2×2 The Church Without a Building

The next day was Friday. Alone in her apartment, Bishop Kinisa—alias Violet Shepherd—sat in her breakfast nook with her laptop and a mug of coffee. She had identified a dozen congregations that fit Gil’s suggestions for size and limited professional leadership. Now she began to look for more information than she could find in the parish reports. One by one she typed the names of the congregations into her computer’s search engine. All twelve churches showed up in online directories, but only half led to their own web page.

“Hmmm,” she thought. “I’d better start keeping notes. This could get confusing.”

She found a notebook. She copied the name of each congregation, the pastor’s name, church address, phone and web site. She left ample room for notes. She thought for a moment about asking Gil to look up the pastors’ files, but thought better of it. “Gil is big on minimizing prejudice. Best to go with an open mind!” she thought.

She began to visit web sites.

The first church she found was an urban congregation in an old working class neighborhood generally considered to be of moderate to low income families and young singles. She noted that the congregation boasted of its historic roots on the front page.

“Zion Lutheran. Founded in 1759.”

“I remember the former bishop talking about this congregation,” she thought. “He referred to it as an ‘old folks home.’”

She clicked on a tab that promised to introduce their leaders. There she saw photos of each church council member with a short bio. “That’s great,” she thought. “They look like good solid Lutherans. Six women and one young man. None of them too old and a couple look to be quite young! But there is no photo of the pastor.” She wrote a few notes.

The next tab that caught her attention was Education. Click.

Bible Study, Wednesday nights at 7 pm.
At the church. All welcome.
Topic of study: Philippians.

Then she noticed a second Bible study.

Daytime Bible study—Thursday mornings at 10 am.
Carol Martin’s home.

“Guess I’ll have to work to find out who Carol is!” Ruby thought.

Next tab: Worship. Click. A page opened with photos of worship obviously taken at Christmas time. She noted that worship was at 10 am. Communion on First and Third Sundays of the month.

The bishop’s plan was starting to take shape. She’d attend worship first, but also planned to attend the church Bible study. Maybe she could find out about the “home Bible study” by talking to people.

She left the site and searched for a country church. She found one on the far border of the synod’s territory that looked promising. She’d heard of this congregation from one of its former pastors but had never visitied it.

Cick. The opening page of the web site looked like it had been created in the early days of the internet with no design—just an attempt at a logo with type overlapping awkwardly.

Grace Lutheran Church
Center Township
All welcome.

The site had only two pages—About Us and From Our Pastor. The About Us page listed Sunday worship time.

On to the next tab. From Our Pastor. Click. There was a photo of the previoius pastor and a long welcome message. She jotted a few notes and impressions and moved on.

Now she was looking for a church in a small town. She clicked on Google Maps in her menu bar and typed in the name of a town in the central area of the synod. The resulting map included the surrounding regions. She located a church from her list in Pleasantville. She noted that the parish had no pastor. This puzzled her because she was familiar with the published “Parishes in Transition” list and couldn’t recall seeing Pleasantville. Click. She went to their web page.

Pleasantville Lutheran Church
serving our community since 1835
All welcome

Bishop Kinisa was surprised to see a colorful, well-designed opening page. The site had about five pages: About Us, Worship, Our Ministry Team, Education and News.

Ruby clicked on News. There she found a long list of weekday activities. She noted a congregational pot luck dinner coming up that very night. “I’ll see what I have in the pantry and take it from there,” she thought.

She dashed off an email to Gil, just to let him know that her undercover mission was about to launch.

For the rest of the day, Bishop Kinisa worked on office work, preparing for meetings that would be upon her in just a few weeks. She checked in with her executive secretary who did not bother to hide her dissatisfaction with her absence. Ruby did what she could to smooth things over.

Late in the afternoon she got ready for her first undercover foray.

See previous post for Part 1 or click on the Undercover Bishop page.

Gil Ableman arrived at work early the next morning and was surprised to see the door to the office suite unlocked. He found Bishop Ruby Kinisa at the coffee machine in the break room.

“Hi, Gil! Can I pour you a cup?” she asked as she added some powdered creamer to her mug.

“Thanks,” Gil replied. “I’ve never needed a good cup of coffee more.”

“Rough night, I’m guessing—if your night was anything like mine,” Ruby said.

The two colleagues sat across from each other at the round break table.

“I’m just not sure about this ‘Undercover Bishop’ idea,” Gil confessed. “I foresee a lot of potential problems.”

“I have concerns, too. But I’m convinced there may be some good in the idea,” the Bishop responded with a touch of enthusiasm. “I’d be a fool if I didn’t hear you out, though. We’ve got a good hour before the staff starts filtering in. Shoot!”

“Well, I’m just a believer in transparency,” Gil started, “especially in the Church. We are dealing with people who trust us. We can’t risk playing with their faith.”

“Good point, but didn’t you suggest to me yesterday that people don’t trust us. That’s the one thing you said yesterday that kept me awake last night. You said some of the churches have had bad experiences with the synod. I must confess, I don’t know much about that. Fill me in.”

Gil took a few long sips of coffee. “i haven’t worked in these offices for more than 20 years by telling stories on former bishops. Let me just say that in a few parishes, some questionable things happened.  It’s hard to explain . . . broken promises, conflicting agendas. The bishop at the time just wasn’t on the same page with the congregations. The congregations felt betrayed. The pastors—if they had one—ended up feeling pressured from both the synod and the congregation. Let’s just say it hasn’t always been pretty.”

“Gil, you have to be open with me. I have to know the synod’s most vulnerable situations. I must confess, I am stunned at what you are telling me. I have the utmost respect for everyone in this office, past and present.”

