The Truth (Chapter 5)

Mikey, the Television Star

Now that you have had a good laugh, the title isn’t too far off. During the 1980’s, I served as Music Minister at a large independent Pentecostal church that had a syndicated television and radio broadcast. The telecast was broadcasted several times during the week in the city where we lived. As well, it was broadcasted throughout the southeastern United States. It was rather humorous, at times. I would be walking down the street, through the mall, or at the grocery store and be noticed. People would stop me in the mall and ask, “Hey, haven’t I seen you on television?”  The biggest kick out of this I received was running into Southern Gospel music’s Kirk Talley in the mall. Right away, he knew who I was. This was also during the years that the University of Tennessee produced pro athletes like Willie Gault and Reggie White who also attended our church. I actually got to know these guys, produce and perform the music for both of their weddings.

From a ministry perspective, I learned a lot during this season. The pastor and his wife were, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the exemplification of superior pastoral care. I could only hope for, and never achieved, to perform at the level they consistently practiced in this area. Two of the most gracious individuals God ever put into my life. With that said, the years in this ministry were, “the best of times and the worst of times.” When I was asked to join the church/school staff, the pastor had asked me what kind of salary I would require. I put the needs of the church ahead the needs of my family and seriously undercut my salary. I, very naively, thought he would see how ridiculously low I set the mark and raise it. But, he was as shrewd of a business man as he was good at pastoral care. I was locked-in. To add insult to financial misery, my annual increases were only $5 per week for the years I served on fulltime staff. I was basically on-call, 24/7, for anything requiring music. However, if I had to miss office hours for a doctor’s appointment, or a sick day, I was docked. My portfolio consisted of teaching junior high and high school curriculum and music classes (grades K5-12) in a Christian school; I researched, developed and taught intro to computer classes; I prepared and presented two major all school musical/dramatic programs (grades K2-12) per school year; I arranged, produced, conducted and performed live musical arrangements for three distinct services per week, including the telecast/broadcast for live worship, soloists, groups and choir; I accompanied the pastor across the country on evangelistic crusades (I did get additional gratuities for this); I taught approximately 20 children piano per week; I was available for numerous revivals and rallies; and, I provided live music for weddings and funerals. All of this was done for a tidy sum of $12,500 per year. If you adjust that for inflation, it would be about $23,000 in today’s dollars.

Another interesting dynamic was my relationship with the rest of the staff. The ministries of the church included church staff, daycare staff, school staff, office staff, custodial staff and pastoral staff. In pay and responsibility, I was more than just a teacher. Believe it or not, they earned about half of what I earned But, I was less than a pastor. As a result, in many scenarios, I did not fit with either. There are many, many, many stories I could share about these years. Some would be positive. Some would be negative. For the purpose of this blog, we will leave it there for now. I will say that during these years, I was still young, impressionable and downright stupid. I consistently put the needs of the church over the needs of my family. After seven years, we left town and returned to Dayton with our marriage and finances damaged nearly beyond repair. It took several years and a combination of counseling, little to no church involvement and a return to the church where I grew up that we received the love, healing and restoration we needed to be restored into church ministry.

The Truth (Chapter 3)

Denominational Demons – Part One

Suggested pre-reading, "The Truth (Chapter 2)," "Early Lessons"

Before you get all bent-out-of-shape about the title of this segment, let me clarify that I am not calling any particular denomination, or leader, a demon. Now, let’s move onto our story. 

Donna and I had pioneered a church. Please note, we did not “plant” a church. The difference is a church plant is supported by a mothering church or organization. We “pioneered” a church into existence from nothing. Several months after we started the church, a denomination approached us about joining them. After evaluating the situation, we did. In this denomination’s by-laws, it specifically stated that whenever one of their churches was closed within a city, all proceeds from the liquidation of the assets must be held in escrow to be used in the future by a new congregation within the same city. Several years before we joined this denomination, they had closed a church in our city and liquidated its assets. We were told there was approximately $250K available when we were ready to purchase a facility. Once the church had grown to a state that a permanent facility was feasible, I approached the district leadership of the denomination about securing the designated funds. The response I received read something to the effect of, “Pastor Gibson, we have reviewed your request for the escrowed funds for the Dayton community. Our committee has met and, to be quite frank, releasing those funds to a church plant would be like turning a child lose in a candy store. We are not approving your funding request.”

