A funny thing happened today.

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reaganmarsh

Puritan Board Senior
I am the sole staff member at our church (no secretary or anything). Therefore unless I have a meeting or an appointment, I'm pretty much alone all day while in my Study.

I got back from lunch today and decided to go into the prayer room for some afternoon intercession. Our prayer room has an outside door and no keyed lock, so that people may use it freely. It does have a sliding lock on the inside so that you may pray in safety. It is located immediately next to my Study.

I went to open the door and couldn't. That happens when folks are in there, so I called out "Sorry!" and figured I'd come back a little later. But then it struck me: there are no other cars on campus except mine. "What's going on?," I thought to myself.

We've previously had break-ins where people spent the night in the offices or the sanctuary. So I figured this was a homeless person who had locked themselves in for a spot to sleep (that's happened before, too). So I called one of our Deacons who is a State Trooper. He couldn't help me right then. I walked around for a minute trying to decide what to do, and figured "I've got to get this person out of there."

I grabbed a baseball bat from a storage closet and began knocking on the prayer room door. "Please open the door," I said. "I'm the pastor. I can help you." Something made noise in the room, and I thought, "Yeah, someone's in there, all right." I knocked and called out again several more times over the next 15-20 minutes. Finally, I decided that it was time to move the situation along.

I yanked on the door, thinking I would break the latch loose. The door didn't budge. I yanked again, harder this time, and the door burst open, revealing an empty room and several items laying on the floor. Apparently by knocking and yanking on the door, I had shaken them off the wall and misinterpreted the noise as someone being in there. The door had simply been stuck...

The State Trooper Deacon contacted me shortly afterward and found the whole incident very funny!

The things they don't teach you how to handle in seminary... Ha ha!
 
By far, my favorite part of this story is the moment wherein you are standing outside the door with a baseball bat, calling out sincerely, "I'm the pastor. I can help you!":lol: Somehow that just sums up ministry right there.
 
You should've said "Shibboleth". Then the door would opened for you; that is, if you said it with the "shh" instead of the "sss".
 
Caroline, the irony of that sight greeting whomever it would be opening the door was not lost on me. "The baseball bat? Oh, it's standard issue when you graduate from seminary. How can I help you today?"
 
By far, my favorite part of this story is the moment wherein you are standing outside the door with a baseball bat, calling out sincerely, "I'm the pastor. I can help you!":lol: Somehow that just sums up ministry right there.

I sense an idea for a new greeting card - pastor's special!
 
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