Church Conflict Story (Tyler)

I interviewed Aaron Cloud on February 24th. It was difficult for Aaron to come up with an example of conflict in his church. It is a small church in which the majority of people are related to each other or in some way close friends that have been there for a long time. However, there are small "kinks" in the system that seem to cause some strife every once in a while. One of those examples involved the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army had asked Aaron if they could give a short presentation before the congregation one Sunday in order to share some of the wonderful things that they are doing. Aaron asked the board and the board approved it. However, there is a woman in the church who is not a part of the board, but feels the need to know everything that is happening in the church every Sunday. Well, somehow the word did not get to this woman that the Salvation Army man was going to be speaking. Well, she didn't like it one bit when that man went up to talk. She was "thrown off" and had no idea what to think. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but they created some emotional strife among the members of the board and the congregation. In fact, during the testimony of the Salvation Army man, this woman verbally said, "Good grief". Now, this seems harmless, but it is still harmful to the congregation and the visitor. It was sort of a shame to see and experience. After church she actually approached Aaron and said, "I have four members of my family on the board and not one of them told me that the Salvation Army man was coming today! What do you think about that?" Aaron really didn't know what to say so he simply apologized. I was impressed with how Aaron and the congregation handled her, but I was a little disappointed in the way she acted both publicly and privately. I'm not sure the S.A man knew what was going on, but he certainly felt some tension. It is a shame that conflict can arise and ruin what potentially could be a great moment for the church.