Singing Off The Wall

A number of years back while serving as a District Overseer I received a letter from one of the churches on my district. This is what it said:

Dear District Overseer:

We have HUGE problem in our church. Our pastor is singing off the wall and not using the red back hymnals which we've had in our church since I was a little boy. Please let him know that we are not happy with his decision.

Sincerely,

Concerned Church Member

Since I had no return address or even a name to put with the letter, I called the pastor and read it to him. We figured out who the culprit was, but we had no proof. So I wrote back a letter to the Pastor that I asked him to read to his congregation. I told my State Overseer of my intentions and he gave me permission to do so. Here is what I wrote back:

Dear Concerned Church Member:

Thank you for your letter. I am sorry that I cannot address you personally since your name as listed does not appear on the church membership role. Because of this I will address this issue in general terms. Your concern was about your pastor singing off the wall. While I appreciate your concern in this matter, would it not be appropriate to find some other areas of more importance to address in your congregation? How about the leaky roof that needs to be fixed or the outside repairs to the building that need to be done? How about the visitation program that someone suggested, but never showed up to complete? How about the folks that live within two blocks of your church that have never been invited to church? I am sure there are weightier issues that need to be resolved that are more important than singing off the wall.

Last but not least, I have looked at the material your pastor uses with your projection system and found the majority of the songs you are singing off the wall are out off the red back hymnal. He is using the projector (which was donated) because the condition of the hymnals in your church requires him to do so. Many are missing pages and are falling apart. I suggest that if you want to keep using them you either buy enough for your church congregation or start a fund rasing project to do so. I'm sure your pastor would approve either situation. Of course, you would have to identify yourself to do so.

Thanks again for your letter whoever you are.

Sincerely,

Pastor Alton Stone
District Overseer

I never heard a another complaint from that church after that. Oh yes, and the last I heard they were still singing off the wall.