"Playing the Phone Game"
“But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
--Ephesians 4:15
Have you ever played the phone game? It goes something like this. You sit around in a circle and the first person whispers something – any phrase or idea to the person next to them. That person then whispers it to the person next to them – and so on around the circle. At the end, the last person speaks out loud what they heard. The results are usually amusing and hilarious as the phrase gets twisted and distorted as it goes around the circle. There has been a lot of the phone game going on at Bethany. I have heard preposterous stories about the Call Committee, about a former pastors present congregation, about me as your interim pastor and most recently about the new sound system that has been installed. So, I would like to take some time to set the record straight.
The old sound system was installed in the early 1980’s. It was very limited with only four channels and one control. The quality sounded a bit like your head was in a barrel. The new system has 20 individual channels, each channel having the ability to be adjusted individually. We now have a CD player/recorder, so Services can be recorded, music can be played through it, the clavinova [electric piano] is now run through the system in stereo as well and we have mike outlets which will make it much easier for singing groups. We have used from the old system those things that could be used and then added things to enhance the worship service. We even wired in the speakers in ceiling of Fellowship Hall so the service can be heard very clearly even there.
NOW, ALL OF THIS HAS NOT COST THE CONGREGATION ONE PENNY! That’s right, it hasn’t cost us anything. Your council decided to install the system in two phases. The first phase [which is now completed] cost a total of $4,304 and was paid for with “undesignated memorial funds.” Now “undesignated memorial funds” are gifts which were given to the church by individuals in which they basically said to the church “YOU decide where this money should be spent.” Some of that money had been in the account for years. Now, the council could have purchased something else with that money, but the council decided that this would be a good use for it. Phase two will be paid for by fund raising activities, like the “Dine Around The World” we had in May.
That is not to say that there will be no costs for sound. We recently received word from the F.C.C. that all portable mikes broadcasting on the 700mz bandwidth are now illegal to use because all police and fire systems now use that. So, your council decided to purchase new wireless mikes at a cost of $549.00 which will be paid for out of the Worship portion of the general fund. These will be a cost to the congregation! [Unless, of course, someone would like to give them as a gift]
Now, my friends, this is not the phone game, this is the truth. Again, the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:20 “For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, GOSSIP, conceit, and disorder.” I hope the new pastor that comes to Bethany does not have to be worried about that as Paul did.
Pastor Jim Steinbrecher
Interim Pastor
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