There were about a dozen...
Illustration
There were about a dozen people present for the quarterly deacons' meeting at the church. There didn't seem to be much to talk about, but one woman seemed to be waiting to speak, even so. Just as the chairman said, "Well, if there's no further business ..." she spoke up. "I think we should drop the children's time from the worship service," she said, her face grim. "It's a waste of time, and the rest of us can't hear what the pastor is saying to the kids. When there are kids. We could be putting that time to better use." She nodded firmly, to indicate that she had had her say. The pastor said nothing, looked to the chairman of the group, who was examining the toes of his shoes. "What's the matter, Grandma?" one of the older men on the board asked. "You feeling left out?" "No," she said, eyeing him firmly, "I think we're wasting our time. New people coming here must wonder what's going on, when two children can hold up the whole worship service to chat with the pastor. I say we take it out." Several minutes were devoted to trying to discover why this change was proposed, but no one could convince her to discuss or change her mind. At last, it had to be put to a vote. The chairman of the deacons paused for a moment as he asked for the show of hands. Finally, he said, "As the chairman, I really shouldn't comment, I suppose, but I need to ask you folks, before you vote on this, to consider: What would have happened to the early Christian church, if they had considered women and children too unimportant to include in the life of the congregation?" The vote was 7 to 1 in favor of continuing the children's time. -- Herrmann
