The Rogue "pastoral" Team: Act Two

Start from Act One
Incongruous Circumspection was threatened by Mark and Annah's Henchman! 
Aww...the Henchman Apologizes...Sort of 
Mark Reid Tries to Preach Out of a Jam

In Act One, I said “You’ll find out soon enough that it is actually Annah [as king] with Mark as the queen.” 

As you read through the first Act, it may appear as if Mark is the strong one of this “power couple.”  I warn you – do not be fooled.  Look at Mark’s words as preening his feathers for Annah’s approval.  Regardless, they both need a good re-working of their souls (and potentially, their behinds) and most importantly, their theology.  Both are at fault for the crap they spew forth.  Annah just does it with more force, scorn, and derision, all the while, looking down her nose at Zach (and possibly Mark).

In Act One, we left off right at the point where Mark was marking his territory by saying…

 “And so what the bottom line that I think is very important is, myself and Annah, as the founders of this church, what we have for a vision of this church, what we'd like to see on the worship team, what we'd like to see in evangelism, what we'd like to see in Bible studies, what we'd like to see in clean-up crew – every area – it is not controlling or micromanaging to oversee that and have that the way we want it.”

Again, where is God in this “vision”?  It’s an easy answer, which I’m sure you can see straight away – nowhere…nonexistent…not there…nope!

Now, back to the transcript… Note: All parenthetical statements within the transcript are Zach's inserted words. You'll notice that he refers to himself as "me" and "I". 

*****

Mark continues:

Yes, Mark isn’t done with his introduction.  Pretty sure Zach is nodding off at this point.

...If we want that whole stage (pointing to worship team stage) packed with worshipers, all singing the same note (this is in reference to the disagreement we had a few days earlier about giving specific parts to vocalists - my desire - rather than all vocalists singing all the time - Mark’s demand), that's the way we want it.

Keep in mind that my brother, Zach is a professionally trained musician and vocalist.  He has a keen ear for all things music and is fascinating to watch and listen to.  He is one bad arse animal when it comes to how he puts together various arrangements.  He is in great demand for weddings and other occasions that desire to have good, solid, professional music.  In short, he’s the world’s best, in my opinion, which is obviously biased.

Here, you see, even though Mark denies that the “pastoral” team is micromanaging, his words say the exact opposite.  He is even dictating HOW a person worships because, after all, HE KNOWS BEST!  Pathetic.  Don’t worry, it gets even juicier.

When Annah says that she thinks the harmonies are getting too complicated, that we should sing less harmonies, or whatever…

This is not a suggestion.  Annah is not a professional musician – absolutely NO formal training - and yet she is insisting that Zach kowtow to her way of doing music, rather than the way he knows how to do it.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and rather than picking sides in a pissing war, I am merely making the point that the “pastoral” team is micromanaging the worship of God, whatever the incarnation.  But, don’t listen to me, they will soon show that they are much worse than even these words.

 I don't want you saying to Annah: "Why don't we just give everyone in the congregation a microphone" (A response I had made in reference to the overwhelming number of vocalists - in my view - that were joining the team, which made it difficult to give separate parts without confusing one with another).

A great point on Zach’s part.  Said between equals, this is actually a very hilarious way of getting his point across.

That, I don't feel like it's respecting her input on what we want for the worship team.

No.  Respect has nothing to do with anything here.  Zach wants it one way, Annah must want it another.  The problem is, Zach is willing to argue his position.  Annah is not, and is heavily backed by Mark in this regard.  They are more comfortable hitting Zach with accusations of disrespect and rebellion until he concedes.  This is cowardice – a classic blunder in debating.  Attack the person’s reputation when you can’t win.

And the phone conversation last Sunday almost turned into mocking….

Annah: Yeah, it was mocking. Well, Mark was there too, he heard it, Zach.

Mark: It wasn't on speaker phone, but when you're in a car, you can hear

everything…

Now THAT is hilarious!  Annah attempted to rope Mark in to confirm (again) that the phone call between her and Zach was mocking and, instead, Mark had to head off an accusation of eavesdropping.

And I guess I'm at a point, it seems like we have these episodes about every two months, and I'm at a point where, it's like I said, I don't want to keep going over and over who's the boss.

