Tuesday #9: Church Fight

I interviewed Thad Spring on March 17th.

Thad shared a story of being at a church plant in which the largest small group within the church was withdrawing themselves from Sunday morning worship to go and pray. Thad, fearing that they were in danger of separating themselves from the body without doing so intentionally, let them know that while he valued their prayer efforts, he would really appreciate it if they would join the rest of the congregation in worship.
The people of the small group mistook this as animosity towards them, and they decided that Thad did not like them. They let this fester, and began making comments about Thad amongst themselves and eventually other people in the church. Thad heard about this, and confronted them and tried to make reconciliation. They told him they were fine, and were going to be able to move on from the situation.
Several months later, a completely different situation came up in which one of the daughters of a couple in this small group was having a rough time, and said that she did not like Thad. This gave them the ammunition they needed to launch an assault against their pastor. They came out with guns blazing, and began spreading rumors and dissent within the church. Thad tried to make reconciliation again, but this time they said they would have no part of it, and wanted to leave the church.
Thad brought witnesses with him at both of these confrontations, something he said was one of the smartest things he did throughout this experience. One of these witnesses happened to call Thad on an afternoon during which the church fight was in full force. He said he saw the entire church board gathering together in the parking lot, and thought Thad should know, in case they had not told him. This was a meeting Thad was not aware of, and he assumed it meant they were deciding to fire him. He called someone on the board and asked for the honest answer of what was going on. The board member told him they had gathered to pray for Thad and his family, because they had unanimously decided to support him, and dismiss all claims of those opposing him.
He said it was one of the most trying experiences of his life, for both him in ministry, as well as his family. His wife at one point wanted to quit all together because it was such a heart-wrenching experience. He said his major take-aways from the experience were to bring a witness in hairy situations, and to always use God as your advocate, never ceasing in prayer.