Subsequently, the denomination amended their by-laws and reapportioned all of the designated city escrowed funds to other agendas. I later found out that the funding designated for Dayton actually went to a northern Ohio ministry entitled, “The Mentoring Mansion.” To add insult to injury, I met a pastor who had successfully secured the funds which had been held in escrow for his community and had built his new congregation a brand new building. I congratulated him on his accomplishment and explained the dilemma we had experienced. He, more or less, called me a liar and stated that the by-laws demanded the escrow funds be used in their designated city and the denomination followed its by-laws. As you can imagine, we never became “buds.” To wrap a nice bow around this situation, I did contact the denomination’s headquarters about what we had experienced. I received a, “Sorry, but we can’t help you, the money is gone,” letter along with a check for $15K to “invest” into our ministry.

As if the aforementioned money issue weren’t aggravating, illegal and unethical enough, worse things happened with this movement. Donna and I co-pastored in our ministry. One particular day, I had to go to my vocational job when our district leader was scheduled to visit the church. Donna was available and he was made aware that she, not I, would be meeting with him. In the middle of a discussion in the parking lot, he basically told Donna to shut-up. That obviously didn’t work, so, this 6’4” tall man physically put his arms tightly around my 5’ 2” wife, pulled her into his embrace and told her to be quiet. Fortunately, an airman pulled into the parking lot at just the right minute. All of a sudden, the district official let her go, got into his car and left. The airman asked Donna, “Are you ok?” She replied she would be fine. Then he asked, “Who was that a**hole?” When we reported this incident to the district office and requested their assistance in resolving it, we were told, “The Bible says to go to the one who offends you, first. You go back to this gentleman and try to work it out before involving us. It is only fair to him.” So, in other words, this “man” physically abuses my wife and the “spiritual authorities” instructed her to go back to confront her abuser, all under the cloak of “Scripture.” Sorry, it just doesn’t “compute” in my brain.

Please stay tuned for the next blog in the series, “Denominational Demons-Part Two.”

The Truth (Chapter 2)

Early Lessons

Suggested pre-reading, “Tender Beginnings, (Chapter 1).”

In my previous post, I explained my road into full-time vocational ministry. In this post, I am going to delve deeper into areas I have never completely divulged. I want to preface what I am preparing to share with a few disclaimers. First, if you have known me throughout the years, at least in any church capacity, do not make an assumption that you know what denomination, denominational leader, church, pastor, board member, church member or ministry I am discussing on any particular point. No matter how well educated your guess, you will probably not “guess” or “discern” correctly. Quite frankly, it is not anybody’s business “who” did what, when, and to whom.

Next, there are “good” leaders and “not-so-good” leaders. There are “good” churches and “not-so-good” churches. There are “good” people and “not-so-good” people. And, I strongly maintain that there are no absolutes in both the “good” and “not-so-good” categories of anything we are discussing. Everyone I am discussing, including myself, are flawed creatures serving a flawless God in the best way we know possible. I believe most people I have encountered have a true love for God. Through the grace of Christ, I hope maintain a healthy earthly relationship with most and top it all off with an eternity together in Heaven.

Also, I am mature enough to realize that the circumstances I share with you did not occur in a vacuum. There were many dynamics at play. Some things I have experienced I must take complete responsibility for. Others were completely outside of my control. Most experiences more than likely fall somewhere on a sliding scale between the two extremes.

Finally, my purpose in sharing is not to bring discouragement to you in your quest for God, quest for truth and your quest for godly relationships. Keep moving forward. Serve God. Support your church. Support your leaders. Just always proceed as wisely as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Above all else, always guard your heart. With all of that said, let’s get down to business.

Probably the first rude awakening in my walk into ministry was the realization that church leaders are not perfect. Yes, common sense says they are not perfect. I know I am not perfect. But, I never dreamed how imperfect people whom we place on pedestals could be. I am not speaking in absolutes; there are exceptions to every rule. However, contemporary churches are businesses. As such, church administration involves financial management, marketing, people management, etc. Do not deceive yourself into thinking that pastors are always looking out for your best interest. Nor, expect every decision to be made upon principle. With the structure of the modern assembly, pastors have to look out for the good of the whole. Just realize that might mean that you will probably get hosed somewhere in the process.