Translation:  “Zach!  You dolt!  Why do you try to rear your ugly head every two months??!  Lay down and take it from me and Annah like you should!

At the risk of everything blowing up, I'm really laying it down that I'm not going to fight over things.

This sounds cordial and nice enough.  But it isn’t.  Mark is saying that ZACH should not fight over things, NOT Mark.

I'm not going to fight over that it's imperative that we meet, and I told you, I said, "If we can't meet that's fine; just take a break, but this is going to be established before you are up there again (referring to me leading songs)."

There it is.  Zach doesn’t agree with Mark and Annah, so Mark pulls him out of the leadership position of the worship team.  Coward.

And I talked to you – the last time I talked to you, I said that you seemed disengaged  (Mark was referring to my "lack of the required amount of exuberance" while being on stage)…

Wait.  Wha..!!!!!????  “The required amount of exuberance”????!!!  What a pile of crock.  According to this guy, worship, in the incarnation of music, has nothing to do with worshipping God; rather, it has everything to do with putting on a perfect show.  If you don’t smile, you’re not worshipping.  Wait, there’s more…

…other people have said that to me…

Hold it!  Did he just say that!?  Yep.  He did.  So, now the cat is out of the bag.  Mark is now working up a froth of guilt for Zach.  “After all, Zach, OTHERS have mentioned that you do not have the required amount of exuberance.”  Another example of how to lose an argument.  When your points cannot stand on their own, bring in a straw man to agree with your position.  Then, you can point to the fact that, where more than one person agrees, a matter is established.  I can’t guarantee it, but I’d be pretty shocked if Zach interviewed every attendee of the previous worship service, that he would find anyone who would admit, in full honesty, that they said anything about Zach’s engagement.

…and you say, "Well, I'm not disengaged." Well, you seem disengaged.  I said, "You have to put forth that you're engaged." And you say, "Well, if people think that of me, they're wrong."  Well, I have an expectation that whoever's up there is going to put forth that they're engaged.  And if you're just fiddling with your guitar and that's your engagement for you, well then, maybe you'll have to lay down your guitar.

According to Mark, worship is only worship if he agrees with it.  Zach “fiddling with his guitar” is grounds for dismissal.  Also, it is obvious that Mark can read minds and understand motives, even if the accused vehemently disagrees.  Just wait, his wife is much, much worse.

But I'm expecting the worship leader of FCC - big or small - to portray that they're engaged.  And if you're not engaged, or you say there's nothing wrong --- But, here it is again: if I say something like that, I don't want to argue. I don't want to fight; I want to hear, "Okay, I didn't realize I was doing that “pastor” Mark, I'll take heed to that and see what I can do about it." I don't want to fight that you are or you aren't engaged. I said that you didn't seem engaged, and other people were asking me about it. So, do you know what I'm getting at?

Yes, we know what you are getting at, Mark.  Again, whenever you say you don’t want to argue, you don’t want to fight, what you’re really saying is that everyone else must agree with you – without question.  We get the point that you are convinced Zach is disengaged and he is obviously lying about it.  We understand that you’re right because OTHERS say the same thing about Zach.  It’s obvious, Mark, that you are a sociopath.  An egomaniac.   You’re a proud coward.  Someone who gets his undies in a bind when you’re disagreed with.  After all, you founded this bloody church!

Let’s not stop there.  Did anyone notice it when Mark said “big or small” in the last blurb?  Yep!  You will soon see that, when Mark and Annah cannot win, they will valiantly attempt to knock Zach down a couple of notches.  What Mark actually meant there was that Zach was pretty darn small and yet, someone bigger still needed to follow his rules.  Again, Zach is worthless in Mark’s eyes – only good for following his orders.  Where is a play-by-itself piano when you need one?  Mark doesn’t need a human being to lead worship, he needs a well greased machine.

*****

In Act Three, we will see Zach respond, as much as he can.  I’ll clue you in on the fact that Mark isn’t finished yet – by a long shot.  And he is about to be sidelined by the most holy of holy creatures on the face of this earth, another mind reader, another motive sensor, a much greater sociopath and egomaniac – Annah Reid.