Was Somebody Looking for a Fight?

If their ancestors really did all come over on the same boat from Sweden, there must have been incredible rivalry and squabbling among those who founded Oakland’s First (and only) and West Side churches. Because licensed local pastors are likely to be serving small, rural congregations, I had the benefit of specialized training in this matter from the Saint Paul School of Theology (theirs was one of the largest Course of Study schools in the country). We were taught to chart the “power positions” of the Sunday worship seating arrangements, etc, and these two congregations could have been the examples upon which the textbooks were based. Each church had enough of this going on within its own ranks that the notion of uniting the two bordered on the absurd. Now without the financial support of the Uehling UCC, First UMC was looking at having to pick up the lion’s share of the pastor’s compensation and benefit package and this only fueled the dissension between the two Methodist congregations while compounding the mutual dissatisfaction with yours truly. Jim Brewer’s blowhard approach was not appreciated by pastor or parishioners alike, and it became obvious that his primary concern was the blemish on his record as District Superintendent that he perceived was going to be the result of closing a church—albeit one the was no longer financially viable—on his watch. I had received some schooling in new church development, but I was never prepared for the emotionally explosive process of closing a church down.