Tuesday, Week 6 “Church Conflict Story,” Taylor Shanks

February 22, 2009, Interviewed Pastor Ryan McCarty

            Meeting with Pastor during lunch this past Sunday, I was able to discuss a church conflict story and how they happen to come about in the church.  He shared with us a story about conflict.  There was a woman who was leading a dance ministry at our church for young inner-city girls of the area.  She was upset with Pastor Ryan because she thought that is was silly to send so much money to Zambia, Africa and should invest in something more local, like the outfits of the dance ministry team.  Her reasoning was that these inner city girls should have outfits, because this dance team is a ministry.  The dance ministry is a chance to get the girls off the streets and into something where they can minister in a way to others that is unique.  When the girls can’t afford the outfits, they can’t participate in the ministry.  The woman thought that the money would be better placed in outfits for the dance team. 

            Pastor Ryan and his wife, Katara really considered the feelings of this woman, reflected over the mission of God’s House and met with the woman, with both Pastor Ryan and Katara present (so Pastor and the woman would not be alone).   They made sure to thank her for her hard work with the ministry and wanted to show her the difference she was making in the lives of those young girls.  They reviewed the mission of the church with her that God’s House is using their finances for both the local community and the for the world, that we must acknowledge ourselves as a local body and help our brothers and sisters on an international level.  They suggested that she organize a fundraiser for the dance team and she did, and the fundraiser worked and the dance ministry continued. 

            Pastor is convinced that conflict usually does not appear until there are at least “ten to twelve offenses.”  This woman had many personal disputes with Ryan and Katara in the past and was “not willing to submit to the kind of mission the church as a whole.”  She actually ended up leaving God’s House a few years later.