After the split, the rumors flew. It was amazing how much people knew that was true. It was more amazing how much people knew that wasn't true.
Gerald, the associate pastor, knew more of the story than most church members did. Gerald was present when the board chair confronted the senior pastor with his indiscretions. The pastor had mismanaged church money, and some personal items had been charged against church accounts.
"Let's let him pay the money back," Gerald had pleaded, citing the family's financial straits after one child's long illness.
And Gerald was present when the pastor, refusing to repent and repay the money, took a third of the congregation with him and started another church. Gerald pastored those who remained.
Later Gerald was accused of many things, some in absentia, some to his face: Gerald was unsympathetic, he betrayed the pastor, he should have intervened sooner, he failed to confront the troublemakers on the board, he instigated the split, he was unqualified to lead. ...
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