2010 - A Year in Retrospect (PART 1)

                    2005 COUNTY LINE CHURCH OF GOD STAFF                                Dane Kruse (Youth), Bob (Senior), Stuart Kruse (Associate) & Kevin McIntire (Worship)

 

I remember New Year’s Eve, 2009.  While I can’t tell you where I was when the ball dropped at midnight that night (most likely I was at home with my hubby), I can tell you what I was thinking.  “YES!  The worst year of my life is over!  Please, God, let 2010 be a much kinder, gentler year for us!”  The reason 2009 was such a horrible year is because of what happened on March 31, 2009.  That was the day Bob suffered a massive stroke due to a carotid artery dissection.  The rest of 2009 was filled with many prayers & much frustration as Bob struggled to overcome the loss of function he experienced as a result of his stroke.  He had to re-learn to move his fingers, grasp things, remember what simple objects were called (he couldn’t remember what a paper clip was called), walk, dress himself, stand without tipping over...  He had to re-learn how to live again.  By New Year’s Eve, 2009, Bob was back at work at the church working 40 hours a week.  He wasn’t preaching again yet because he wasn’t able to preach 3 services back-to-back (something the church leaders said he had to be able to do before he was allowed to preach again), but it was his goal to begin preaching in the early part of 2010.  Because of how far Bob had rehabilitated, we anticipated that 2010 would be a year of God blessing Bob’s ministry.  Little did we know what was coming.

On New Year’s Day, 2010, we all were aware of my mom’s cancer.  She learned of it in October, 2009, after she fell in the attic while getting decorations for Christmas.  Yes, my mother the decorator, the Christmas Queen, always began to decorate for Christmas just after Isaac’s birthday on October 30th.  By mid-November she would have her home reborn into a Christmas wonderland.  Because of her fall, she visited her doctor, who ordered x-rays to see if she had broken any ribs in the fall.  That is how her cancer was first detected.  So we started off the New Year with the knowledge that it could be our last year with my mom.  I don’t think anyone really thought it would be so, though.  I know I didn’t believe we would lose her.  I couldn’t imagine losing her.  The thought of life without my mom was just unthinkable to me, and to many others as well.  God couldn’t be done using her to minister for Him.  Again, little did we know what was coming.

It wasn’t long until we realized that New Year’s Day isn’t anything really special.  It’s just another day, like any other day.  Sure, we make resolutions on New Year’s Eve, and we like to think that everything in the universe begins anew on January 1st, but reality proves otherwise.  Life isn't going to start over again just because we changed the calendar.  Life continues to march on, oblivious to our resolutions.

January 11, 2010, is a day that changed our lives forever.  It was a Monday morning, & in a meeting called by the Ministry Leadership Team (MLT for short), Bob & I met with 3 members of the MLT who told us that in a unanimous vote, the MLT at County Line Church decided to “ask” Bob to resign from his position as senior pastor.  The MLT is County Line’s equivalent to a church board of directors.  We were told that because of the state of financial disaster we were in (due to both Bob & my catastrophic health care expenses), coupled with the fact that we had adult children who were choosing to live in a way contrary to God’s Word, Bob was no longer fit to lead the church, & he needed to resign his position. The church by-laws make it impossible for a senior pastor to be fired without a congregational vote, & the MLT wanted to avoid going to that measure.  That is why he was “asked” to step down.  Thoughtfully, the MLT had prepared a resignation letter ahead of time for Bob to sign.  Because we were in a state of shock (& because we were told we would not be allowed to leave Bob’s office without first signing the resignation letter), Bob signed the document.  At the conclusion of the meeting, we were told that Bob could not take anything out of his office.  We were escorted to the exit doors of the church & told that we had to leave immediately.  Bob was not allowed to tell his staff goodbye or anything.  This hurt him deeply because of the love he has for the amazing people God had assembled to work along side him in ministry at County Line. 

I realize this information is news to a lot of people.  Some of you are shocked to read this.  Others of you suspected something like this all along, but just never had verification of your intuition.  There are reasons why it’s been almost a year since these events unfolded & this is the first time its been publicly addressed.  One reason is that we were told that if we talked about this event to anyone, the MLT would withhold the severance package they offered us.  The severance pay (divided up into payments in January, April & July) was our only source of income until Bob found another job, so because we didn’t want to jeopardize those funds, we went along with the MLT line that Bob resigned completely on his own volition.  We received the balance of the severance in July, but even after that we chose not to talk about this publicly because we felt that it was too soon to openly talk about it.  We also wanted to allow Stuart to get established in his role as senior pastor #23 before we spoke truthfully & openly about what really happened. 


Please do not bombard Stu with calls, emails or questions about this event.  This was not brought up to stir things up.  We are in no way bitter, angry or resentful because of what happened.  As Joseph told his brothers in Genesis 50:19, 20:  “Don’t be afraid.  Am I in the place of God?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done".  God can take something as devastating as this situation & use it to bring glory to Himself & to shape us more into His image.  We never would have chosen this path, but God has been with us faithfully as we have learned to walk on it.

About Stuart.  I would like to make it transparently evident that Stu had nothing to do with this event.  He was not aware of any decision by the MLT because he was not allowed to be in the “executive meetings” they held, where only MLT members are allowed to attend.  The MLT chairman did not inform Stu about their decision until the Saturday evening before it all went down.  Stu pleaded with him to at least allow Bob to remain at County Line in some capacity, like as a missions pastor, or an associate pastor.  He was told that Bob’s work at County Line was done, period.  Stu has been a faithful servant of God & loyal friend to Bob for 20 years prior to this event, & he continues to be that person today.  He & Tisha, who continue to be very close & trusted friends, have suffered through the ramifications of this decision, too.  It has been terribly difficult for Stuart to bear the knowledge of this event without being able to directly answer the questions of congregation members who suspected there was more going on than they had been told.  In our opinion, there is no one more qualified to lead the body of Christ at County Line than Stuart Kruse.  He is God’s man for that body, right now.  We pray that God will bless Stu, Nate, Dane, Steve, Kevin & Mary Ellen as they minister at County Line.  We pray that God will bring about unprecedented spiritual growth & deeper faith in the lives of everyone who calls County Line their home church.  After all, it's God's church, not Bob's or Stu's. 

The days following Bob’s dismissal from County Line were dark, depressing & filled with many questions.  That is why, immediately following the farewell reception the church held for us, Bob & I flew to Sarasota, Florida, for a week of recovery & reconnection.  We used the financial gifts that so many loving people gave us at the reception to pay for our trip.  It was good to just get away from Auburn & to go to a warm, sunny location for a bit.  We talked a lot, prayed a lot & cried a lot.  We slept a lot, too, because the whole situation had exhausted us in every way.  We needed that time together to try to process through the events of the previous few weeks.



THIS IS PART 1 IN A SERIES OF POSTS CALLED "2010 - A YEAR IN RETROSPECT".  IF YOU WANT TO READ THE FUTURE POSTS THAT WILL CONTINUE THE STORY OF OUR LAST YEAR, PLEASE CLICK ON THE "SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL" OR "SUBSCRIBE TO:" WORDS BELOW.  IF YOU DO THIS, YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED WHEN I POST PART 2 IN MY SERIES.  THANKS!