Church Folk - Michele Andrea Bowen [87]
"I don't want to know—though he's going to tell me anyway," Theophilus said.
"Church, He said, 'Bishop, you been here serving Me for a long time now. And you know at eighty-two you need to step on down and let a younger man do the job.' Now, church, all of you know that I always listen to God and I do everything He tells me to do."
"I wonder if he listens to God before or after he insists on being paid a huge love offering whenever he decides that it's time to visit a church in his district," Bishop Jennings said out loud in disgust before he had a chance to catch himself.
"So you see, good blessed people, the Lord has seen fit that only four of these great men of the Gospel United Church will be the chosen ones out of this group of magnificent candidates for bishop. And now . . ." He looked over at the pianist, scratched his head, and said, "You know, I need something to help me make this announcement. Brother musician, play us a godly march. This kind of thing happens only once in three years and some pomp and circumstance is in order, don't you think?"
The pianist launched into "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" because it was the Bishop's favorite song.
The Bishop began to move his hands around to the beat of the song, singing off-key and swaying to the pounding rhythms coming from the piano.
Percy Jennings looked up toward the ceiling like he was praying for strength and sustenance to get past this moment.
When the pianist mercifully beat out the very last chords of the song, the Bishop looked back at the audience. "Whew! Yes, Lord! Now that's more like it. Ohhh . . . Jeesusss! A godly song for a godly moment." He raised his right arm up in the air, turned around in a circle and shouted, "Jesus!" an octave higher than his normal speaking voice.
"Now, church, we get to see firsthand the hand of the Almighty God at work. All too often the work of His mighty hand remains invisible to the human eye. But tonight we are blessed with the chance to see God's hand work almost as clearly as we can see our own."
He raised his hands up in the air and waved them around a few times to illustrate his point.
"Now, I am going to call out the top six, ten percent if you will, of our top runners. That way, you will get to see a little variety with regard to the caliber of men running for bishop. So, gentlemen, when I call your name, just come on up to the stage."
"First, with a total of 747 of the needed 925 votes to win, is Rev. Silas Jones of Emmanuel Gospel United Church in Brooklyn, New York."
Rev. Jones walked up to the stage with a sour look on his face. This was the third time he had run for bishop and he knew as he approached the stage he would have to spend all that time, energy, and money running again. He was getting tired of always being in the bishop's race and never getting far enough to seize the coveted prize. Jones's church was one of the larger congregations in Brooklyn, affording him a very comfortable lifestyle. But becoming a bishop would get him out of the pulpit, improve his social status, and provide him with the kind of power and influence he would never have as a pastor.
"Second, with a total of eight hundred votes, is Rev. Josiah Samuels of Mount Moriah Gospel United Church in Hart-ford, Connecticut."
Josiah Samuels stepped sprightly to the stage and stood next to Silas Jones. He was excited about the number of votes he had accumulated during this first run for a bishop's seat. Josiah knew he wouldn't win this time and would be happy with a good showing of over six hundred votes. This year's campaign for bishop was merely foundation building for the future when he finally got bored with pastoring and wanted something else to do. He figured that at sixty-two, he had plenty of time to win a bishop's seat and just being a candidate had brought him some unexpected benefits, notably a most enjoyable afternoon with a woman named Mae Wilson while his wife was out shopping with a group of pastors' wives.
"Third