Church Folk - Michele Andrea Bowen [88]
Willie Williams, upon hearing his name called, jumped up from his seat like a contestant in a television game show and shouted, "Praise the Lord, everybody!" He leaned over and kissed his wife, shook hands with everyone at his table, and proceeded to walk up to the stage and right up to the microphone. He was one of the Senior Bishop's favorite pastors and knew that he would be accorded some privileges the other candidates would not have.
The Bishop patted Rev. Williams on the shoulder and moved aside so that he could speak to the audience.
"Well, church," he said in a raspy voice. "Church, you know God is good to me. And as your bishop I will be good to you. I will uphold all of the tenets of this sacred office, honoring my elder bishops and doing their bidding with all of my heart." He turned to look at the Senior Bishop. "And, Bishop, I know you know I will be the kind of bishop you can count on and I will do you right proud."
"Amen," the Bishop shouted and stomped his feet and waved his hands high in the air. "Amen!"
Rev. James leaned over and whispered to Bishop Jennings, "That boy ain't even won nothin' yet. How in the world can he stand there carryin' on like that?"
"Because he is one of the two candidates most of the bishops want elected at this conference. I know you have seen them squiring him and the other one around, making sure everyone sees them in the company of all the other bishops."
Rev. James nodded. Williams and Ernest Brown were the only two candidates who had been invited to every single meeting and program that was reserved exclusively for the bishops. They were also the only ones the bishops had openly praised in front of the other pastors and conference delegates. And he could understand why. Williams was, in his opinion, a butt kissing toady who would do all of the other bishops' dirty work when asked. Ernest Brown, on the other hand, was running on a platform of "God's Tradition." Translation— he would make sure no one got to change a thing.
"Fourth, Rev. Jimmy Thekston, 845 votes, from Burning Bush Gospel United Church in Dallas, Texas."
Jimmy Thekston, sixty, was a big and handsome but thuggish-looking man. There was an air of violence about him, even as he strutted up to the stage in his blue and black brocade dinner jacket, which contrasted well with his pale skin and straight black and silver hair.
Rev. James had the distinct impression, watching Rev. Thekston take his place next to Rev. Williams, that he was being elected to serve as an enforcer for some of the other bishops. And as a bishop, he would have the power to back up his menacing demeanor when faced with pastors who opposed decisions made by the Board of Bishops they believed were questionable and self-serving. Mrs. Thekston, who was trying to force out a smile in support of her husband, was a thin, nervous-acting woman, who Susie believed drank to numb the pain of living with Jimmy Thekston, whom she always referred to as "that man."
"Fifth, Reverend Ernest Brown, Sr., 869 votes, from Samuel Temple Gospel United Church in Detroit, Michigan."
Ernest Brown got out of his seat with a surprised look on his face. He had known that he would be elected bishop at this conference, so being called to the stage wasn't a revelation. What surprised him was the fact that he had not received more votes than all of the other contenders. For the life of him, he could not fathom what pastor sitting in the audience had managed to outdo him.
Ernest was about to walk up to the stage, when he remembered to plant a kiss on the lips of his wife, giving her the kind of public attention that helped to buy her silence. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that she would suffer the heartache over his incessant womanizing in private. And in exchange, he would bestow public rewards on her for being so faithful to her husband.
When he walked onto the stage, loud cheers came from his large entourage of supporters. Theophilus