Last Time: The latest Call Meeting continued as members of the church finally gave their reasons for wanting Pastor Cyrus Payton.
October 29, 2011
Deacon Dewey Holly motioned for Deacon Roscoe Calhoun to sit down so the Chairman of the Deacon Board could say, “I’m tired of being tired. It’s just been too hard to do anything under these constraints.”
When Sister Hope Boykins tried to get a real answer out of the Deacon Board about what they wanted to do with Pastor Cyrus Payton, Sister Bertha Cooke took it upon herself to interrupt Sis. Boykins.
Sis. Boykins’ brother Emit Boykins reminded Sis. Cooke, “No one interrupted you when you were runnin’ yo’ mouth!”
Sis. Cooke huffed following Bro. Boykins’ statement, returning to her seat.
Everyone’s attention returned to Dcn. Holly as he told the congregation that he was done with these call meetings and washed his hands of the whole situation.
Pastor Payton finally had his chance to speaker, admitting that only two of the five deacons sitting before us spoke to Pastor Payton on a consistent basis.
According to Pastor Payton, “You’re (the congregation) being mislead by the deacons.”
After stating that he didn’t get any financial information on the church when personally requested by him, Pastor Payton proclaimed that the Trustee Board and the Deacon Board were working together to get rid of him. Trustee Sinclair Millard was stunned by this statement, throwing his hands up to defend himself, and how Pastor Payton was wrong about the accusation. Before Tr. Millard could fully explain himself, Pastor Payton suggested that the Deacon Board was working alongside someone outside of the church that had a vested interest in getting rid of Pastor Payton.
Pastor Payton wanted to talk about his visiting the Youth Bible Study (YBS) a few times. Dcn. Calhoun jumped out of his seat to argue the fact that Pastor Payton did anything with the YBS, stating that Pastor Payton only came a couple of times and sat in the corner to watch rather than participate with the deacons. Pastor Payton agreed that he didn’t contribute like the Deacon Board wanted, but only because he refused to take the kids’ focus away from the deacons when asking questions. Pastor Payton believed the children would’ve looked to him for answers rather than the deacons faithfully involved.
Dcn. Calhoun suddenly made an analogy comparing the church to a broken chair. In Dcn. Calhoun’s story, one of the chair’s four legs was broken. So what do you do with the chair? By stating the two options – fix it or throw it away – Dcn. Calhoun made his point and sat down.
After Pastor Payton condemned the deacons for becoming complacent and not working with Pastor Payton to help build the church, Sis. Boykins asked Pastor Payton if the deacons were doing their “contractual” job.
Pastor Payton didn’t hesitate before answering Sis. Boykins question with a solemn, “No.”
Pastor Payton’s reasoning for them not being the deacons they should be could be traced back to just this past summer when only one or two of the deacons would show up for the Prayer & Praise services.
Pastor Payton answered Brother Herbert Jacobs’ earlier question in regards to why Pastor Payton didn’t speak during these calls meetings to defend himself, “I talk when the Spirit tells me. And the Spirit tells me right now a big problem with the church is the budgeting.”
