Chapter Thirty Two

Thirty Two

Paine Harbor Community Church basement

That night

The pastoral library was filled with the church board members, along with a sizable number of members of the congregation, as well as Pastor Sharp and his family. In a room lined with thousands of books that thoroughly dissected all aspects of theology and church history, the atmosphere was thick in anticipation of what was about to occur.

Dr. Randall Hindrin stood to his feet and started the meeting. “As you probably know, our Chairman Marcus Withers passed away early this morning.” Pausing, he waited for the news to sink in, “Marcus was a good man. And his death is a tragedy and a genuine loss to our community and church. Let us pause in a moment of silence in his armor.” 

Everyone stood silently.

“Please,” he said raising his hands in an attempt to restart the meeting. “Please, let me continue. This is difficult enough.” The room grew quiet. “I believe Marcus would want us to carry on with the business at hand. This meeting was called to demand the resignation of Reverend Sharp.”

Immediately he was interrupted again.

Obviously shaken by this, he called out for calm and appealed for quiet. Once again he regained control of the room. “Please allow me to continue. You will have your chance to talk.” Pausing to look at each face to gain their support, he carried on. “Yes, we called this meeting to demand Reverend Sharp's resignation for being guilty of doctrinal heresy. The teachings and events of recent months have repeatedly gone against the doctrinal statements of our heritage, statements which Reverend Sharp signed his name in agreement to and promised to uphold.”

Axel leaned forward in his chair and was about to open his mouth in defense, when he remembered Greta’s prophetic words, “This isn't your battle.” He sat back in peace, slipping his hand in hers. She turned and smiled at her beloved husband.

“Yes, he did. He promised to uphold our doctrinal statement,” Dr. Hindrin repeated. “And I've come to see something clearly in the past 24 hours I'd never seen before.” Taking a sip of water from the glass in front of him, he turned to Reverend Sharp and nervously said, “What I've come to see is you actually have been doing exactly the things our doctrinal statement talks about. Like loving people. You've been operating according to the power of the Holy Spirit. You've been taking people on adventures in discovering the Living Word in their lives. Sir, you've shown us in recent months how to breathe life into a dry dusty document and actually experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in our lives.”

The shift of atmosphere in the room was incredible. With these few words joy began to break out where there had been overwhelming tenseness. The whispers and murmurings returned, but now they were filled with hope, and love and confidence.

“Please! Please, let me continue,” Randall appealed to the group. “Pastor Sharp, you are to be commended for making the changes that you've made. You didn't play it safe, no sir. You courageously stood up and pointed us back in the direction we all needed to go! You've taken criticism; you've been lied about, gossiped about and slandered by me and several other people in this room tonight. But I want to change all of that right now. I honor you, sir. I respect you and I truly admire the path you are on. Thank you for being such a courageous leader.”

With that the room broke out into spontaneous applause and shouts of joyous agreement.

“Please, please! Resignation is still our topic!”

The room grew still again, this time in a bit of confusion. 

“What do you mean Dr. Hindrin? You just praised Pastor Sharp and yet you are still advocating his resignation? I'm confused,” came the voice of Aubrey Lynn.

“I am advocating resignation. Not Pastor Sharp's, but mine,” Dr. Hindrin said with a voice weighed down by shame. “I hereby tender my resignation as a member of the board of this fine church. I have behaved in a manner bringing shame to my heart and to this church. I have been disloyal, controlled by fear and by the traditions of man.  I have ignored the obvious work of God that is right in front of me. Instead of celebrating what God is doing, I tried to shoot the messenger. Pastor Sharp,” Randall's voice trembled. “I don't deserve this, I did you wrong. But if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I'd be forever grateful.”

Having said what he came to say, he slumped into his seat. He was wracked with grief and his hands covered his face as tears of regret flowed down his face. All eyes moved quickly towards Pastor Sharp.

Greta leaned over and whispered in her husband's ears. He smiled and nodded in agreement. Axel stood, and walked quickly over to Randall. Kneeling at his side, he wrapped his long arms of love around his shoulders and said quietly, “Of course, I forgive you.”

Holy moments are frequently met with a variety of reactions. Sometimes with raucous shouts of praise and joy, and sometimes, like this moment, with silence. No one dared move or to open their mouths. As the two men embraced one another, all gathered understood they were witnessing a historic moment. This was one of those moments which would enable the transformation of Paine Harbor to not only continue but to expand. Silence was the only appropriate response.

“Randall,” Axel said quietly. “I thank God for you and what you've just done here. As I've sought humbly to follow the leadings of Holy Spirit in recent months, I've grown concerned about whether our church structure and traditions would allow and encourage this amazing work of God, or if the system would seek to shut it down. What you've done here this evening will change history.”

He paused, as he stood to his feet and looked around the room. Taking a deep breath, he continued. “Change history. I meant that. Randall, if you and the Board of Directors had come against what God is doing, it wouldn't have stopped His revival. We would have had to leave this church and take it underground. And, I would have. Not out of rebellion but because His work is so much more important than any one local congregation. However, because of your support, we as a local congregation are free to move forward, to expand and to walk where the Lord leads! This will change history! And, Randall, we need all hands on deck for this revival, so I’m not going to entertain your resignation, or the resignation of anyone else who desires the Kingdom of God! We need your wisdom, your insight and your support.”

Randall Hindrin wasn’t often surprised. He’d thought he’d seen it all, but in this moment he was genuinely in a state of shock.

“Randall,” Pastor Sharp asked again. “Will you stand with us?”

“Yes, if you’ll have me, I’d be honored to serve.”

“Good! Then that is settled!”

It was then Adele Parker spoke up. “I'd like to say something, if I might.”

Axel nodded in agreement.

“I too, was one of the people saying slanderous things against you, Pastor,” Adele said quietly. Pausing to take a deep breath she carried on.  “And I know why. Something terrible happened to me when I was a young woman. It defined my life and I’ve never found healing for, until today. When I was 22 years old, I was raped. I've never been able to find healing or peace ever since. In truth, I was angry at God and I took it out on you.”

The silence in the room was deafening. No one dared speak. Several had tears running down their faces in compassion and sorrow.

Putting a smile on her face seeming to glow with life, Adele continued. “But then, something happened. I've come to see I've spent a lifetime choosing bitterness, anger and grief.  All the while blaming God for what happened to me. But...”

Looking across the room she saw the smiling face of Penelope Gourmand who had just walked into the library. Adele immediately walked over to her and put her arms around her new friend. Turning back to the group, she continued: “But, I've come to see I can make a different choice. A choice to believe God is good and He loves me. A choice to believe He is looking out for me and my best interests and that even when I was being raped, He was right there saving my life from complete destruction. Ultimately, I've come to see I can trust Him again. And Mrs. Gourmand was one of the people God used to help me see this. I'm choosing to believe.”

The room broke out in spontaneous praise and joy! It was unlike any church board meeting the people of Paine Harbor or likely anywhere else had ever seen. Laughter, tears, songs of praise, hugs and shouts of incredible freedom arose throughout the people.