Chuck spoke up, his voice surprisingly calm, his hidden strength showing. “If this is what needs to happen to keep Brooke’s efforts with the kids from being undermined, then this is what will happen.”
Great. Let’s put my name over this circus. I was surprised I hadn’t heard Rose chime in yet. She must be using the time to enjoy the show.
Maudra’s voice was polite, and quiet, and somehow refrained from sounding disrespectful, despite her words. “Twyla, you’ve done little but show others hate, and you’ve walked around this town like yer better ’n everyone else fer years. You kin say all you wanta say ’bout Ray. You never gave him the time a day. Ray, however, woulda giv’n the shirt off his back ta anybody that asked. He ain’t the one who needed to be worried ’bout a ticket inta Heaven.” Her voice got firmer. “Tonight ain’t gonna be ’bout Ray, so you kin jist leave him outta it. He’s far past carin’ what the likes a you think ’bout him.”
“Ray would’ve taken off his shirt, andeverything elsefor—”
Pastor Thomas interrupted his wife before she could finish her thought. “Enough, Twyla. Enough. Maudra’s right. This is not about Ray. And we are not going to present ourselves in such a manner.”
Twyla’s eyes sank to her lap, both embarrassed and furious at the reprimand.
Pastor Thomas turned his attention to Tyler. “However, this situation with Brooke and the youth group needs to be discussed further.” He looked at me. “Not that you’re not a nice boy, Brooke. You’ve always been good to everyone around you. It’s just that we can’t have your kind in a leadership role in the church.”
“Hiskind?” Jed’s voice was trembling with barely contained emotion.
Pastor Thomas looked Jed in the eye, unintimidated. He had more gumption than I would have given him credit for. “Yes, Jed. His kind. People who have chosen to live a homosexual lifestyle in direct opposition to God’s word.”
Before Jed could reply, Tyler broke in. “Pastor Thomas, I told you of my plans to bring Brooke on board several days ago. If you had concerns, why didn’t you voice them at the time, in private, where we could discuss them fully?”
“You knew good and well before you pulled me into my—your office that I hadconcerns, as you put it. You were not there to ask my opinion or seek my approval. You were simply following through on a formality so that you could say you talked to me about it.”
“Yes, I knew you would haveconcerns. If you chose not to have a discussion then, that was your choice, and I find it underhanded that you would choose to then bring them up after the fact.”
Twyla began to speak but stopped with a look from her husband, her face getting redder.
Pastor Thomas continued, his voice calm, but strained. “You have been in the leadership position less than two weeks, and you are already making decisions that will tear this church apart. If you think the church board will stand for this, you are vastly mistaken.”
“How can the church board deny a person who is wanting to volunteer with the kids?”
Pastor Thomas faltered momentarily. “Volunteer? Brooke will not be receiving payment?”
He was not the only one who looked surprised at this news. Donnie looked over at Pastor Bron with wide eyes. “Tyler, that was not what we talked about. Brooke has his degree in youth ministry. He is more than qualified and should be compensated for his time.”
My eyes beseeched him, begging him to let it go. “Donnie, it’s okay. Tyler and I talked about it. This makes the most sense.”
Tyler directed his comment toward Pastor Thomas. “Brooke will volunteer his time for several months, then we will present the option to the board to bring him on full-time in a paid position. I have no intention of spending the church’s money and tithe without their sanction.”
“‘For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.’ Mark seven, twenty-one to twenty-three.The workings of your heart are showing through, Tyler.” Pastor Thomas’s face was on fire, but he managed to keep his voice to an appropriate level. “You are working to deceive, appearing to do things in such a way that people can say you are not hiding anything, yet your intentions are not lost on me.”
Tyler actually rolled his eyes. “I am not getting into a Bible verse-throwing contest with you, Pastor Thomas.”
Twyla could not hold her tongue any longer. “Because you don’t have the Lord or the Bible on your side. You are as vile as those you would bring in to corrupt our youth.”
Jed smacked his fist on the table, and he stood up. “How in the world is Brooke going to corrupt the youth?”
I pulled Jed down by the back of his shirt as Pastor Thomas replied, “We don’t need anyone spreading the gay agenda to our kids.”
Zephyra laughed scornfully. “What gay agenda? Are they going to do voodoo to turn all the kids gay?”
Pastor Thomas looked at her gravely, as if she had spoken the truth but was too slow to realize it. “Voodoo? No. Attempt to steer our children into the homosexual lifestyle? Yes.”
“That is ridiculous, Pastor Thomas. You cain’t make somebody gay who ain’t gay. You’ve got kids in that church that already’re gay and miserable, scared, and alone. They need someone like Brooke who can show ’em that they’re okay and that they can live a good life and still be who God made ’em.” Maudra’s voice was filled with passion, but her face looked like she knew she was wasting her breath.
“There are no homosexual children in our youth. The very fact you say such a thing shows your true intention.”
I looked at Tyler. “This is ridiculous. I knew that this would happen if you brought me into the youth group. It will only get worse. Let’s just forget it.”
“No!” Donnie, Mandy, and Zephyra all shouted at once.
