Church Fights are Fantastic and Terrible

This one has everything, "I'm quite a respected bellringer."

You might remember the character of Stefon, played by Bill Hader on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. Stefon would give a kind of what’s-happening-at-local-clubs report, but the humour was that he was outlandish and the goings on at the clubs were beyond what most people could even have ever imagined. His repeated line, after stating the provocative name of the club was, “This one has everything.”

I had that line in my head as I read an article about a church fight in the UK that is going on right now.

You should read the article - find a way past the paywall - perhaps even by paying.
I say that because, this church fight, “This one has everything.”

Here is the headline: “‘Dictatorial’ Rector blamed for exodus at village church”

The article includes:

• a rector who is, often, so angry that “you could see her skirt trembling”

• a bell ringer who has been “working his way up” since he was 9 years old to become “Tower Captain” only to be dismissed by the dictatorial rector in April 2024

• a campaign of plastering flyers critical of the rector (and the bishop), with adhesive, on Easter Sunday to church floors and pews

• a church in a British village (Malpas, Cheshire) named recently as one of the best places to live in Britain by the Sunday Times

• a critical note sent to the bishop signed only the “Little Malpas People”

• notes left under windshield wipers of cars near the church with envelopes marked “Happy Easter.” Inside were complaints about the rector.

• A quote from the aforementioned ex-bellringer: “I’ve had sleepless nights, and what’s more worrying really is the impact on my reputation in the village and beyond because I would say that I’m quite a respected bellringer.”

To that I say - “Quite”. Amen, hallelujah - This one has everything!

I don’t know whose side to be on in this dispute. While I find it comedic, I am sure, that for the people involved, it really does matter and has impact, emotional and otherwise.

It’s a safe distance, geographically and denominationally, to use as an example of something that was also often present in evangelical churches - namely - The Pastor vs. The Congregation.

I have seen many churches in which the pastor came to see the congregation as opponent. Sometimes, this can be quite intense and obvious or at other times it can be more quiet, but ever present. If you have had any experience preaching, if you are or have been a pastor, you may be familiar with the temptation to write sermons with someone in mind, perhaps, even to write sermons that set up the congregation as opponent. I have heard preachers and pastors talk about the congregations they serve in tones of dismissive judgment; “No one is interested in discipleship” - that kind of thing. I must say, I love that line. Imagine hearing it outside of a church context. What on earth could it mean? Try it as a response next time someone asks you what is wrong. It has a hilarity to it.

Really, though, it shows how easily, even by well meaning people, the congregation can become opponent. I have seen this happen, at times, because of the weariness of the minister. Being a full time pastor is virtually impossible these days. I loved the work, but even when I was full-time years ago, even in relatively healthy churches, pastors were pulled in a thousand directions. The job is arguably untenable now. Emotional and psychological weariness can set in and, without the harshness of the St. Oswald’s rector mentioned above, an oppositional mindset can become set in place.

I remember, when I was a youth minister, seeing this happen. The senior minister was struggling. He was tired and had been in some vocational and psychological distress. (Perhaps, in part, because of me.) One Sunday, as he was about to start preaching, he got to the pulpit (music stand), and shrugged his shoulders with a downtrodden expression and then, before uttering a word let out a big, frustrated sigh. The sigh was the real introduction to the sermon.

I felt for him in that moment, honestly I did.

And what I sensed was that, for him, the congregation had become an opponent. In the sigh was a kind of head shaking “these people” disdain. It wasn’t, necessarily, his fault. Perhaps, he had people arguing against him. Perhaps, he was displeased at the lack of “growth,” in numbers, or in “discipleship.” What I knew then, however, was that it was a matter of time. He would likely not recover from this. Very rarely does a minister recover once they view the congregation as opponent. It can be energizing for awhile, and this is the approach that the St. Oswald rector appears to be taking. There is a willingness to fight, to create battles. It becomes a way of carrying on. In the end, though, it’s just mutual destruction.

So may God bless you dear parishioners and minister of St. Oswald, Malpas, Cheshire. (Thanks be to England for all of this). May you find consolation in the fact that almost no one else in the world cares about your arguments. Having opponents, even in arguments that may be irrelevant to everyone else, really can carry an astounding amount of energy.
And God bless the well respected bellringer.