Setting: The church chapel
Characters: Men of the "What's happening Now Church."

Enter Bro. Elder #1: "Now that all the men are here I will speak for
the Eldership and say...welcome. We are glad you could attend our
meeting. We like to have these meetings every now and then that we
might get your input before we made our decisions on the matter at
hand."

Bro. MilkToast: "Thank you for inviting us to your meeting. We know
you have a heavy load as you work to run this Church."

Bro. Elder #2: "Thank you, Bro. MilkToast. Yes, it is a tiring job.
But the H.S. appointed us and we must let Him guide us."

Bro. Elder #1: "Brethren, we have drawn up plans for a new family
center. The cost is outrageous but we have decided to build, because in
this culture if we are going to increase our number and have the money
to run the Lord's business we just must keep up with the denominations.
They are drawing large crowds with their beautiful facilities. Of
course, this will call for a big increase in contributions. The
Brotherhood has found that the pledging system is very successful,
whereby each member makes a pledge for a certain amount of money for a
year. Pledging will cause the members to remember each week to fulfill
their promise to increase their giving to the Lord."

Bro. Concern: "Bro. Elders, I am not sure we should draw people to us
with beautiful facilities. It appears from the scriptures that people
were drawn to Jesus through the teaching of the gospel of Christ, then
as Christ added them to His body they became one with the Christians."

Bro. Elder #3: "Now Bro. Concern, times have changed. Our culture is
not as simple as that of the first century. Ours is more complicated.
It was much easier to get people to listen back then. We have decided
if we can get people to attend church then we can teach them the
gospel. If they are not here how can they be taught?"

Bro. Concern: "But, Bro. Elder, the scriptures tell of how the gospel
was taken to the sinners, such as individuals telling those they came in
contact with about Jesus. Then men of God went out into the world and
preached Jesus. Jesus said *go* and you are saying *come?*"

Bro. MilkToast: "Bro. Concern, you are concerned about many things. God
appointed this Eldership and we are required to obey them. If we
disobey the Eldership we are disobeying God."

Bro. Elder #!: "Thank you, Bro. MilkToast. You "hold up the hands" of
your Eldership."

Bro. Elder #4: "Lets get to the main purpose of this meeting. The
Eldership wants suggestions on how the members can be motivated to give
more of their money back to God. Our members are not giving as much as
they should. They must be made to realize they are to *give till it
hurts*."

Bro. Frisky: "Oh, I have an idea. Why don't we give incentives for the
member to pledge. Those who do we could give badges. My company
designs badges and I could get the Church a 10% discount. The wording
on the badges could read, "I am a pledger for the Lord."

Bro. Elder #5: Bro. Frisky, what a wonderful idea. As the pledgers
wear their badges they will encourage those who do not pledge to fulfill
their obligation to the Lord, as well."

Bro. MeToo: And I might add that those who fulfill their pledges for a
year could be given a beautiful certificate to hang on their wall for
all to see. This is so exciting, brethren."

Bro. Concern: "Excuse me! But I'm having trouble following this
reasoning, brethren. Scriptures tell us not to let the right hand know
what the left had giveth."

Bro. MilkToast: "There you go again, Bro. Concern...rocking the boat.
Why do you always have to cause unrest? In every meeting we have you
always find fault with what is proposed. If you would spend more time
studying the Bible instead of complaining you would know that *hand
stuff* is talking individual....not Church."

Bro. Concern: "I don't mean to cause unrest among brethren but don't we
claim to speak where the Bible speaks? If the money collected on Sunday
becomes the Lord's money shouldn't we be more careful how that money is
spent?"

Bro. Elder #1: "Well, the meeting is over. We have had a profitable
time together. BTW work will start on the new facility next week.
Thank you for your input. The Eldership will take your proposals into
consideration in our next Staff meeting, as we make our decisions. Bro.
Concern, will you remain a few minutes for a private meeting with the
Eldership?"

OOPS!!!