Welcome, dear reader!!
So, this is the debut of Kay Parker’s twin, Jay, and this should be an awesome one!! According to him, though, we need to be treated to a backstory before we get into the real deal. So… here we go!
“Lord have mercy, the Spirit was moving through you today.”
“I was so blessed, Bishop!“
“What a service, Bishop!”
“God bless you, Bishop!”
“My life has never been the same since I joined this church.”
Bishop Wilson McQueen was looking over the birthday video he’d been sent by the media team at Honest City Church. Turning 35 was a big enough deal, but turning 35 as the head pastor of a fast-growing, spirit-filled, youthful church was the stuff of dreams to him. He’d spent his time as a prayer warrior under Archbishop Rhamses King preparing to be an armor bearer to the great man of God. Never in his wildest imagination was the concept of being a head pastor anywhere near the realm of possibility. Yet here he was, on the third anniversary of his assumption of the head pastorship, receiving warm wishes from a congregation he’d radically transformed into a fire-breathing nightmare for hell and its demons. Life was going well, and God’s greatness never ceased.
Ellen McQueen, his wife, stood at the door to his office, staring at him as he watched the video. It wasn’t quite the romance story she’d dreamed of as a child, but marrying the one prayer warrior in her father’s army of them who wasn’t full of himself had turned out quite well. Granted, her mother still maintained an opposition to the marriage, but even she had to agree that Ellen could’ve done worse. At least Archbishop Rhamses wouldn’t have to worry about protecting his daughter in the spirit; her husband was more than up to the task.
Still, a broke prayer warrior wasn’t on the cards for the calibre of family Ellen came from. So when Wilson got promoted from pastor straight to Bishop, the church insiders quickly assumed that this was just to appease Ellen and try to raise the level of the young prayer warrior. The next move, handing him an embattled branch of the church that was one thread away from falling apart, was seen as a setup. He was widely expected to fail, but somehow the church became vibrant again in six months. In a year, they’d quintupled revenue. In two years, they’d bought a whole new church building for their ever-growing membership. No one told Wilson, but given that no other branch of the church-owned their place of worship, the jealousy was inevitable. Even with all that, Honest City Church continued to thrive.
“Babe, at some point you’re going to have to respond. It’s been a day since that video was aired in church. You know people; they will start to think the wrong things if you don’t respond.”
“That’s true. I’ll talk to Sally so we can do a quick recording of a thank you.”
“Oh, also remember to record one for Papa’s arrival.”
Wilson nodded his head and replayed the video he was watching one more time.
“Babe. Please don’t forget.”
Wilson nodded again and kept watching the video. Ellen walked over and sat in one of the guest chairs in the office. Wilson did not lift his head from the video, but he saw Ellen take a seat and he knew what was coming. He watched the video one final time and then paused it. “Yes, my dear? How may I be of service to you today?”
Ellen rolled her eyes at him. “Babe, at some point you’re going to have to accept that this is his church.”
“I long accepted that, El.”
“Yeah but then you act like it’s yours more than his.”
“Me? Act like a branch of one of the biggest African churches in the world is mine? You might be reaching there, baby.”
“Was I reaching when I had to badger you into making proper arrangements for his arrival this week?”
“Now we arrive at your true subject of discussion. One, you didn’t badger me into anything; we’d already made most of the arrangements. You just kept bothering me about a chair and I said he can sit on anyone we have. Two, your father should know better than to undercut me in front of my own congregation. Why tell the whole church that you don’t agree with my faith when you haven’t told it to me in private?”
“You really should reel your arrogance in, Wilson. He doesn’t owe you anything. It is his church and he can do whatever he-”
“The same way he tried to replace me behind my back with Reverend Sampson?”
Ellen sat back in her chair when he dropped that on her. “Yeah, I heard about it. Actually, it was thrown in my face by your brother-in-law. He was quite the fussy child when I refused to preach on grace when he ordered me to. He was even angrier when I said to him that the spirit has asked me to preach on another topic this month, but I would absolutely preach on grace next month. Quite the family our church is, both by marriage and by ministry.”
Ellen stood up. “Babe, at some point you have to decide to be a part of the family. You keep lamenting that you’re on your own here, that none of the other branch pastors want to come here, but you don’t see that you have made it so. When you buck the bishop in charge of our region, and you do all these radical things our church isn’t used to, you alienate them. It’s almost like you’re saying you’re better than them. Our church is a funny one when it comes to egos, and you’re no different. If you keep going this way, any of these next couple of Sundays could be your last here. Please remember to make that video for Archbishop.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek, then started to walk away.
“Ellen, I signed up to be the head pastor so I could lead in the way God desired. I’m not here to make friends or join the club. If anyone thinks I’ll tow the line simply because of my background, or because I married into the family, they might as well start the finish and pack us out of here. I love you, and I’ll see you tonight.”
