Dr. Kenneth Reed - There was a time

There was
a TIME

DR. KENNETH REED

Copyright 2016 Kenneth Reed.

Edited by Belinda Robertson

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-5772-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5774-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5773-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/10/2016

Contents

ANOTHER SUNDAY IS OVER; NO lives are changed, no one is saved, and life goes on as before. Everyone agrees with the sermon point, but no one is challenged. Tee time is at 8 am, Monday morning.

This Sunday is no different than the endless stream of Sundays that has preceded others. The church is dead, and they dont even know it. Rev. Kyle Hayden offers the same platitudes for the people to say amen to, and the funny thing is they keep saying amen to the same platitudes every week. Congregational amens are offered when the church people agree with what is being said from the pulpit, whether they have really thought about the words or not. It is easy for Pastor Hayden to say the same things over and over, when, no matter what he says, his words are met with agreement. The congregation continues to agree with the routine sermons out of habit more so than out of heart-felt pondering. Their agreement comes from what their parents told them when they were children and what their parents told them before that. No one has ever thought for themselves and no one has thought to question the generational views. So what if lives arent changed and souls arent saved? So what if children still cry from abuse, and hunger goes throughout the land? So what that injustice continues to soar in the streets, just so long as these forty church-goers have mindless agreement?

Thats all that matters to the young preacher, a father of two and a husband of a dutiful wife. To look at Kyle Hayden, one is reminded of the athlete who forgot he was one. His body was once well-toned and muscular, having the ability to hit softballs out of the park or spike volleyballs over the net. But now, in his mid-thirties, the softballs are only going as far as the shortstop and the volleyball isnt quite making it over, so the ball is simply cradled in the net as it drops harmlessly on the floor. His 6 1 carries the same 210 pounds it always has, only now that 210 pounds looks different. What was once up on the chest is now down in the belly. No, Rev. Hayden isnt the athlete he was ten years ago, but then again, he doesnt have to be. His days are spent at his office preparing for Sunday sermons. His sandy, blonde hair is cut in the latest hip pastor haircut, shorter on the sides with enough on top to make a distinctive curl. His blue eyes are hidden behind the now stylish, black-rimmed glasses. His look is everything one would expect to see in the latest high-tech mega-church, where everyone mimics the same ideas, where everyone and everything is said to be awesome, as well as blessed and highly favored.

Kyle Hayden and his wife Clair have been in the Crofington Living Water Church for the past seven years as the senior pastor. Being senior pastor does not come with special privileges, because he is also the only pastor. The position comes with responsibilities: Church landscaping, custodian, preaching, visitation, hospital visits, and outreach. The list goes on and on. However, Kyle doesnt mind, because the job description, as well as the congregations agreeable amens every Sunday, means job security. In spite of his inner naggings for something more, Kyle knows better than to challenge the peoples simple religiosity, but then again, maybe he doesnt know how.

Clair, Kyles wife helps with church obligations, especially as the leader of the worship team, since she is the church pianist. If the truth were known, Clairs abilities at the piano are partly the reason Kyle was voted in as pastor. Preachers are a dime a dozen, but a church pianist is a rarity, especially for small churches where the talent of piano playing is quickly becoming a dying art.

Oh, there was a time when every young girl from a church-going family played the piano because it was a sin to do anything else. That was in a day when television was too worldly, and without a TV, there is no need for video games. The only thing to do to fill time was to learn to play an instrument, and that was usually a piano. But today is different; the church has loosened up, and, in doing so, has allowed for more options. Now that God has changed His mind on the viewing of mindless reruns on hundreds of Dish and cable-fed televisions and girls can now play sports in school, since wearing PE shorts no longer means loose sexuality. So, learning how to play a piano is no longer the only thing good girls can do.

Clairs kind is a dying breed. Since there are so few, a pianist is a highly-prized commodity in churches and ministry efforts (except in Church of Christ denominations where making music with our hearts is still the correct mode of worship). Clairs help in the church takes place after her teller job at the First Leaders Bank, locally owned and operated for the past 120 years. Clair has to work because, while the congregations amens come fast and easy, money does not. It isnt that the church people dont give, its just that their giving is inconsistent and dependent on their moods. Due to this financial dilemma, its helpful that Clairs parents, Samuel and Viola Singleton, attend the church and are ready to help whenever the kids are in financial trouble.

Clairs parents being in the church is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On the positive end of that arrangement, there is always Sunday lunch to be enjoyed at the in-laws house. They are also quick to pick up the expense of back-to-school clothes when Kyle and Clairs children need the latest fashions for a new school year. Yes, its nice, when youre the pastor of a small, financially struggling congregation, to have an available money source so handy to take up the extras. Even with Clairs job at the bank and Kyles substitute teaching for the local school district, the Singletons have been a financial lifesaver on more than one occasion. Kyle internally struggles with this arrangement, but the convenience of it is hard to pass up. The negative side of this situation is the attitude of the church people. Samuel Singleton has been a deacon in the church for most of the past thirty-five years. His locally-owned lumber business has been the primary support for the church since the fertilizer factory shut down eighteen years earlier. If the truth be known, when Kyle was voted in as pastor, it was largely due to Singletons promoting the idea. Kyle is the pastor in terms of what is needed from a preacher in a small church, but his father-in-law has the power due to longevity and financial leverage. In board meetings, whenever Kyle is making suggestions, the rest of the board watches for Samuel Singletons nod of approval to determine their vote. Kyle can see all of this, but its just easier to go with it. After all, Samuel Singleton has always been in support of Kyles directions. Or is it that Kyle has been manipulated into following the ideas of his father-in-law, all the while being made to believe that those ideas have been his own? It makes Kyle sick to his stomach to think that it is true, so he does not allow himself to dwell on that possibility too often. Another negative has to do with the financial support of the church. With the Singletons in the church, the rest of the congregation feels that they are let off the hook where giving is concerned. Sure, they all give ten dollars here, twenty-five dollars there, but they never give enough money that will actually support a church and a pastors family. The people know that the church has the financial backing of Singleton Lumber Company and that the pastor is Singletons son-in-law, so they know the churchs bills will be paid and the pastor wont starve.