If you were the minister of a church and one of your members came up to you and offered you 50 thousand dollars to leave (resign) what would you do?

If problems within the congregation had gotten that divisive, would you take the money and run? Just run? Stay?

That isn’t the worst of it though.  The public battle over including gay members pictures in a 125th anniversary church directory, is getting really ugly. The real battle is about money and power. The Broadway Baptist Church directory dilemma hit national news in November 2007.  

A password protected site for self named Friends attempting to collect enough signatures to legally fire the minister is being countered by open blogs supporting leadership and the decision to include all church members in the directory. (The three gay couples in question had their pictures taken separately - not wanting to be activists or cause their church harm)
The compromise is not good enough for the vote collectors.
It never will be.
The story about what has been unfolding at Broadway Baptist Church, Forth Worth Texas can be found at Big Daddy Weave. 
He lists other churches currently dealing with members fighting their battles online.

Broadway Baptist calls itself a moderate church, with about 600 attending weekly, and it’s being ripped apart.

Members collecting signatures, demanding pledges of faith and seeking to oust the minister are afraid. 
The Whited Sepulchure, a church member who is not a member of this currently secret group says:

“This stance” (being welcoming and affirming to gay and lesbian couples) “jeopardized the business of members whose work is with other Christian churches.”

Some genuinely scared of losing their jobs operate in a far less moderate environment; the infamous fundamentalist Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
There may well be other businesses where members feel their livelihood is in jeopardy, SWBTS is the only one I saw publicly mentioned.
More details about the secret Friends group who wants to fire the minister here.

Gather your names, make yourselves and your petition public. Let’s have a meeting and vote. And let this be part of the motion: That if those who want our pastor to leave lose the vote, they will agree to leave the church as well. Likewise, if the group that supports our pastor loses, we will leave the church.
Let’s stop this senseless bickering and settle the future and direction of BBC. Let’s vote and agree to go our separate ways.

Since the decision about the church directory is coming down February 24th, the online positioning and quarrelling will end soon.
Unseen wounds will take a long time, if ever, to heal.

Something else that won’t end is being pointed out by Big Daddy Weave and Ethics Daily. More and more church quarrels are going online, as sides in these church disputes dig in and attempt to garner and rally support.

Most members and leadership have to be aware of what is being spilled online, they have to be feeling hurt, anger, rejection, revenge and grief.  The stress must be searing.

Broadway Baptist Church’s Rev. Brett Younger: (who didn’t take the bribe)

Some of the most committed conservative Christians in our congregation are baffled by this whole episode,” Younger said. “They’re seeking the best they know how to be faithful to Scripture and follow Jesus. They’ve been taught all of their lives what the Bible says on this issue, and those who read the Scriptures in a different way don’t seem to be taking the Bible seriously. The verses in Leviticus seem straightforward on homosexuality. How can the majority opinion throughout 2,000 years of church history suddenly be wrong? It’s hard for these gracious Christians to understand how anyone could disagree.”

But there are other thoughtful Christians who feel differently,” he continued. “They are seeking the best they know how to be faithful to Scripture and follow Jesus. They know the Bible has been used to defend polygamy, slavery and the oppression of women. They look at the compassion of Jesus and the way he included everybody, and it seems clear that we should do the same. How can anyone who knows Jesus believe that God condemns people to the way they were born? It’s hard for these gracious Christians to understand how anyone could disagree.

“Both sides feel so certain that any real compromise can feel like being asked to give up something close to the center of their faith,” Younger said. “Many feel so strongly about this issue that a church directory in which gay couples are pictured together seems dishonest. And others feel just as strongly that a church directory in which gay couples are pictured separately seems dishonest.”

“This predicament has left many feeling despair,” he said. “When churches have a vote that may be divisive, it’s hard not to feel like we’ll all lose.”

Update: The deacons decided the directory would have group photos, no family photos.  That’s more money for the photographer, but it doesn’t solve the disagreements. 162 people have decided they want the minister out, 200 people have decided they wish him to stay on. Since the fighting isn’t really about the directory or the pastor, no doubt the online discussions will continue.

Update: Dr. Younger has resigned and will be leaving the church in June

Update: Charles Johnson, who has been a visiting professor at Mercer University in Georgia will be interm minister at Broadway.