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Esther
Esther had gotten home too late the night before to call Cathy, and now she stared impatiently at the clock, waiting for eight, which she figured was the earliest reasonable time for a phone call. Cathy would probably be up earlier, but Esther didn’t want to be rude.
Finally, the minute hand arrived at the twelve, and Esther dialed.
“Good morning, Esther.”
“Good morning. How are you?”
“Fine. What has you worried?”
Esther swallowed. “Not worried, exactly, but concerned maybe. I don’t know what I am, honestly. I learned last night that Walter is working on bylaws for our church.”
Cathy sighed. “I know. And not just Walter.”
She knew? “What do you mean you knew? Why don’t the rest of us know?”
“I don’t know,” Cathy said. “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you, I assure you. It’s all just been happening so fast. I’ve had trouble keeping track of who knows what and who should know what.”
Esther had never doubted Cathy’s word. But she was almost doubting it now. “What’s been happening so fast?”
“You know. The growth.”
Growth. Interesting how people kept using that word when other words might be more accurate: change ... problem ... coup.
“So who else is writing them?”
“I think Walter is doing most of the work, but it’s the elders. And Pastor.”
The elders. She made it sound like there were so many of them. “There are only two elders.”
“So far, yes. I’m sure they’ll add more.”
Esther wasn’t so sure. She thought it more likely that Joe would soon find a way to fire Walter so he could be the only elder. “And you’re okay with all this?”
“It needs to be done. They don’t want women doing it, so I suppose I’m okay with it. Let’s choose our battles, Esther.”
That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m choosing this battle. “But we decided long ago that we didn’t need bylaws.”
“I know, but that was naive of us. I’ve since learned that we need them for legal reasons.”
The first inklings of a headache announced their presence in Esther’s temple. “I think I’d like to see them.”
“Of course. Won’t Walter show them to you?”
“I haven’t asked him,” Esther said sheepishly.
“Why not?”
“I didn’t want to annoy him.”
“Well, I’m sure you can see them. I’m sure we’ll all see them. I’m sure we’ll vote on them before they go into action.”
“Who will vote?”
“The members.”
“What members?”
“Yeah, that’s in the bylaws. The membership process.”
Esther tipped her head back and closed her eyes. Slowly, she said, “I thought we decided not to bother with membership.”
“We did, but again, it’s a legal thing. We need to make sure we don’t let any wolves in.”
Esther laughed dryly.
“What?”
“You know as well as I do that membership doesn’t keep wolves out. Anyone can lie on a membership application and in a membership interview, especially a wolf. That’s sort of what they do, isn’t it? Every church splitter, every pedophile, and every embezzler was a member of their church.”
Cathy hesitated. “I don’t know about that.”
She did know, though. She just didn’t want to admit that Esther was right.
“Esther, I hear that you’re concerned. Change is scary, and things are changing fast, but we wanted to have a vibrant, active, service-minded church, and we do. And all of these changes are necessary to keep that going.”
Were they, though? Really? Maybe. Cathy was always right. But if all this stuff was necessary, why wasn’t any of it mentioned in the New Testament? Paul and Peter never talked about bylaws. “I guess I have some stuff to think about.”
“Try not to dwell on it, though. I don’t want it to tear you up inside. It shouldn’t interfere with your quality of life. Just let go and let God.”
Esther had always loved this expression, but this time it annoyed her. “Okay. Thanks for your time.”
“Anytime. And one more thing. Trust me, all of this has been difficult for me too, but every time I come up against something that makes me uncomfortable, I ask myself, will addressing this cause conflict? And if it does, then I try to let it go. I don’t know if that will help you, but it’s helped me.”
“I’m not trying to cause conflict.”
“I know that,” Cathy said quickly, “and I’m not accusing you of that. Goodness, I’ve never known a person easier to get along with. It was a just a thought. I’m trying to help.”
Tonya’s words ran through Esther’s mind again. “I’m wondering if small conflict now might be a good thing. What if small conflict now prevents big conflict later?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that conflict usually leads to people leaving the church.” Cathy gasped, and Esther hurried to add, “I don’t think we’re there yet. I don’t think we’re anywhere near there. But I don’t want to get there either.”
“You know what? That’s a good point.”
Finally, she had heard something Esther had said.
“Let me make some phone calls. Let’s have a sit down.”
“A sit down about which thing?” There were so many things, Esther couldn’t remember which one they’d most recently discussed.
“The bylaws. Let’s have a meeting. With Pastor. Maybe Joe and Walter too. And we’ll nip this conflict in the bud. Thanks for your wisdom, Esther. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”
It was two hours, but she did call back. “We’re meeting Thursday at seven.”
“Seven p.m.?”
“Correct.”
“Why so late?”
“I don’t know. That’s when everyone can make it.”
Esther sighed. “All right. I suppose it won’t kill me.”
“It won’t. It’s not like you have to drive.”
Annoyed by that comment, she thanked her sister and hung up.
Seven o’clock tomorrow. Good. This would all be resolved soon then.