“That wall of respect is part of the problem.” Gil said. “No one wants to criticize church leaders, myself included. Every problem, large or small, is swept under the rug…if it’s dealt with at all. But here’s a clue. I’m talking to you today because I’m tired. I’ve been on the sidelines watching for 20 years and now that I’m nearing retirement. I want to see real change.”

“Are you saying you feel guilty?”

“I’ve been trying to avoid that word, but yes. I’m no different than anyone else. I’ve been protecting my job when I should have been speaking to previous bishops the way I’m speaking to you now. That being said, I can’t break old habits overnight.”

“I see you have no intention of naming names.”

“Oh, I could, but it will be best for you to discover things on your own. I don’t want to add to the prejudice. Let’s take a look at the congregational roster.”

Gil took a moment to pour himself a second cup of coffee before following Ruby to her office.

By the time he joined the new bishop, she had the congregational roster up on her computer screen.

“Pull your chair around so you can see the screen” she invited Gil. “What am I looking for, Gil?”

“Find the congregations with the least pastoral help. That’s a sure sign of a broken relationship with the synod.”

Ruby scanned the list, glossing over the names most familiar to her. “You know, for the last six years I concentrated on my own territory in the synod. I had about 50 parishes, all in the suburbs. But to tell you the truth, twenty of them took 90% of my time. I’ve rarely been to the city churches. I’m not even sure where some of these neighborhoods are. I don’t know much about the small towns or country churches either.”

“So tell me, what is your impression of the city and country churches?” Gil ventured.

“Well, I guess from what I’ve heard that most of them are doomed and just hanging on as long as the money lasts.” Bishop Kinisa confessed. “Some say they are a financial burden. Some call them social clubs. I’ve never paid too much attention to tell you the truth. They weren’t my problem!”

“You are proving my point about prejudice,” Gil was eager to point out. “That’s been the attitude of most clergy for the past twenty years. Most are busy in their own parish and have rarely visited other Lutheran congregations. The pastors really don’t know much about them. Somebody says something about a congregation and everybody adopts that view.”

Gil continued, his pent up passion was starting to show. “Many of the urban churches and country churches have had no contact with the synod office for years. Some have pastors — most of them part-time. Some share pastors. Some find pastoral help on their own. There are a number of retired clergy who work with these congregations ‘off the grid,’ so to speak.”

“Would I be correct in guessing they have no money?”

“Yes and no. Some have endowments. Some own substantial property holdings. Some have schools which provide an income. Money is a concern, but they get by.”

“Hmm. I’m looking now at benevolence giving. It’s almost nonexistent,” Bishop Kinisa noticed. “Why should we serve congregations that aren’t paying their way.”

Gil cleared his throat. Bishop Kinisa was beginning to read his nonverbal signals.

“I’ve said something wrong, haven’t I?” Ruby asked.

“Let me just say this,” Gil answered with difficulty. “It isn’t always what it seems in church work. If you are going to serve this synod well, Ruby, you have to find these answers on your own. I can only guide you. It’s not that I don’t want to be helpful. I’ve just seen too many bishops rely on third party information when making decisions that impact entire neighborhoods. I don’t want to be part of the prejudice and harm that has resulted.”

Ruby was a bit troubled by Gil’s attitude but she had respect for her mentor. “All right, Gil. Can you at least suggest a place to start, please?”

“Choose a small urban congregation, a small rural congregation and a small town congregation. Do some research online. Make a plan. That should keep you busy for a while.”

Gil continued. “But now I have a big question. How are you going to pull this off? You’ve just been elected. Your photo has been on the news. The synod web site opens to your smiling countenance.”

“I’m glad you asked. I thought about this all night. No one can know. Not even synod staff. The NEWS rumor mill is pretty busy! That’s why I came here early. I am going to gather what I think I’ll need from the office. When the staff comes in…and they should be here soon…I’ll announce that I’m headed for a training retreat and will be out of the office for next two weeks. I’ll introduce you as ‘in charge’ while I’m gone. I’ll be working at home when I’m not working on this project. When I leave here at noon today, I’ll head straight for the hair salon. I intend to create a new persona. Stop by my apartment after work. I’ll want your input.”

That afternoon, Bishop Kinisa transformed her appearance. She had her tight curls straightened, restyled and extensions added. She got some make-up advice from the beauticians. She stopped at the mall and bought a couple of trendy pantsuits and accessories. At the last minute, she returned to the hair salon and ordered a wig, styled in her usual hairstyle, so that she could return to her usual look if necessary.

Early in the evening, Gil rang her doorbell and the “new” bishop came to the door.

“Wow! I wouldn’t know you.” Gil exclaimed. “You look like a new woman. But have you considered your bearing?” Gil asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Ruby, you are a head-turner. When you enter a room, everyone notices. Admit it. You enjoy that! You expect to be the center of attention. That’s OK for a bishop, but an Undercover Bishop will have to be a bit of a shrinking violet, don’t you think.”

“Never thought of that. Let’s practice.”

Gil and Ruby spent a couple of hours role-playing. Gil posed questions and suggested a “back story” to make her visit believable.

“I think your new persona is going to work well among lay members, but I don’t think you’ll fool the pastors. You need to have a sidekick. I think I know the perfect person. He’s a second carer, fourth-year seminarian at a school 200 miles away. You can get started. Let me contact Bruce James. If he’s up for the challenge, I’ll bring him to your apartment to meet you.”

“Just one more thing, Gil.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve chosen a new name. I was going call myself Scarlett — to go with Ruby — but I’m thinking it will remind me to watch my bearing if I go with Violet — Violet Shepherd.”

“See you in a few days —Violet.” Gil said on his way out the door.