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Esther
Esther was so excited she could hardly sit still. They’d found him. They’d found their pastor. Now they could be a real church. She hadn’t known a pressure was there, but when she felt it lift from her shoulders, she didn’t miss it.
“I don’t think we can offer him the job till we hear him preach,” Barbara said. “He could be horrible.”
Esther didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want her enthusiasm dampened. But did Barbara have a point?
“That’s a good point,” Cathy said thoughtfully.
Esther sighed.
Cathy continued, “But I like him, and I have a good feeling about him.” She chewed on her lower lip, and her friends watched her thinking, waiting for her to lead them. “I think probably he wouldn’t have an easy time of getting hired elsewhere, yet I think he might be just what we need.” She sat up straight and looked Esther in the eye. “What do you think?”
Esther startled a little, surprised to be asked so directly. “I think I love him.”
Everyone laughed, and Esther’s cheeks grew warm.
She spoke quickly, trying to redeem herself. “I like his youth. I like his enthusiasm—”
“You like his youth?” Vicky cried, incredulous. “What does that mean?” She turned her wide eyes to Cathy. “Don’t we want someone with maturity and wisdom? Don’t we want—”
Esther wasn’t done redeeming herself and returned the interruption favor. “Between the seven of us, we have plenty of maturity and wisdom. What we need is someone who can raise up Jason and Zoe and Emma and Mary Sue. What we need is someone to lead this church when we’re all dead.”
Several of the women nodded solemnly, but Vicky pursed her lips. “Well, that was morbid.”
Esther gave up.
“I like him too,” Rachel said. “And I think Esther’s right. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little vim and vigor around here.”
Barbara clicked her tongue. “I still think we don’t promise him anything until we see him in action tomorrow.”
“I agree,” Cathy said. “Don’t worry, Barb.”
“Speaking of promising,” Vicky said, “how are we going to pay this man?”
“You’re going to sell your house,” Dawn quipped, and everyone laughed.
“I can’t sell it,” Vicky said with complete seriousness. “Tonya and Emma live there.”
“No one has to sell their house,” Rachel said. “We have enough tithes and offerings coming in to offer him a small salary.” She gave Esther a knowing look. Since Esther’s well-to-do friend Walter Rainwater had found Jesus, church finances had stabilized.
“Oh right,” Vicky said. “Esther’s boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Esther said. “We’ve only been on two dates.”
“You’ve been on a second date with him?” Dawn cried, not even attempting to hide her jealousy.
“Can we get back to discussing Adam?” Esther said, her cheeks burning.
“Here’s what I propose,” Cathy said. “We invite him to preach tomorrow. Then, at the end of the service, we let the congregation do a little Q and A with him. Then, we invite the congregation to vote yay or nay.”
“Why would we need the congregation to vote?” Vicky said. “That’s going to be chaos.”
“We let them vote because it’s their church,” Cathy said, looking at Vicky. “And it won’t be chaos. You underestimate your brothers and sisters.” Her eyes scanned the other faces. “Are we all in agreement?”
Everyone nodded except for Vicky, who mumbled, “Fine.”
“Great.” Cathy got up. “Let’s bring him back in.”
They watched Cathy leave and then waited with nervous tension until she returned with him in tow. Cathy invited him to sit and then returned to her own seat. “We know it’s short notice,” Cathy said before he’d even gotten settled, “but we were wondering if you might be able to preach tomorrow.”
His face fell. Esther couldn’t quite interpret what that meant. “Of course,” he said. “I’d be happy to.” But he didn’t sound quite happy.
“Then we’d like to invite the congregation to stay and get to know you a bit after the service. Then we’ll go from there.” Cathy leaned over and patted his knee. “I have a good feeling about this,” she said, as if trying to comfort him, as if she’d also noticed he wasn’t completely thrilled with their request.
He forced a smile. “I do too. A very good feeling.” And with these words, he sounded completely sincere.
