Hope?

M (the chairman of the elders–remember him?) called me today to make sure I was “on” for Sunday.  He sounded like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.  We hung up and I went to see him.

He was completely distraught.  He hadn’t slept.

I didn’t go to hear what he was thinking or what he was planning.  I really just wanted to sit with him to remind him he was not alone.  I needed to know that too, actually.

We just sat there a long time.  We talked around stuff.  I didn’t ask anything.  But then he began to talk–really talk.

He is genuinely sorry for what is going on.  He has heard these complaints about E for years.  He kept sending people to E to speak to him directly.  Now he understands, they couldn’t.  He sees, those people are largely absent from the congregation.  He sees what E is doing to the elders.  He is seeing what E has done to S.

Then he dropped the bomb.

Monday, he is going to give E the opportunity to resign.  If E does not resign, M will move to have the other elders remove him from leadership.  He looked down and said, “If they don’t remove him…” M paused for a long time, “I will resign myself.  This can’t go on.”

Wow.

We prayed.  I left.

Now I have hope–at least a little.  God could be changing everything….again.