I learned this lesson when I was a lad developing my talents. When I started playing the organ in church, the church literally put a keyed lock on the outlet powering the instrument and did not give me access to the key. When my father consulted with the pastor about utilizing me more in service he was told something to the effect of, “I’m sorry Brother Gibson, I cannot do that. The church organist is in a prominent family of five tithers. You are only one tither. I cannot afford to offend them in this matter.” I learned a valuable lesson on principle, or lack thereof, very early on.

Later in my staff experiences I noticed this same trend. Most pastors proudly state that they do not know how much people contribute to the ministry. Do not be deceived. Most pastors keep a pulse on this. To be good leaders, they really have to. There are very subtle cues they receive to know who are heavy givers and those who are not. For instance, I learned through one experience that when I was told, “The Smith family is faithful,” that meant do not honk them off, they are big givers. And, if I honked them off, regardless if I were right, or wrong, I would have to do basically whatever it took to make them happy and keep them in the congregation, even if it were to the detriment of my personal convictions.

Wow, another blog complete and I haven’t left the early wounds which occurred when I was just a child. Please stay tuned for the next blog in the series, “Denominational Demons-Part One.”

The Truth (Chapter 1)

Tender Beginnings

I remember the evening well. I was probably twelve years old. It was a Sunday evening in a Pentecostal church. The Glory of the Lord filled the house. The pastor gave a word from the pulpit that there was a young man that God was calling into the ministry. I felt the Holy Spirit tug at my heart, “It’s you! It’s you!” Looking back on this experience, I can name at least three other young men who were part of that congregation, probably in that service, who also ended up carrying Assemblies of God ministerial credentials.

Nearly forty years have passed since that evening. At first, it appeared that my calling into ministry was one of music. In those days I poured my heart into studying the Word, prayer and preparing myself to be the best music man for God that I could be. I have to say that during my late teens I was one of, if not the most, sought after Gospel keyboardists in the tri-state (OH, KY, IN) region. I kept working and developing. I served as a keyboard player then moved into vocals, then onto being a choir director, then to a music teacher, and next a worship pastor. I had a definite talent and anointing. Church ministry was a constant. I was either participating in a volunteer capacity, as a part-time church staff member, serving full-time as a church and/or school staff member and eventually pioneering and serving as senior pastor for two congregations.

During the mid-1990’s, I was Manager of Research at the Berry Company. I specifically remember the morning I woke up, stood in front of the mirror to tie my tie (repeat those last three words quickly and see what it sounds like-sorry, Pentecostal humor) and heard the Holy Spirit speak to my spirit, “Mike, there is a world dying and going to hell. What are you going to do about it?” I wept uncontrollably, drove to work and ended up in my office with the door shut still weeping uncontrollably. That same thought kept permeating through my psyche, “Mike, there is a world dying and going to hell. What are you going to do about it?” By this time, my wife, Donna, and I had already experienced a major burnout with vocational ministry. I remember praying, “God, if this is really you and this is really what you want, then you have to change Donna’s heart, too.” And, he did. That’s a story within itself that I will share another time.

Now, I felt God had convinced me that there was a world dying and going to hell and “I” had to do something about it. So, I processed this information in the only direction I could within the context of what I had been taught…vocational church ministry. So, we quit our jobs, sold our house, loaded up the trucks and moved to Beverly…I mean to Columbus, Ohio, and we both enrolled in World Harvest Bible College. Standing in line to register, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, “This isn’t right, don’t do it.” Well, I was quite aggravated, to be frank, that I had done all of this “sacrificing” to get there and said to the Lord, “Sorry, you brought me here and I am going to go to Bible school.” Classes started and I HATED it. I DESPISED it. It was one of the WORST experiences of my life. I think back on it and nearly get physically ill. We currently live literally ten minutes from World Harvest Church. To this day, I still have no desire to darken their doors. That experience taught me the penalty for disobeying what I felt the Holy Spirit was speaking into my life.

Subsequently, thirteen years of full-time vocational ministry followed beginning with a major worship pastorate, a church plant, and two senior pastorates. My wife bore most of the brunt of the financial burden while I ministered. I generally worked a part-time up to full-time job to fill in the gap. It was not easy. But, we were doing what we felt God had called us to do.

Please stay tuned for the next blog in the series, “Early Lessons”