or just plain ‘Peace’ but no pastor has ever ended a letter to the congregation with just his name! I remember one who exhorted us to ‘Walk with the Master’ and another who told us to ‘Measure our Blessings’, whatever that means, but never did I think that the pastor would be so bold as to just sign his name. What’s next? Church letters closing with ‘Sincerely Yours’? It borders on heresy!

Pastor White has declined to comment on this matter for fear of “bringing shame to the bride of Christ” but this reporter wonders if this isn’t indicative of why it is that Redeemer’s Grace has had so many pastoral changes in recent years. We asked the undisclosed man if he had any comments about this matter and his response was enlightening.

I don’t think this has any bearing on the pastoral history of our church. The Lord has just seen fit to test us with a string of pastors who don’t minister to the congregation with the same care as Pastor Seacrest, God rest his soul. It has been seven years now, and we must have found at least five pastors since then who just don’t want to step up to the plate here. We have had pastors who don’t participate in our VBS programs, pastors who have missed church league softball games to watch their own kids play soccer, one even was a no-show for the Ladies Luncheon. Who do these guys think they are, anyway?

This publication is not intended to be purely objective, however we do try to maintain an impartiality in matters such as these, so we will allow you to draw your own conclusions. In the spirit of fairness, we sought out a church member who was upset by this development for a rebuttal comment.

I am really getting tired of this. We have a pastor for a few months and then the magic wears off. Somebody finds a reason to become disenfranchised with the pastor and threatens to leave, and it’s always somebody who tithes a great deal, at least that’s what they say. A few of us try to stay in touch with the pastors from before, some more than others, because we love them. I just wish one of them would stay in the area. There are a few churches in driving distance from here and I’d love to follow some of these men, but once they get their walking papers, they seem to put as many miles from Falls Glen as they can. Oh well, we might as well start looking for a replacement.

Pastor White did state that he has no intention of leaving and that he feels led by God to remain in his current position, to iron out a few things and to continue his ministry. He is currently renting an apartment in town with his wife and two children. In a follow up e-mail request, he did allow the following quote.

Blessings from the Throne of God,

Look, God didn’t lead me here by accident. I had no idea such statements in my letters were so important, and I have set up an auto-signature to make sure this sort of snafu doesn’t happen again. I want to display the love for this church that I have, but we need to build a commonality so that I can minister to these people without walking on eggshells. And by the grace of the redeemer, I am sure we can get to that place. Until then, I do think we’ll remain in this rental complex.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Marcus White
Redeemer’s Grace Church

Marathana!

It appears that Pastor White is making strides in the right direction. The ball is now in the court of his detractors.

Tags: Satire